"?"
Gridley's words made Lin Lan stop in his tracks. The clever little Eagle Union reporter, seeing the expression on her commander's face, knew she had guessed correctly.
"Commander, don't be surprised. This is already an open secret among all the sisters in the port district. After all, you were the one who complained about it the most back then, hehe~"
Seeing Gridley's mischievous smile that said "I know what you're thinking," Lin Lan couldn't help but cover his forehead and give a bitter laugh.
Damn it, in the end, it's still his fault.
Who told him to always keep staring at Bismarck in the game and asking why she hadn't been remodeled yet?
In the Ironblood faction, neither Bismarck nor Tirpitz brought up the matter themselves, so they had already been quite considerate.
After leaving the Eagle Union armory, the noise no longer filtered out, once again forcing Lin Lan to admit the power and convenience of Wisdom Cube Technology.
He couldn't imagine what life would have been like for those who experienced the Wisdom Cube Energy Revolution in the Prime World.
During the directional folding event where they acquired the Type II ship equipment technology, he did see some brand-new units of the Prime World military.
But as for how ordinary people lived there, his frequent plot jumps had left him completely clueless.
Once in the car, Lin Lan looked at Enterprise beside him and asked,
"Where to next? The racetrack?"
"Commander, no rush for the racetrack. Let's first go see the sports field. After having lunch there, we'll head to the racetrack in the afternoon."
Hearing Enterprise's words, Lin Lan glanced at the sky—it was indeed almost lunchtime.
The sports field Enterprise mentioned was probably the open-air baseball and basketball courts, likely the home turf of the Sea Knights.
After all, Cleveland and her sisters were basketball stars in the port district.
Despite their slender, youthful appearances, Lin Lan was fully convinced their skills surpassed NBA players on Blue Star.
This wasn't because Lin Lan looked down on those NBA stars—it was mainly that ship girls and humans couldn't be compared on the same physical terms.
After Enterprise started the engine, Lin Lan checked that Anchorage and Eldridge had their seat belts fastened properly.
Though the bright sunlight shone warmly on Lin Lan, even here on the East Continent, winter had officially arrived.
The sun wasn't harsh but gave a cozy warmth.
Wait, winter, the end of the year...
As Lin Lan thought about this, he suddenly remembered that the Eagle Union faction had a very important holiday at the end of the year.
Christmas!
At this thought, Lin Lan turned his head to look at the poised silver-haired beauty Enterprise who was focused on driving.
Wasn't she the Santa Claus of his port district?
Everyone knew Enterprise's first outfit was her Christmas costume.
On Christmas Eve, this Eagle Union hero transformed into the port's Santa Claus, delivering Christmas gifts to the destroyer children.
"Commander, is there something on your mind?"
Though concentrating on driving, Enterprise had been secretly watching her commander.
Seeing Lin Lan looking at her, she curiously asked.
"I was thinking Christmas must be coming soon. Unless something unexpected happens, we should spend this Christmas on the Artificial Island, right?"
Lin Lan calculated the timing.
Since it was winter, the waters around the Orlan East and West Continents would freeze, so they would probably return to the old port after spring arrived.
"That's right. Since you're back this year, Commander, everyone can have a happy Christmas just like before."
Enterprise smiled, then teasingly asked,
"Commander, do you have any gift you want?"
"A gift, huh..."
Lin Lan thought carefully. It seemed he really didn't have anything special he wanted right now.
But then he gave a sly smile, looking at Enterprise's heroic face and said,
"As long as it's a gift personally delivered by our port district's Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, I'd like anything."
After being tempered in the Ironblood faction, Lin Lan had learned a thing or two about what to say at times like this.
People do improve.
"Hehehe, Commander, since when did you become so smooth-talking?"
Hearing his words, Enterprise chuckled softly, her face briefly showing a shy expression.
As the two of them talked, the vehicle slowed down along the edge of the baseball field.
The empty, grassy baseball field was deserted, so Lin Lan just glanced at it from the car window.
Then Enterprise accelerated again, heading toward the basketball court ahead.
"I thought Bogue was a professional-level baseball enthusiast. Why isn't she here?"
Lin Lan was a bit surprised. He had expected to see the Eagle Union escort carrier Bogue at the baseball field.
This legendary Eagle Union anti-submarine light carrier was a common rare in the game but had a brilliant anti-submarine record in history.
The fleet escorted by Bogue suffered no losses until the end of the war, and not a single carrier-based plane was shot down.
He had never understood why, despite such a glorious history, the game developers gave this Eagle Union baseball player such a low rarity.
"Hm... I think it's because Bogue doesn't have any opponents to compete against anymore."
Enterprise explained carefully when Lin Lan asked why the baseball field was empty.
"Back in the port district, our friends from the Sakura Empire often scheduled baseball matches with us Eagle Union faction girls. Everyone was competitive, so there was frequent training."
"After we came to the Artificial Island, due to fewer people going out and no old rivals, apart from the occasional baseball game organized by the Sea Knights and Baltimore when they were in the mood, most of the time they preferred playing basketball."
I see.
Lin Lan nodded. Although he hadn't watched much baseball, he roughly understood the basic rules and knew a baseball game required quite a few players on both offense and defense.
When the Eagle Union ship girls had set out separately to look for him on the East Continent, it was sometimes hard for them to gather enough players for baseball games even when they returned.
Basketball was different. Even two players—one on offense and one on defense—could have an intense, fun match.
"Between you and the Sakura Empire, who won more baseball matches back then?"
"Of course we are! With Bogue on our side, how could the Sakura Empire be our match?"
Enterprise answered without hesitation.
Lin Lan chuckled. With such a professional player, there really was no contest.
Since the baseball and basketball courts were adjacent, after passing the baseball field, Lin Lan and the others arrived outside the basketball court's fence.
Unlike the empty baseball field, several Eagle Union ship girls in light attire sat in a row under a shade near the basketball court, eating lunch.
Lin Lan looked closely—it was Cleveland and the Sea Knights.
The moment he glanced toward Cleveland and the others, the Sea Knights saw him too. They all smiled happily and stood up to wave.
"Everyone get out of the car. We'll eat and rest here at noon."
Enterprise, who had stopped the car, waved to Cleveland and the others, tidied her silver hair blown by the wind, and smiled at Lin Lan.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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