Sheffield knew that the matter was serious, so he no longer teased Su Xin as he did in the past. He just bowed and walked out quickly, calling other ship girls outside.
Su Xin took out the invitation letter, read it again and again in the quiet room, and then murmured:
"What exactly do you want to do?"
Chapter 329 Crush
"Rafi! Rafi!"
Returning to the chair at the gate, Rafi, who had been dozing off while standing guard at her post, was woken up again. She shook her head and turned to look at Maryland who was running towards her.
"...Are you leaving? Ha...bye..."
"Ah? No." Maryland waved her hand. "I will stay for a few more days because I have to wait for the reply from your commander."
Rafi nodded in understanding, then looked at the time and realized it was almost time to go to the cafeteria for lunch, so he stood up and stretched, "Oh...what's up?"
"Lafi Lafi, have you ever practiced with Nelson before?" Maryland asked, bending down slightly, with a hint of anticipation in her eyes.
There was nothing to hide about this matter, so Rafi admitted it straightforwardly, "...Yes, there is.
Maryland's eyes lit up when he heard that, and he asked again, "Then, then, then... you won, right!?"
"Yes..." Rafi looked at the big sister in front of him with a rosy face, and suddenly felt that something was not good, and quickly added, "...I was just lucky."
Unexpectedly, Maryland said "Hey~", then took a step forward and patted Lafite on the shoulder, looking like a good brother.
"Don't be so modest. Luck is also a part of strength! How about it? I tied with her. Do you want to try it with me?"
After hearing this, Lafite understood what Maryland meant. However, she cleverly imitated the way she used to conduct the little conductor. She just clapped her hands as if she didn’t understand the meaning, and then read:
"Wow... Maryland, you are so awesome... If only I could be as strong as you..." Rafi paused suspiciously, then he remembered what the line was, "It would be nice to have such strong firepower..."
Any normal person can see that Lafite is reluctant to do something, but it's a pity that Maryland is comparable to Commander Su to some extent.
"You beat Nelson even though your firepower is not as high as mine. Let's go and have a competition. Where is your training ground?"
Lafite sighed secretly. If the young commander had been like Maryland and changed his stupid behavior, they would have achieved their goal long ago.
Helplessly, Lafite was still thinking of finding some excuse to put it off. After all, she had been conducting exercises with Z23 in the past few days and she really couldn't muster the interest at this moment.
But before she could finish her words, Maryland brought out her backer, "Your little commander promised me that I could come directly to you, so don't make excuses anymore!"
Rafi sighed again after hearing this, and nodded in agreement, walking towards the training ground, "...Just once."
Maryland followed behind with an unusually bright expression, looking inexplicably well-behaved, "Okay!
There are few people around the training ground. On weekdays, the little yellow chickens only come to clean up after the KanColle exercise. Since Z23 will practice until very late every day during this period, they only need to come to clean up before dinner.
It is not too late now. Z23 is still fighting with Javelin in the training ground. Javelin is responsible for blocking Z23's dodging space with its high-rate naval guns, while Z23 needs to try to find a passage between the gaps between the shells.
Her body was already stained with many colors, probably because she had been hit by many bullets, but even so, Z23 had no intention of stopping, and just moved amid the continuous bombardment.
When Rafi brought Maryland to the training ground, what he saw was a scene filled with smoke, which made Maryland excited from the bottom of her heart.
But the leader, Rafi, didn't say anything. As a guest, she didn't want to appear too impatient, so Maryland resisted the urge to fight and watched with Rafi on the shore.
Maryland was immersed in Z23's training. He felt sorry for Z23 who was hit and applauded him for escaping danger.
"The purple-haired destroyer is very fast..." Maryland shared with Laffite, hands on her hips, "but it seems like it has little combat experience, and the direction and angle of its firing are relatively single."
"The brown-haired one has a good sense of battle, but... she seems to be relying purely on her body's reaction to dodge the shells... This method is not recommended. You can tell her later that it is better to determine the landing point in advance.
it is good. "
Rafi silently complained in his heart: "If you knew how the commander fights, you wouldn't say such a thing..."
Z23, who was training, certainly noticed the two people on the shore and the occasional cheers. So when the javelin ran out of ammunition again, she raised her hand and waved, signaling the javelin to end the training early.
Javelin heaved a sigh of relief, and seeing that there was no trace of the commander behind Lafite, he took a handkerchief and wiped his face casually, then looked around with a small mirror, and after finding that there was probably nothing wrong, he moved towards the shore.
Z23 came ashore first, and after briefly checking his status, he greeted Lafite, "Lafite, you're here. Who is...?"
"...Maryland, guest."
Z23 nodded seriously and introduced herself: "Hello, I am Z23, the Iron-Blooded Destroyer."
