Unicorn had no choice but to leave first. If she stayed in this dangerous place any longer, her sister would definitely make her stay and taste the food.
"Zuikaku was throwing a tantrum just now because the Admiral found a new Ship Girl. I have to go check on her. So, Admiral, please excuse me." Shokaku bowed and fled the scene without hesitation.
"Oh dear! I haven't brought in the laundry at the dormitory today. I have to go take care of that."
Azuma didn't remind the Aircraft Carrier to leave. Some things had to be experienced personally to be understood. It definitely wasn't because she held a grudge because the Aircraft Carrier had made her kneel earlier.
Watching her Ship Girls leave one by one, Illustrious snorted. Really, did everyone have to be so afraid of eating her food? Her cooking wasn't poison. Obviously, one's culinary skills can improve; how could they keep looking at her with their old perspective? Fortunately, there were still the four new Ship Girls here.
"Admiral! Why did they all run away?" the Aircraft Carrier asked, puzzled.
"I don't know! Don't worry about them. I'll take you downstairs! Wait in the living room. Once I'm done cooking, I'll make a bunch of delicious food for you to eat," Illustrious said with great enthusiasm.
"In that case, okay! But Admiral, do you want me to help?" the Aircraft Carrier offered.
"No need, I'll handle it myself. As my Ship Girls, how can I let you do such heavy labor? So leave it all to me!" Illustrious took on all the work.
Illustrious brought the Aircraft Carrier, Yukikaze, Haman, and Laffey to the second-floor living room and began cooking.
Seeing she had nothing to do, the Aircraft Carrier turned on the TV and started watching a romance drama. When she saw the male lead cheating with two women, she cursed him as a scumbag. But this scumbag wasn't satisfied with two and wanted a third, so he ended up being killed with a wood-cutting knife by the first and second female leads.
Haman found one of her own kind on the sofa—a cat plushie. It looked quite cute. After grabbing it, she didn't want to let go, rubbing her face against the plushie. She looked quite adorable.
Laffey explored around and came to a room where she saw Illustrious's bed. She hurriedly climbed onto it, took out a bottle of 1982 Laffey, gulped it down, and fell onto the bed fast asleep.
Meanwhile, Illustrious was in the kitchen chopping vegetables. With her impressive knife skills, she started showing off. First, she tossed tomatoes into the air, and with a few flashes of the knife, the tomatoes were neatly sliced onto the wooden cutting board.
After half an hour, Illustrious finished the dishes and placed them on the dining table, shouting to those in the living room, "Everyone! The food is ready, come and eat!"
The Aircraft Carrier, Haman, and Yukikaze quickly took their seats. Seeing everyone seated, Illustrious sat down too. Looking around, she noticed Laffey was missing. Illustrious asked, "Where's Laffey? Why isn't she coming to eat?"
Haman replied, "No need to call her. She's already asleep on the bed. Once she's asleep, unless she wakes up naturally, don't even think about waking her up."
"I see! That's a pity, especially since I made so much delicious food. Never mind, I'll cook for her when she wakes up! Well then, everyone, let's eat!"
"Yay! Finally time to eat. Eight dishes and one soup! It looks very good!" Yukikaze said, licking her lips.
"I didn't expect your culinary skills to be so good, being able to make so many dishes. It's really a surprise!" Haman said in amazement.
"Which one is the Stargazy Pie?" the Aircraft Carrier asked curiously.
"It's this one! Don't let its appearance fool you; it's delicious!" Illustrious said proudly.
When the Ship Girls saw the Stargazy Pie Illustrious was pointing at, their first impression was shock. The design was unique and unpretentious, with fish heads gazing up at the sky. The art style looked different from the other pies. They didn't even know where to start eating. Looking at those fish heads, the Ship Girls felt that instead of calling it Stargazy Pie, calling it "Dying with Eyes Open Pie" would be more accurate.
However, the Ship Girls didn't say it out loud. After all, some dishes might not look like much on the outside but are quite delicious on the inside.
"The fish heads are gazing at the sky! They must have seen something good. This means good luck!" Yukikaze stared at the Stargazy Pie and was the first to pick it up, intending to start eating.
Seeing this, the Aircraft Carrier and Haman didn't want to be left behind and immediately picked some up to eat.
Illustrious watched them without blinking. This was the food she had made; she wondered how they would feel after eating it. Whether it was delicious or terrible, Illustrious felt very nervous about the result.
