"Fried chicken and hamburgers!?"
Lin Lan closed his eyes and took a deep sniff of the aroma, then opened them wide, his eyes shining with excitement:
"It's been a long time since I've had fast food—time to change things up!"
He had been eating Iron Blood cuisine cooked by Roon and the others every day while in Iron Blood.
Though he wasn't tired of it, claiming not to miss the food from other factions would be a lie.
And what's the most famous food from Eagle Union?
Of course, it's fried food like hamburgers and fried chicken!
Although Eagle Union cuisine includes more than just that—steak, hot dogs, lobster, cream cakes, salads, and all kinds of rich dishes.
Still, as someone from Asia, the first thing that came to mind when thinking of Eagle Union food was undoubtedly fast food.
"Commander, are you hungry? Let's head down quickly then."
Seeing the joy on Lin Lan's face, Intrepid smiled and took his hand, and the three of them hurried back to the lounge.
Bang!
As soon as Lin Lan stepped into the lounge, he heard a muffled sound, and colorful streamers rained down from above.
"Commander, welcome home!"
A chorus of cheerful voices rang out—it turned out to be the Benson-class little ships who had prepared a surprise for him with handheld streamer poppers.
Cleveland happily stepped forward and gave Lin Lan a big hug.
"Commander! Let me see if you've gotten thinner in Iron Blood, hehehe!"
As Cleveland rubbed her face against his chest, Lin Lan gently patted her head and teased with a smile:
"You make it sound like I was being tortured in Iron Blood."
"Everyone was saying your body would probably get worn out there. Looks like you actually managed some self-control after all."
Denver chimed in with a mischievous grin, making Lin Lan's smile stiffen a little. He quickly straightened up and said seriously:
"Do I look like that kind of person? You guys really think too poorly of me."
"Well, that's hard to say. Commander, think about it—who among us hasn't been harassed by you? Back when we were your secretary ships, who didn't get groped a little?"
The fourth Cleveland-class sister gave him a knowing look, patting Lin Lan on the shoulder while holding back laughter:
"Let's be honest—if you started acting properly, you wouldn't be the commander we know."
Flushing slightly as Cleveland let go, Lin Lan reached up and gave the silver-haired tomboyish sea knight's head a rough ruffle.
Back in Iron Blood, he'd already been teased by Prinz Eugen and the others about his disgraceful in-game behavior in the past.
Who knew it was even worse here in Eagle Union.
"Commander's hungry already. Let him fill up first, then you can all catch up properly."
Thanks to Intrepid's arrangement, Lin Lan was finally seated in front of a table full of Eagle Union-style dishes.
Golden, crispy fried chicken, steaming hot beef hamburgers, red oil-glazed lobsters, Hawaiian-style pineapple pizza, and various fresh fruit and vegetable salads…
And one dish that didn't match the others at all—navy curry.
Wait—navy curry?
Lin Lan stared blankly at the plate of rice with a tiny heart-flag stuck in it and thought carefully.
He confirmed—it was the exact same supply item from the game's dormitory!
He couldn't help pointing at the curry and turning to look at Laffey, who was sitting beside him:
"Isn't navy curry a Sakura Empire specialty? Why do you guys have it too?"
"Commander, you don't like it…? Yawn~ Laffey specially learned it from Ayanami. You always liked feeding this dish to the dorm mates back then, so I figured you must like it a lot..."
The sleepy white-haired little girl looked at Lin Lan with hopeful eyes, struggling to stay awake as she explained seriously.
Well, as someone from China, navy curry was still a dish he could eat.
Thinking about how lazy little Laffey had personally cooked this for him—it probably used up several days' worth of her energy—Lin Lan decided this should be the first dish he tasted.
And he had to admit, Laffey's navy curry was far better than the curry takeout he used to eat on Blue Star, both in color and aroma.
No comparison, really.
Under everyone's eager gaze, Lin Lan scooped up a spoonful of the curry and took a bite, chewing carefully.
"Mmm! Not bad, Laffey, you really got the essence! It's delicious!"
As soon as the curry entered his mouth, the unique fragrance of the curry spread across his palate, immediately whetting his appetite.
He gave Laffey a big thumbs up.
"Commander… as long as you like it."
Laffey smiled sweetly, her sleepy face lighting up with joy as she saw Lin Lan's expression.
"Commander, you don't know—just to help Laffey make good curry, us Benson sisters had to eat a lot of failed attempts. But now it's all worth it, hehe!"
Hobby, the black-bunny-ear headband-wearing little star of the Benson class, winked playfully and told Lin Lan all about Laffey's efforts.
Hearing this, Lin Lan was even more touched and gently rubbed Laffey's cheek.
"Mmmph… Commander, don't rub Laffey's face… eat first…"
Looking at the adorable Laffey, Lin Lan couldn't help but sigh—Laffey really was his little angel.
No, correction—all destroyers were little angels.
He suddenly understood why the Royal Ark was a chibicon. He used to be biased against his good prison buddy Royal Ark—how shallow of him.
Next time he returns to the old port, he must apologize to Royal Ark!
With the Eagle Union shipgirls by his side, Lin Lan quickly cleaned off all the food on the table.
Of course, dessert wasn't forgotten—cream cake by the twelfth Cleveland-class sister, Biloxi, and specialty ice cream by red-haired, short-haired sixth sister Birmingham, the ice cream fanatic.
And the most iconic Eagle Union drink—ice-cold cola, or as they called it, "fat otaku happy water."
Thankfully, what the Eagle Union girls drank was normal cola—not that weird dormitory "oxygen cola."
Honestly, Lin Lan had always wondered if the dormitory food items in the game were even edible—oxygen cola, special coolant...
And the so-called Royal Cuisine that looked more like Lovecraftian horror under the label "Stargazing Pie."
Now that he thought about it, those were probably just gags from the game developers. Yeah, definitely.
As a proper port commander, what should he do after a good meal?
Naturally, cuddle with his shipgirls.
"Commander, we're traveling tomorrow, so no alcohol tonight, okay?"
After the Manjus cleared the table, the sky had already turned to dusk.
Seeing Lin Lan on the sofa, covered in bunny-eared little girls, Intrepid couldn't help but giggle.
"Yeah, I'm not addicted to alcohol. I'll wait till we get back to your HQ."
Lin Lan now leaned back on the sofa, with his legs serving as pillows for Hobby and Laffey.
Energetic Benson and the red-haired, ponytailed Bailey each hugged one of his arms.
And finally, the tiny blond twin-tailed, blue-eyed Kalk climbed onto Lin Lan's back and affectionately played with his hair.
At the mention of alcohol, Lin Lan instinctively recalled his... unforgettable times with the three Hipper sisters at the Iron Blood fortress and shuddered inwardly.
Drinking leads to trouble. Drinking leads to trouble.
Earlier while he was eating, Intrepid had already told everyone that they would be leaving this military base tomorrow and heading back to HQ.
The sea knight and the little girls were naturally overjoyed.
After all, this place was too boring. Now that the commander had been found, it was time to go home.
As for if the Sirens came to take the commander again...
Cleveland's answer was simple—if the Sirens wanted him, they'd have to deal with Eagle Union's ship cannons and aircraft first.
"Since everyone's here, Montpelier! Where's that Sardegna camera you borrowed from Alfredo with Columbia? Hurry up, let's take a group photo with the commander!"
Seeing Lin Lan surrounded by little girls, Cleveland suddenly thought of a good idea and grinned at Montpelier, who was also staring at Lin Lan in a daze.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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