The girls possessed looks and figures that surpassed human understanding, and even more incredibly, mechanical-like armaments floated around them. Upon closer inspection, they resembled miniature ocean warships.
"Norfolk, hurry up! We still have so many patrol missions today!" one pink-haired girl urged the brown-haired girl beside her.
"B-but, this is a dangerous zone! With just the two of us, we should be more careful!" Norfolk stammered, clutching Suffolk's sleeve tightly.
"Oh, it's fine! If there's danger, we can call Big Sister, and Big Sister will definitely come to save us!" Seeing Norfolk's timid demeanor, Suffolk patted her chest to reassure her.
"Ugh... I'm even more scared now... W-what if we can't wait for support? I really want to go back..." Suffolk's words had the opposite effect, and Norfolk was on the verge of tears.
"Huh?" Suffolk suddenly exclaimed in confusion, gazing into the distance. "What's going on? There seems to be a biological reaction on the island ahead, and there's smoke! Norfolk, let's quickly send a message to Big Sister, we'll go scout first."
Norfolk fumbled to send a message. "W-we really are in danger..." Norfolk cried with a long face, being dragged by Suffolk towards the island.
At the same time, Jiang Jiang and the Wisdom Cube's previously deployed detectors and radar also discovered the girls. "Jiang Jiang the Great Demon King, two unidentified objects are rapidly approaching." Jiang Jiang frowned. Are they local creatures? I didn't expect to be discovered so quickly. It wasn't in vain that I deliberately started a fire to send a signal and made so many preparations.
"Wisdom Cube, continue to monitor. Let's hide and observe the inhabitants of this planet first." Jiang Jiang quickly left the campfire and burrowed into the island's jungle.
Since he had already been discovered, it didn't matter whether the campfire was extinguished or not. Hmm, fortunately, the fish was already thoroughly cooked. Although he didn't know if the fish here carried any unfamiliar bacteria, after being charred and sterilized, it shouldn't be a problem. Jiang Jiang squatted in the bushes, munching on fish while pondering if he had missed anything.
Gradually, two black dots appeared in the distance, which then rapidly enlarged. Norfolk and Suffolk's figures came into Jiang Jiang's view. "Hmm? These are humanoid creatures?" Jiang Jiang's mind raced as he looked at the two Ship Girls.
"In that case, at least I won't be treated as hostile because of my appearance. Perhaps I can even manipulate the situation a bit. However, this world's technology seems quite advanced. That's a naval battleship-type armor." Jiang Jiang instinctively analyzed the situation before him, while having the Wisdom Cube record and match data to obtain more information.
Meanwhile, Suffolk and Norfolk watched the island grow larger in their sight. Then, the two of them landed on this sparsely populated island. Norfolk nervously looked around, afraid that a Siren would pop out from somewhere, while Suffolk stood on the beach, raising her hand and gazing. "Norfolk, look, there's a campfire over there. But why is there a campfire here?" Suffolk said, scratching her head in a daze.
"W-w-with a campfire, someone must have started a fire..." Norfolk said weakly. Upon hearing this, Suffolk punched her left hand with her right fist. "Oh, right! Eh? Then where's the person who started the fire? Where did they go?" Saying this, Suffolk looked around.
Seeing Suffolk like this, Norfolk quickly pulled her back, nervously saying, "D-don't be like that... That person must be hiding somewhere watching us... D-don't provoke them."
Suffolk heard this and reluctantly stopped, muttering, "What's the big deal! We're not bad people, why be so nervous?" Then she looked up again and shouted, "I'm Suffolk of Azure Lane's Dragon Empery, the Royal Navy's Kent-class heavy cruiser No. 5. I'm not a bad person, don't be scared, stop playing hide-and-seek!"
"S-Suffolk, don't do that! We... we should wait for Big Sister and the others to arrive..." Norfolk was almost in tears, pulling Suffolk and anxiously looking around.
At this moment, Jiang Jiang was in a "true brainstorming" session with the Wisdom Cube. The Wisdom Cube linked to Jiang Jiang's visual cortex, receiving neural potentials from the retina, converting them into images, and comparing them with the database for analysis.
"Jiang Jiang the Great Demon King, after matching, the appearance match rate is 81.43%, the body shape match rate is 76.22%, and the audio frequency... Both life forms match the characteristics of female Earth humans. For more detailed data, please observe from a closer distance." The Wisdom Cube's voice echoed in his mind.
"Wisdom Cube, conduct a comprehensive search for the Royal Navy's Kent-class heavy cruiser No. 5, HMS Suffolk, and re-survey the surrounding vegetation and small organisms, comparing them with the database."
Jiang Jiang was a bit disoriented now. Jiang Jiang could swear on his own name that the two girls were definitely speaking Chinese. And at this moment, Jiang Jiang also noticed that the objects on this small island seemed familiar.