After the three of them ate it, the Stargazy Pie melted in their mouths. An indescribable, intense, and pungent taste assaulted their taste buds. They wobbled in their chairs for a few moments before collapsing onto the dining table.
The Aircraft Carriers felt as if they could see the starry sky now. This starry sky was so beautiful, yet it made one feel lonely and cold! It made it impossible to breathe.
Illustrious watched as their faces turned pale and they collapsed on the table, foaming at the mouth. She couldn't help but sigh, "Failed again? That's strange. I clearly knew how to cook in my past life, and it tasted great. Why is my cooking so terrible now?"
Using the soul network, Illustrious sent a message to Azuma: "Azuma, come over quickly. There are three Ship Girls here who have lost consciousness and fainted. Help me take care of them."
As if she had known the result all along, Azuma replied via the soul network message: "You messed up, didn't you! I told you long ago not to go into the kitchen, but you just wouldn't listen. Great! Now there are four more victims."
Illustrious replied through the soul network: "There aren't four victims, only three. The other one, Laffey, didn't faint."
Hearing that Laffey hadn't fainted, Azuma said in shock through the soul network: "Is that Laffey really that powerful? You should know that just one gram of the Admiral's food could poison a shark to death!"
Illustrious felt that Azuma was making a mountain out of a molehill, so she said through the soul network: "That's too much of an exaggeration. I'm not that powerful. The reason Laffey didn't faint is that she fell asleep because she was tired, so she didn't eat any of the food I made."
Azuma replied through the soul network: "Laffey got lucky then. But your cooking is so potent that you don't need to be humble; it's a talent in its own way. If you could make some food and scatter it in the black uninhabited sea areas where the Abyssals live, you'd definitely poison a huge number of them. You'd become a hero of humanity."
Seeing that Azuma still had time to joke with her, Illustrious urged her through the soul network: "Stop joking around and just get over here! I'm too clumsy to handle this alone!"
Azuma replied through the soul network: "Alright, alright! I'm on my way! Don't rush me."
Azuma arrived at the dining room on the second floor of Illustrious's villa. They carried the Aircraft Carriers, Yukikaze, and Hammann to their respective dorms and took careful care of them.
A day and a night later, the Aircraft Carriers and the others woke up. Seeing that they were fine, Illustrious and Azuma left.
Azuma said solemnly, "Admiral! If you don't want us to pass away after eating your cooking, then please stay out of the kitchen and leave it to me."
"Ah! Uh! Um! I understand!" Illustrious became dejected. She hadn't expected her Ship Girls to actually despise her cooking. Illustrious felt like she had completely lost face.
Since that day, the Aircraft Carriers, Yukikaze, and Hammann swore in their hearts never to eat Illustrious's cooking again, because they didn't want to experience that death-like feeling... Three days later, Illustrious took Unicorn to the amusement park. Since she had said she would go on a date with Unicorn, she was fulfilling that promise today.
The first attraction was the Carousel. The Carousel really didn't feel like much—no excitement at all—but Unicorn seemed quite happy.
"Big sister, can you hold my hand?" Unicorn, sitting on the wooden horse, said to Illustrious beside her.
"Mm! No problem!" Illustrious took Unicorn's hand, and the two of them happily rode the Carousel as it spun.
After spinning for a while, they got off the Carousel. Unicorn glanced at the Roller Coaster and said to Illustrious, "Big sister, can you take me to play on that?"
Hearing that they wouldn't be riding the Carousel but the Roller Coaster instead, Illustrious immediately agreed. "Sure! But that thing is very exciting. Don't be so scared that you wet your pants!"
"Stop it! Big sister, I'm not that fragile. I'm very brave," Unicorn said with a stubborn look.
"Yes, yes, yes! My little sister is very brave. Then let's go!" Illustrious patted Unicorn's head.
After waiting in line for a short while, it was Illustrious and Unicorn's turn to get on the Roller Coaster.
Illustrious and Unicorn sat on the Roller Coaster as it slowly ascended. In her spare time, Illustrious said to Unicorn, "I didn't expect so many people! It seems everyone likes this kind of exciting Roller Coaster. There weren't many people on the Carousel just now, right, Unicorn?"
