Illustrious, who had been focused on Laffey, saw Ayanami and Haman pulling at Unicorn's hands and immediately delivered two hand-chops to their heads.
Clang clang!
"Ah! It hurts!" Ayanami and Haman said in unison, clutching their heads.
Illustrious pointed at them and criticized, "Unicorn is so cute, how could the two of you bully her!"
Ayanami, crying from the pain, said indignantly, "Admiral! Are we not cute?"
Haman said in disbelief, "Eh! Are we being hit because we're not cute? How can this be?"
"Ayanami and Haman! Of course you're cute! But even so, you can't bully Unicorn." Illustrious patted Ayanami and Haman's heads to soothe their pain.
Ayanami and Haman breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed they weren't 'not cute' in the Admiral's heart!
After Ayanami and Haman gave Unicorn an apologetic bow, Ayanami spoke first, "Sorry! Unicorn, we won't bully you next time."
Haman nodded and said, "I hope you can forgive us. We will definitely turn over a new leaf and become new ships."
"Don't worry! I didn't take it to heart." Unicorn gave a sweet smile.
Haman was shocked by Unicorn's broad-mindedness. "Ah! An angel! I suddenly feel healed."
Regarding bullying such a cute angel, Ayanami also realized she was practically a heinous criminal. "Unicorn, as an apology, if you're ever bullied in the future, just tell me. I'll definitely stand up for you."
"And me! And me! I'll help you too," Haman hurriedly said, raising her small hand.
"Ah... uh, mhm, I understand. Thank you both." Seeing the two so enthusiastic, Unicorn was actually a bit unaccustomed to it.
Cough cough... Seeing Unicorn and the others interrupt her, Azuma coughed unhappily a few times and then said, "That, Illustrious! The reason we're not asleep yet is to tell you some good news."
"What good news? Let's hear it," Illustrious immediately asked.
Azuma gave a light laugh and said, "Today, when Yukikaze and I went to Tianhai Island to buy daily supplies, Yukikaze used a gift lottery ticket and won a family hot spring voucher!"
"Eh! Really? No way! That Yukikaze actually has such good luck," Illustrious said, somewhat incredulously.
Seeing that Illustrious didn't believe her, Yukikaze immediately pulled out the hot spring voucher and waved it in front of Illustrious's eyes. "Of course it's true! Look!"
"Don't wave it! Let me see it clearly." Illustrious grabbed Yukikaze's flailing hands, and then she saw the words 'Family Hot Spring Voucher'.
"Oh ho! It's actually real. Great, doesn't that mean we can go to the hot springs?" Illustrious was instantly excited.
Yukikaze put her hands on her hips and said triumphantly, "Believe it now! You're able to go to the hot springs all thanks to me. Hurry up and thank the lucky Lady Yukikaze."
"Yes, yes! It's all thanks to Lady Yukikaze!" Placing her hand on Yukikaze's head, Illustrious smilingly patted Yukikaze's cat-like head.
Yukikaze, who had closed her eyes comfortably while being patted, enjoyed it for a moment before suddenly coming to her senses and slapping Illustrious's hand away. "Don't pat me, I won't grow!"
Casting her gaze toward Yukikaze's chest, Illustrious rubbed her chin and said, "Mhm! I actually think you've grown quite big! if you grow any more, won't you become a dairy cow?"
"Ah! You pervert! Where are you looking!" Yukikaze covered her chest with her hands, her face flushing red.
"Calling me a pervert is too much. I'm just evaluating based on the facts. I definitely don't have any other bad intentions. Probably!" Illustrious chuckled.
"Probably? Admiral! No way! Yukikaze is still a child, you can't lay a hand on her!" Shokaku reminded her.
Intrepid hugged Illustrious from behind and said, "Exactly! If Sister really finds it that hard to endure, you can push me down instead. If it's Sister, I'll agree to any request."
Feeling the softness behind her, Illustrious's body jolted. "Intrepid, don't be like this, there are many people here! Besides, I'm a decent person, I won't do those shameless things."
After Illustrious said this, the Ship Girls immediately fell silent. Then, one Ship Girl suddenly couldn't help herself and burst into continuous laughter!
Hearing that laughter, Illustrious's face darkened. "What are you laughing at? Is it that funny?"
Zuikaku laughed loudly, "Of course it's funny! Haha, it's killing me. You, a walking human pile driver, actually claim to be a decent person. Don't you feel embarrassed saying that?"
