Elder brother's garrison

Page 2129

Apart from the six black-robed ship girls who were initially knocked down by Montana, the remaining twenty black-robed ship girls acted swiftly in that instant. They pulled out chains from their ship equipment space and rapidly approached Montana, the chains whistling as they swung through the air.

The crisp sounds of metal scraping and colliding rose and fell in the howling sea breeze.

Whoosh whoosh—

The black-robed ship girls flashed forward.

Chains were thrown out by the black-robed ship girls, like venomous snakes hunting their prey, swiftly coiling around Montana.

In a few blinks.

Under the control of the black-robed ship girls, chains tightly wrapped around Montana's waist, thighs, arms, wrists, and even neck.

The black-robed ship girls pulled hard on Montana, and a crisp rattling sound rang out as they pulled Montana's arms apart, while the chains around her neck tightened considerably.

Montana squinted uncomfortably in one eye, his head tilting slightly to one side as the chains pulled him along.

Seeing Montana tightly bound by chains, the black-robed ship girls controlling the chains breathed a sigh of relief, but their eyes remained vigilant, and they maintained a firm grip on the chains, not giving Montana a chance to break free.

“That’s right, it’s an electromagnetic pulse grenade, commonly known as… an EMP grenade.” A black-robed ship girl without control chains stepped forward and approached Montana, saying slowly, “Salvage ship girl… no, Montana, your powerful equipment should have malfunctioned by now, so without it, no matter how strong you are, you’re just an ordinary top-tier ship girl.”

At this point, the black-robed ship girl paused her speech. She first quietly observed Montana's chained posture for a while before continuing to speak to Montana.

"The chains we're binding you with are restraints made from fragments of retired ship girls' equipment. These chains are now perfectly bound to you, and you absolutely cannot break free on your own. Therefore, according to the combat rules for salvaging ship girls—this battle with you will end in our victory."

After the leading black-robed ship girl finished speaking, she stood still and quietly looked at Montana.

The howling sea breeze swept across the waves, washing over Montana's gradually fading body.

Montana tried to struggle against the chains binding her.

Sensing Montana's actions, the black-robed ship girls around them all turned cold and yanked their chains hard.

A crisp cracking sound rang out.

Montana looked like a prisoner about to be torn apart by five horses, her arms pulled out in two directions, the chain around her neck tightened, and the chains around her waist, thighs, and chest exerted tremendous force, causing her to be pulled to the limit to balance the force, and she was lifted directly off the water.

Montana swayed, and then she suddenly laughed.

"Chains made by ship girls again, EMP grenades... You guys really put a lot of effort into me."

Montana didn't seem to be talking to anyone; his eyes were blurry as he stared ahead.

"Montana, your strength is evident to all. As an individual ship girl, your power is beyond doubt." Seeing that Montana had no further resistance, the leading black-robed ship girl stepped forward with peace of mind and said to her, "But we also know that your strength is only in the aspect of fighting against the Abyss. Your equipment is versatile and powerful, but in the end, it is only one of the weapons that helps you defeat the Abyss. While this equipment can certainly play a significant role in battles similar to those in the Abyss, our admiral believes that it is far from being comprehensive enough for battles outside the Abyss."

At this point, the black-robed ship girl reached behind her waist and pulled out a grenade, which she then showed to Montana.

"EMP grenades, also known as electromagnetic pulse grenades, are special weapons that are only used to a certain extent in wars between humans. Furthermore, these weapons incorporate some advanced ship girl technology, making them more powerful and easier to carry than previous models," the black-robed ship girl said. "Montana, you and I both know that no Abyssal ship in this world would use electromagnetic pulse attacks, so your equipment naturally wouldn't have EMP resistance—although this was our admiral's guess, judging from the current situation, he finally guessed right."

"Remove my equipment... that's certainly a good idea." Montana thought for a moment and said to the black-card ship girls, "But do you remember the rule that I can only be challenged once per naval base?"

"Of course we do."

"Even so, you still want to restrain me?"

"Those six ship girls who challenged you before..." The black-robed ship girl closed her eyes and said coldly to Montana, "Before tonight's operation, they had already been expelled from our naval base by our admiral. In order to make the rule that the same naval base can only be challenged once effective, they will not return to our naval base in the future. Therefore, in a sense, they are not from the same naval base as us."

"..." Montana frowned slightly upon hearing this. "Your admiral is actually willing to sacrifice six ship girls in order to defeat me?"

“He believes this will be a good deal.” The black-robed ship girl opened her eyes and said to Montana, “Montana, your value alone far exceeds that of six ship girls. Our admiral is even willing to give up the entire naval base, including us, in order to get you.”

"Aren't you bothered that your admiral is using you as a tool for consumption?"

