At sunset, the orange-red sunlight illuminated Lin Lan and the ship girls who participated in the exercise.
On the way back to the port area, Young Zeppelin looked around curiously and suddenly pulled Lin Lan's hand, asking with innocent curiosity:
"Commander, why does every elder sister have a ring on the ring finger of their right hand?"
Hearing Young Zeppelin's question, Lin Lan was momentarily at a loss for how to explain.
Young Zeppelin looked younger than many destroyers now; was it really appropriate to tell her about the engagement rings so soon?
As Lin Lan pondered how to explain this topic to the innocent Young Zeppelin, a nearby girl with a metal lance and light purple hair, smiling, looked at Young Zeppelin:
"This is the crystallization of the Commander's love for us. Only those who have received the Commander's love and recognition can receive this ring, hehehe~"
The Royal Javelin's cute face was filled with happiness and sweetness.
Lin Lan awkwardly cleared his throat; Javelin was a bit too straightforward with her words, couldn't she be a bit more subtle?
"Is, is that so?"
Young Zeppelin's face showed great surprise; she had never known that this seemingly inconspicuous ring had such important meaning.
"Javelin, what you said makes sense, but I believe the Master isn't that selfish."
A gentle female voice sounded, and Young Zeppelin turned to see the elegant Royal light cruiser Belfast with flowing white hair.
"The Master values each of us in the port area very much. The gentle Master will carefully respond to everyone's feelings for him."
"This engagement ring represents not only the Master's love and recognition but also our eternal love and loyalty to the Master."
While speaking, Belfast gently caressed the engagement ring in her hand with a tender expression.
Young Zeppelin looked at Belfast with great surprise on her small face.
"Cough, they're right. However, it's still too early for you, and you're not grown up yet and still need to go home. When you grow up, I'll definitely give you a ring."
Lin Lan smiled at Young Zeppelin—although he wasn't wrong, he had already given the engagement ring to the grown-up Zeppelin a long time ago.
"Commander, I think it's necessary to correct your mistake."
At this moment, a magnetic female voice sounded, and Lin Lan looked over in confusion.
A black-haired, blue-eyed, elegant young lady with a side-swept bang looked at him very seriously.
"I believe that Little Zeppelin is already capable of making an oath with you. She's such a cute little sister, just thinking about being with her every day, I… I…"
The originally stylish young lady's face suddenly showed an expression akin to a lovesick person.
Javelin beside her quickly ran to Lin Lan's side, trembling with fear, and Young Zeppelin clung even closer to Lin Lan.
Lin Lan couldn't help but facepalm.
The Royal Ark, also known as the player's good cellmate, earned this title because she usually appeared as a very dashing, reliable older sister.
Players often made oaths with destroyer girls, which was well-known to be a behavior that would be caught by the military police and sent to prison, and the Royal Ark almost always stayed in prison.
Thus, she earned the good reputation of being the player's good cellmate.
"Hehe, Royal Ark, if you continue to behave this way in front of others, I might have to request Queen Elizabeth to confine you again."
"Wow, Hood, if you report me again to Her Majesty, I might really be ordered to stay away from the destroyer sisters forever!"
This beautiful, elegant Royal beauty with golden hair and blue eyes was the battlecruiser Hood, known for her honor in the Royal Navy.
Young Zeppelin tightly held Lin Lan's hand, listening to the others' teasing, and made a secret decision in her red eyes.
"Little Zeppelin, Little Zeppelin!"
Young Zeppelin, who had been daydreaming in the office, was awakened by Lin Lan's voice.
"What's wrong with you? You've seemed distracted lately."
Lin Lan, looking worried, bent down and seriously observed the silver-haired chibi sitting on the sofa.
"Commander, I'm sorry."
Young Zeppelin shook her head, trying to wake herself up.
Recently, for some unknown reason, she always heard a lot of commotion in her ears and metallic noises echoing in her mind.
She had a premonition that she might soon return home.
Return… home?
The little chibi raised her head and looked seriously at the young man in a white commander uniform in front of her.
During her time in this port area, she had met many partners and witnessed many things she never dared to imagine.
There was no brutal, bloody war here, nor was there mutual hostility between countries.
Here, their ships did not need to be weapons for mutual slaughter, nor did they need to painfully witness the death of companions.
It was like a beautiful dream; they only needed to be themselves and live well.
Going home, is it really good…
"Looks like you're still not awake. Look, this is your favorite Eagle Union cake. I went to Saratoga this morning; she specifically asked me to bring it to you."
Seeing the cute chibi in front of him still in a daze, Lin Lan took out a bag of exquisite cream cakes from behind.
But for some reason, Young Zeppelin seemed unusually reluctant to happily accept the cake today, just staring at him.
"Hurry, faster! Speed up! We must complete her construction before the outbreak of war. Don't mess up at this critical moment!"
"Führer has spoken; she will be the Ironblood's ultimate weapon in this war! She will bring deep, unforgettable fear to those arrogant fellows in the Atlantic!"
As the voices in her mind became clearer, Young Zeppelin suddenly shivered all over.
Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes, and she unconsciously opened her arms, hugging Lin Lan tightly, trembling all over.