"I wondered why the plants here looked so familiar. Could I have been sent back home? No, my home definitely doesn't have anything like Azure Lane." Jiang Jiang rubbed his chin, deep in thought. The previous space escape channel might have been affected by spatial turbulence, causing him to be sent to a parallel Earth.
That sieve-like space barrier indeed held the possibility of connecting two parallel universes. But even so, this was too far. When the spaceship took Jiang Jiang into the spatial node, he didn't know how far it was from Earth.
To cross into a parallel Earth, the most important condition is to cross on Earth itself. The connection between the same locations in two parallel universes is the most stable. Randomly traversing from a deep-space endpoint in one universe to a parallel Earth in another universe without coordinates, like this, has a probability lower than Japan sinking on the day you win the lottery.
"Wisdom Cube, determine if this is definitely a parallel Earth. If not, I'll say my name backward!"
"Jiang Jiang the Great Demon King, based on the surrounding biological features and the language pronunciation of the two girls, the probability of this being Earth is over 98%. Additionally, this machine, using 'Suffolk' and 'Azure Lane' as keywords, has found 352 pieces of information. Please review them or provide more keywords to narrow the scope. Finally, this machine kindly reminds you that your name read backward is still the same."
"...Shut up!"
"The Wisdom Cube cannot understand your current words."
The Wisdom Cube projected the search results onto Jiang Jiang's retina, forming a blue screen at the bottom of Jiang Jiang's field of vision. This function alone already surpassed all modern Earth computers and artificial intelligence, existing only in human fantasy.
At this moment, Jiang Jiang was not interested in knowing the universe-level Wisdom Cube's dimensionality reduction strike on Earth. He was rapidly scanning the information on the screen while saying:
"Tsk tsk tsk, what a nostalgic way to query information. Sigh, if it were the original Wisdom Cube, it would directly convert the information into brainwaves and transmit it to the brain. Why would I need to look at it one by one like this? It's too obvious. Anyone who didn't know would think my eyes were twitching, and I'd be exposed immediately."
Upon hearing this, any carbon-based life form would probably want to beat this boastful master to death. What's more irritating is that Jiang Jiang was actually speaking the truth.
Just as Jiang Jiang's eyeballs were frantically twitching, Norfolk and Suffolk also received a reply. "Suffolk... Big Sister said she has... already sent the nearest sisters... to us... and told us to wait for support... and... and she also said..." Norfolk stammered, unable to finish the latter half of the sentence. Suffolk said impatiently, "Said what? Tell me, Norfolk!"
Hearing Suffolk's urging, Norfolk closed her eyes and said, "She... she also said not to act rashly and alert the enemy... and to keep an eye on you..." Hearing Big Sister's wise and accurate prediction, Suffolk pouted and glanced away, saying guiltily, "What's the big deal... I'll wait then..."
Seeing this, Norfolk breathed a sigh of relief. Big Sister was truly amazing, seeing through Suffolk's personality and specifically giving instructions. Otherwise, how could I hold Suffolk back?
Meanwhile, Jiang Jiang also noticed Norfolk and Suffolk's conversation. Although Jiang Jiang was querying information, he still kept half of his attention on the two girls. "Hmm? They've stopped? It seems like they're waiting for something."
Jiang Jiang stopped his query and pondered, "These two girls, one looks hesitant and too shy, the other, needless to say, is reckless and a bit muddled. If I were in charge, I would also make them wait in place and send someone more cautious. So, the person coming next will be a tricky one. It seems I need to make some more preparations." Thinking this, Jiang Jiang looked at his clothes, which were out of place with the surroundings, and felt the need to disguise himself.
The support didn't make Norfolk and Suffolk wait too long. Soon, another black dot rapidly approached the island. Suffolk stood on the beach, waving her arms and shouting, "Here! Here!"
After her attempts to stop Suffolk were fruitless, Norfolk could only stand by helplessly. However, seeing the support, the always-nervous Norfolk also relaxed and sent a message to the incoming sister, informing her of their current location and situation.
A short-haired gray-haired girl in a maid uniform also approached the island by gliding on the sea. Armaments similar to warships floated around her, appearing lighter than Suffolk and Norfolk's armaments.
Guided by the two, the gray-haired maid landed on the island and said expressionlessly, "Suffolk, it seems besides breaking plates while cleaning, you also cause trouble at other times. Announcing your name at the start and alerting the enemy. Gloucester will deal with you when we get back."
Upon hearing this, Suffolk's face instantly stiffened, her eyes went dark, and she cried out, "No! Gloucester is too strict! I'll work myself to death!"