"Because we are the Admiral's ship girls, as ship girls, we should dedicate everything to the Admiral." The black-robed ship girl stared at Montana, her voice without a trace of emotion. "Our strength, our loyalty, our souls are all weapons used by our Admiral. If the Admiral were to pass away, we would be willing to follow in his footsteps and sink into the lonely sea without any regrets."

The sea breeze subsided at this moment.

Only the creaking of the chains remained in the air.

Montana, chained in mid-air, remained expressionless.

The black-robed ship girl tilted her head back and quietly watched Montana.

"...Don't you have any sense of self?"

"Self-centeredness is unnecessary," the black-robed ship girl said calmly. "As ship girls, we should obey the admiral's orders. This is our duty and our reason for being."

Chapter 2993 Ants... Don't Know What's Good for Them

Montana quietly met the gaze of the leading black-robed ship girl.

After a long time.

Montana then sighed slightly.

"I see. It seems that even in this era... there are still such selfish admirals."

"Our engagement with the admiral was voluntary."

"I'm not denying your value. Although I don't understand you, I will respect your opinions." Montana moved the chain around her neck with her chin, shook her head with some effort, and then looked at the black-robed ship girl, saying, "But speaking of which, I'm a little curious. What exactly happened to your admiral that made him willing to go to such lengths and take such risks to obtain me?"

"...Because," the black-robed ship girl paused for a moment, "...your existence can save our admiral's life."

“I’m sorry, as you said before, my equipment will only be equipped with functions related to deep-sea combat. As for medical capabilities, I’m afraid I can’t help you with that,” Montana replied.

“That’s not what I meant.” The black-robed ship girl looked up and stared into Montana’s eyes. “Our admiral has offended a certain lord and is now at the lowest point in his life. The darkness that can devour him will arrive in the near future. Therefore, your existence is necessary to extricate him from this situation.”

"Can I offer your admiral assistance?"

"Yes, you are a salvage ship girl, the strongest among the three special ship girls," the black-robed ship girl said. "To obtain you is to obtain the entire world. Even the throne of the world's number one admiral is not impossible in the future. If you can join our naval base and become our admiral, then our admiral's status will leap from prisoner to near-world's number one admiral. At that time, if he makes a slight concession, the world will re-evaluate his value, and he will be able to escape from the lowest point in his life."

“I see.” Montana nodded.

"I'm willing to talk to you so much because it's at the behest of our admiral." The black-robed ship girl extended her palm to Montana. "Join us, Montana."

“…Ha…” Montana closed his eyes and laughed.

"...Montana, we are waiting for your reply."

"Ok, I know."

"I hope you won't do anything that would break our unity," the black-robed ship girl said. "Now that your equipment is malfunctioning and your body is bound by ship girl chains, we have the advantage in numbers. If we wanted, we could have hung you in mid-air, bombarded you until you were unconscious, and then taken you back—the reason we haven't is to give you a chance to surrender voluntarily. This is our admiral's mercy, and we hope you can accept it."

"...Is it the Admiral's mercy?" Montana murmured, the black-robed ship girl's words lingering in her eyes. "Sigh..."

You seem dissatisfied.

“Of course I’m not satisfied.” Montana said, looking at the black-robed ship girl. “According to what you just said, your admiral seems to be using me as a hostage to exchange for his life, right?”

"...We didn't say that."

“Your meaning is quite clear,” Montana said. “If I become one of your ship girls, then given your current state, I would probably be brainwashed by your admiral just like you, becoming a ship girl willing to dedicate everything to him, even her life, right? In that case, as long as he tells everyone after this is over that if I die, Montana will go with me, then those who value salvaging ship girls will probably start to reconsider the outcome of your admiral’s trial.”

"..." The black-robed ship girl looked at Montana in silence. After a long while, she slowly opened her mouth, "...These are all your guesses."

“Just fool your sisters, don’t fool yourself,” Montana said. “You should know better than I what your admiral will do.”

"..." The black-robed ship girl frowned. "Montana, our conversation has gone on for too long. You should come back with us to see the admiral."

"Your admiral is even more...hypocritical, selfish, insidious, and despicable than I imagined."

"Montana!" The black-robed ship girl's gaze towards Montana began to turn angry and fierce.

Upon hearing this, the black-robed ship girls around them all pulled hard on their chains.

In an instant, a crisp creaking sound rang out from Montana's body.

Montana's limbs were violently pulled apart by the chains, the chains on his body tightened one by one, and the chain around his neck began to pull backward.

Montana tilted his head back as the chains pulled him down with great force, his body creaking and groaning.