Hearing this, the other Ship Girls all thought Zuikaku had a point, and they began to whisper among themselves.
"The Admiral says she's a decent person all day, but the things she does every day aren't decent at all. Usually, she takes advantage of her own Ship Girls whenever she can."
"I strongly agree with that. Did you know? I see Taihou coming out of the Admiral's room every Sunday morning."
Shock! "The Admiral finally isn't satisfied with just taking advantage, so she even wants to do that kind of thing."
Seeing the 'looking at trash' eyes from the surrounding Ship Girls, Illustrious hurriedly explained, "Everyone listen to me, things aren't as you imagine. Especially that thing with Taihou is even more of a misunderstanding."
Azuma pressed closer to Illustrious and questioned, "What exactly is going on? Why do they say you take advantage of them? And what's this about Taihou coming out of your room every Sunday morning?"
Tiny beads of sweat were pouring down. Illustrious couldn't help but panic. To solve the crisis before her, she racked her brains to find a solution.
After 0.1 seconds, Illustrious immediately thought of something, and so she said seriously, "Taking advantage of my own Ship Girls—I have indeed done that, but it was just some kissing! I didn't do anything else."
"As for Taihou, because her body has issues and she needs to vent her fire every week, to prevent her from venting it on you, I decided to bear it alone and let her come to my room on Friday nights to vent. I made such a huge sacrifice for you, and not only do you not thank me, you blame me instead. This is so unfair!"
Seeing Illustrious pouring out her grievances, Azuma was not only unmoved but instead caught a keyword from Illustrious's words. "Wait a minute. What is this 'venting fire' you're talking about?"
"Th-this..." Illustrious panicked. That so-called 'venting fire' was of course two girls getting intimate! But could she say that? Of course not. If she said it, Azuma would definitely be unwilling to marry her in four months!
To avoid this situation, Illustrious began to talk nonsense. "That so-called venting fire is actually just letting Taihou hold me while we sleep for a night. Don't misunderstand, we're just holding each other; we haven't done anything else."
"Phew! So that's how it is. That's okay then." Azuma breathed a sigh of relief, then placed her hand on Illustrious's shoulder and said seriously, "Admiral! Remember, your first time can only be given to me after we get married. If I find out you gave your first time to someone else, well, you know the consequences."
"Understood. Don't worry, after we marry, my first time will definitely be yours. No one else can even dream of touching it." While hugging Azuma, Illustrious felt a bit guilty inside. In fact, her first time had already been given five years ago to Fiona, the Queen of the Free Iris.
Hearing that Azuma and Illustrious were going to get married, the Ship Girls all felt particularly uneasy. Among them, Intrepid was the most miserable, knowing she was the culprit who caused Illustrious and Azuma to have to marry.
Ayanami clenched her fists. She felt she had to make a plan to stop Illustrious and Azuma from marrying; otherwise, she would have no chance at all to seize the position of the Admiral's Wife Ship!
...Three days later, Illustrious set out with her Ship Girls to Hokkaido in the Sakura Empire to visit the hot springs.
After a long plane ride and another car trip, Illustrious and the others finally arrived at an inn called the Tenmoku Hot Spring Inn.
Haman was the first to run to the inn's gate. She excitedly said to the Ship Girls behind her, "Yay! I'm first! Great, tonight I can sleep in the spot closest to the Admiral!"
Not long after Haman arrived, the other Ship Girls arrived as well.
Tsk! I was supposed to win, but it's all because of you, otherwise I definitely would have taken first!" Ayanami said angrily to Yukikaze beside her.
Yukikaze sighed. "Sigh! I originally wanted to stop Ayanami and let Unicorn take first place, but I didn't expect Unicorn to fall after not running very far."
Unicorn, who was holding U-chan, said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Yukikaze, I wasted your kind intentions."
"It's okay! Speaking of which, you fell just now, right? Does it still hurt?" Yukikaze asked, stroking Unicorn's face.
Unicorn shook her head. "I'm fine now. Sister Illustrious already used a golden azure crystal to heal me."
"I see! That's good then." Yukikaze felt relieved.
Zuikaku muttered in a low voice, "It was just a minor injury, yet the Admiral actually took out that precious azure crystal to treat her. That's really overkill!"
Covering her mouth, Shokaku laughed. "There's no helping it. You have to know that the Admiral is a sister-con!"
