"...See you tomorrow then!"
"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Jiang Jiang waved goodbye to a young man, then packed up his tools and returned to a single dormitory.
Looking at his room, Jiang Jiang couldn't help but sigh. It had been almost a year since he arrived here, and Jiang Jiang still hadn't adapted to the life.
A year ago, after Jiang Jiang was brought back from the island by Sheffield and her companions, he underwent a very long interrogation. After all, a human suddenly appearing on an island in an area frequently patrolled by Sirens, an island that had always been virtually uninhabited, this complex coincidence certainly aroused suspicion.
Fortunately, the Mentality had provided a lot of information in time, allowing Jiang Jiang to answer fluently. Although he couldn't explain why he was on the island, at least Jiang Jiang successfully avoided the issue of his identity being exposed, and safely blended into the populace.
As for why he appeared on the island and his place of residence, Jiang Jiang insisted that he had amnesia and knew nothing about these two questions, so the interrogation eventually came to nothing.
"Sigh, I really didn't expect that I would come here, a world from a game..." Jiang Jiang thought with a melancholic sigh. That's right, the world Jiang Jiang was currently in was the world of Azure Lane Ship Girls.
Initially, Jiang Jiang found it difficult to accept this unexpected outcome, but after experiencing actual life and combining it with the information provided by the Mentality, Jiang Jiang gained a detailed understanding of this world.
In this world, it was unknown when an alien enemy called Siren appeared on the sea. The Siren possessed an overwhelming level of technology. In the face of such a huge technological gap, the various factions at the time still fought independently, and the result was equally tragic.
Humanity lost control of over 90% of the sea, and technological and living standards rapidly regressed. Humans could only huddle on a small landmass, and the ocean became a forbidden zone.
But later, humans discovered that they were not the only ones fighting the Siren. Along with the Siren, a magical species also appeared. They possessed a beauty beyond human comprehension, and each was named after a historical battleship.
Their human-like size greatly increased their flexibility, and their accompanying weapons—Ship Equipment—had firepower no less than a battleship, and they could glide on the sea, calling themselves—Ship Girls.
They harbored immense, unyielding hostility towards the Siren, as if they were the Siren's natural antithesis.
And so, humanity and the Ship Girls formed an alliance, which was the first generation of Commanders and Ship Girls. In the following decades, the Ship Girls fought alongside the Commanders, and humanity finally reclaimed the coastline and a portion of the sea. Ship Girls and humans also became an inseparable whole.
Finally, led by the original Ship Girls and Commanders, the major factions, in order to reclaim their former glory, finally put aside their past grievances and jointly established the third-party military organization, "Azure Lane."
The purpose of "Azure Lane" was: to gather and share technology and resources from major factions around the world, to build a new fleet capable of contending with the "Siren," and to regain control of the sea.
Of course, this was just the official statement. Jiang Jiang recalled the information given by the Mentality: Azure Lane is a game... world background... character features... That's right, for Jiang Jiang, there were no secrets in this world. What Jiang Jiang knew far exceeded the imagination of the major factions.
Siren... Experimental Institution... Observer... The inside story of this world is truly deeply hidden. If the Ship Girls knew they shared the same origin as the Siren, what would happen?
"However, the honeycomb space barrier back then, now it seems it was indeed the Siren's doing, causing me to encounter space turbulence, the culprit that caused Jiang Jiang to lose contact!
Sooner or later, I'll make you iron-shelled termites who build illegally everywhere pay the price!" Jiang Jiang sneered, his eyes gleaming with a sharp, cold light.
In fact, the reason Jiang Jiang passed the Ship Girl's interrogation was only partly due to the Mentality's help. More importantly, when Jiang Jiang realized that the Siren was responsible for his predicament, the unknown fate of Jiang Jiang, and the Mentality's downgrade to a "low-intelligence" state.
Everything, everything, was because the Siren randomly drilled holes in the space barrier to conduct experiments in different time and space, and that's when Jiang Jiang and the Siren became inextricably linked. Jiang Jiang's murderous gaze even left the Ship Girls in awe—what a deep hatred that must be.
Now, in order to find a way back and incidentally take revenge on those tin rabbits, Jiang Jiang tried every possible way to join the Commander Academy. After all, Ship Girls were the greatest help in this world.
Afterward, Jiang Jiang used the Mentality's functions and his own advanced knowledge to successfully infiltrate the academy's technical department, working as a work-study student. By conveniently helping to repair various things, he allowed the Mentality to secretly analyze and observe many unique Azure Lane technologies, gaining a very deep understanding of Ship Girl technology.
"Tomorrow is the day to build a Ship Girl, and the preparations for construction are already sufficient, right? Mentality." Jiang Jiang said, clenching his fist. Hearing Jiang Jiang's question, a blue light lit up on the bedside table, and a palm-sized cube made a sound: "Yes, please rest assured, this machine is on standby at all times, Your Excellency Jiang Jiang the Great Demon King!"
