Elder brother's garrison

Page 942

unconsciously.

Three poles in the sun.

Inside the small white building next to the Admiral's Guild.

Duan Shuiliu sat at his desk, propping his chin on his hand and looking down at the farewell letters lined up on his desk, lost in thought.

These farewell letters were handed to Duan Shuiliu by the ship girls from the military police, one by one, who came to Duan Shuiliu's office this morning. With tears in their eyes, they held Duan Shuiliu's hand, calling her "good sister" repeatedly.

This time.

Duan Shuiliu, who originally arrived at Chapter Six with a fully armed force including the garrison headquarters' troops and the military police, was originally accompanied by his troops.

In the blink of an eye.

Duan Shuiliu was the only one left.

In the quiet office.

A large suitcase was placed next to Duan Shuiliu's desk.

Duan Shuiliu quietly lowered his head, staring silently at the farewell letter on the table.

These farewell letters contained the names of the military police ship girls.

The farewell letter closest to Duan Shuiliu contained the words "Kang Fusi".

Duan Shuiliu gently stroked a corner of Convers' farewell letter with his index finger.

After a long time.

Duan Shuiliu glanced at his watch, then picked up the letters one by one, bent down, unzipped the suitcase next to him, and put the letters into the suitcase's inner compartment, keeping them safe.

The sound of footsteps echoed from outside the stairwell.

The next second, Xiao Bai, dressed in white, barged into Duan Shuiliu's office.

"Sister Duan! Are you there?" Xiaobai called out to the people inside the house.

Duan Shuiliu raised his head and looked towards the doorway.

Xiao Bai, panting slightly, jogged step by step to Duan Shuiliu's table.

"They've arrived at your place by now, haven't they?"

Before Xiaobai could speak, Duan Shuiliu asked her a question.

"Okay!" Xiaobai knew Duan Shuiliu was referring to the ship girls from the military police force, and she nodded quickly. "Convers and the others have arrived. Anyway, I had breakfast with them first, then chatted with them for a while, and finally introduced them to my other ship girls. Hood said she would take good care of those ship girls, and Washington also said they have a good foundation and she would take responsibility for training them well..."

"That's good." Duan Shuiliu nodded.

"...Uh." Xiaobai was silent for a moment, then scratched her head and looked at the packed suitcase next to Duan Shuiliu. Her tone was slightly disappointed. "Um, Sister Duan, are you...already getting ready to leave?"

"Yes. I'm leaving soon." Duan Shuiliu nodded. "The car outside the city is already waiting for me."

"Well, I made it in time. Actually, I came to see Sister Duan off. Let me help Sister Duan with her luggage!" Xiao Bai said, and quickly walked to Duan Shuiliu's side.

"No need. It's too heavy."

Duan Shuiliu reached out and patted Xiaobai's head, shaking his head to indicate that he was fine.

"It's okay, I'm very strong! Let me help you carry it, Sister Duan!"

"No need really."

"...Please let me help you this once, Sister Duan..." Xiaobai raised her hand and held Duan Shuiliu's hand that was covering her head, her voice pleading.

Duan Shuiliu paused, touching Xiaobai's arm.

After a while, Duan Shuiliu silently withdrew his hand and did not refuse again.

Xiao Bai smiled.

Xiaobai squatted down, zipped up the suitcase that was halfway open, then picked up the large suitcase and moved it to her side.

"Look, Sister Duan, I'm equipped with ship gear, I'm really strong. This kind of suitcase isn't heavy at all," Xiaobai said to Duan Shuiliu, as if to prove that she was fine.

Duan Shuiliu nodded slightly and stood up.

Xiao Bai dragged her heavy suitcase and walked out of the white building with Duan Shuiliu.

Chapter 1233 The city streets were bustling after the event ended and the sea was calmed.

The admirals became completely idle, strolling around the streets with their ship girls, visiting various stalls and having fun.

The crowd was so dense it resembled a flowing river, a dark mass stretching from one end of the street to the other.

Xiao Bai and Duan Shuiliu walked into the crowd one on the left and one on the right, following the flow of people towards the city's exit.

With such a large crowd, no one recognized Xiaobai and Duan Shuiliu.

The streets were filled with the cheerful and peaceful sounds of the admiral and the ship girls.

Xiao Bai and Duan Shuiliu passed by the entrance of the Admiral's Guild.

"Sister Duan, speaking of which, are you just going to let me know before you leave for the Admiral's Guild later?"

"No need, I'm not part of the Admiral's Guild."

"Oh……"

Xiao Bai and Duan Shuiliu passed by the Admiral's Guild and walked a little further ahead.

Xiao Bai secretly glanced at Duan Shuiliu's face.

Duan Shuiliu turned his head and looked at Xiaobai beside him.

"Would you like some candied hawthorn?" Duan Shuiliu pointed to the snack stall not far away.

"Huh? No need... It wouldn't be good if the candied hawthorn got hit by the destroyer, it would get my clothes dirty..."

Duan Shuiliu gave a soft "oh" and then lowered his arm.

There was a brief silence between Xiaobai and Duan Shuiliu.

The atmosphere was somewhat awkward.

Neither Xiaobai nor Duan Shuiliu are the type to initiate discussions.

When these two walk together, they often manage to find a topic to talk about, but before the conversation can develop further, it ends.

Standing on the bustling street, Xiaobai and Duan Shuiliu remained silent, unsure of what to say.

"...If you don't mind, tell me a story." Finally, Duan Shuiliu seemed to realize the awkwardness between the two of them. She turned her head and asked Xiaobai beside her.

"Okay, what does Sister Duan want to hear?" Xiao Bai nodded quickly, indicating that she had several fairy tale books in her belly.

