Chapter 95: Guanghui

Early in the morning, a cargo ship stopped at the pier of Shenhua City amid long blasts of its whistle, and by then two people were already standing on the pier.

At that moment, a graceful figure appeared from the gangway of the cargo ship. She wore a white wide‑brimmed hat; beneath it were two neatly braided white plaits, and she was dressed in a white gauze dress. As a breeze blew, her smooth, fair skin could be glimpsed faintly through the dress.

However, these were not her most striking features; the two impressive mounds on her chest were what drew the most attention.

The beauty stood on the ship, gazing at the distant land, when she heard someone calling her from below the cargo ship. She looked toward the pier and saw a gold‑haired woman in a red uniform and a gold‑haired twin‑tailed girl standing there, waving at her.

She smiled warmly, descended from the cargo ship's hatch, and walked over to the two.

Seeing the beauty approach, the woman in the red uniform stepped forward and said, "Long time no see, Guanghui."

"Greetings, Your Royal Highness. It's an honor to have the prince himself come to meet me, Guanghui." The lady called Guanghui, very ladylike, said to the golden‑haired beauty, then turned to the girl beside her and said, "Greetings, Lady Admiral."

"You're doing well too, Guanghui," said the twin‑tailed golden‑haired girl.

From their conversation and forms of address, there was no doubt about their identities: the Dean of the Commander Academy, Prince of Wales; the Destroyer Instructor Lady Admiral; and the friend Prince of Wales had mentioned yesterday on the phone, Guanghui.

"You still love teasing me, don't you?" the Prince of Wales said, shaking his head helplessly at Guanghui.

"How could I?" Guanghui said with a smile.

"But why didn't you take a passenger ship and come on a freighter instead?" the Prince of Wales asked.

Guanghui explained, "I had considered taking a passenger ship, but the Maritime Affairs Bureau there had a mission to this place, so I just took it along; the speed is about the same anyway."

"All right, the journey has been tiring; let's head back to the academy together," said the Prince of Wales.

"Hehe, naturally." Guanghui said, and she, the Prince of Wales, and the Lady Admiral got into the car parked beside the pier; the Lady Admiral drove, taking the two of them toward the Commander Academy.

On the way, the Prince of Wales asked Guanghui, "How is the situation at the front?"

"As the Dean of the Commander Academy, not knowing the front‑line intel would be dereliction of duty, Prince of Wales," Guanghui said with a smile.

"I naturally know the front‑line situation; you know what I'm asking about," the Prince of Wales said, laughing.

Guanghui gave a faint smile, then her expression grew solemn as she said, "It's still the same as before: the number of Free Shipgirls remains constant; even if some are sunk in battle, new Free Shipgirls replace them. Whether they come from the coast to the front or are gained during front‑line operations."

"Who let you look down on those new commanders? The front line lacks shipgirls and firepower the most. And experienced commanders usually already have their shipgirls, so they can't recruit duplicate‑named shipgirls into their fleets," the Prince of Wales sighed.

"Perhaps they've been alone too long and aren't used to joining a fleet," Guanghui sighed.

"I don't worry about them; what about you? Have you found a suitable commander?" the Prince of Wales asked.

Guanghui shook her head. "No, but there was a commander who was quite good before—too bad he's a lolicon."

"Cough…" the Prince of Wales couldn't help coughing at Guanghui's words, earning her an exasperated look and a low chuckle from the Lady Admiral driving ahead.

The Prince of Wales composed himself and told Guanghui, "Actually, the person I've assigned you to protect this time is an exceptionally outstanding commander."

Guanghui asked curiously, "Prince of Wales, you've praised this commander's excellence twice already—just what kind of person earns such praise from you?"

At that moment, the Lady Admiral driving ahead said, "You're not going to say it's Commander Qin Ge, are you, Dean?"

"Yeah, it's him. Besides him, do you think anyone else in the academy is worthy of my recommendation to you, Guanghui?" the Prince of Wales said.

"Do you know this too, Lady Admiral?" Guanghui asked the Lady Admiral.

"As for Commander Qin Ge, I do know a bit, since I live close to him, and not long ago he consulted me on many points while writing his teaching material," the Lady Admiral said.

"He is indeed the most outstanding commander I've seen in my teaching career—excellent in both overall strategy and detail."

Guanghui grew even more curious: "Even you say that, but I heard the Prince of Wales say he's just a rookie commander—how outstanding can he possibly be?"

At that point, the Prince of Wales took over: "Do you know about the triangle tactic and the three‑three system formation that have recently become popular on the front lines and in the major fleets?"

"I do," Guanghui replied. "This year's Siren Tide on the front lines achieved its greatest success in years thanks to holding fast with those two tactics; otherwise I'd probably still be out there."

The Prince of Wales smiled. "Those two tactics come from Qin Ge."

"Ah?!" Guanghui covered her mouth, staring at the Prince of Wales in shock. "Really?"

The Prince of Wales helplessly shook his head. "Do you think I'd need to lie to you about this?"

"Heh heh~" Seeing the Prince of Wales' vexation, the Lady Admiral driving ahead laughed. "A normal dean, after all, Commander Qin Ge seems downright unbelievable to us who constantly see all kinds of commanders."

The Prince of Wales nodded. "That's right; he even summoned the Sardinian Empire's flagship, Vittorio Veneto, yesterday."

"Ah?!" Guanghui was even more astonished. "Is he a miracle?"

Seeing Guanghui's shocked expression, the Prince of Wales naturally understood—after all, she had just exclaimed in utter astonishment when she learned the news. As for whether anyone else has managed to summon something since, she doesn't know, but Qin Ge's feat is already unprecedented.

"Moreover, he now has six shipgirls, five of them gold‑rarity super‑rare. And who knows—maybe next time he'll be able to summon a namesake ship for you, Guanghui. That's why, realizing you still lack a commander, I decided to have you come as his bodyguard."

"You should know, commanders like this are once‑in‑a‑lifetime finds, Guanghui—if you miss this chance, you may never find a suitable one for the rest of your life."

Guanghui watched the smile in the Prince of Wales' eyes, then suddenly felt a chill run down her back.