After a moment without a response, Illustrious turned to look at Unicorn and found that her face had turned pale, and she looked quite unwell. "Unicorn, you're not afraid of Roller Coasters, are you? Then why did you want to ride this?"
"I... I saw everyone looking so happy when they rode it. I... I also wanted to create happy memories of riding the Roller Coaster with big sister, just like them. But... but I didn't expect the Roller Coaster to still be climbing at such a height. It's really terrifying," Unicorn said with a trembling voice.
"You're afraid of heights? But haven't you flown into the sky on U-chan before?" Illustrious asked in confusion.
"Big... big sister, this... this is different. Yu... chan is my Companion rigging. You... could say she is my most trusted friend, so... so I feel very safe. But... but this Roller Coaster isn't something I can trust," Unicorn explained.
"But we're already on the Roller Coaster, and we can't get off. Unicorn, just bear with it for a bit. If you can't take it, just... just grab my hand. It'll make you feel a bit better," Illustrious said, reaching out.
"Big sister! Thank you!" Unicorn immediately grabbed Illustrious's hand, and the fear in her heart finally eased a little.
The Roller Coaster reached the top and then plummeted rapidly. The speed immediately made Unicorn scream in terror. Illustrious's hand was squeezed so hard by Unicorn that it felt like it might fracture, and the pain made Illustrious scream as well.
After the ride, Illustrious led Unicorn off the Roller Coaster. Unicorn's legs were weak and trembling uncontrollably.
After walking for a bit, Illustrious said with concern, "Unicorn! Are you okay?"
"Big... big sister, can you... can you let me go to the bathroom first?" Unicorn said, her face turning beet red.
Seeing a liquid running down Unicorn's leg, Illustrious knew that Unicorn had really been scared into wetting herself. "I'll take you there."
She took Unicorn to a shop. The upper floor of this shop was where the female staff lived. After explaining the situation to two female staff members, they generously agreed to let Illustrious and Unicorn use the bathroom on the second floor.
One female staff member waited in the living room for Illustrious and Unicorn. After reaching the women's bathroom, Unicorn went inside to change clothes while Illustrious waited outside the door. "Unicorn, if you need any help, just call me, okay?"
"Yes! Big sister." Inside the bathroom, Unicorn took off her white pantsu.
Holding the soaking wet white pantsu in her hand, Unicorn's face flushed. "Oh my god! Such a perfectly good date, and I ruined it like this. I'm such a failure."
After throwing the soaking wet pantsu and clothes into the bathroom trash can, Unicorn turned on the water heater, adjusted it to a comfortable temperature, and began to wash her body.
After washing her lower body with shower gel and feeling clean, she rinsed her body with fresh water and dried herself with a towel. She took out a fresh pair of white pantsu and clothes from her rigging space. Just as she was about to put on the pantsu, she spotted a cockroach on the wall. Unicorn immediately screamed in terror, "Ah! Help!"
Hearing Unicorn's cry for help, Illustrious immediately rushed in. Seeing Unicorn's naked body, Illustrious told herself she was a decent person and immediately turned her head, putting on a look of a proper gentleman.
If anyone else were present, they would surely expose Illustrious's trick, because although she turned her head, her eyes were fixed on Unicorn's naked body. Unicorn's chest was actually quite well-endowed, though it was still a far cry from her own.
Illustrious asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Unicorn cried out in fear, "Big... big sister! There's... there's a cockroach here!"
Hearing that it was a cockroach, Illustrious abandoned her "proper gentleman" act and immediately turned around. "It's just a cockroach! It's no big deal. Be good, Unicorn, don't be afraid. I'll get rid of it right away."
The cockroach seemed to sense that Illustrious was a threat and turned to flee. How could Illustrious let it escape? She immediately took out a can of Insecticide from her rigging space and sprayed it at the cockroach. The spray knocked the cockroach to the ground, and after twitching a few times, it lost all signs of life.
Seeing that Illustrious had saved her from the cockroach, Unicorn threw her arms around Illustrious.
Unicorn's delicate and smooth body hugged her, making Illustrious feel a warm, moist sensation in her nostrils. She immediately began to chant: "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form..." Once her heart calmed down and she no longer had thoughts of pinning Unicorn down, Illustrious said gently, "Alright, Unicorn, hurry up and get dressed, or you'll catch a cold."
Illustrious walked out of the bathroom with a very calm expression, closing the door behind her.
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