"Lafite~" Javelin followed Z23 ashore and then greeted Maryland lively, "Hello, I'm Javelin, as for her... you can just call her Nimi-chan!"
Z23 felt a little embarrassed but did not refute Javelin's words. Maryland was also very relaxed. While greeting him, he kept looking towards Lafite.
Rafi lost all his temper at the unconcealed gaze, and sighed, thinking about finishing the fight as soon as possible, so he simply explained his purpose to Z23 and Javelin, and then took Maryland into the waters of the training ground.
The training ground was circular in shape. Lafite and Maryland walked to the sides and stood still. Following an order from referee Z23, both sides started to move at the same time, heading straight for each other.
Maryland's fighting style was extremely fierce. She seemed to be enjoying the process of fighting. While shouting "Big Seven is coming!", she quickly fired three shots in the direction of Rafi, landing in front of Rafi and on his left.
On both sides.
This was a tentative attack from Maryland. She wanted to see what Rafi's abilities were first so that she could decide what attitude she should take towards this exercise.
After all, Lafite said that she had defeated Nelson, but the firepower gap was there, which made Maryland wonder if Lafite won by taking shortcuts. If that was the case, then it would be useless for her to fight with all her strength.
What's the point?
Just as Maryland was expecting how Laffey would dodge, he saw the white-haired rabbit on the opposite side also raised a small-caliber naval gun, and then quickly fired at the still-flying shell.
The shell that was supposed to fall in front of Rafi was hit accurately and exploded in the air. The raised paint smoke even formed a small smoke area.
Seeing this, Maryland immediately adopted the highest combat attitude, moving while paying attention to possible torpedo attacks from underwater.
She thought that with Lafite's firepower, it would not cause her any fatal injuries. In comparison, the destroyer's torpedo strike might be a greater threat, but she did not expect that Lafite would once again surprise her.
Rafi rushed out of the smoke at a very fast speed, and the torpedo rack on her waist was still full, which made Maryland a little confused, but the hesitation in her heart did not prevent her from firing.
Then a large number of shells were shot out along with the skill barrage, like a net, covering the large area of sea in front of Lafite.
Just as Maryland expected, Lafite stopped suddenly, then pulled out two torpedoes and threw them with all his strength, accurately hitting the shells that Maryland had just fired not long ago in the distance.
As smoke was rising at close range, another torpedo hidden in the smoke hit Maryland at an extremely fast speed.
Then there was a loud "boom!" and the roar from the Maryland artillery fire suddenly stopped.
Rafi knew that the outcome had been decided, so she stretched and walked slowly towards the shore. Unexpectedly, a rapidly approaching torpedo hit her side directly.
She slowly turned around and saw Maryland, with a red forehead, raising his cannon towards her with excitement.
"Well done! Come again!"
ps: I suddenly remembered the shuriken move when Naruto beat Zabuza, but I can’t remember it QA Q...
Chapter 330: Single-choice question with only one answer
While Lafite was being harassed and fought by Maryland, Su Xin met several ship girls who came to the command room to discuss matters.
Amagi of Sakura Empire, Hood of Royal Navy, Helena of White Eagle and Yixian of Eastern Emperor, along with other large ships in the camp, gathered in the command room and listened solemnly to the young commander's explanation of the situation.
"...Liu Jun wanted to invite us to his birthday party." Commander Su frowned, with a hint of disdain on his face, "Maryland, who didn't know the situation, was sent to deliver the letter."
Helena felt uncomfortable when she heard the name, which reminded her of that person's face and the former sisters in the port area who had lost contact with her.
Phoenix didn't come, so everyone in the command room was relatively calm. No one expressed any opinions for the time being, and they just listened to the young commander finish his words.
"He said he would host a party in a week, and because he had met me once before and had performed very well in previous events, he wanted to make friends with me."
The young commander was silent for a while, then snorted coldly and uttered a few dirty words, which was very rare. "Heh, fuck you."
"Ahem!" Hood, who heard the swear words, coughed lightly and signaled the young commander to calm down. These words were really beyond the scope for a lady.
Su Xin was usually very well-behaved, so she regained her usual rationality, as if the person who just said that was not her, and continued to summarize:
"He said I could bring anyone I wanted, but it'd be best not to bring too many people because the rooms in the harbor might not be able to accommodate them."
"It doesn't matter if you don't plan to go, just give him a call and let him know."
After Commander Su finished speaking the main content of the letter, she fell silent. She was trying hard to think about the other party's intentions to prevent herself from missing any important points.
Logically speaking, even if Commander Su refused the invitation, it wouldn't matter. At most, it would just make the other party lose face. But what does this have to do with Su Xin?
Moreover, the other party's letter also said that it was not necessary to go, and that he only needed to give him a phone call to let him know. This also meant that whether Su Xin came or not actually had no effect on him.