Norfolk, standing by, helplessly watched Suffolk, whose eyes were vacant as if she had lost her soul. She thought: As expected of Sheffield, what she says... is... is so scary... Sheffield ignored Suffolk's wails, looked at the campfire, then at the jungle not far away, and instantly pinpointed a spot. At this moment, Jiang Jiang's body stiffened because the spot Sheffield pinpointed was precisely Jiang Jiang's hiding place.
Looking at Sheffield's direct gaze, Jiang Jiang narrowed his eyes and thought, "A formidable opponent has arrived. It seems I've been exposed."
Sheffield raised her Ship Equipment hand, pointed it in Jiang Jiang's direction, and said, "We mean no harm. Please reveal yourself immediately, or I will take drastic measures." After speaking, Sheffield tilted her pistol and fired directly.
"Bang!" With a loud bang, the trees not far from Jiang Jiang were shattered to pieces. Jiang Jiang looked at the mess, which looked like it had been bombarded, with a black line across his face. A string of curses was stuck in Jiang Jiang's throat. Was this small pistol so powerful? It seems the technological level here is not low. No, wait, didn't you say you meant no harm?! Why did you shoot right after saying that?!
Norfolk and Suffolk were also startled by Sheffield's "gunshot." They huddled together timidly, looking at Sheffield, who fired without a word. No, it wasn't even 'without a word,' they hadn't even said anything yet!
Sheffield ignored the two trembling girls and spoke again, "Next time, I won't miss. Please, Mr. Peeping Tom, come out immediately."
Jiang Jiang looked at the dark muzzle of the gun, his eyes darted, and a plan came to mind. "Wisdom Cube, cooperate with me." Saying this, Jiang Jiang immediately closed his eyes and let his body fall out of his hiding place, feigning unconsciousness. The Wisdom Cube also cooperatively added a series of points to note.
"Please furrow your brows moderately, slightly tense your facial muscles, and..."
Seeing Jiang Jiang suddenly fall out of the bushes, Suffolk and Norfolk gasped, but Sheffield still held her pistol, her expressionless face showing no emotion, staring intently at the motionless Jiang Jiang, wanting to see what this Mr. Peeping Tom was up to.
After a long while, Suffolk said weakly, "Is... is he scared unconscious?" Hearing this, Sheffield's long eyelashes fluttered, and Norfolk on the side also said, "It's... it's possible. A normal person, almost getting hit... would definitely be scared unconscious..."
Sheffield pondered for a moment and agreed with Suffolk's opinion in her heart. But she still waited a while longer, and after confirming that Jiang Jiang was indeed motionless, she finally put down her Ship Equipment pistol and led Suffolk and Norfolk forward to check Jiang Jiang's condition.
"I didn't expect you to be of some use besides breaking plates and causing trouble."
"Hehehe, then..." Suffolk scratched her head awkwardly, grinning foolishly.
"But not much, so Gloucester's maid training is still unavoidable." Before Suffolk could finish speaking, Sheffield mercilessly struck her down.
"Ah! Why?!" The smile that had just managed to appear on Suffolk's face and the hope that had just risen were cruelly shattered by Sheffield. She then followed behind Sheffield with a mournful face.
Meanwhile, Sheffield was carefully searching Jiang Jiang's entire body, but Jiang Jiang had already found places to bury all the incriminating items beforehand, and his captain's uniform had already been changed in appearance using the disguise function.
To successfully deceive them, Jiang Jiang had even covered his clothes with plant sap and dirt. Now, the captain's uniform looked like a tattered, dirty piece of clothing no matter how you looked at it. So Sheffield had no suspicions and was convinced that Jiang Jiang had been scared unconscious.
Looking at the unresponsive Jiang Jiang, the helpless Sheffield could only decide to take Jiang Jiang back and then interrogate him slowly.
Afterward, Jiang Jiang was taken onto a boat. The boat was called in by Sheffield from nearby, to conveniently take Jiang Jiang, this "large living object," back.
Jiang Jiang wasn't idle either. His feigned unconsciousness made the people around him drop their guard, so their conversations weren't deliberately avoided around Jiang Jiang. This gave the Wisdom Cube a good opportunity to collect information.
"Ship Girl... Siren attack... Wisdom Cube... Nine Major Factions..." The Wisdom Cube recorded one keyword after another, searching the database and filtering out irrelevant information, narrowing the scope little by little. Jiang Jiang looked at the data panel, the flickering numbers representing Jiang Jiang getting closer and closer to the essence of this world.
"After correction, 216 entries remain."
"...139 entries."
"..."
"11 entries remain."
"That's enough, expand the information!" Jiang Jiang, who had been waiting for a long time, was already impatient. Looking at the information provided by the Wisdom Cube, Jiang Jiang was so shocked that his mind went blank. The truth in reality is often more bizarre than in novels.
"So... this is really Azure Lane?!" Jiang Jiang's mind was as chaotic as a parking lot destroyed by a tornado at this moment.