Re-reading the ship device's explanation, Saratoga found the reason. It turned out that for a washboard who didn't even have an A-cup, it wouldn't work.
"Great, it's not that the ship device is a fake, but that I have no chest and am flat as a washboard, so it didn't change." Saratoga was very happy, but then thinking about how she didn't even have an A-cup, she collapsed to the ground, kneeling and hunching over: "Wuwuwu! I didn't expect even a ship device to bully me."
Saratoga began to cry bitterly there. When the few nearby Ship Girls heard her crying, they couldn't help but show concern, asking her what was wrong and if she had been hurt by the Deep Sea. But when asked, she refused to speak and only cried even louder.
Opening a purple treasure chest, the chest erupted with purple light. The light came quickly and disappeared just as fast. A glowing red grass appeared, and Haman immediately took it in her hand as information about this grass appeared in her mind.
moon spirit grass
Level: Red-Tier
Effect: After consuming it, a Three-Star Legendary Ship Girl has a 100% chance of breaking through the barrier of a Four-Star Legendary Ship Girl, easily advancing to a Four-Star Legendary Ship Girl.
Note 1: After consumption, one will break through immediately. Please advance in a suitable location.
Seeing that this glowing red grass was actually a Red-Tier moon spirit grass, Haman looked delighted. This was great; she hadn't expected to be so lucky to open a rare item on her first try.
She had heard that Red-Tier moon spirit grass was worth a fortune, selling for a sky-high price of ten billion on the black market. If she gave it to the Admiral to sell, their Naval Base would never have to worry about resources and supplies again.
Looking around and seeing that no one was paying attention, Haman immediately put it into her rigging space. She understood the saying that wealth should not be flaunted; if she were targeted by thugs, she would be in trouble.
Although Haman put it away quickly, one Ship Girl still saw it. She carefully remembered this Haman, planning to sell the information to Black Moon once they were out. Black Moon was a world-class civilian intelligence-gathering organization that had all sorts of information. By revealing that Haman had obtained a Red-Tier moon spirit grass, she could make a huge profit.
Poor Haman didn't know she was already being watched. She was still foolishly dreaming, imagining that after selling the Red-Tier moon spirit grass, the Naval Base would live a wonderful life from then on, and as a hero, she would even become the Admiral's Wife Ship.
Looking at these two golden treasure chests, Illustrious had an excited face. She wondered what would come out; with her European Emperor constitution, it definitely wouldn't be bad!
She opened a golden treasure chest, and a golden light continuously emitted from it. Illustrious quickly covered her eyes with her hands. After a while, the light vanished, and a white sphere the size of a tennis ball appeared before her eyes.
Picking up the white sphere, a paragraph of text surfaced in Illustrious's mind.
ship device: Ship Girl Transformation Figure
Level: Heaven Radiance Tier
Effect: Use your mind to imagine the Ship Girl you want to transform into, and the white sphere will turn into a figure of that Ship Girl. Just shout 'Transform' to successfully take on her appearance. To cancel the transformation, just think it to return to your original form.
Note: 1. The characters you can transform into are limited to Ship Girls. The appearance is 100% authentic; even the main body ship will be identical to that of the transformed Ship Girl. Even a Five-Star Legendary Ship Girl cannot detect your true identity.
2. The upper limit of strength after transformation cannot exceed a Gold-Plated Ship Girl. Once the power of a Three-Star Epic Ship Girl is reached, your true form will be revealed.
3. This is the ultimate tool for assassination and evading pursuit. With me, you can wander the world and become the strongest assassin.
Seeing this, Illustrious was overjoyed. With this item, she wouldn't have to fear being hunted by enemies. Illustrious hadn't forgotten that Taihou; when Taihou came to hunt her down, she could transform into another Ship Girl to save her life.
The activation of the Silver King's power was canceled. The massive silver sword hanging three hundred meters high in the sky above Illustrious slowly disappeared. Silver light erupted from her entire body. After the light faded, the white high-slit qipao on Illustrious's body directly turned into a white off-the-shoulder dress.
Looking at the white sphere, Illustrious imagined Azuma's image. The white sphere immediately transformed into an Azuma figure. In her heart, she shouted, 'Transform!'
The figure turned into a ball of golden light, wrapping around Illustrious's entire body and making her emit a golden glow. Five seconds later, the light vanished, and Illustrious's appearance and attire had directly changed into Azuma wearing a black high-slit qipao.
