A heavenly radiance ship device is the highest grade of ship device, and Illustrious was quite covetous of it. She didn't want to give up until the very end. "I see! Then Master, please don't take this blade back yet! Wait until my last Ship Girl tries. If she still fails, then you can take it back."
Blinking her eyes, Shinano said softly, "You really won't give up! Alright! I promise you."
Illustrious said happily, "Yay! That's wonderful, thank you, Master!"
A few minutes later, Zuikaku finally arrived in the living room. "Sorry! I'm late. You must be the Admiral's Master! I'm Zuikaku, and it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Mm! Hello, I am Shinano. Please take care of me." Shinano nodded.
Patting Zuikaku's shoulder, Illustrious whispered, "Zuikaku! I have good news for you. My Master has a heavenly radiance ship device named Inferno Hellfire. If you can contract with that ship device, it will be yours."
Zuikaku said excitedly, "What? Such a good thing exists? A heavenly radiance ship device! Where is it? Hurry up and bring it out so I can contract with it."
Shokaku handed the Inferno Hellfire to Zuikaku. "It's here! I heard this blade can boost a Gold-Plated Ship Girl to the strength of a Five-Star Epic Ship Girl. I hope you can successfully bond with it!"
Zuikaku drew the Inferno Hellfire and examined it. Seeing that its appearance and quality were excellent, she was very fond of it. "Sister Shokaku! Have you already tried to bond with it? How did it go?"
"Of course I failed! Otherwise, why would I let you try to bond with it?" Shokaku pouted.
"What? Even you couldn't do it, Sister? What about the others?" Zuikaku asked.
Illustrious grabbed Zuikaku's shoulders firmly and replied seriously, "Of course they failed! Now it all depends on you. You must successfully bond with this ship device!"
"Uh! Alright! I'll do my best." Zuikaku couldn't help but break into a sweat.
"Good luck! You can definitely do it." Illustrious moved two or three steps away from Zuikaku and waited quietly for the result.
Seeing how much Illustrious wanted to keep this heavenly radiance ship device, Zuikaku wasn't surprised at all. After all, a heavenly radiance ship device was priceless; anyone who was sane and knew its value would want to possess it.
Closing her eyes, Zuikaku spread her mental energy outward and then focused it onto the Inferno Hellfire.
Upon seeing someone trying to bond with her again, Inferno Hellfire immediately checked Zuikaku's aptitude. "My god! Her unique ability is Incinerating Flame. That's amazing."
A Ship Girl usually has to reach the level of a Five-Star Epic Ship Girl to know her own unique ability, but Inferno Hellfire was different. She could know it in advance when the Ship Girl was still a Gold-Plated Ship Girl, though it was limited to Ship Girls whose unique ability was fire-related.
The reason Inferno Hellfire was so excited was that Incinerating Flame was an incredibly overbearing fire. Once an enemy touched it, unless they were a Five-Star Legendary Ship Girl capable of resisting it, any other level of Ship Girl would just be slowly burned to ashes upon contact.
"She looks good too, and she looks a bit silly. Perfect, she meets all my requirements. Decided, you are my master." Inferno Hellfire immediately accepted Zuikaku's mental energy and connected with her.
After receiving Inferno Hellfire's approval, Zuikaku's entire body was instantly surrounded by countless raging flames. A beam of light shot out from her body, smashed through the roof, and soared straight into the clouds.
"What a terrifying aura! This strength is already on par with mine." Watching the Five-Star Epic Ship Girl aura radiating from Zuikaku, Aircraft Carrier said in surprise.
Shinano looked at the flames wrapping around Zuikaku and couldn't help but frown, because she could actually feel a threat to her life from within those flames.
"Ah! My house! Zuikaku, do you want to tear down my house? Hurry up and withdraw your aura!"
"Yes! I'll withdraw it immediately." Zuikaku hadn't expected the bonding process to create such a massive commotion.
To avoid tearing down the house, Zuikaku immediately ordered Inferno Hellfire to stop.
Although Inferno Hellfire was dissatisfied with Zuikaku bossing her around after receiving the order, there was a terrifying Shinano present. If she acted too wildly, she feared for her life, so she had no choice but to stop.
With the aura withdrawn and the flames on her body extinguished, Illustrious immediately walked up to Zuikaku and said, "I have some good news and some bad news for you now. Which one do you want to hear first?"
"Let's hear the good news first!" Zuikaku thought for a moment, then said.
Illustrious said unhurriedly, "The good news is that you have successfully bonded with it, so this heavenly radiance ship device is yours. How about it, aren't you happy? This is a weapon-type heavenly radiance ship device!"
