Damn, these two are strong. I should've brought more ships. I have to end this fast or I'll be the one sinking.
Spotting Admiral Yang Xue alone, the leader grinned. Kill the Admiral and those Ship Girls will lose the will to fight—then the moon spirit grass is mine.
It was a good idea. The Deep Sea Cult Ship Girl leader immediately charged at Admiral Yang Xue with her Tachi, intending to use the Tachi in her hand to cleave Admiral Yang Xue in two.
Seeing that the Ship Girl with the Tachi wanted to kill her, Yang Xue took out her pistol and fired several shots at her. However, as a Ship Girl, these bullets were nothing. An energy shield appeared around the Ship Girl leader, and with a series of clangs, all the bullets struck the shield. The Ship Girl leader didn't even try to dodge and rushed straight in front of Yang Xue. Looking at the human's neck before her, she swung her blade without a second thought.
"Pfft!"
The blade flashed, and blood suddenly sprayed from Admiral Yang Xue as if it cost nothing.
Covering the wound on her neck, Yang Xue collapsed to the ground without surprise.
Haman and Laffey, who were fighting in the distance, were instantly enraged upon seeing this. They had an outburst, forcing back the surrounding Ship Girls. Then, their rigging kicked up a spray of water, and in no time, they reached Admiral Yang Xue's side.
Laffey began to fight the Ship Girl leader with her Main Battery, while Haman hurriedly picked up Admiral Yang Xue's body. "Admiral, are you alright?!"
"Sorry! Haman, I might not make it." Blood kept spilling from Yang Xue's mouth, and she spoke with a weak tone, "I have a request that you must fulfill."
"You... you and Laffey must... must live... live on well..."
After saying these words, Admiral Yang Xue closed her eyes, her head tilted, and she passed away.
"Admiral..." Haman wailed with tears streaming down her face.
Laffey, who was fighting the Ship Girl leader, heard Haman's tragic cry. Knowing that Admiral Yang Xue was dead, she immediately became grief-stricken. Distraction is the ultimate taboo in battle. Seeing Laffey distracted, the Ship Girl leader naturally didn't let such a good opportunity pass and fired a Torpedo from her rigging.
With a bang, Laffey was hit directly. Her clothes were instantly shredded, and a golden light emanated from her; this light indicated that Laffey had triggered the heavily damaged mechanism.
"Hahaha! Serves you right! Wouldn't everything have been fine if you had just handed over the moon spirit grass earlier? You just had to refuse, and now you regret it!" Seeing Laffey was heavily damaged, the Ship Girl leader was very happy. Moreover, six Ship Girls from behind had already come to support. In a short while, the Ship Girl leader captured Laffey.
After capturing Laffey, the Ship Girl leader had one Ship Girl hold Laffey hostage. They came directly to Haman's side and threatened her, "Hand over the moon spirit grass obediently, or your comrade will end up just like your Admiral—dead."
"Admiral..." Haman was still crying bitterly while holding Admiral Yang Xue's body. She didn't notice the Ship Girl leader arriving in front of her. Her eyes were dead, as if she wanted to die together with the Admiral.
"I'm talking to you, damn it! Did you hear me or not?!" Enraged by Haman's disregard, the Ship Girl leader roared angrily.
Haman continued to ignore the Ship Girl leader. Seeing this, the Ship Girl leader was furious. She immediately gripped her Tachi and swung it at Haman's neck.
Just as Haman was about to be decapitated, a beam of Silver Sword Qi directly sent the Ship Girl leader flying. Mid-flight, she was split in two by the sharp sword qi and exploded in mid-air.
After the Ship Girl leader was sunk, her subordinate Ship Girls immediately became alert. Seeing a Silver-Haired Girl in a white off-the-shoulder outfit holding a silver longsword not far away, they immediately rushed forward to attack her.
"Hmph! A bunch of trash, thinking you can make a move on me? You're courting death!" The Silver-Haired Girl swung her longsword, and a ten-foot Silver Sword Qi shot out from the blade.
The Silver Sword Qi slashed heavily into the charging Ship Girls. Their powerful bodies were instantly cut in two, exploding in the sea.
After eliminating these Deep Sea Cult Ship Girls, the Silver-Haired Girl came to Haman and Laffey's side and asked, "Are you two alright?"
"Laffey is fine, but the Admiral..." Laffey said with eyes full of tears.
Looking at the eyes-closed Admiral Yang Xue, the Silver-Haired Girl sighed and said to Laffey and Haman, "The dead cannot be brought back to life. My condolences."