"Sigh!" Illustrious let out a heavy sigh.
Azuma, who was nearby, asked with concern, "Is the Admiral sad because Shinano suddenly left?"
"Yeah! You noticed." Illustrious said listlessly, "I originally wanted to soak in the springs with Master, but unexpectedly, she was suddenly called back to the Governor-Generals Mansion by Lilith on an emergency call."
Azuma comforted her, "The Governor called so urgently, so I think it must be something only Shinano can solve. Don't be so sad. If you keep frowning like that, you'll easily get wrinkles."
"Alright then!" Illustrious could only try to forget the unhappy things and soak in the springs to soothe her mood... Meanwhile, a major crisis occurred at the Pacific Governor-Generals Mansion, a crisis so great that it required Shinano to completely resolve it.
The crisis was that the Pacific Governor-Generals Mansion was under attack, and the people attacking them were none other than the Deep Sea Cult.
Inside the Governor-Generals Mansion, Lilith asked Lexington, "How many enemies have come this time?"
Lexington immediately replied, "A total of three have come, but they don't look weak at all."
"Not weak? Then I'll have to sense them properly." Lilith released her divine sense to investigate the three powerful auras.
After investigating for a while, Lilith immediately withdrew her divine sense, her expression turning grim. "They are indeed quite strong. These three auras—each one is a Five-Star Legendary Ship Girl, and one of them is no weaker than me."
"What! That's terrible." Lexington panicked. She quickly grabbed Lilith, lifted her up, and shook her desperately. "It's over. It seems our Governor-Generals Mansion is facing its greatest crisis in history."
"Hey! Calm down, and stop shaking me. You're making me dizzy." Lilith said helplessly.
"I'm sorry! Governor! I was too flustered." Lexington immediately adjusted her state and calmed down. "Um, Governor, you should have a way to deal with this crisis, right?"
"Don't worry, this attack is a piece of cake for me." Lilith patted her chest and spoke with confidence.
"I see! Then I'm relieved." Lexington breathed a sigh of relief. Although Lilith usually seemed unreliable, she always solved major emergencies perfectly. She believed that this time she would also be able to keep the Governor-Generals Mansion safe.
Lowering her head and stroking her chin, Lilith mused, "This Deep Sea Cult has developed too quickly. In just over ten years, it has actually grown to the point where it can destroy a Governor-Generals Mansion at any time."
"Sigh! Exactly! Clearly fifteen years ago, we Ship Girls and humans finally managed to defeat the Deep Sea and drive them to the black uninhabited sea regions." After swallowing to moisten her throat, Lexington continued:
"But the happy days didn't last long before a Deep Sea Cult appeared. This cult just happened to be like a snowball, rolling bigger and bigger. Now, no Governor-Generals Mansion can eliminate the Deep Sea Cult."
Lilith said seriously, "I don't mind telling you! I don't care about the Deep Sea Cult itself. What I fear most is the Holy Lord behind it and her Seven Saints. You should know that each of their strengths is no lower than a Five-Star Legendary Ship Girl."
"Governor! Don't forget, the Deep Sea Cult also seems to be able to command the Ten Great Disasters of the Deep Sea." Lexington added.
Lilith couldn't help but swallow. "My goodness, I really forgot if you hadn't mentioned it. So that means the Deep Sea Cult possesses the power of at least eighteen Legendary Ship Girls!"
Lilith and Lexington felt a chill down their spines as they thought about it. They only now realized that the Deep Sea Cult's strength was actually so terrifying!
Lexington asked in confusion, "Governor! If this Deep Sea Cult is really that strong, then why haven't they destroyed our Four Grand Governors Mansions yet?"
Lilith gave her a dead-eyed look. To this day, she hadn't even seen the face of the Deep Sea Cult's Holy Lord, so how could she know what that Holy Lord was thinking? "Go ask the Holy Lord of the Deep Sea Cult that question. I'm just the Pacific Governor-General."
Looking at Lilith's 'wise' eyes, Lexington covered her face. It's over! The Governor has turned back into her usual unreliable self.
"Speaking of which, I told you to call Shinano back. How much longer will it take for her to get here?" Lilith asked.
Lexington calculated for a moment and then said, "Based on the time, about an hour."
"An hour, huh? That's good." Lilith felt at ease. With Shinano here, those three attackers would surely be beaten until they ran away with their tails between their legs, and finally crawl back to the Deep Sea Cult.
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