The girl noticed the person coming and lowered her head slightly. Her golden eyes swept over Jiang Cheng, and her gaze intertwined with Jiang Cheng's.
"Who are you and why are you here?"
The girl's voice was full of authority.
53. They don’t need me
Jiang Cheng stopped and looked at the girl sitting on the highest stone step with interest.
"My name isn't that important, what about yours?"
"Before asking someone else's name, you should say your own name first... In this case, I am being rude..." The girl muttered a few words in a low voice.
This was not intentional on her part, but she had not communicated with anyone for a long time, and the dream was so long that she had forgotten the passage of time.
"I am Nagato, the flagship of the Sakura Empire Combined Fleet..." Nagato's voice trembled noticeably when she mentioned the Sakura Empire. As the flagship of the Combined Fleet, she was obviously unqualified.
Can't see the future direction clearly, wrong guidance route, can't recognize the development of reality...
Perhaps she no longer had the qualifications, and there was no point in her sitting in that position, which had let down her seniors and everyone else's expectations.
"Nagato... My name is Jiang Cheng, and I'm a commander passing by." Jiang Cheng walked up to the last step of the stone stairs and sat down like Nagato, but there was still a distance of one meter between him and Nagato. The stone steps were long enough, so there was still space for him to sit further.
"Hmm..." Nagato's body trembled unconsciously, and he moved his little butt, naturally a little further away from Jiang Cheng.
Nagato has the ability to sense souls, and souls will not lie. Appearance may be able to conceal ugliness and sin, but those cannot be hidden in the soul, so Nagato is very good at judging people.
She had sensed Jiang Cheng's soul just now, but Jiang Cheng's soul was too strange, with a large area of blankness and almost no color. She couldn't tell whether Jiang Cheng was a good person or not for a moment, but she thought he should be a good person.
But even if he is someone with malicious intentions, it doesn't matter. After all, he is just a human who looks very weak.
"You said you are the commander. Do you have any proof? As far as I know, there has never been a commander in this world." Nagato naturally knew the commander, so she suspected that Jiang Cheng was not the commander.
A normal ship girl should indeed doubt this identity at the first moment, after all, the commander is only a creature that exists in legend.
"Proof? Why do I need to prove it?" Jiang Cheng looked at Nagato with a little curiosity. Why did he need to prove that he was himself?
"Well...that's right...I just don't like being deceived, but you really don't need to prove it to me." Nagato's cheeks blushed slightly, but soon returned to normal. She was rude again.
The girl's shyness and the majesty of the superior were perfectly combined, and her slightly uneasy little feet stepped lightly on the stone steps.
Nagato rarely chatted with the ship girls, let alone a human. However, the ship girls generally did not see humans. Humans lived inland, while the ship girls took over the coastal areas. The two lived in two unrelated worlds.
"It's okay to prove it, but you just have to watch carefully." Jiang Cheng looked at the girl's slightly conflicted expression, smiled, and then, under Nagato's gaze, he took out a lollipop from his chest.
"This is... the ship girl space. You are obviously just a human, why do you have such ability? Are you really the commander..." Nagato believed Jiang Cheng's identity for the most part. She was very sure that it was not the "magic" or "eye-catching trick" that Mutsu had mentioned.
"Yes, yes, it is the commander, but what difference does it make to Nagato whether he is the commander or not?"
"Nothing, I'm just a little curious."
"What's there to be curious about? You're just a little girl. Just consider this as a gift for meeting me." Jiang Cheng handed the lollipop to Nagato. Nagato didn't refuse and held the lollipop in her fair and tender hands.
Looking at the lollipop in her palm, Nagato thought of Mutsu. Mutsu also liked to eat lollipops, but she didn't eat them much. It's not that she didn't like them, but it was not in keeping with her status and she couldn't eat them.
"I... am not small..." Nagato seemed to have thought of something and stammered in retort.
Nagato pulled out a small golden bell from his pocket and placed it next to Jiang Cheng.
"This is my return gift."
Jiang Cheng put away the little bell. Can the items in the dream be brought into reality?
But since Nagato accepted his lollipop, he naturally would not refuse Nagato's bell.
The two of them were surprisingly harmonious during their brief time together, but Nagato kept a stern face and a serious expression.
