Chapter 492: Departure, Minghai City

After two days of simple training, the newly arrived commanders also began their daily work. Moreover, they discovered that the base hid many secrets, and they even saw Mingshi's general store here.

But this instead aroused their great curiosity; aside from training, they usually chatted with several fleet veterans about those matters.

While Qin Ge had also made preparations, following He Min and Guanghui's earlier advice, although Qin Ge did not pull one person from each faction to form a nine-person fleet,

but he also drew one person from the more populous factions to accompany him to Minghai City.

These people were He Min, Prince Heinrich, Xinong, Independence, Saint Zhende, and Zala.

Following Bisimai's suggestion to have Qin Ge bring another battleship, Qin Ge had to replace Independence with Washington.

Thus, after preparing supplies and belongings, Qin Ge waved farewell at the harbor and set sail with his shipgirls toward Minghai City.

With the strength of Qin Ge's fleet, it was sufficient to directly traverse the Corrosion Level Three sea area and the Corrosion Level Two sea area.

Thus, along the way, upon encountering a Siren fleet they would basically steamroll through it. Since even the lowest-level among them, He Min and Zala, had already reached max breakthrough, facing these sea areas was practically child's play.

Even though the number of fleets encountered each time was basically three, thanks to the training boost, hardly anyone suffered any damage.

However, what limited Qin Ge and the others was the distance. Even if they rushed nonstop, the ships' speed remained a bottleneck, and sometimes they had to stop to fight, even if combat speed was fast.

By the time night fell, Qin Ge and company had covered less than half the journey.

Since this wasn't an urgent mission, Qin Ge still chose to slow down at night to guard against any mishaps.

"Commander, have some tea." He Min placed a cup of tea from the tray before Qin Ge, smiling as she spoke.

"Thank you." Qin Ge smiled and nodded, then turned to Washington sitting nearby: "Washington, would you like a cup too?"

"Is that stuff tasty? I always see you drinking it—could it be better than coffee?" Washington wondered.

Qin Ge chuckled: "That's basically two different things, like comparing coffee and alcohol— which do you think tastes best?"

"Indeed." Washington nodded, "Why don't I give it a try?"

"Sure." Qin Ge turned to He Min and said, "Pour Washington a cup of tea."

"All right." He Min smiled and nodded, then promptly poured Washington a cup of tea.

As He Min just set down her teacup, a red-haired, green-clad figure walked over and sat beside Qin Ge, then waved at He Min, saying, "Trouble, could you pour me a cup too?"

"Of course, Miss Zala." He Min said.

Qin Ge looked at Zala and said, "How's the overall route? Have you spotted any Siren fleets?"

"None, or rather, after we left the Corrosion Level Three sea area, the number of Siren fleets we encountered dropped sharply. So I found staying there pointless, activated the automatic alarm, and came over." Zala said.

"Hmm, indeed. Back when we were still at the Academy, each time we returned to the harbor we wouldn't run into many Siren fleets, and when setting out we also wouldn't encounter many."

"Unless we reached the mission's designated point, at which we would—probably because the corrosion level here is relatively low." Qin Ge said after sipping tea.

But just as Qin Ge finished speaking, Washington's voice came from beside him: "Wow, what a strange taste."

Zala laughed and said, "How is it?"

"I can't describe it—though it's not bitter like coffee, what's with this sweet flavor?" Washington exclaimed.

"Because I added rock sugar to it." He Min smiled, "The commander has been a bit heated lately, so drinking some rock sugar is beneficial."

Zala chuckled softly, looking at Qin Ge, and said, "Heh, you really have it rough."

That teasing glance, Qin Ge instantly understood, so he hurriedly explained, "It's not what you think—every time I finish drinking alcohol I get heated. Don't believe me? Go ask Belfast and the others; they know full well."

Zala chuckled, "Commander, I didn't say anything at all—no need to be so solemn in explaining, or I might really misunderstand."

Qin Ge was momentarily speechless, while Washington beside them asked, "What exactly are you two talking about?"

"Just some fun stuff, by the way—Washington, you've been practicing smiling lately, right? How's the training going? Do you need me to teach you?" Zala laughed.

"What's with smiling? How could it possibly stop me?" Washington said, then pulled the corner of his mouth into a smile.

But seeing this, Qin Ge's eyelids twitched wildly, because Washington opposite him was normally stern; forcing out such a smile made him look like a sea‑patrolling nightshade, eerily terrifying.

However, he couldn't dampen his shipgirls' enthusiasm, so Qin Ge nodded and, against his conscience, said, "Well, it's fine—you've made tremendous progress."

"Right?" Washington said, "I just said a simple smile—how could it possibly stump me?"

Zala gave a light laugh and said nothing.

Qin Ge smiled helplessly and then said, "Washington, what are your usual hobbies?"

"Hobbies? Does destroying enemies count as a hobby?" Washington said rather excitedly.

"Pfft—" Zala burst out laughing, causing Washington to look over in confusion.

Qin Ge replied helplessly, "I mean hobbies, not combat. Besides fighting, hobbies like reading, listening to music, or other things."

"Seems like there isn't." Washington thought, then shook his head.

"So is there anything you like?" Qin Ge continued asking.

"Things I like? In my memory, whenever I think of having beaten South Dakota, I feel happy." Washington laughed.

Seeing that cheerful smile before him, Qin Ge found himself speechless, and Zala beside him was likewise.

Immediately Zala turned to Qin Ge and said, "Commander, our fleet probably doesn't have South Dakota, huh? Looks like you need to work hard."

"Could it be that the Commander is preparing to summon South Dakota?" Washington said.

Qin Ge thought, "For now I'm not preparing to summon; isn't the Siren Tide coming up soon? After the Siren Tide, I'll summon then."

"Hmm, that's indeed coming soon—looks like we should use this time to properly boost our training." Washington said, rubbing his fists.

"By the way, Commander, our fleet already has too many aircraft carriers, so next time we should summon more battleships." Zala smiled.

"Sure."