"I thought you would be a smart ship girl, because from the moment you appeared, you were friendly to everyone. I thought we could be friends." The black-robed ship girl looked coldly at Montana. "But your performance was really too stupid. You lost your equipment and were tied up here by us. Your defeat was just a matter of whether we were willing to shell you or not. Since you are not willing to accept this favor and admit defeat, then we will not be polite."

The black-robed ship girl slowly raised her hand as she finished speaking.

The black-robed ship girls who were controlling the chains around them released their ship equipment in unison, and twenty main cannons were aimed at Montana, who was hanging in mid-air.

"We are going to... utterly defeat you and then take you back!"

Amidst the black-robed ship girl's cold snort, all twenty main cannons simultaneously ignited with a blazing red light.

……

Under the sea.

Little White, inside the bubble, held the crystal ball and watched what was happening inside, utterly astonished.

"Oh no! Oh no, oh no, oh no... This is bad!"

Little White threw the crystal ball aside and quickly ran to the edge of the bubble, patting the bubble's walls.

"Deep Sea Will, something terrible has happened! Montana has been outmaneuvered!"

"Admiral Ke Yuan's ship girls have really pulled out some weird stuff to target Montana!"

"We have to hurry and save her!"

"If we're too late, Montana might become Admiral Ke Yuan's ship girl!"

Xiao Bai sounded particularly anxious when he said the last sentence.

However, no matter how much Xiaobai touched the bubble wall, the bubble enveloping her remained completely still.

"The will of the deep sea? The will of the deep sea!"

Why are you just watching?

"Deep Sea Will, the situation is extremely urgent! Get up there quickly, we're running out of time!"

Little White lay on the wall, blowing its little fists against the water's surface.

However, at that moment, a voice rang out behind Xiaobai.

"Don't worry."

The spiritual entity of the Deep Sea Will appeared behind Xiaobai, crossed its arms, and spoke to Xiaobai.

Little White quickly turned around and hopped and skipped in front of the Will of the Deep Sea.

"Deep Sea Will, you've finally emerged!"

"Don't rush. If you go now, you'll be falling into someone else's trap." The Deep Sea Will shook her head and beckoned to the crystal ball on the ground. A seawater tentacle dragged the crystal ball between Little White and the Deep Sea Will. "Have you forgotten what Montana said before? The ownership of salvaged ship girls is governed by a set of unwritten rules, which have nothing to do with her own wishes. Montana is currently fighting with other ship girls, and the outcome of the battle is still pending. If you suddenly appear and help Montana as her friend, then Montana will be breaking the rules."

"A foul...?" Xiaobai was stunned.

“Foul...that means you lose.” Deep Sea Will said, “If you make a move now, even if you defeat those Ke Yuan’s ship girls, Montana will become Ke Yuan’s ship girl under this set of rules.”

"But... but... didn't the Ke Yuan family's ship girls break the rules too?!"

“No, not really.” Deep Sea Will shook its head. “Every move they make is perfectly within the rules. Even when Montana agreed to fight them, both groups of ship girls were present at the same time, so they all had the right to challenge them.”

"Then...then, does that mean we can only wait for Montana to be defeated..."

"I already told you, don't panic." The Will of the Deep Sea shook her head, reached out, and tapped the crystal ball. "If you encounter an emergency, think it over. Do you remember what Jean Bart told you before?"

"...?"

……

On the sea, twenty main cannons were aimed at Montana from afar.

The heat rose.

Montana, chained up, had her head down, making it impossible to see her face.

"Montana, welcome to our team." The leading black-robed ship girl raised her arm and said to Montana, "Consider these twenty shells as a... show of force for newcomers joining the naval base. Please make sure you feel them well."

"what……"

Suddenly, Montana, who was chained up, chuckled.

"...What are you laughing at?" The black-robed ship girl frowned.

“...You...seem to really think that you can defeat me after you disable my equipment.” Montana lowered her head, her twin ponytails swaying in the cold wind.

"What else? Without your equipment, you're just an ordinary top-tier ship girl!"

"The equipment you're referring to... is it the standard tactical jacket?"

"...?"

"It seems there's some misunderstanding between us," Montana said slowly, raising her head and slightly raising her pupils as she addressed the black-robed ship girls. "...It seems... in your eyes, this equipment represents my entire fighting strength?"

"..."

"Your so-called admiral who is all-knowing is nothing more than this."

“Looks like I need to explain.” Montana spoke, and with a slight pull of her hands, the chains binding her arms produced a teeth-grinding scraping sound. The two black-robed ship girls controlling the chains on their arms nearby gasped in surprise and were dragged a few steps toward Montana. “—Actually, what you consider amazing equipment… is just, in my understanding, the basic equipment that every frontline combatant on the battlefield is equipped with.”