Generally speaking, if someone really can't go because of something, Su Xin does have to make a phone call to inform the other party, but this is not necessary for someone with whom she has already become enemies.
After thinking about it, Commander Su still couldn't figure out what the other party meant, so he looked up at Helena and asked softly:
"Sister Helena, do you know what he might want to do?"
Helena frowned, "He... is a selfish person, but he cares a lot about his appearance, so he does those dirty things."
"I don't know what he wants to do specifically. I only know that if he gives us a flexible choice, it means he must have some reason for us to go, but I don't know what it is."
"What about the text message?" Tiancheng asked from the side, "The meaning of the text message is obviously hoping that you don't go. As for the person who sent the text message... do you have any guesses?"
Helena thought for a moment, then said hesitantly, "I... am not sure. Most of the people in his port are from the Iron Blood fleet, and there are relatively few from other camps. The ones I have a good relationship with..."
"Leander? But she doesn't seem like the type to send such a text message... If it were her, she would definitely tell me everything..."
"Houston... not really. She cut off contact with me a long time ago..."
"Scharnhorst... She almost fought with me at the beginning... It shouldn't be her..."
"As for the rest... I'm not sure... I'm sorry..."
"No need to apologize, it's not your fault." Cleveland stood behind Helena, frowning and patting her shoulder gently as a comfort. "The one who's wrong should be that bastard, isn't it?"
Helena, who was sitting on the sofa, looked back and found that from this angle, she could only see Cleveland's chin and nostrils. She found it inexplicably funny and her mood improved a lot.
After all, Yixian was not involved in the case, and he could not piece together the whole story with these scattered clues, so he could only ask: "We... don't seem to have any evidence in the hands of the other party, right?"
Commander Su thought about it carefully and shook her head. She and Liu Jun had only met once at a banquet hosted by Fang Yan's father, and had basically never paid attention to each other's news since then.
Yixian nodded and said, "In that case, why don't we just call him and reject him? We can also take this opportunity to call him and see what he wants to do."
Commander Su thought for a moment and nodded, "That's the only way."
So she took out her cell phone and called Rafi, asking him to bring Maryland back, but she found that the phone was busy and no one answered.
This is strange. Even if Rafi is still sleeping, the ringtone of her phone call should be able to wake him up directly. It is rather abnormal that he suddenly doesn't answer the phone.
So Su Xin had to call the other two members of the Yu San family to check on the situation.
She called Z23 first, and the call was connected quickly.
[Hello? Commander? What can I do for you?]
Su Xin listened to the slightly chaotic roar on the other end of the phone and asked, "Nimi, are you still at the training ground?"
[Yes, Rafi is currently training with Maryland.]
"Still calling?" Su Xin put her phone away and checked the time. "Hasn't it been two hours?"
[Uh… Mainly because Maryland keeps losing, so there’s no sign of stopping for the time being…]
Commander Su Xiao paused, and she understood why no one wanted to fight with Maryland. However, business was more important at the moment, so she asked Z23 to interrupt the exercise and invite Maryland to come over.
Not long after, Maryland, covered in paint and sweat, pushed open the door of the command room and walked in with messy hair. When he saw so many large ships, his eyes began to shine.
Commander Su Xiao rushed out to interrupt Maryland's thoughts, "Sister Maryland, I have something to ask you."
"Hmm? Ah... Commander Su, you're right, Lafite is really amazing! Oh, yes, questions, just ask whatever you want to ask!"
Su Xin thought for a while and asked, "Excuse me, what do you think of your commander? Is he a nice person?"
"Hmm? Commander? Ah... just so-so." Maryland had no qualms about talking about her commander with others. "I can feel that he's not as good as you, but as the saying goes, 'A gentleman is judged by deeds, not by heart', so it's still okay.
Commander Su frowned, but he didn't say anything bad about Liu Jun in front of others. He simply asked Maryland for her number and then turned on the speaker to call.
The phone beeped twice and then it was connected. A deep male voice came from the other end: [Hello, Commander Su.]
Su Xin did not ask how the other party knew that it was her who called, but simply conveyed her decision, "I'm sorry, I haven't been feeling well recently, and your ship girl can testify to that, so I may not be able to attend your party.
I can’t go.”
[Oh... That's a pity. Health is still very important... But since you can't come, you can ask your ship girls to attend the party on your behalf. ]
"I'm sorry, I don't think they can spare the time to attend your birthday party."
[Really? I want to see Helena again. I miss her a lot.]
Helena clenched her fists instantly, her face turned pale with anger. Before Su Xin could say anything, she heard Liu Jun on the other end of the phone laugh twice and then add:
[What a pity! Nelson really wants to meet you. Didn’t she contact you before? If you don’t come, she might be...very sad, right?]
"...What happened to her?"