"Sister! I finally caught up with you." The Aircraft Carrier flying in the air, seeing Illustrious, immediately landed beside her, grabbed Illustrious's arm, and said quite angrily, "You can't just leave without a word in the future!"
"Admiral! Why did you run so fast! Eh! Isn't she that Haman from the Ruins-desu?" Seeing Haman, Ayanami said to Illustrious with some surprise, "Is she alright-desu?"
"Why did you two come here? Didn't I tell you to wait there?" The Silver-Haired Girl said somewhat helplessly regarding the arrival of the Aircraft Carrier and Ayanami.
This Silver-Haired Girl was indeed Illustrious. While sailing back to the Naval Base, she saw a battle not far away and immediately came here to take a look.
Everyone learned what had happened from Laffey. Simply put, the news that Haman had obtained the Red moon spirit grass had leaked, leading to this fatal disaster. The ones who tried to kill them were these Deep Sea Cult Ship Girls.
After a long while, Haman finally recovered from her grief. She said to Illustrious, "The Admiral is dead, and it's my fault. If I hadn't obtained the moon spirit grass, the Admiral wouldn't have died because of it."
"It's not your fault. The ones at fault are those who wanted to steal your moon spirit grass. You don't need to blame yourself for this," Illustrious said dismissively.
"No! It is my fault! I'm going to accompany the Admiral now!" Haman aimed her Main Battery at her own head, intending to fire.
As she was about to fire, Illustrious moved quickly, grabbing Haman's Main Battery and pushing it toward the sky. A shell shot from the Main Battery into the sky. "Are you crazy?"
"Why stop me? Someone like me should just die." Haman struggled desperately, trying to break free from Illustrious's grip.
Seeing Haman constantly struggling and wanting to commit suicide, Illustrious, in a fit of anger, gave Haman a slap.
Slap
A red palm print appeared on Haman's face, causing her to feel a stinging pain. Her agitated emotions became dazed; this slap had directly snapped Haman out of it.
"Are you awake now? If you are, then calm down and listen to me." Illustrious said with a serious expression, "Do you think your death will bring your Admiral back to life?"
"No..." Haman lowered her head slightly.
"If you die, what about Laffey beside you? Do you have the heart to let her wander all alone?" Illustrious continued.
"I don't..." Haman lowered her head even further.
"Did your Admiral tell you anything before she died? And did you fulfill it properly?" Illustrious spoke again.
"She wanted Laffey and me to live on well!" Haman raised her head and answered.
"Isn't that right? Then why commit suicide! Oh! You just die without a word, then how can you face your Admiral's final instructions?"
"I'm so sorry! Waaaah..." Haman burst into loud sobs on the spot.
"There, there, good girl! Don't worry! If you're feeling sad or in pain, just cry out loud. You'll feel better that way." Illustrious pulled Haman's head to her chest and comforted her gently.
Feeling Illustrious's warmth, Haman involuntarily hugged Illustrious's slender waist. Unknowingly, in Illustrious's embrace, her sorrowful mood slowly began to improve.
"Laffey... doesn't want to be comforted at all! Probably..." Seeing Illustrious comforting Haman, the grieving Laffey also longed for someone to comfort her.
Seeing Laffey's ears drooping on the side with a pitiful look, Illustrious opened her left arm and beckoned to Laffey, "Laffey! You come here too!"
Laffey was overjoyed and immediately threw herself into Illustrious's embrace and began to cry. As one of Admiral Yang Xue's Ship Girls, she was naturally very sad about the Admiral's death. Although she was usually dazed, she was also a Ship Girl with feelings; she could laugh and she could cry.
Illustrious did not neglect Laffey in her left arm either, comforting her very gently: "Don't worry! Haman, and Laffey! Although I only met your Admiral once, as long as I am alive, I will definitely protect you with my life."
About ten minutes later, after Laffey and Haman were calmed down, the two little ones expressed that since their Admiral was dead and they had no home to return to, they asked Illustrious to take them in.
Looking at these two cute lolis, Illustrious naturally would not refuse and happily agreed.
"Rest assured, Admiral Yang Xue! I will take good care of your Ship Girls for you. You can go on your way in peace!" Illustrious said with much emotion while looking at the sky... Boom!
The sea surface was kicked up into large waves by a high-speed flying object. That flying object was Taihou. "Strange, didn't they say that Illustrious had only been sailing for half an hour? How come I can't see a trace of her! Could it be that person lied to me, and Illustrious didn't go in this direction at all?"
