Chapter 49: Chapter Forty-Nine: The Concealed Truth

"I thought the Soviet Alliance had discovered the cause of this Siren Tide." said the Prince of Wales.

"I also contacted the Soviet Alliance by telegram, but the Soviet Alliance's reply was only a few simple words," Enterprise said solemnly.

"What words?" Qinglong asked hurriedly.

"Everything is normal." Enterprise said.

"Everything is normal!?" the Prince of Wales and Qinglong exchanged a glance, both furrowing their brows.

"That's right. Although I believe the Soviet Alliance wouldn't fire off for no reason, she is definitely hiding something; she couldn't say it in the telegram, so she only replied with these four words. And these four words are the reason I came back to Shenhua City." Enterprise said.

"It seems this Siren Tide occurring in the Northern Union is probably not as simple as we imagined; there should be a deeper meaning behind it." Qinglong said, resting his hand on his glasses.

The Prince of Wales nodded. "Enterprise, have you sent anyone to the Northern Union to ask about the specific situation? If it's truly inconvenient to say over telegram, then the envoy you sent should tell us the details."

Enterprise nodded. "I've already sent someone, but the round trip will take some time, so I came back first to request support, and incidentally to attend the opening ceremony of the Azure Lane Commander Academy."

The Prince of Wales and Qinglong nodded. Qinglong said, "Then what do you think prompted the Soviet Alliance, after experiencing such a great battle, to send these four words 'everything is normal'?"

"Perhaps there are still some secrets here, even secrets that other factions haven't discovered. I'm just saying this Siren Tide is strange—why only the Northern Union? Even the Iron Blood faction nearest to the Northern Union wasn't affected." said the Prince of Wales, somewhat worried.

"Not only that, when I previously inquired with the Royal Navy and the Free Iris, they also said they only obtained the information after the battle ended." Enterprise said solemnly.

"This is indeed a problem." The Prince of Wales frowned, looking at Qinglong. "What do you think the Northern Union is hiding? What exactly did they obtain that makes them unwilling to accept help and instead bear this Siren Tide alone?"

Qinglong shook his head slightly. "I don't know. The Northern Union is a faction with technology as powerful as Iron Blood's; their research on Siren technology has always been at the forefront among all factions. We really can't speculate now; we can only wait for the investigation results."

"Indeed, but these matters will be left to the higher leadership to worry about. Besides, I think the other factions are probably in a similarly frantic state?" the Prince of Wales laughed.

"Hmm." Qinglong nodded. "Quite likely."

Enterprise said, "So everything must wait until the envoy returns before we speak, but before that we must solidify the front-line defense formation."

The conversation in the Dean's office was not heard by the fourth person. At this moment, the new commander who just arrived at the school, under the guidance of Ninghai and Ping Hai, went to the construction room to carry out Big Build. Meanwhile, the second-year students either returned to their own rooms or went to check whether any European Dogs had appeared among the newcomers.

As for Qin Ge, he returned to the faculty area together with Mikasa and the others, but these people, without prior agreement, did not go home; instead they gathered together at Mikasa's place.

"The situation looks still grim, even the front-line supreme commander Enterprise has returned." Mikasa said, looking at the people seated around the table.

"That's right. According to reason, each time the opening ceremony occurs, sending a deputy commander from the front line would be enough, just like last year when it was Washington. But this year Enterprise herself returned, clearly indicating the situation is different." A Furore said.

"The Siren Tide that occurred in the Northern Union earlier is truly bizarre—not only did it happen two or three months early, but it's also more terrifying than before, right?" Mailan said, looking at A Furore. After all, A Furore had previously been in the Northern Union, so she is very familiar with the situation there.

"Yes, compared to ordinary Siren Tides, the Siren Mass-Produced Fleet that came then was relatively dense. At the time, because the war was urgent, we didn't pay attention; but looking back now, it really is somewhat bizarre." A Furore said.

"You say, if a Siren Tide were to occur later on the Donghuang coast, would it also produce an abnormality like that in the Northern Union?" Lanli said.

Everyone stopped speaking, glanced at each other, and saw a hint of certainty in each person's eyes.

Qin Ge shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Oh, why?" Mikasa looked at Qin Ge, the only person among them who disagreed with that idea, and the others also looked over.

Seeing everyone's gaze fixed on him, Qin Ge showed not the slightest timidity, but said to Mikasa, "Senior Mikasa, do you have a sea chart? I need a world map."

"Yes." Mikasa replied, then immediately stood up, went to her room, took out a scroll of a map, and spread it on the table.

Qin Ge looked at the map, his finger pointing at the Northern Union region. "Because I have also recently studied the Siren Tide, and I heard Senior A Furore mention where this Siren Tide occurred, I have discovered something interesting."

"Oh, what interesting thing?" A Furore asked.

"Previous Siren Tides were all triggered simultaneously in various regions, including the coastal areas of the Northern Union—that is, the Sirens of the Arctic Ocean—as well as the Sirens on both sides of the Atlantic, both sides of the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean; all these places acted together." Qin Ge said.

"Furthermore, in terms of threat level, the Sirens of the Pacific are greater than those of the Atlantic, greater than the Arctic Ocean, greater than the Indian Ocean. And whenever a Siren Tide occurs in the Northern Union, the Royal Navy and Iron Blood of the Atlantic, as well as the Free Iris, are definitely drawn in. Because the northernmost edge of the Northern Union borders several of their factions, they can usually help each other."

"But this time it's strange: when the Siren Tide arrived, the regions near those three factions showed no sign of the Siren Tide at all. Moreover, as Senior A Furore previously said, this time the Royal Navy, Iron Blood, Free Iris, and even the Sardinian Empire did not send troops to aid the Northern Union."

"Or I could say here that it's the Northern Union that didn't ask them for help. Why would the Northern Union choose to bear this Siren Tide alone? There must be some circumstance we don't know about."

Qin Ge paused moving his finger on the map, lifted his head, and said to everyone, "Could we consider that the Northern Union this time obtained something remarkable from the Sirens' hands?"

"And this sudden Siren Tide is the Sirens' retaliation, but this thing is too important to the Northern Union, so the Northern Union does not want the Royal Navy, Iron Blood, and Free Iris to interfere, choosing instead to bear it alone?"