Taking a mirror out of her rigging space, Illustrious faced it. Looking at her transformed self in the mirror, she took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. She threw the mirror back into the rigging space. Then, Illustrious looked surprised; it really was exactly the same!
With another flash of golden light, Illustrious's appearance changed into Ayanami. A mischievous thought arose in her heart. She planned to use this appearance to scare Ayanami in a bit and see what her reaction would be.
After finishing with this golden treasure chest, Illustrious opened the other one. The chest emitted a golden light. After the light vanished, a crystal appeared in Illustrious's eyes.
This was a Blue-Tier azure crystal core. Illustrious was a bit disappointed. She didn't expect to pull the pity prize. It seemed the Goddess of Fortune wasn't standing by her side this time!
She slowly stood up from the ground. Dido had already been circulating the Ship Qi in her body to treat her injuries. Feeling more than half healed, she immediately stopped the treatment. She didn't fully heal because it was time to open treasure chests, and she couldn't wait any longer. She planned to finish opening them before continuing her treatment.
Opening her golden treasure chest, a golden light erupted from it. Watching the light, Dido silently prayed in her heart, 'Please let it be a good drop!'
A spray bottle appeared in front of Dido. Picking it up, a paragraph of text appeared in her mind.
ship device: Shipment Spray
Level: Heavy Phase
Effect: After the Admiral uses it, a Gold-Plated Ship Girl is 100% guaranteed to appear.
Note: 1. This spray can only be used once and must be completely used up; otherwise, it will not take effect.
Seeing it was a Shipment Spray, Dido's expression was somewhat flat. However, thinking that her Admiral seemed to always get 'blue sky and white clouds' recently, if she gave it to him, he would definitely be happy. Thinking of this, Dido felt a bit better. She put the spray bottle into her rigging space.
Illustrious, in Ayanami's form, ran to find Ayanami. Upon seeing her, she immediately stepped forward to greet her: 'Hello! Have you seen my Admiral, I say?'
Ayanami, who was just about to go find Illustrious, suddenly discovered a Destroyer of the same model as herself in front of her. Why hadn't she seen this 'Ayanami' when they were in the fleet just now? While she was pondering this, the other party actually walked up to her and asked a question.
Ayanami could only reply politely: 'You must be joking! This is the interior of the ruins. It's impossible for an Admiral with a mortal body to come here, I say.'
'I'm not joking! My Admiral isn't a mortal; she is also a Ship Girl named Illustrious. Have you seen her? I'm in a hurry to see her, I say!' the 'Ayanami' said with a slightly anxious voice.
Hearing that she was looking for the Admiral and seeing that this person looked exactly like her, Ayanami had a bold thought: this person was a Deep Sea. This Deep Sea had disguised itself as her to assassinate the Admiral. Unfortunately, this Deep Sea's actions were too foolish. If you're going to transform, fine, but you actually ran right in front of the original. You're simply courting death.
'Deep Sea, stop pretending. I can tell at a glance that you're not a Ship Girl. Show your true form, I say! Hah!' Ayanami drew her ship-slaying sword and charged at the fake Ayanami with a slash. However, the fake Ayanami actually drew a ship-slaying sword as well and began to trade blows with Ayanami.
'What Deep Sea? I am Admiral Illustrious's Ship Girl Ayanami, not a Deep Sea, I say!' After parrying Ayanami's attack with her ship-slaying sword, the 'fake Ayanami' spoke with great confusion.
'Hmph! Still pretending! I am Admiral Illustrious's Ship Girl Ayanami. You fake, die! I'll make you regret how foolish the consequence of impersonating me is, I say.' Ayanami's expression was grave. She didn't expect this fake Ayanami to also have a ship-slaying sword and for her strength to be on par with her own. It seemed she could only use her ultimate move. 'Let me show you the power of the Oni God! Oni God Style — Heaven Cleaver!'
A red energy greatsword over ten meters long suddenly formed. The calm air became turbulent, and the surrounding space vibrated continuously.
Looking at Ayanami, who suddenly used her ultimate move, a thin sweat broke out on 'Ayanami's' face. It was over; she had taken the joke too far. Just as Ayanami was about to swing the greatsword, she immediately reverted to Illustrious's appearance. 'Wait, Ayanami! Calm down, I am your Admiral.'
'This time you've turned into my Admiral's appearance. It seems I really can't let you live, I say,' Ayanami said furiously.
