Chapter 518: Welcome to My Fleet

North Carolina quickly realized, a faint smile on her face as she asked Qin Ge, "Qin Ge Commander, so you intend to let me join your fleet? You want to pick me up?"

Qin Ge had no hesitation, nodding firmly, "Yes, North Carolina, as a max-level shipgirl, and you're so beautiful with such a gentle temperament, I believe no commander would refuse such a shipgirl. So I have this idea, which is quite normal. What do you think?"

"But other commanders might have such an idea, I can understand that, but your fleet, Commander Qin Ge, surely has plenty of max-level shipgirls, and you already have many awakened shipgirls."

"With your fleet's strength, you probably wouldn't care about my level, right? So is there any other reason for letting me join?" North Carolina asked.

Qin Ge smiled; if he had been unsure before, at this moment he became somewhat certain.

He glanced at Washington beside him, then said to North Carolina, "So I say it's because of Washington—do you believe me?"

"I believe you." Unexpectedly, North Carolina replied quickly, "Then I'll join."

"Huh?"

At this, Washington and Hai Tian were stunned, but Qin Ge just looked as if he'd expected it.

He smiled and extended his hand to North Carolina, saying, "Then North Carolina, welcome to my fleet."

"Surely it lives up to being Qin Ge Commander? So straightforward, I can barely react."

North Carolina smiled and spoke, but her hand reached for Qin Ge's. As they locked eyes, a blue light spread from their clasped hands, instantly enveloping them before slowly fading.

Not long after, they both opened their eyes; upon meeting each other's gaze again, their eyes were filled with smiling expressions.

"Although we've seen each other often before, the necessary ceremony still can't be skipped. I'm Qin Ge; from today onward I'm your commander. I hope you'll guide me in the days ahead." Qin Ge said.

North Carolina smiled and said, "North Carolina, at your command. Though I may lack a bit of personality compared to my sisters, as the saying goes, having no personality is itself a personality—hehe. In any case, please guide me."

After they glanced at each other and released their hands, Washington on the other side finally reacted, hurriedly telling North Carolina, "So you've joined our fleet now—does that mean I have to call you sister?"

"Oh dear, does Washington not like that?" North Carolina said to Washington.

"Your identity changed so fast I can't even react!" Washington exclaimed, flustered, then turned to Qin Ge beside him, "And you, Commander, isn't this too hasty?"

Qin Ge looked at Washington, "Hasty? How could that be hasty? How long have we been here? How long have we cooperated with North Carolina?

Over a year's time we've already come to understand each other, so with this opportunity everything fell into place naturally—I don't see any hastiness."

"Ugh, so annoying—I don't care about you guys, do whatever you want; I'm heading back to the fleet dorms." Washington, stumped by Qin Ge's remark, complained and then walked toward the fleet.

"Well... hehe." Qin Ge watched Washington's retreating figure and couldn't help but laugh helplessly.

"Commander, don't you think this Washington is also kinda cute?" North Carolina said with a smile.

Qin Ge nodded, "She's usually a bit face-conscious, but she's improved a lot; at least she came to you on her own instead of you having to chase her."

"Yes." North Carolina smiled, "But this sudden shift in relations has left her somewhat... hehe."

"Isn't this great? From now on you sisters can fight together side by side—although you fought together before, now you're even closer, right?" Qin Ge said.

"Indeed, then assign me some orders, Commander." North Carolina said.

"Orders?" Qin Ge pondered, "You should still be in charge of managing the Free Shipgirls, after all you know them very well."

"Sure, that's practically my specialty—I'll do my best." North Carolina smiled, "Besides, a few of the Free Shipgirls want to form a contract with the commander; I don't know if you're willing to pick them up."

"Huh? Really? Why didn't they show it before?" Qin Ge wondered.

"They definitely had reservations before—if they approached you and you refused, it would be hard for them to stay at the base, and besides they're girls; being shy is completely normal."

"Now that I've become your shipgirl, as the leader of the Free Shipgirls, I can make this request to you." North Carolina said with a smile.

"Could you tell me who they are? You know, since each commander's fleet can only have one shipgirl of a given name, I couldn't contract a duplicate." Qin Ge said.

"We all know that." North Carolina said, "Those who have this idea are Kimberly, Erwin, Chicago, Houston, York, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Borg."

"That many?" Qin Ge exclaimed in surprise.

"Do you think it would be difficult, Commander?" North Carolina asked.

"No, just a bit surprising—so many actually want to join the fleet." Qin Ge smiled.

"So can we? If yes, I'll go call them now; if you don't have the plan right now, Commander, I can let them know to wait—after all it's already been so long, I don't mind waiting a bit longer." North Carolina said.

Qin Ge shook his head, "No problem, go call them. Coincidentally I'm also preparing to summon another batch of shipgirls today; you know our fleet is currently undergoing reform, so we need more hands. I was just discussing this with Hai Tian—if we have them, I won't need to summon as many."

"I know about that, but may I ask the commander how many shipgirls you plan to summon this time?" North Carolina asked.

"According to the plan, the more the better. No exact figure, but a rough estimate would be over a hundred." Qin Ge said, "This is only because of the base size; if our base were larger, we might be able to summon even more."

"Oh, I see." North Carolina smiled, "It seems the commander has plotted a very ambitious goal."

"Yes."