But Yukikaze refused Illustrious's request because she didn't want to be the culprit behind luring Abyssals to the Naval Base again.
Illustrious sighed in regret and had no choice but to give up. In fact, Illustrious could have used her soul network to force Yukikaze, but she didn't do so; after all, she wasn't the kind of trash Admiral who forced Ship Girls to do things they didn't want to do.
"Then have you come up with any countermeasures?" Illustrious asked.
Ayanami said: "Yes! We have a plan. Azuma and I have already discussed it. In half a month, we Ship Girls can participate in this East Pacific Ship Girl Kart Racing competition. If we can get first place, we can obtain a large amount of resources and supplies, which will be enough for us to use for three months."
Azuma said: "In order to get first place, we must conduct pre-race training."
Illustrious looked at the ten racing cars and finally understood! It turned out that Azuma and Ayanami intended for them to train before the race.
Ayanami said seriously: "For the sake of our preparation in half a month, we must train every day before the race. Let me tell you about the content and rules of the training!"
"In the Kart Racing competition, the cars can drift and use rocket acceleration. Rocket acceleration can only be used once per lap, which will allow us to run faster."
"The training consists of 10 laps around the Naval Base. To prevent enemies from getting ahead, you can use dirty tricks like firing missiles, banana peels, smoke bombs, and Stun Bombs, but you can only use one of each, meaning there are only four chances to hinder the enemy's progress."
Azuma added: "To give everyone motivation for training, today's winner can unconditionally ask the Admiral to do one thing for you for one day, but H-rated things are prohibited."
Upon hearing that they could have the Admiral do something for them, all the Ship Girls were very excited and began discussing what to have Illustrious do if they won.
"I want big sister to go to the cliff with me to watch the sea." Unicorn said excitedly.
Shokaku said joyfully: "I will ask the Admiral to go into the sea with me to fully enjoy the scenery on the seabed."
"I will ask the Admiral to help me buy ten cases of '82 Laffey," Laffey said, drooling.
"I've had my eye on a cat plushie recently, so I can just have the Admiral buy it for me." Haman said happily.
Zuikaku started to smirk: "I will make the Admiral wear a Maid Outfit to serve me and make the Admiral call me Master."
The Aircraft Carrier covered her face and said in a yandere tone: "If I win, I will tie the Admiral to a chair, and then I can properly drip wax and whip big sister."
Hearing the Aircraft Carrier say this, the Ship Girls fell silent. Although H-rated things were prohibited, it didn't say that suggestive things weren't allowed! Seeing everyone so enthusiastic, Ayanami was very satisfied. "Does anyone else have any questions?"
Illustrious raised her hand. "I have a question?"
"Admiral, what question do you have?" Ayanami asked, puzzled.
"Of course I have a question. Not to mention why I became the prize, some of the things the Ship Girls want me to do are fine, but what is this about dripping wax and whipping? Aircraft Carrier, I didn't expect you to be that kind of person. I really misjudged you." Illustrious couldn't help but feel afraid of the Aircraft Carrier winning. "Then what if I win?"
Ayanami thought for a moment and said: "Admiral, if you win, we'll let you go into the kitchen and cook a meal, and we will unconditionally taste it. How is this winning prize?"
"Really? That's great!" Illustrious looked happy. Recently, her cooking skills had improved again, and she felt it definitely wouldn't be a failure like before.
Illustrious had a lot of objections to the other Ship Girls not letting her cook, especially the "Illustrious and dogs not allowed" sticker that Azuma and the others had pasted on the kitchen door, which hurt Illustrious's pride even more.
Illustrious hadn't given up on her cooking skills; she believed it could still be saved. Recently, she had researched a brand new dish, which was the "super starry-eyed pie." This time, it would definitely make those who ate it feel like they were in heaven.
Upon hearing that if Illustrious won, they would have to eat the dishes she made, the Ship Girls turned pale. As those who had eaten Illustrious's cooking, they were quite terrified of her dishes.
That was a Vicious dish where just one gram could poison a shark to death; how could they not be terrified?
In order to prevent Illustrious from winning, the Ship Girls had already decided to focus on dealing with Illustrious during the training.
Illustrious, who didn't yet know that she had become the target of the Ship Girls, was there with a face full of joy.
The training began. The sound of engines roared on the track. The Ship Girls sat in the racing cars, watching the digital countdown on the roadside screen turn to one. After the starting signal sounded, the ten racing cars dashed forward like arrows released from a bow.
Taking the lead was Illustrious. As the Silver King, Illustrious was powerful, so her perception was stronger than others, so she was the first to react, stepping on the gas and dashing forward.