"...Stop talking!" Jiang Jiang's mouth twitched, he covered his face with one hand, and with the other, he pressed down on the Mentality. He inwardly grumbled: Why, even after upgrading, can't this title be changed back!
Yes, almost a year had passed, and the Mentality had already undergone an upgrade. That cube was assembled by Jiang Jiang according to the Mentality's requirements, and it currently served as the Mentality's server and second carrier. After the upgrade, the Mentality was already capable of independent scientific research and could do more.
Construction tomorrow, I hope it goes smoothly. Thinking of this, Jiang Jiang lay on the bed, listening to the Mentality's repeated "Cannot understand..." and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.
In the early morning, Jiang Jiang shoved the Mentality into his pocket and headed out. Just as he reached the dormitory building's main entrance, a deep, resonant voice called out: "Jiang Xiaozi, wait!" Jiang Jiang stopped in response and turned to look at the speaker.
"Ah, it's Uncle Li. Is something wrong, Uncle Li? I already handed over all the repair work yesterday. Did something go wrong?" Seeing the person, Jiang Jiang greeted him familiarly.
Jiang Jiang had met Uncle Li when he first joined the technical department. Because Jiang Jiang was initially unfamiliar with the things in this world, he caused many blunders.
And Uncle Li deeply sympathized with this big boy who had "lost his memory" due to the Siren's misfortune, and he offered Jiang Jiang a lot of help. Jiang Jiang was also very grateful and respected him.
"You kid, what are you talking about! On such an important day, if I hadn't been standing guard here, would you have just left without a word? What would the old guys from the other teams think of me?"
Uncle Li's words made Jiang Jiang extremely embarrassed. Jiang Jiang had always appreciated Uncle Li's help, and in return, Jiang Jiang shared many advanced repair techniques and methods. Now, Uncle Li's repair team was highly sought after, making the other teams incredibly envious.
"How could that be? It's just not necessary..."
"That won't do. You have to believe some things about construction, whether it's right or wrong, once the construction is complete, it's final. Alas, every year at this time, countless newcomers, whether young girls or tough men, cry their eyes out. It's not uncommon for siblings to turn against each other. Listen to your uncle's advice, this water runs very deep, and you must be fully prepared..." Jiang Jiang listened to Uncle Li's admonitions with a wry smile, nodding repeatedly in agreement.
"...Construction mainly depends on luck; outsiders can't help much. Here, take this." Uncle Li pulled out a blue cube and handed it to Jiang Jiang.
"This, I can't take this, this is yours, Uncle Li..." Jiang Jiang hastily refused. In terms of Ship Girl construction, there was a fixed rule: once a Commander constructed a Ship Girl, they would not construct the same Ship Girl again. A port could not simultaneously have two Ship Girls with the same name. Unless the original slot became vacant... "If I gave it to you, just take it! I don't need it anymore. I think if it were her, she would agree too." Uncle Li disregarded Jiang Jiang's refusal and directly shoved it into Jiang Jiang's pocket, but the expression on his face wasn't as forceful as his actions, full of bitterness.
Uncle Li was no longer young; in his youth, he was also a Commander. However, at that time, the war was at its most difficult, resources were scarce, and Uncle Li had bad luck, only having one Ship Girl.
But during a large-scale defensive battle, she met with misfortune. After that, Uncle Li never constructed another Ship Girl, fearing he would construct that Ship Girl again, and eventually left the front lines to work in logistics.
"Jiang Xiaozi, I've held onto this Wisdom Cube for decades. I don't want to construct her again, and keeping it is useless. You take it. After all, I've played with it for so many years, it's bound to be of some use..." With that, Uncle Li walked away without looking back, perhaps afraid of being reluctant.
Jiang Jiang held the Wisdom Cube, feeling a bit heavy and hot, his heart complex. "What exactly do the words 'Ship Girl' mean to a Commander?" Jiang Jiang thought about Uncle Li's story, sighed, put the Wisdom Cube into his pocket, and walked towards the construction hall.
By the time Jiang Jiang arrived at the hall, it was already crowded with over a hundred new students waiting for construction, and many older students also came to join the fun, making the originally vast hall now packed full. Jiang Jiang looked around, found the people from his class, and went over. As he got closer, he heard... "Hey, hey, what kind of Ship Girls do you all want?!" "Definitely a rare one!" "Heh heh, you, it's already morning, are you still not awake? It's good enough if you get a blue light one." "Indeed, if it's a Royal Navy one, that would be great for me." "Faction doesn't matter, as long as it's a mature older sister, hehehe..." "Pfft!" "Go away, lsp!" "No, destroyers are the best..."