"Yay! That's great! With this, I'm also a holder of a heavenly radiance ship device." Getting a heavenly radiance ship device for free, Zuikaku was overjoyed.
"Although you are very happy now, I still have some bad news to tell you." Illustrious put on a stern face and said.
"Wh-what bad news?" Zuikaku swallowed hard and asked.
Pointing to the ceiling, Illustrious said expressionlessly, "You broke my house, so you won't be getting your salary for next month."
"No! QWQ" Zuikaku cried while hugging Illustrious's thigh, "Considering how hard I work at the Naval Base, please don't dock my salary!"
"Let go of me!" After shaking off the Zuikaku pendant at her feet, Illustrious said, "Stop nagging! You have to take responsibility for your mistakes."
To prevent her salary from being confiscated by Illustrious, Zuikaku unleashed her 'crying' technique. "Sob sob sob... Heavens! Earth! Why is my Admiral so heartless? It's not like I did it on purpose."
"Everyone, judge for yourselves! The house being broken is clearly the sword's fault. Every debt has its debtor; if you want to settle accounts, you should settle them with the sword! How can you give a weak, helpless Ship Girl like me trouble!"
Since Illustrious was currently angry, seeing Zuikaku cast her gaze over, the other Ship Girls immediately turned their heads away to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
"Wow! You are all so heartless. I really misjudged you." Seeing that none of the Ship Girls came out to speak for her, Zuikaku was furious.
Illustrious said coldly, "If you keep making noise, I'll dock your salary for the month after next as well."
"Don't, don't do that. I won't say anything, okay!" Zuikaku immediately shut her mouth.
"Very good. Are you willing to accept the punishment?" Illustrious asked seriously.
Seeing that Illustrious was truly angry, Zuikaku had no choice but to give up resisting. "I'm willing!"
"That's better." Illustrious turned her gaze to Azuma. "Azuma! Make a call later and ask the construction Ship Girls in Tianhai City to come and patch up the ceiling."
"Alright, leave it to me, Admiral! I will have them patch up the ceiling immediately." Azuma nodded and said.
Walking up to Shinano, Illustrious bowed and apologized, "I'm sorry, Master! My Ship Girl has made a mess of this place. I hope you don't mind."
Shinano smiled faintly and said, "It's fine! Your Ship Girl didn't mean it. Besides, she has now successfully bonded with Inferno Hellfire. She is an important fighting force for protecting the Naval Base now! Forgive her and don't dock her salary!"
Zuikaku was moved to tears, thinking to herself, "She is truly a good person! Worthy of being the Admiral's master."
"Alright! For my master's sake, I won't dock your salary for next month." Illustrious sighed and said.
"Thank you for your mercy, Admiral!" Zuikaku said gratefully.
"Don't thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank my master. Without her, your salary for this month would definitely have been docked by me." Illustrious shook her head and said.
"Thank you, Sister Shinano, for interceding for me. If there is anything you need my help with in the future, I definitely won't refuse." Zuikaku bowed deeply to Shinano and thanked her.
"You really know how to talk, actually calling me sister." Shinano placed her hands on her face, delighted.
"Master! Please be more reserved. After all, you are over one... Pfft!" Just as Illustrious was about to reveal Shinano's age, she was suddenly punched in the stomach by Shinano. Having taken a heavy blow, Illustrious's complexion immediately turned ugly, and she finally fell to the ground, motionless.
"Admiral!" Seeing their Admiral fall, the Ship Girls immediately stepped forward with concern.
"Don't worry! I didn't hit her hard. At most, she'll just be unconscious for half a day." Shinano said calmly.
The Ship Girls were suddenly speechless. This master was truly ruthless to her own disciple.
"I think the Admiral's body is very durable. Now, as long as someone performs artificial respiration on her, she will definitely wake up," Ayanami said expressionlessly.
"Good idea! Then let me be the one to wake Sister up!" Aircraft Carrier raised her hand and said excitedly.
Looking at the unconscious Illustrious, Aircraft Carrier immediately leaned in to kiss her. Just when she was only 0.01 centimeters away from kissing her, she was stopped by Shokaku and Zuikaku.
"Why are you stopping me? Can't you see I'm saving the Admiral?" Having her good deed blocked, Aircraft Carrier said coldly.
"Artificial respiration cannot be performed by the Admiral's sister, because that goes against ethics. Don't you all agree?" Shokaku said solemnly.
The Ship Girls nodded, all agreeing that what Shokaku said made a lot of sense.
