Chapter 74: Heart Like Dead Ashes

Because Belfast had taken Mingshi into the small room to 'explain the situation,' Qin Ge did not see the specific process, but seeing Mingshi come out with a dazed look and Belfast's spring‑breeze smile, Qin Ge knew how it ended.

"Master, I have completed the mission; we can go back." Belfast said to Qin Ge while giving a salute.

Qin Ge glanced at Mingshi, who looked as if she had been ravaged, and asked, "Is she okay?"

"It's fine, just might feel a little heartache." Belfast said to Qin Ge with a smile, without even looking at Mingshi.

"All right." Qin Ge gave Mingshi a speechless look, then turned and left the Mingshi sundry shop with his own shipgirls.

Mingshi watched Belfast's departing figure from afar, silently muttering, "Demon!"

On the way back, Qin Ge turned to look at Belfast walking behind him and said, "Belfast, what did you do to Mingshi in there? I see her spirit is listless, as if she feels heart‑dead as ashes."

Qin Ge's remark also piqued the curiosity of Nengdai and Banrenma; they both turned to Belfast, hoping to hear something interesting from her.

"Nothing much, really. After all, you already made the stakes perfectly clear, Master, so I merely discussed some terms with her." Belfast said with a smile.

"Oh, what terms did you discuss? Something that would make Mingshi look as heart‑dead as ashes?" Qin Ge said with a smile.

"Just that she had to compensate us with a bit more, and that any future purchases from her must be genuine goods and at a discount." Belfast replied with a smile.

"A discount… hehe." Qin Ge couldn't help laughing; compensation was expected, but bringing up a discount…

Qin Ge recalled Mingshi's determined gaze earlier and said, "A discount is out of the question—there's no way we'll ever get a discount in this lifetime."

Banrenma and Nengdai also burst out laughing, after all, asking for a discount would be worse than killing Mingshi, given what they'd seen of her.

"Just how much did Mingshi have to compensate?" Qin Ge asked, intrigued.

"Not much, really—five golden tech boxes and six shipgirl textbooks." Belfast said.

"Tsk…" Qin Ge couldn't help laughing, "Double the compensation—estimate that'll teach that profiteer a lasting lesson."

"It seems the commander is quite satisfied with this compensation; don't you want her to pay even more?" Banrenma asked.

Qin Ge shook his head. "Actually, I was just bluffing that profiteer. She's the only shipgirl running a shop in this world; even if the Dean dragged her into retirement, the Donghuang Headquarters and other factions wouldn't agree.

"She's running a monopoly business, and in these chaotic times, such a person is indispensable."

"So the commander's earlier demeanor was just an act?" Banrenma asked.

"Well, I was really just a bit angry earlier, but then I realized her significance and went along with it." Qin Ge said.

"I thought, given the commander's personality, you'd actually tell the Dean." Banrenma chuckled.

"Do you really see me as that rigid?" Qin Ge said with a smile.

"No, it's just that the commander is usually very serious, so we assumed you were being earnest." Banrenma said.

Qin Ge smiled. "I admit I can be overly strict in some respects, but being with you all, I'm also gradually changing. After all, if I kept my own personality while you all changed for me, that would be rather unfair."

Banrenma and Nengdai exchanged a smile; they had been watching Qin Ge's growth all along.

Together they walked home, then placed everything they'd bought, as well as what Belfast had extorted from Mingshi, onto the table.

There were nine gold‑quality shipgirl textbooks in total—four of the attack type and five of the defense type. Five gold tech boxes, two purple ones, and two painted boxes whose color we didn't know.

Qin Ge looked at the tech boxes on the table and said to the others, "Let's open the boxes first to see what's inside, then we'll distribute the shipgirl textbooks later."

"Hmm." Nengdai and the three others nodded, looking at Qin Ge with eager eyes; no shipgirl can refuse powerful ship equipment, not even the usually calm Nengdai.

Thus Qin Ge slapped the first gold tech box; as it slowly opened, a golden light shone before everyone.

"It's a torpedo!" Banrenma exclaimed excitedly; although he couldn't use it, Belfast and Nengdai could equip torpedoes.

Qin Ge took the floating torpedo equipment core in his hand: "A five‑tube 553mm torpedo T3—both Nengdai and Belfast can use it; looks like good luck. Let's set this torpedo aside for now, and we'll allocate it after we finish opening the gear."

"Hmm." The shipgirls all nodded in unison, with no objections.

Next, Qin Ge opened the second tech box; a golden light flashed, and a carrier aircraft appeared before him.

In Bai Ren Ma's delighted gaze, Qin Ge took the aircraft in hand and said, "A Swordfish T3—it's a torpedo bomber. Banrenma, looks like you've got your carrier aircraft."

"Thank you, commander!" Banrenma happily took the golden Swordfish from Qin Ge's hand; since she's the only one here who can use carrier aircraft, there's no need to worry about allocation.

Qin Ge nodded with a smile, reached for the third tech box, and as a burst of gold light rose, a ship's gun appeared before everyone.

Qin Ge took the gun's equipment core in his hand, glanced at it, and said, "A 155mm triple‑mounted gun T3—a light cruiser cannon. We'll set this aside as well, to allocate after we finish opening the boxes."

With Nengdai and Belfast nodding simultaneously, Qin Ge opened the fourth tech box; a golden light rose, revealing an anti‑aircraft gun equipment core.

Qin Ge seized it and examined it closely: "A twin‑mounted 113mm anti‑aircraft gun T3—said to be the best AA gun so far. We'll set it aside for now."

Then, as an afterthought, Qin Ge opened the last gold box as well, and a torpedo equipment core appeared before everyone.

Qin Ge took it, glanced at the equipment core, and said, "A four‑tube 610mm torpedo T3—looks like you two now have your torpedoes covered; next up are those four purple tech boxes."