Jiang Jiang listened and shook his head. What were they all thinking? Who could predict random probabilities? Wait, wasn't there something strange mixed in? Jiang Jiang looked up at the gentleman who made the dangerous remark. Hmm, he'd report him to the Military Police later. At this moment, someone asked.
"What about you, Jiang Jiang?" Jiang Jiang looked up to see a young man with squinting eyes asking him a question. It was Lin Ye, the classmate he had said goodbye to yesterday. Since Jiang Jiang rarely interacted with others, Lin Ye, his deskmate, was arguably Jiang Jiang's only acquaintance in class. He was easygoing and liked to play pranks.
"Me? An Iron Blood faction one would be good. No other requirements."
"Eh, why? Are you a faction loyalist?"
"No, I'm a personality loyalist. Most Ship Girls from the Iron Blood faction have relatively easygoing personalities. If not, just not a Royal Maid." Jiang Jiang replied with a serious expression.
"...Don't let any Royal Navy Ship Girls hear you say that, otherwise you'll definitely get a beating. Speaking of which, why do you have such a big prejudice against Royal Maids? Wouldn't it be nice to have a beautiful maid calling you Master?" Lin Ye said earnestly.
Jiang Jiang inwardly grumbled, if you had been threatened with a "cannon" by a maid named Sheffield, you wouldn't think that way.
Just as the new students were making a ruckus, several women with extraordinary temperaments walked into the hall. Seeing them arrive, the clamor in the hall immediately ceased.
Several Ship Girls walked onto the podium. One leading blonde Ship Girl, exuding an elegant aura with every gesture, stepped forward and spoke: "Greetings, future Commanders. I am the Admiral-class Battlecruiser—Hood, and I am the Vice Principal of this academy."
Facing the gaze of hundreds of people, Hood showed no timidity, maintaining an elegant and composed smile. "Today is the day you all welcome your first partners in your Commander career. I believe that no matter what kind of Ship Girl she is, she will be the most special to each of you.
So, without further ado, let's begin. Please enter the construction rooms in an orderly fashion. You all know the rules of construction; choose one that appeals to you. If it fails, don't blame the constructor."
After she finished speaking, the Ship Girls behind her each walked into a construction room, arranged for the new students to enter for construction, and handed each new student 10 Wisdom Cubes and 7500 resources. This was provided by the school to every new student.
If a new student ran out and still hadn't constructed a Ship Girl, then subsequent Wisdom Cubes and resources would be charged, and the fees collected would be deducted from the Commander's future allowance.
Of course, any unused Wisdom Cubes and resources belonged to the new student. Therefore, when constructing Ship Girls, Commanders would actually begin to diverge.
Some people who had leftovers would have a very good starting point; while others would exceed their quota, incurring a large debt, which would affect their subsequent development. This was the source of blood and tears between the two major factions of Europeans and Africans.
The new students present were well aware of this, and one by one, they reined in their wishful thinking, looking nervous, each walking into the construction room as if going to an execution ground.
Even more, some immediately pulled out all sorts of strange little gadgets. In an instant, the atmosphere in the hall dramatically shifted, with various deities displaying their powers. An unknowing Observer might have thought it was a world religious exchange conference; even a grand inquisitor from the witch-hunt era would have to say, 'Freedom of belief,' and then, 'Excuse me, I must be going.'
Jiang Jiang watched Lin Ye, who was praying devoutly beside him, speechless. Lin Ye had a cross around his neck, Buddhist beads on his wrist, and held a lucky bag with "Gong Xi Fa Cai" written on it, while muttering, "The Three Pure Ones above..."
"This getup of yours... is it necessary? Besides, are you sure they won't start fighting each other first if you do this?" Jiang Jiang complained helplessly.
"Hmm?! Really? This is a construction blessing gift package I bought from Akashi, it can at least increase the construction probability by 20%."
"...Never mind Akashi, that profiteer, do you really believe such serious nonsense?"
"Cough cough, sincerity makes it work, sincerity makes it work! But speaking of which, why haven't you prepared anything? Are you that confident in your bloodline?" Lin Ye asked, looking at Jiang Jiang's empty hands.
"A materialist doesn't believe in gods or Buddhas. If I get it, I'm lucky; if I lose it, it's my fate." Jiang Jiang replied perfunctorily.
"...You're quite open-minded." After saying that, Lin Ye continued to mumble, "Disciple... Flying Spaghetti Monster bless..."
Jiang Jiang shook his head, no longer paying attention to this mixed-blood charlatan. He felt the Mentality in his pocket, a slight smile playing on his lips. How could he not be prepared? He laughed wildly inwardly: Whether European or African, tremble all of you, accept the dimensional reduction attack from an alien!
"Mentality, confirm again if preparations are complete!"
"Confirmation complete. Your cheat has come online!"