"No, no way. That person was scared to death, how would he dare to lie to me? Could it be that Illustrious is not simple, that she actually hid her strength and just flew away?"
"Yes, it must be so. Then I'll increase my speed, and I'll definitely catch up to that Illustrious then!"
Boom!
Taihou erupted with all her power, countless strands of red Ship Qi wrapping around her entire body. With a swish, she transformed into a red stream of light and flew through the air, her speed doubling as she raced forward.
Because Illustrious had turned to the left to save Haman and Laffey, she luckily avoided Taihou's pursuit, and Taihou flew directly ahead of Illustrious.
Just like that, Illustrious set off on the journey back to the Naval Base with the newly joined Laffey and Haman... On a vast sea, Illustrious's main body ship advanced forward at a speed of 30 knots.
While passing through Tianhai City, Ayanami said to Illustrious with a serious face, "Admiral! I see that Laffey and Haman look a bit unhappy. I think we can do something to cheer them up-desu."
"Oh! Then I wonder what suggestions you have!" Illustrious said to Ayanami, stroking her chin with her right hand.
"I heard there's a super large Arcade in Tianhai City! I think we can go take a look-desu," Ayanami said excitedly.
Stare—
Looking at Ayanami, Illustrious said suspiciously, "Ayanami, isn't it just that you want to play at this Arcade?"
"H-How could that be? I just want to cheer up Laffey and Haman-desu." Being stared at by Illustrious, Ayanami's eyes darted away, and she turned her head aside, speaking with a bit of a guilty conscience.
"If that's the case, an amusement park would work too!" Illustrious narrowed her eyes. Knowing Ayanami wanted to go to the Arcade, she spoke a bit mischievously.
"You can't-desu!" Ayanami said in strong opposition. "If we go to an amusement park, then wouldn't I be unable to play video ga..."
"Video ga...?" Illustrious caught the keyword. This Ayanami really did want to play video games!
Ayanami hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes darted around, and she immediately said after lowering her hand, "Admiral, think about it! Admiral Yang Xue had these two Gold-Plated Ship Girls, Laffey and Haman, so she must have loved them very much and naturally taken them to amusement parks often-desu."
"Isn't that even better? I've heard children prefer going to amusement parks, so wouldn't an amusement park be better?" Illustrious played dumb.
"In normal times, that would indeed be good, but right now it's very bad, quite bad-desu." Hearing that the Admiral intended to go to an amusement park, Ayanami grew anxious and immediately tried to persuade Illustrious.
"Bad? Tell me why it's bad!" Illustrious wanted to hear how Ayanami would spin her tale.
Ayanami said earnestly, "Admiral! Think about it! Laffey and Haman often went to amusement parks. If they go again this time, they'll be reminded of the past by the surroundings and remember the scenes of Admiral Yang Xue taking them there. Won't they be even sadder then-desu?"
"Hmm! Hearing you say that, it seems to make some sense." Illustrious suddenly realized. Admiral Yang Xue had only recently passed away, so dragging Laffey and Haman to a place full of memories would be foolish. That would definitely lower their affection levels!
Seeing Illustrious agree with her point, Ayanami was delighted. "Right, right! Not only that, think about it! Always playing at the same place, no matter how fun it is, you'll eventually get bored! If we try something new, they'll feel a fresh sense of joy, and all their worries will vanish-desu."
"Alright then! Let's go to the Arcade!" Illustrious thought Ayanami's words were very reasonable, so she decided to turn the main body ship and head toward Tianhai City.
"Oh! Great, I can play at the Arcade! I've wanted to go for a long time, I didn't expect to go so soon, I'm so happy-desu," Ayanami said, jumping up happily.
Stare—
After feeling Illustrious's Gaze, Ayanami immediately changed her tune, "I mean Laffey and Haman will definitely have a great time, not that I want to play-desu."
"If you can think that way, then I'm relieved." Withdrawing her Gaze, Illustrious didn't bother with Ayanami. She had seen through Ayanami's little thoughts long ago; she just didn't want to point it out.
Soon everyone arrived at the Arcade center. The arrival of these Ship Girls immediately attracted the attention of ordinary people. These were Ship Girls! And such beautiful Ship Girls at that.
-------------------------------
Hope you enjoy this fanfiction if you do and would like to read the next 30 chapters in advance, pls do check out my Patreon.
patreon.com/TLScarlet
Also don't forget to give me a Power Stone if you do like this fiction. Your support really motivates me to continue doing my best in translating, Thanks!!