_______
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"Young Zeppelin, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
Lin Lan was startled by the little chibi's unusual behavior. He quickly crouched down and tightly hugged the little chibi in his arms.
"Commander, I... I might have to go home."
Hearing Young Zeppelin's tearful words, Lin Lan felt a jolt in his heart.
"Are you going back? But why is this happening? You clearly..."
Through the time spent with Young Zeppelin, Lin Lan had come to deeply like this optimistic and innocent little chibi.
He never expected that this little chibi would say something like this now.
As he tried to find the right words to comfort her, a terrifying thought suddenly crossed his mind.
Was it possible that Young Zeppelin, who had mysteriously appeared in his port area, could also mysteriously disappear?
"I don't want war. I don't want to bring death to others. Commander, what... what should I do? Wuwu..."
The poor little chibi cried sadly in Lin Lan's arms. It was the first time Lin Lan had seen Young Zeppelin cry so heartbreakingly.
As Lin Lan, heartbroken, just held Young Zeppelin and tried to think of comforting words, he suddenly noticed that Young Zeppelin's body was slowly becoming transparent.
"No, no..."
Lin Lan was helplessly watching everything happen, trying to stop it, but he realized he couldn't do anything.
Suddenly, he remembered something and quickly picked up the now partially transparent little chibi.
He hurried to his desk.
"There's still time, there's still time!"
Lin Lan sat on his chair, frantically pulling open a drawer and taking out a small black box.
Opening the box, a radiant vow ring was quietly placed in the center.
"Young Zeppelin, don't cry. Look at this."
Lin Lan held the ring in his hand, took a deep breath, and composed himself.
With the most gentle voice he could muster, he spoke to Young Zeppelin.
Hearing Lin Lan's words, the silver-haired little chibi, whose body was now seriously transparent, slowly released her grip on Lin Lan and looked at the ring in his hand with tear-streaked, sorrowful eyes.
Taking this opportunity, Lin Lan slowly put the radiant vow ring onto the ring finger of Young Zeppelin's right hand, not bothering to wipe away his own tears.
"Young Zeppelin, I... I like you. Damn it, why didn't I say this to you earlier? I really, really like you very much."
Lin Lan watched as the little chibi, sitting on him and becoming more transparent, now almost in a ghostly state, spoke with increasing gravity and even swore.
"Vow... ring?"
Young Zeppelin's innocent red eyes were filled with surprise and shock.
Fortunately, the vow ring was successfully placed on the little chibi's right ring finger and didn't fall to the ground.
Young Zeppelin, now severely transparent, gently touched the exquisite ring on her finger.
Tears fell from her delicate, cute face in large droplets.
But when the tears fell on Lin Lan's leg, they did not dampen his pants.
Young Zeppelin was truly disappearing.
Lin Lan watched in despair as everything unfolded, gritting his teeth to keep from breaking down.
"Hmph, no matter what you do, I will never yield to you! ... Snacks? ... I want to eat, give me a portion too!"
"I like high places! Because you can see far away!"
"What nonsense are you talking about? Despair and hatred are nothing! I believe that as long as you don't give up, you will surely realize your dream someday!"
The scenes of the times they spent together flooded Lin Lan's mind, making him want to cry in pain.
But he was afraid that if he moved even slightly, this innocent, adorable little chibi would completely leave him.
"Fool, fool, fool, annoying, annoying, annoying! Giving me something like this only makes me want to stay even more!"
The almost completely transparent Young Zeppelin suddenly cried out loudly.
Lin Lan, in agony, reached out to gently stroke the little chibi's head as he had before.
But his attempt was doomed to fail.
His hand passed straight through the little chibi's body, as if...
Touching a non-existent projection.
Young Zeppelin watched all this, her body now so faint it was barely visible, her eyes locked onto Lin Lan's face as if she wanted to engrave his appearance into her soul.
She suddenly took a deep breath and, with all her strength, cried out to the commander who had cared for her during this time, her voice breaking with tears:
"Wuwu... promise me, if I go back, you must find me in the future, okay? Promise me! Promise me!!!"
Hearing Young Zeppelin's childish voice, Lin Lan could no longer contain his pain and desperately shouted:
"I will! I will definitely find you in the future and bring you back to the port!"
Upon hearing his words, the completely transparent little chibi finally showed a hint of a happy smile.
Lin Lan watched helplessly as the little chibi who had accompanied him for so long completely vanished from his lap, his face blank with shock.
…
"Beep beep beep, beep beep beep, beep beep beep!"
The loud alarm clock jolted Lin Lan awake.
"Young Zeppelin!"
Lin Lan sat up in bed, shouting, his face still streaked with dried tears.
"Son, stop yelling so early in the morning. Get up quickly, don't forget that there's an early class on Engineering Economics with Old Zhang this morning. You'll be in big trouble if you're late!"
"That guy always stands by the door to catch latecomers and deduct points. It's already 7:50. Don't blame us for not waking you up! We're leaving now!"
His roommates' shouts and footsteps instantly brought Lin Lan to his senses.
What he had just experienced was all a dream.
_______
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_______
If any of you noticed an error, please point it out in comments!
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