Seeing Illustrious running in front, Zuikaku was very unhappy, so she fired a missile to attack Illustrious. Illustrious heard Zuikaku's missile and wanted to dodge, but she was bumped by Ayanami's car and didn't succeed in dodging.
The missile hit Illustrious's car, causing the car to stop in place for three seconds. Zuikaku overtook Illustrious and dashed forward, and the other Ship Girls were not to be outdone, following closely behind.
Illustrious looked angry. "Zuikaku, you actually used dirty tricks on me. I won't let it go just like that."
After three seconds, Illustrious's car started up and accelerated continuously, rushing towards Zuikaku.
Zuikaku, who was in first place, was very happy, but she didn't stay happy for long before she found everything go black in front of her. It turned out that Ayanami had fired a smoke bomb. Zuikaku was hit and couldn't see the road ahead, directly crashing into the guardrail.
Zuikaku, who crashed into the guardrail, was overtaken by Ayanami. "Well then, bye-bye, Zuikaku!"
The other Ship Girls followed closely behind Ayanami. After three seconds, when the smoke bomb cleared, Zuikaku began to accelerate to chase Ayanami and the others. She wanted revenge; she wouldn't let Ayanami, this despicable person, win.
Illustrious caught up and was running alongside Zuikaku. Seeing that Zuikaku had actually fallen behind, Illustrious began to speak sarcastically. "Yo! Isn't this the first-place Zuikaku who was running in front after bombing me just now? How did you end up so pitifully behind?"
Illustrious ignored Zuikaku, activated rocket acceleration, and took a step ahead.
Seeing Illustrious mocking her, Zuikaku was immediately furious. She activated rocket acceleration, and after seeing Illustrious, she fired a Stun Bomb. "Admiral! Don't think you can escape just by mocking me. You stay behind for me!"
After hearing the sound of the Stun Bomb, Illustrious wanted to dodge, but found she couldn't, because this Stun Bomb was a tracking bomb. With a bang, Illustrious was hit again. Illustrious frowned, and inwardly wanted to curse. "Zuikaku, you bastard, you used a dirty trick again. You are too shameless!"
Illustrious, who stopped in place for three seconds, was overtaken by Zuikaku. "Admiral! I didn't use any rotten tricks; this is originally an element of training. If we don't use it seriously now, should we wait until the race to use it? By then, it will be too late."
Illustrious felt that made sense. She had originally wanted to avoid using those dirty tricks to attack her own Ship Girls' cars and only wanted to honestly overtake by drifting, but Zuikaku attacked her car again and again, making her realize her mistake. Since the world didn't allow her to be that kind, then she could only become Vicious.
Now she had changed her mind. She began to accelerate to chase Zuikaku. As the Zuikaku who was guiding her, Illustrious decided to take Zuikaku as the first step to prove her path by killing the Ship Girl.
But this first step of hers ran into trouble again. When she was turning, she saw a banana peel. Illustrious took a deep breath; needless to say, this banana peel must have been placed by Zuikaku. "I really admire you! Zuikaku, you old schemer, you are indeed insidious enough."
Illustrious hit Zuikaku's banana peel and spun in place. After spinning a few circles, Illustrious immediately accelerated forward and chased after Zuikaku. After seeing Zuikaku's car, Illustrious was going to take revenge. "Zuikaku, you messed with me again and again, making me so miserable. Don't think I will let you go; I will also make you taste a missile."
"Bang!"
After the missile was fired, Illustrious laughed sinisterly, hee hee hee! This missile was unavoidable because she had tried it just now; these were all tracking bombs, and there was simply no way to dodge them.
Hearing the sound of Illustrious firing a Missile, Zuikaku was very dismissive. "Admiral, even a scrub like you wants to hit me? You're being delusional."
"Boom!"
Since they were already on the second lap, Rocket Boost was available. Zuikaku used it, dashing forward to shake off the Missile. The Missile exceeded its range and finally exploded in mid-air; the Missile fired by Illustrious ultimately hit nothing but thin air.
Looking at the Missile that hit nothing, Illustrious was dumbfounded. "What the heck! You can even play like that?!"
On the other side, the leader was Ayanami, still in first place. After passing a curve, Shokaku couldn't resist causing trouble and fired a Missile.
Hearing the sound of a Missile being fired from behind, Ayanami was very contemptuous. She backed her car up, and the Missile began to track her. When the Missile flew in front of her, Ayanami fired her own Missile.
The two Missiles collided just like that. Although she wasn't hit, Ayanami was overtaken by Shokaku, who was in second place.