"It's fine as long as it's about you and your ship girl."

"Huh? Uh... it's possible... but it might not be interesting..." Xiaobai scratched his head.

"fine."

"Then... how about I tell you my story with Saratoga, Sister Duan?"

"I'm really looking forward to it," Duan Shuiliu nodded.

Xiao Bai sorted out her emotions.

"Saratoga was the second ship girl I saw when I entered the newbie naval base. At that time, she didn't like me..." Xiaobai opened her mouth and began to talk to Duan Shuiliu.

Duan Shuiliu and Xiaobai walked side by side down the street. Xiaobai smiled and told Duan Shuiliu the story between herself and Saratoga. Although the story Xiaobai told involved a lot of plots that would shatter the worldview of ordinary admirals, it sounded more like a fairy tale from Xiaobai's perspective than a true story, and was much easier to accept.

Duan Shuiliu listened quietly to Xiaobai's story, nodding occasionally and glancing at Xiaobai's face as if to indicate that she was listening.

The story between Little White and Saratoga is long.

If Xiaobai were to really explain everything in detail, she could even recite a novel of over 200,000 words.

Just as Xiaobai was beginning her story, before she even got to the part about being kidnapped by Muxi, Xiaobai and Duan Shuiliu had already followed the flow of people to the city gate.

"How did things go after the banquet?" Duan Shuiliu stopped and asked Xiaobai.

It seems that Duan Shuiliu has no intention of leaving the city before hearing Xiaobai's long story.

"Uh... later, um... later Saratoga and I reached a consensus, to look at the flowers and plants, look at the starry sky and stuff, and eventually we became good friends, and the banquet ended peacefully!" To avoid making Duan Shuiliu late, Xiaobai smiled awkwardly and hastily ended her story, "That's, that's all."

“…A very good story.” Duan Shuiliu paused for a moment, then nodded.

Standing at the city gate, Xiaobai could vaguely see several large off-road vehicles outside the city, which seemed to be prepared for Duan Shuiliu.

Xiao Bai raised her hand, lowered her head, and returned Duan Shuiliu's luggage to Duan Shuiliu with a slightly dejected expression.

Seeing Xiaobai's listless appearance, Duan Shuiliu didn't reach out to take his luggage. Instead, he squatted down and reached out to pat Xiaobai's head.

"From the moment I saw you today, you seemed to have something to say," Duan Shuiliu said, stroking Xiaobai's head. "What's wrong?"

"..." Xiaobai lowered her head and nodded slightly, "Sister Duan... um. Thank you."

"..."

“I am very grateful to the garrison that took me in, Sister Duan… Thank you for your trust, Sister Duan… And…” Xiao Bai said, reaching out to tug at Duan Shuiliu’s clothes, “And… even Kang Fusi and the others… were… strangely embarrassed…”

"..." Duan Shuiliu paused, a hint of understanding in his eyes.

This is what Xiaobai has always been embarrassed about.

—It seems that Duan Shuiliu had considered Xiaobai's situation before transferring his ship girls to her. He gave his ship girls a final order, similar to telling them to stay by Xiaobai's side and not to see him off. This applied to both the military police ship girls and the ship girls from the naval base.

Although Duan Shuiliu did give up his admiral position voluntarily and gave his ship girls to Xiaobai, and the ship girls themselves were quite willing to switch to the newbie naval base, no matter what, seeing Duan Shuiliu go from being surrounded by ship girls at the beginning to now having to carry his own luggage and leaving Chapter Six alone is still a shock.

Xiao Bai still felt a little sad.

There was some inexplicable inner turmoil and guilt.

I just feel uncomfortable.

I felt like I had let Duan Shuiliu down.

Xiao Bai was looking down.

Duan Shuiliu reached out and gently lifted Xiaobai's face.

"No apologies allowed," Duan Shuiliu said softly to Xiaobai.

"Hmm..." Xiaobai said.

Duan Shuiliu cupped Xiaobai's face in his hands, shook her head slightly, picked up her luggage, and opened her suitcase.

"noob."

"what……?"

"I should be thanking you." Duan Shuiliu pulled hard on his suitcase and turned it over in front of Xiaobai.

哗 啦 啦 啦 啦

For a while.

A large number of envelopes poured out of Duan Shuiliu's suitcase, forming a small hill of envelopes in front of Xiaobai.

"Eh? Sister Duan, what are these...?"

"A farewell letter." Duan Shuiliu picked up the farewell letter at the top, turned it around, and handed it to Xiaobai.

Xiao Bai subconsciously accepted the letter that Duan Shuiliu handed over.

The farewell letter contained the name of a ship girl.

Xiao Bai remembered this ship girl; she was one of the ship girls that Duan Shuiliu had sent to his home the day before.

“It’s me… now your ship girls. They wrote this to me when they left my side,” Duan Shuiliu said. “And there’s also a copy for the kids from the military police.”

"……what……"

"There are seventy-two of these in total." Duan Shuiliu looked at the small hill piled up in front of him and said to Xiaobai, "These are the farewell letters left to me by the ship girls who joined your naval base and chose the life of ship girls."

"..."

"Sixty-eight," Duan Shuiliu said, taking Xiaobai's hand.

Sixty-eight?

"Sixty-eight is... the number of ship girls who retired from my naval base over the past ten years, plus those from the military police who completely lost hope in their bond with the admiral and ship girls, and thus chose to dismantle their ship equipment—and then leave alone to go to human society," Duan Shuiliu said.

At this point, Duan Shuiliu tightened his grip on Xiaobai's hand slightly.

"Those sixty-eight are... the number of ship girls I couldn't save or heal." Duan Shuiliu held Xiaobai's hand and showed her a sad expression.