After all, Akashi had already gained a notorious reputation in Lin Lan's port area factions, and her reputation for exploiting every opportunity had become widely known.
In other factions, they might have let Akashi get away with it.
But unfortunately, neither the meticulous Iron Blood faction nor the straightforward Deutschland would tolerate Akashi.
As Lin Lan watched Akashi call back the muscle-bound catgirls and the brutish meows who had been building the fort at the dock to help repair the shop, he walked over to Deutschland and asked:
"How's the weapon system for Sui Qiong coming along?"
Deutschland looked up, glancing at Lin Lan, and sneered:
"Heh, lowly creature, as you can see, those guided shells similar to the Dragon Empery missiles are in the final stages."
Upon hearing Deutschland's words, Lin Lan stroked his chin. It seemed they had used the guided missile equipment from the Dragon Empery as a reference for the modification.
To give Lin Lan a more direct demonstration of their progress, Deutschland waved her hand, and a blueprint appeared in her hand.
"This is the plan for the upgrade of the Overlord Mecha's equipment by Iron Blood. Here, take a look. If you don't understand anything, feel free to ask."
Lin Lan took the blueprint from Deutschland, who was beaming with pride, and unfolded it to skim through it.
He had to admit, Iron Blood's technology truly was world-class; the blueprints were so detailed that even Lin Lan could understand the basic principles.
The tracking missile matrix used by the Overlord Mecha wasn't as powerful as the guided missiles from Dragon Empery's Guided-Missiles Destroyer, but it excelled in saturation strikes and fire suppression.
In addition, the blueprint also included another weapon for Sui Qiong, officially named the "Sky-Splitting Ion Blade"—a melee weapon.
"Although this tracking missile matrix, after modification by the wisdom cube, doesn't have the firepower of a heavy cruiser's main gun, it's far superior to the original version, as it can now perform air-to-ground strikes, not just air-to-air."
"As for the Ion Blade, we're planning to modify its energy source to be provided by the wisdom cube.
This will make it much more destructive than Olan's energy source, and we can also enhance it with our component materials."
Deutschland eagerly described the improvements she had made to Lin Lan. At this point, Akashi had also leaned in, curious to listen to Deutschland's explanation.
"Good, let's proceed with your plan. If everything goes smoothly, how much longer until completion?"
Although Lin Lan wasn't a professional, he could tell from the blueprint that after these modifications, Sui Qiong's weapon system would undergo a qualitative leap.
Sui Qiong was originally a Overlord Mecha model specialized in long-range flight support, and with the addition of an air-to-ground tracking missile matrix, wouldn't it effectively turn into a strategic bomber?
"If that shady merchant doesn't cause any more trouble, it should be done in about a week."
Deutschland took the blueprint, which Lin Lan had folded back up, and glared fiercely at Akashi, who was still smiling like a scheming merchant.
"Then I'll leave it to you. If you need any help, just tell Bismarck," Lin Lan said, nodding. In a week, he'd likely need to set off for Yunhai City.
He hoped that before leaving, Sui Qiong's weapon systems would be fully revamped.
"Bismarck, please explain the explosion to the people coming behind, and keep an eye on Sui Qiong. I'll be back in a moment. Akashi, come with me."
After confirming the development progress of Sui Qiong's weapons, Lin Lan said to Bismarck.
He then looked at the cute green-haired cat-girl and gestured for her to follow.
"Meow..."
Having just caused an explosion, Akashi thought Lin Lan was going to punish her. She gulped nervously and didn't dare refuse, quickly following him to a more secluded area.
Because of the explosion, many Iron Blood ship girls had already arrived at the scene.
After Lin Lan and Akashi left, Bismarck explained the situation to the arriving Iron Blood ship girls, who all expressed their disdain for Akashi's thieving behavior.
Of course, many of them were already used to it.
Akashi's bad reputation was well-deserved.
Just as Bismarck was finishing her explanation about the explosion and thought everyone would disperse, she realized that none of her subordinates were leaving.
Instead, they were all curiously looking at Sui Qiong, which made the shy girl hide behind Bismarck.
"Sister, we heard that the Commander is going to pledge with this mecha girl. Is that true?"
Before Bismarck could ask, her younger sister, Tirpitz, stepped forward and curiously asked, staring at the girl who was being petted on the head by Bismarck.
"It's true, but how did you know?"
Bismarck furrowed her brow. She thought that only she and the Commander knew about this matter.
Now, it seemed like the entire Iron Blood faction knew.
"We heard the explosion earlier, and on the way here, U81 told us."
Upon hearing her sister's answer, Bismarck, as the Iron Blood flagship, immediately understood what had happened.
"These little troublemakers..."
She hadn't intended to keep it a secret, so Bismarck directly told her Iron Blood companions about the situation.
Of course, they already knew about Sui Qiong's identity.
After a brief moment of surprise, they didn't seem overly shocked that Sui Qiong was about to pledge with the Commander.
Previously, due to Siren interference, there were occasional guests from other worlds who stayed temporarily in the port area.
Even though they weren't shipgirls, and would eventually return to their own worlds, the old pervert Commander still gave them pledge rings.
To be honest, with the example of the Royal Fortune shipgirl, a tentacle ship who arrived during Halloween, even if the Commander now said he wanted to pledge with Leviathan, they would have no problem accepting it.
After all, Lin Lan was known as the "Ring King" in the port area.
However, as the Commander was about to pledge with this new companion, many of the Iron Blood ship girls began offering their own suggestions.
"Since you're pledging, it has to be at a church, but there are no churches here."
It was Magdeburg who spoke.
"There's no church in the port area, but there should be one in the cities of this country, right?"
said the shy and obedient gray-haired light cruiser, Nurnberg, who had arrived with Bismarck, holding her similarly shy sister, Leipzig.
"I've been to the cities of this country. This country doesn't believe in that kind of thing, so there are no churches," said Agir, eyeing Sui Qiong with a mischievous grin.
"What? No churches? What are we going to do?"
"How about we build an Iron Blood-style church here?"
"That's a bit too extravagant... but I guess it could work."
The group of them chattered away, discussing the topic of their Commander's pledge, causing Sui Qiong to blush, and she clung even tighter to Bismarck.
Noticing Sui Qiong's shy demeanor, Bismarck sighed and spoke to her Iron Blood companions:
"Alright, you can all go back now. The specifics of the pledge ceremony still need to be decided by the Commander."
When the flagship spoke, everyone finally bid their farewells and started dispersing, whispering to each other as they returned to the port area.
After all, this would be the first pledge ceremony since the Commander's return, and it was only natural for them to feel excited.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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