Haman supported her, "Shokaku, you're right. How can sisters kiss each other? That's too shameless."
Seeing someone stopping Aircraft Carrier, Ayanami naturally agreed with Shokaku's point of view. "The Admiral is a very moral person. If she finds out she was kissed by her sister, she definitely wouldn't have the face to go on living!"
Laffey tilted her head and said innocently, "I actually think the Admiral would be very happy! You know, when I saw the Admiral kissing Unicorn yesterday, her expression was very happy and joyous."
"What! The Admiral doesn't even spare her sister?" After hearing Laffey's words, the Ship Girls were thunderstruck. They didn't expect the Admiral to be such a person.
"You were actually kissed by the Admiral? That is so env... ah, no, that is so immoral." Zuikaku loudly condemned.
Yukikaze said disapprovingly, "Unicorn is so cute. Even if the Admiral knows it's immoral, she can't help herself! If it were me, I might not be able to resist either."
Seeing one Ship Girl after another wanting to compete for Illustrious, Azuma, who considered herself the main wife, could no longer endure it, so she gave a cold shout, "Everyone stop fighting! Leave the artificial respiration to me!"
Seeing Azuma speak up, the Ship Girls were stunned at first, and then they all started to blast her.
"Why? Don't think that just because you are the Secretary Ship, you can do whatever you want."
"Exactly! You must have kissed the Admiral thousands of times in the office already. This is a rare opportunity, and yet you still want to steal it from us? This is bullying!"
"Be angry! Resist! Sisters, let's overthrow the dictatorship of the Secretary Ship."
"Well said! If we don't resist now, when will we? Charge!"
"Go! Charge! Whoever can defeat Azuma can perform artificial respiration on the Admiral!"
Seeing the Ship Girls coming towards her, Azuma drew her ship-slaying great sword and struck a pose ready to fight. "Blades have no eyes. If you dare to take one more step forward, I will let you taste why the flowers are so red."
Looking at the edge flashing on the ship-slaying great sword, the Ship Girls immediately stopped.
Regarding these cowardly Ship Girls, Ayanami was angry at their lack of resolve. "Don't be wimps! Azuma is only one person, and we have so many people here. Why should we be afraid of her?"
That's right! There were so many Ship Girls around them; even if each of them spat once, they could drown Azuma!
So the Ship Girls immediately charged at Azuma again. Azuma couldn't fend off so many hands with just one pair, and was eventually struck by a sneak attack from behind by Ayanami.
Taking a rope out from her rigging space, Ayanami didn't hold back at all and tied Azuma up tightly.
Looking at her spoils of war with satisfaction, Ayanami looked around at everyone and said, "Then the Admiral's artificial respiration will be left to me."
"Tch! I didn't expect you to be so formidable, actually defeating Azuma one step ahead of us." Zuikaku said unhappily.
"You're a Ship Girl, yet you used a sneak attack. You're a disgrace to our Ship Girls." Haman said angrily.
Intrepid said seriously, "You actually let us charge in front while you secretly came behind Azuma and succeeded with a sneak attack. Ayanami! You really have good methods!"
"You flatter me! Actually, I didn't expect to succeed with the sneak attack in one hit either." Ayanami smiled faintly.
"We aren't complimenting you!" The Ship Girls shouted angrily.
"Eh! Is that so? Forget it. Anyway, I was able to defeat Azuma all thanks to you guys acting as the vanguard." Ayanami patted her small chest and said, "Don't worry! After kissing the Admiral, I will tell you how it tastes."
"Damn it! If I had known, I should have used a sneak attack just now." Zuikaku regretted.
"Impossible, impossible. Zuikaku, you are too upright. You could never do something like a sneak attack." Ayanami shook her head and said.
"So you admit you are a despicable villain." Zuikaku said with contempt.
"To be able to get the Admiral's kiss, even if I become a despicable villain, I won't hesitate." Ayanami said righteously.
Zuikaku fell to the ground, kneeling and bowing. "Such strong determination. Is this the reason you can win against us? Very well, we will let you have it this time."
"Then I'll be impolite and start." Ayanami immediately leaned in to kiss the unconscious Illustrious.
Just when she was 0.01 centimeters away from kissing Illustrious, Illustrious woke up. "What are you trying to do to me..."
However, before Illustrious could finish, she was punched in the stomach by Ayanami.
The intense pain caused Illustrious to close her eyes and faint again.
Unicorn whispered, "Um, Ayanami, the Admiral was awake just now, why did you knock her out?"
"No! The Admiral didn't wake up. You saw wrong just now." Ayanami said with a squinting smile.
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