The once gentle and graceful Yorktown, now empowered by the II-class ship equipment, had gained a new strength.
It wasn't just Yorktown—Hornet, Northampton, Hammann, and Langley had all undergone transformations, gaining new power through the II-class ship equipment as well.
Lin Lan watched as Yorktown approached him and gently bent down to hold him in her arms.
He breathed in the soft fragrance of rose-scented flowers from Yorktown's body, and her gentle embrace enveloped him.
Lin Lan closed his eyes slightly, enjoying the warmth of her arms.
"It's good that you're back, Commander. I'm just glad you're back," Yorktown whispered.
Feeling Yorktown's hand gently stroke his head, Lin Lan spoke softly, "Sorry, I made you all worry about me."
"Compared to the care and companionship you've given all of us, what we did for you isn't even worth mentioning. So, Commander, there's no need to apologize," Yorktown replied.
Yorktown released Lin Lan from her embrace, her pure lake-blue eyes gazing at him as she smiled, her fair face radiating happiness.
She reached out and lightly combed his hair, continuing, "Commander, could you tell us your story? Your eyes tell us you've been through a lot."
Upon hearing Yorktown's words, Hornet moved aside to make room for Yorktown's older and younger sisters, so they could sit beside the Commander.
Hornet then took off her black boots, jumped onto the bed, and wrapped her arms around Lin Lan from behind.
Enterprise also looked at Lin Lan with her purple eyes, eagerly awaiting him to share his experiences.
They were all so eager to know what had happened after the Commander left the port area and why he had left in the first place.
Surrounded by the three sisters and with Yorktown gently holding his hand, Lin Lan smiled and pondered for a moment before speaking, "Well, it's a long story. Where should I start?"
"Let's start with Blue Star…"
Under Helena Meta's guidance, Lin Lan had come to realize that his ship girls would always trust him unconditionally, so he decided that there would be no more secrets between him and them.
He first explained to the three girls the truth that he could only contact them through his phone screen.
Upon hearing that the Commander was not originally in the port area, the three carrier ship girls seemed to understand.
No wonder, although they had felt the Commander's presence before, there had always been a barrier between them, an invisible wall that kept them from fully reaching him.
But now, they could truly touch and feel the Commander.
After hearing this truth, the first to speak was the straightforward Hornet, who cheerfully leaned behind Lin Lan, as if teasing him,
"No wonder! I was wondering why you ignored me every time I tried to get you to come to the Eagle Dorm for a night. You didn't even respond once. I was so sad!"
"Ahem, it's not too late to invite me now…" Lin Lan joked back, laughing at the missed opportunity.
"Hmph, Commander, I have to tell you, those Essex-class girls have been acting all mysterious these days. Whenever they see me, they hide. You didn't… oh!"
Hornet's mischievous words were cut off when Reaper, who had perched on Lin Lan's shoulder, pecked her forehead.
"Commander still hasn't finished his story. Why are you so eager?" Enterprise smiled and looked at her impetuous younger sister before turning her attention back to Lin Lan.
Lin Lan continued to share his experiences from when he met the Ironblood ship girls on the Orlan continent.
He explained how he gained the power of a hero in this world and could cheat using the Wisdom Cube.
Upon hearing this, Hornet couldn't help but sarcastically comment,
"Commander, you're really not a superhero? Look at you—there's no one else who can make the Wisdom Cube do such incredible things except you!"
Lin Lan froze for a moment after hearing Hornet's words.
It seemed that, just like Hornet had said, the game had mentioned that the Commander's body could activate the energy within the Wisdom Cube.
He was an ordinary person, yet every time he approached the Wisdom Cube, the light and particles within it would spin faster.
Could the Observer want to capture him to study this?
As he thought about it, it seemed very likely.
This could also explain why the Observer hadn't killed him and why he was able to use the Wisdom Cube's energy on magical equipment for the Teaching Kingdom.
But what Lin Lan couldn't understand was why, even though he had been an ordinary person back on Blue Star, he had gained the powers described in the game once he entered this other world.
Nevertheless, since his ship girls were real and by his side, Lin Lan decided not to dwell on this issue any longer.
After all, what was done was done. There was no point in overthinking it. Living in the present was the way forward.
After this, Lin Lan continued telling them about the Mirror Sea Area of Dongyun City and the events with the Overlord Mecha Ship Girl, Sui Qiong.
Finally, he stopped at the part where he defeated the Sea Lord Leviathan and the Siren Fleet in Yunhai City.
As for what happened after the Observer captured him in Yunhai City, Yorktown and the others had surely learned about it from Invincible and South Dakota, so he didn't elaborate.
After hearing everything Lin Lan had been through, Enterprise spoke gravely,
"The Ironblood companions' numbers are limited, which is why the Observer was able to exploit this gap. I suspected something like this would happen… Damn Strength."
Lin Lan understood what Enterprise was referring to.
He had already learned in the military base that Yorktown and the others had originally planned to come to the West Continent to support him, but they were stopped by Strength on the way.
However, discussing the Arbitration Agency right now was somewhat untimely, so Lin Lan decided to discuss that with Enterprise later.
Right now, he had more pressing questions for Yorktown and the others.
"Yorktown, how did you manage to take over the New Ocean Artificial Island of the Goilia Corporation? Did they do something extremely outrageous before?"
Lin Lan turned to the soft-spoken silver-haired lady who had been listening intently, and asked his most curious question.
"Hehe, it seems the Commander knows us best," Yorktown replied with a faint smile, beginning to explain the events that led to this situation.
"We set out from the port area to find you, crossing the vast ocean until we arrived off the coast of this country.
Near the land, we set up a temporary base with mass-produced ships and made contact with one of this nation's commercial powers, the Goilia Corporation."
"We, the Eagle Union, conducted normal trade based on the principles of freedom and equality.
We were also entrusted by them to send our destroyer girls on escort missions to transport goods, earning materials and oil as payment."
"At first, our relationship was cordial, but later, they seemed to believe our goodwill was a sign of weakness and began to play tricks on us."
Hearing this, Lin Lan had a pretty good idea of how the Goilia Corporation had made a terrible mistake.
To save oil, the Eagle Union had only sent their destroyer girls on escort missions, but with the Goilia Corporation's greed, they likely thought that the Eagle Union only had destroyers and didn't want to pay them properly.
"If the Goilia Corporation no longer wished to cooperate with us, they could have just said so, and we would have ignored them. But they made the mistake of bullying our destroyer girls."
"What?!" Lin Lan had already guessed roughly how the Goilia Corporation had messed up, but when he heard Yorktown's words, he was still shocked and angered by their vile actions.
How dare the Goilia Corporation bully his little angels? This couldn't just end with them becoming his vassals.
"Tell me, what did they do to my destroyer girls?" Lin Lan asked, his voice laced with anger.
Seeing the fire in his eyes, Yorktown smiled softly, patting his hand gently to calm him.
"Hmph, Commander, they've already paid a bloody price," Hornet said with a mischievous smile, tightly pressing herself against Lin Lan's back, as if she had expected this reaction.
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