Chapter 823: Arrival

Donghuang Commander Academy port.

"Qin Ge, welcome home." This was the first thing Yixian said upon seeing Qin Ge.

Hearing this, Qin Ge was slightly stunned, then laughed, "Thank you, Yixian. Yeah, it's been a long time since I've been back."

"I had prepared a rather grand welcome ceremony for you, but now that you've chosen to land here, it seems our preparations were all for naught." Yixian smiled.

Qin Ge rubbed his nose, "Haha, sorry, I'm not really fond of big fanfare, and I'm too familiar with this port, so I'll just come ashore here."

"But this makes it difficult for me; I haven't prepared a reception for you here." Said the Prince of Wales, standing beside Yixian, laughing.

"When you're home, you don't need any welcome ceremony." Qin Ge laughed, "And there's no need for extra preparations, Dean—is my room still kept?"

"Huh, could it not be kept? Besides, that reception house has now become a tourist spot—the place where the outstanding commander who saved Donghuang from peril, Qin Ge, once lived." The Prince of Wales smiled.

"Eh? I said I'm still here, so things like my former residence..." Qin Ge was speechless.

"Haha, that's also unavoidable; after all, what you did before was truly impressive." Mikasa laughed.

Qin Ge chuckled, "I merely did what I was supposed to do, and I dare not forget a single word of what the Dean and everyone taught me."

"How long do you plan to stay this time?" Yixian asked.

"About a month or so. Anyway, after the Sirens went through the last Siren Tide, they won't recover quickly, so there's not much happening in the port area; I've left Enterprise and Emperor Frederick to hold down the port, which is enough."

"This time I plan to stay in Donghuang for about a month, then go to the Sakura Empire for a month, and then return." Qin Ge said.

Looking at the Sakura Empire fleet girls behind Qin Ge, Yixian nodded in understanding, "Actually, speaking of going to the Sakura Empire, now is the best time. This season is when the cherry blossoms bloom; if you go in May, the flowering season might already be over."

"Ha, I didn't expect Yixian to know this so well." Qin Ge laughed, "However, this time I'm preparing to go to the Sakura Empire's main island only; I don't have many plans for other places. There's a barrier set up by Zhang Men there, so you can see cherry blossoms whenever you go, so I don't really care about those timings."

"Only the main island? I thought you'd be taking your fleet girls on a tour around the Sakura Empire." Yixian said with a smile.

Qin Ge rubbed his nose, "Speaking of which, I haven't even been to many places around Donghuang here, let alone elsewhere."

Back when I first came to the Academy, I just stayed here; at most I'd go out on missions and could run a bit farther.

Then I went to Sun Moon Island and Guandao, didn't run around much, mostly staying in the port area. That was last year, when, due to the Siren Tide, I ran to many places, but only stayed briefly in each faction's cities before leaving.

Suddenly I realized I'm like a shut-in; once I get somewhere I just settle down, with no desire to go sightseeing..."

"Heh, that actually shows you're someone who can hold onto your nature." Yixian smiled.

"But it looks like you've gained many more fleet girls this time, and their auras are quite different."

Qin Ge nodded, "Indeed, I'll introduce them for you. You're already very familiar with Donghuang, and I won't go into detail about the few faction leaders."

"This one is the Sakura Empire's Musashi, this one is Island Wind, this one is the Vanguard from the Royal, this is the Iron Blood's Wu Er Li Xi Feng Hu Teng, and this one is from the Northern Union's Ka Lang Shi Ta De."

As Qin Ge introduced them, Yixian nodded to the crowd, "Being able to receive such a solemn introduction from you, Qin Ge, and sensing a faint aura from them, they must be maritime legends, right?"

Qin Ge chuckled, "Indeed, they are all maritime legends, and I still need to introduce a few more to you."

Qin Ge spoke, stepped aside, and let the few people behind Yujin come forward, "This is Yujin's Feilong, this is Reputation, and also the Counterstrike Sisters; they're all currently in my port area, I believe you all know that."

"Hmm, I heard Anshan report it when they came back." Yixian nodded solemnly, politely addressing the Feilong group, "It's a pleasure to meet you all, and I sincerely thank you for your efforts in the Siren Tide to save this world; on behalf of the Donghuang faction, I greet you all."

"Hello." The Feilong girls nodded and then said nothing more.

Qin Ge laughed, "That's just their personality; I hope you don't mind."

Yixian shook his head, smiling, "No problem, and they're already quite polite."

"The port wind is strong; let's go inside the school." The Prince of Wales smiled, "We have plenty of questions we want to ask you."

"Sure." Qin Ge readily agreed.

Soon, several people headed toward the school building. After arranging for others to go to the original reception house to rest temporarily, Qin Ge brought a few leaders and Yixian to the school's small meeting room.

"How's the Atlantic side right now?" As soon as they sat down, Yixian asked Qin Ge, "Communications haven't been restored yet; we don't have sufficient grasp of the situation over there. You just came back from there not long ago, so you must know something, right?"

Qin Ge nodded, "Actually, the situation for all major factions in this Siren Tide is roughly the same; overall, Donghuang and the Sakura Empire have suffered relatively light losses, while the White Eagle's long coastline means it suffered the most severe damage, and the remaining factions are about the same—after all, our involvement came far too late."

"And by the time we arrived, they had already prepared for a last-ditch effort, advancing deep into the Atlantic."

"It looks like everyone took heavy losses this time." Yixian said somewhat ruefully, "But if it's like this, the next Siren Tide will likely be even harder for all factions."

"Heh, actually the Sirens aren't doing great either; otherwise, after the Siren Tide has gone on this long, we wouldn't still have not spotted a single Siren in this sea area." Qin Ge laughed.

"Perhaps they're waiting for an opportunity to wipe us out in one fell swoop?" Yixian said.

Qin Ge shook his head, "Not for the time being; I've received reliable intel that the Sirens won't make any major moves in the next one or two years. Perhaps later we'll see mass-produced Siren types appear in the sea, but a Siren Tide won't happen for now."

"Eh, Qin Ge, why are you so certain? Who gave you this information?" The Prince of Wales asked.

"Well, the Purifiers..." Qin Ge rubbed his nose and said.

Yixian and the Prince of Wales exchanged glances, "Looks like there's still a lot we don't know."