Seeing that Ayanami didn't believe her, Illustrious could only use her trump card. 'I command you through the soul network, Ayanami! Put away your great sword immediately!'
Swish-crack!
Ayanami, who was about to swing the ten-meter-long red energy greatsword, suddenly paused. She involuntarily canceled her ultimate move. Seeing this situation, Ayanami knew that the Illustrious in front of her was indeed her Admiral.
Seeing Ayanami put away her greatsword, Illustrious breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily she reacted quickly, or she would have been slashed by that red greatsword.
Sheathing her ship-slaying sword, Ayanami ran to Illustrious and asked in confusion: 'Admiral! What happened just now? Why could you turn into my appearance? And it was so similar—even the ship-slaying sword and fighting style were exactly the same.'
Illustrious took out a white sphere and showed it to Ayanami, then explained: 'This is a ship device I just got from a treasure chest. It can transform into the appearance of other Ship Girls. I turned into you just now to see how effective it was. Now that even you say it's identical, it seems this ship device is truly a good thing!'
'Um, Admiral, who was the first Ship Girl you transformed into, I say?' Ayanami said with a serious face.
Looking at Ayanami, Illustrious didn't say it was Azuma. With a smile and a sincere face, she pointed at Ayanami and said, 'The first one I transformed into was you.'
'Really? I'm so happy! I knew my status in Admiral's heart was the most important. Sorry, Admiral! Actually, I was just thinking that if you said the first one you transformed into was Azuma, I was going to stab you to death, I say,' Ayanami said, hugging Illustrious very happily.
Stab her to death? Illustrious wiped her sweat and said with a slightly stuttering voice, 'H-How could that be? Ay-Ayanami, you have always been very important in my heart, so don't have such wild thoughts. As your Admiral, I will definitely love and protect you for a lifetime.'
'Really? Then prove it to me, I say!' Ayanami said, staring into Illustrious's eyes.
'Prove it? How do you want me to prove it?' Illustrious said, puzzled.
'I want you to kiss me once, right here, and it has to be a French one, I say,' Ayanami said, pointing to her tender, moist lips.
'This isn't very good, is it? There are so many people here.' Illustrious said a bit sheepishly, looking at the several Ship Girls who had come to investigate because Ayanami had suddenly used her ultimate move.
'Don't mind them; just treat them as if they don't exist, I say,' Ayanami said affectionately, hugging Illustrious's slender waist.
'But...' Illustrious's face turned a bit crimson as she saw the several Ship Girls staring over here.
"What a pain! Then I'll do it myself." Ayanami hugged Illustrious, bent her over, and planted a kiss on those cherry lips.
"Mmph!" Illustrious's eyes flew open; she hadn't expected Ayanami to be so bold as to steal a kiss from her Admiral in front of all the Ship Girls—utterly mortifying.
To preserve her authority as Admiral, Illustrious bravely slipped her tongue into Ayanami's mouth first.
At the sight, the surrounding Ship Girls burst into whispers.
"They're so close. I wish my Admiral would kiss me like that."
"Stop it. Your Admiral's a total breast man. Look at your flat chest—no chance."
"Says who? I'm flat too, and my Admiral still visits my room every night."
"Don't mention that Admiral of yours. He got hauled off by the Military Police for harassing a wild Destroyer not long ago."
"We're total third wheels here—let's scram before we ruin their moment."
The group of Ship Girls left at once, leaving Illustrious and Ayanami to their kiss.
The two kissed passionately; after three minutes a thin strand of saliva stretched and finally broke between them.
"Come on, we need to regroup and ship out." Illustrious extended a hand, then let it hover in mid-air.
Ayanami flushed; she hadn't expected such a seemingly timid Admiral to be so skilled. "Yes, Admiral! Wherever you go from now on, I'll be right there with you."
Hand in hand, Illustrious led Ayanami to the assembly point.
There Illustrious saw Souryuu; the woman looked mostly recovered—her constitution really was superior.
Dido counted heads and found they had lost two-thirds of their number since entering the ruins.
The missing two-thirds had simply sunk. Dido's face darkened; she knew it was inevitable. Opportunities always come with danger—even she couldn't guarantee she'd leave these ruins unscathed.
In a clear voice Dido addressed the Ship Girls: "Congratulations on clearing Azure Island. Reaching this point is remarkable. Now we sail home—to our Admirals!"
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