Both of them were silent, no one spoke, and there was nothing to say.
Jiang Cheng was admiring the scenery at the foot of the mountain, while Changmen would glance at Jiang Cheng from time to time.
Why did this person stop talking? Was it because of her? When she was in Sakura Empire, no one talked to her much. They were "reverent" to her and kept getting further and further away from her. Only Mutsu kept asking "why" every day.
"How did you get here?" Nagato couldn't help but ask the question in her mind. In her dream, she was the only one.
"Maybe it was a dream."
"I dreamed that..." Nagato believed Jiang Cheng's words. It was indeed impossible to enter this dream using ordinary methods.
"That makes sense. Don't you have anything else to ask?"
"Want to ask..." Jiang Cheng turned his head to look at Nagato, his black eyes met the golden eyes, as if he was thinking about something.
"You answered my question, and I will answer yours too." Nagato's main goal is fairness and justice. Otherwise, with her personality, she would always feel that she owed Jiang Cheng something.
"The most suitable place on the island...no..." Jiang Cheng wanted to ask where the most suitable place to sleep on the island was, but he stopped halfway through his words. Nagato in front of him probably didn't know the answer.
"Why did you have such a dream?"
"..." Nagato was silent for a few seconds, then spoke word by word.
"Because I... am no longer needed..."
Nagato always felt that it was her fault that caused the current situation of Sakura Empire, so everyone no longer needed a useless flagship like her, so she stayed in this dream and was unwilling to wake up.
Of course, the reality was completely opposite to what she imagined.
"I am the flagship of Sakura Empire, but I did not lead Sakura Empire on the right path. Sakura Empire no longer needs me." Nagato was a little lonely, her golden eyes looking at a building at the foot of the mountain. That was the headquarters of Sakura Empire, where she had stayed for a long time, but in the end she let them down. She let everything down.
"How do you know that they no longer need you?" Jiang Cheng asked back.
"I..." Nagato was a little speechless. Everything now was her personal opinion, and she didn't know what other people thought.
"Then let's change the question."
Jiang Cheng didn't expect that his question would hit Nagato's pain point.
"How do you feel now?"
......
54. Sister (Refresh chapters for 4k5)
"My feeling..." Nagato was slightly distracted, her silky feet stepping lightly on the stone steps. She couldn't answer this question again.
She didn't seem to feel anything here.
There is no loneliness, no solitude, and every day repeats itself day after day. She seems to have gotten used to this place.
Even without the people from the Sakura Empire, it would be fine, but there would still be some melancholy.
The Sakura Empire did not achieve glory under her leadership, and she was not sure whether it could take the right path under Akagi's leadership, but she had already lost that qualification.
I just hope that Sakura Empire can become what she expects.
Everyone will have their own happiness...
"I don't feel anything." Nagato shook his head. His black hair was blown by the mountain breeze, covering his cheeks. His golden eyes stared at the cherry blossom petals that fell on his feet.
"No feeling." Jiang Cheng looked at Nagato. Although she was a girl, there was a deep sorrow in her heart.
She seemed to be living a too tiring life. At least Jiang Cheng could not see the smile that a young girl should have on her face. Even Royal Wealth had a silly smile, but there was no smile on Nagato. She probably couldn't even make a fake smile, right?
However, Jiang Cheng had no intention of helping Nagato break the "wall of heart". That was Nagato's own business. He didn't know Nagato's experience, nor was he Nagato himself. They probably met in a dream? ?
"Am I weird...Yes, they should think I'm weird too."
They mentioned by Nagato are naturally the ship girls of the Sakura Empire headquarters.
Perhaps in their eyes, she has always been a strange existence, but that was not her intention. She did not need to be "high and mighty", but as the daughter of God of the Sakura Empire, she had to carry a banner that was countless times taller than her.
It was really tiring, but it was something she had to endure.
"There's nothing strange about it. That might be your own idea." Jiang Cheng shook his head. If this was considered strange, then what was wrong with him?
"You don't need to comfort me. I'm used to it." The light in Nagato's eyes dimmed a little. She was in a low mood. There seemed to be a lot of sorrow in the girl's eyes, which could not be solved by just a few words.
But chatting with Jiang Cheng also made her relax a little and not so tense.
