Chapter 590: Royal Tea Party

"Phew, the day's work is finally done, thanks for your hard work, Chongqing." Qin Ge smiled at Ou ruo la and said.

"It's fine, Commander, this is all I should do." Ou ruo la smiled while tidying the documents on the desk, and marked each with a flower petal imprint.

Qin Ge chuckled, "I've noticed that since you became my secretary ship, the whole office has been filled with a rose fragrance, something that never happened before."

"Do you like this scent, Commander?" Ou ruo la said while putting away the documents, turning her head to glance at Qin Ge.

"I like it—who could dislike such a refreshing fragrance? Besides, I don't have any pollen allergies." Qin Ge said with a smile.

"Hehe, then that's fine." After finishing the documents, Ou ruo la turned to face Qin Ge, "Commander, should we go on patrol now, or wait until after we eat the flower cakes?"

Qin Ge thought for a moment, "Let's go now. Last night Hood specifically told me that today we will hold a royal tea party to welcome Her Majesty King George V and her entourage."

"So we need to go early, so sorry for today—if you have time tomorrow, how about we go to the beach for a date? Or we could go to your garden?"

Ou ruo la laughed, "It doesn't matter. Since you have things to do, Commander, let's go on patrol now, and after the patrol you can go attend to your duties."

"As for tomorrow, as your secretary ship I naturally have time, or rather staying by your side is my duty."

Qin Ge nodded, "Alright, let's go on patrol together."

"Yes."

The two left the office together and began patrolling the harbor area. Yesterday a total of ten shipgirls were summoned: besides the three of the George V class, there were Great Phoenix, Penelope, Goddess of Fate, Minsk, Dignity, Ancient Eagle, and Ranger—these all serve as reinforcements for the harbor's strength.

If the arrival of these shipgirls' biggest change is merely reinforcing the harbor's strength, then another effect is that it has made the Royal Navy's atmosphere somewhat livelier.

First is the relationship between the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York; the two already showed plenty of 'personality' during their construction.

Additionally, the meeting between King George V and the Monarch—Qin Ge originally thought their encounter would be a clash of swords, but he didn't expect their meeting to turn out unexpectedly harmonious; however, after the meeting the Monarch's expression visibly fell.

Finally, for Hood, the arrival of King George V resolved some embarrassing aspects of the Royal Navy. For although the Monarch is supposedly part of the Royal faction, she is historically a research vessel that never existed.

Now, reluctantly serving as the leader of the Royal Navy, it's fitting yet somewhat face‑saving. After all, the Royal Navy has many ships, and it needs to use a research vessel to regain its prestige, which is truly somewhat uncomfortable.

Although the Royal Navy still has such weighty main shipgirls as Warspite and Glorious, they are not in leadership positions.

If we liken Queen Elizabeth to the soul of the Royal Navy, then King George V is its executor. Whether in external warfare or internal administration, King George V wields great authority, which is also how the Royal Navy faction is constituted in this world.

Thus, holding this welcome tea party specially for King George V's arrival is quite necessary.

As for Qin Ge, the harbor area commander, if he appears at this tea party, it will also make other factions clearer about the Royal Navy's resolve.

Thus, after the patrol ended, Qin Ge bade farewell to Ou ruo la and went alone to the venue of the Royal Navy's tea party.

Just as the Sakura Empire has a small courtyard building exclusive to it in the harbor area, the Royal Navy also has a building belonging to it in the harbor area.

This building is located on the outskirts of the harbor area, a small British‑style structure backed by mountains and facing the sea, with beautiful scenery, and is a frequent spot for the harbor's destroyers and submarines.

When Qin Ge arrived, everyone was already present.

"Hehe, it seems I've arrived just in time." Qin Ge smiled as he walked over and said to the several Royal Navy shipgirls who welcomed him.

"Welcome, Commander, to our Royal Navy's tea party today. Everyone is already here, we can start anytime." Hood said to Qin Ge with a smile.

"Good day, Commander." The others also smiled and said.

"I'm just a guest today, so I'll leave the proceedings to you, Hood." Qin Ge looked at the crowd, smiled, and said to Hood.

"Then please take your seat, Commander." Hood was equally unceremonious; since Qin Ge had arrived, the tea party could naturally begin now.

Seated in the chair pulled out by Kalubudisi, Qin Ge looked at the assembled shipgirls.

Hood, Warspite, King George V, Prince of Wales, Duke of York, Monarch, Glorious. Basically all the named senior members of the Royal Navy have arrived, making this tea party quite grand.

The tea party naturally began with some pleasantries; after those were over, King George V directly said to Qin Ge, "Commander, I don't know if you still have any plans to summon companions lately?"

King George V's words left Qin Ge stunned for a moment: "For now, no, because the harbor's Cube shortage is quite large. Most of the existing Cubes have been taken for research experiments, leaving only twenty Wisdom Cubes that I used when I summoned you all yesterday."

"But why are you asking this? Do you want me to summon your fourth sister, Hou, when I summon next time?"

King George V shook his head with a hint of regret: "No, it's not that. Because your summoning success rate is extremely high, I hope you can summon Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in an environment where Cubes are plentiful."

"Queen Elizabeth?" Qin Ge looked at King George V and the nearby Warspite and others, smiling. "Although it's not entirely certain, you needn't rush—her appearance is merely a matter of time."

"Sorry, Commander, I'm a bit impatient." King George V said to Qin Ge.

Qin Ge shook his head. "No problem, I can understand."

"Hehe, Commander, mentioning that reminds me of something." Warspite beside him said to Qin Ge, "The battle data collection for the Royal Navy's second research shipgirl is also nearing completion; during our handover with Rodney and the others, we've already reached 80% progress, and I believe the other factions are similar."

"Therefore I suggest you prepare some Wisdom Cubes for this period, Commander—five research shipgirls require twenty‑five Cubes in total. If things continue as they are, we'll only be able to delay the appearance of the research shipgirls."

Therefore I suggest the commander prepare some Wisdom Cubes for this period, oh; but the Wisdom Cubes for the five research ship girls need twenty‑five pieces, and if things continue as they are, by then we can only delay the appearance time of the research ship girls.

"Um..."