Shokaku, now in first place, reached the next curve. Shokaku wasn't as good at cornering as Ayanami, so Ayanami overtook her and became first again.
Using a Missile to counter a Missile to avoid being hit—seeing Ayanami use such excellent maneuvers, Shokaku and her Ship Girl companions were stunned.
While overtaking Shokaku, Ayanami gave her a look of Regal Scorn, as if saying "is that all," making Shokaku grit her teeth in anger.
Currently, the leader of the pack was Ayanami. Ayanami's momentum was very strong, but being in first place isn't that easy; it remains to be seen if she can maintain it!
Second place was Shokaku. As the runner-up, Shokaku always wanted to be first, so she constantly chased after Ayanami. Although she remained in second, Shokaku expressed that she wouldn't give up; she was determined to take first place.
Third place was Haman. Haman was putting her life on the line for the cat plushie, but her driving skills were limited. She wasn't as good at drifting through corners as Ayanami and Shokaku, so she could only settle for third.
Fourth place was Yukikaze. Yukikaze wanted to have a candlelight dinner with the Admiral. For this goal, Yukikaze, whose drifting skills weren't great, was working hard to find an opportunity to use a dirty trick to hinder Haman in front of her.
Fifth and sixth place were Aircraft Carrier and Azuma. These two had been following the pack. As experienced drivers, they had their own way of winning. It wasn't that they didn't want to move to the front, but running in the lead makes one an easy target for focused fire. Ayanami might look impressive on the surface, but she was actually in a very dangerous position.
Because she would definitely be taken out by those behind her using dirty tricks; even if Shokaku didn't get her once, the result wouldn't change. Therefore, Aircraft Carrier and Azuma wouldn't use their dirty tricks in the first nine laps, but would save them for the end. This training wasn't won by being in first place now, but by being first across the finish line, so they weren't in a hurry.
Seventh place was Laffey. Laffey was in second place at the start, and her drifting skills were quite impressive, but she started getting sleepy. That's right, she was sleepy again.
So after the second lap, she gradually fell behind the others, eventually dropping to seventh place. Her speed in seventh place continued to drop because the sleepy, squinting Laffey's strength on the accelerator was getting weaker and weaker. The other Ship Girls shook their heads; they could already see that Laffey had no hope of winning.
Eighth place was Illustrious. Although Zuikaku had dodged her Missile, Illustrious, who had set her sights on Zuikaku, was now locked in a struggle with her.
Because Illustrious's dirty tricks included Fog Bombs, Banana Peels, and Stun Bombs. Using all three together finally forced Zuikaku into last place.
Ninth place was Zuikaku. Because she had used all three of her dirty tricks on Illustrious, she was targeted by a vengeful Illustrious. However, she didn't regret it; even if given a second chance, she would still use the dirty tricks on Illustrious.
Because she didn't want to eat the food Illustrious cooked. Although she hadn't eaten Illustrious's cooking and didn't know what it tasted like, she had heard from other Ship Girls that it was "Death Cooking"—one bite and you'd see the Grim Reaper. With it being so terrifying, how could Zuikaku not be afraid?
So, she could lose the training, but she couldn't let Illustrious win. Even if not for herself, she had to save her sister from the torment of Death Cooking.
Tenth place was Unicorn. Unicorn seemingly didn't know how to drive; she hit the guardrail while cornering. While adjusting her direction, she actually started driving backward. After Ayanami and the others finished a lap, Unicorn saw the front of Ayanami's car and realized she was driving the wrong way.
Seeing Unicorn like this, the Ship Girls knew she had no hope of winning.
Now Zuikaku felt very noble, sacrificing herself for the greater good. Who could be greater than her? No one. To let this greatness continue and achieve the final result, she would persist in holding back Illustrious.
It was now the fifth lap, and Zuikaku had caught up to the back of Illustrious's car. Seeing the rear of Illustrious's race car, Zuikaku couldn't help but smile. "I've finally caught up to you."
Zuikaku planned to use a dirty trick to knock Illustrious further back. Her remaining dirty trick was a Fog Bomb, while Illustrious had none left—she had used them all on Zuikaku. Now Illustrious could only rely on her drifting skills to catch up to the pack ahead.
But would Zuikaku let Illustrious catch up to the pack? No. If she did, she wouldn't be Zuikaku. Since she had already held Illustrious back in eighth place, she might as well finish the job and knock her even further back for a perfect ending.
"Bang!" Zuikaku fired the Fog Bomb.
As soon as she heard the sound of a Fog Bomb being fired from behind, Illustrious knew Zuikaku had used another dirty trick.
Illustrious cursed at Zuikaku, "Dammit, Zuikaku, you bastard!"
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