"Your time is almost up, leave quickly. If you stay too long, they will come." Nagato's clothes changed into a more gorgeous witch's uniform. She wore gorgeous golden ornaments on her long black hair. The dress shining with golden light made her temperament more cool, and her white silk legs were hidden under the hem of the skirt.
"they?"
"Yes, they are... I am not here just to punish myself."
Nagato stood up slowly, his golden eyes looking at everything below the mountain that was gradually being swallowed by blood, the huge ship behind him slowly took shape in the golden light.
At the foot of the mountain, in the darkness of the night, unknown strange creatures were emitting thick black light, and they crawled out from the dilapidated buildings in large groups.
Slowly climb up the stone steps to the top of the mountain.
"This is?"
"The souls that were unwilling to leave after death and thus fell were once part of the Sakura Empire. This is also my fault...so I should bear all the consequences." Nagato's voice was childish but unusually firm.
"Then come on, Nagato." Jiang Cheng stood up and prepared to leave. He knew that the next battlefield belonged to the girl in front of him.
"It's a pleasure to chat with you, Commander."
"I hope Nagato can smile when we meet next time. Nagato's smile should be very cute too." Jiang Cheng thought of the cute little javelin.
"I'm...cute..." Nagato's petite body trembled slightly, and she subconsciously looked towards Jiang Cheng, but Jiang Cheng had disappeared.
The monsters at the foot of the mountain rushed towards the top of the mountain like a tide. The huge ships and cannons behind Nagato made violent noises. At this moment, the whole island was plunged into the dark night of the blood moon.
But there was a faint golden light all around Nagato, and there was a majestic light in his golden eyes. The ship equipment behind him actually changed, and there was a fierce white light flashing at the gun barrel, bombarding the monster under the mountain.
At this moment, Nagato has become the only light in this world.
“But I can’t laugh anymore…”
......
The Imperial Sacred Tree Sea in the Sakura Empire.
At the highest point of the island is a giant tree that is a hundred meters high. The entire tree is dotted with pink cherry blossom petals, and when the mountain breeze blows, the sky is filled with cherry blossoms.
Obviously this is a cherry tree, but the ship girls of the Sakura Empire call it the sacred tree.
The sacred tree bestows the blessing of eternal spring on the island, and also benefits the entire Sakura Empire.
It’s just that the sacred tree is now reaching the end of its life, with large flakes of cherry blossom petals falling from it. The shrine on the top of the mountain has already accumulated a large number of cherry blossom petals, but the magical thing is that none of the petals are withered.
The sacred tree still continues to send cherry blossom petals to every corner of the island, even though its vitality has been exhausted.
A light blue barrier enveloped the entire sacred tree. In front of the sacred tree, a petite girl was suspended in the air, emitting a faint golden light all over her body. She was wearing a gorgeous witch's costume.
The girl with black hair, fox ears and a majestic face was exactly the Nagato that Jiang Cheng dreamed of.
Nagato's originally serious expression relaxed at this moment, and the corners of her mouth slightly raised, but she did not laugh, because she really could not laugh anymore. However, even such a slight change was extremely valuable.
But the people under the tree did not notice Nagato's subtle change.
Jiang Feng, who was standing beside the cherry tree, looked at the petite figure, an indescribable sadness emerging on his cold and beautiful face.
Next to her, a girl with fox ears, also wearing a shrine maiden's costume, was sitting on the altar. Her black silk feet, which had taken off their clogs, were swinging gently, and her slender thighs were covered by the red hem of her skirt.
The girl's face is very similar to Nagato on the sacred tree, as if they were sisters.
She is Nagato's sister Mutsu, the second ship of the Nagato class, Mutsu.
The beautiful headdress on Mutsu's head was put aside. His black hair was smooth and shiny, and the fox ears above his hair were trembling, making people want to rub them a few times.
The tender white hands were gently placed on her face, and her golden eyes were also looking at the figure in front of the sacred tree.
Compared to Nagato's immature maturity, Mutsu is innocent and doesn't look like an adult at all. However, she is not an adult and does not need to pretend to be mature.
Unlike Nagato, Mutsu had almost no burdens on him, not even in her current state.
"Why hasn't my sister woken up yet... She's been sleeping for so long..." The girl's beautiful golden eyes were filled with childishness and confusion.
