Unexpectedly, the other party seemed to have expected it and blocked the light arrow with his hand. As if he didn't feel the pain of his palm being pierced, Shokaku still had a smile on his face.
[Enterprise] was stunned for a moment, then raised her hand and shot another arrow towards Shokaku's ear. The strong wind directly cut off countless strands of her hair and scraped mottled blood marks on Shokaku's face.
But the Fifth Air Battle did not stop.
[Enterprise] had no choice but to shoot the third arrow directly at the path that Shokaku would take. As she expected, Shokaku did not dodge, but instead crouched and took the arrow with his shoulder.
The huge impact force caused Shokaku to stagger and her speed dropped instantly, but she was still moving forward.
The pain tormented Shokaku's nerves, and the excessive blood loss made her steps unsteady. In her field of vision, the white-haired enemy began to appear double.
She didn't care and continued to approach Enterprise at a turtle-like pace. Under the other party's cold gaze, she stretched out her hand and used the wing of the carrier to draw a string of blood beads on the other party's face.
“Heh… did you see that?” Shokaku murmured as he fell on Enterprise, “You seniors… are just lame…”
[Enterprise] She lowered her eyes and looked at Shokaku who had collapsed at her feet, as if she was thinking about something. When she heard the strong wind coming from behind her, she swung her bow and shot back without thinking.
The huge force smashed Amagi back to the original path, "Atago!!!"
The main gun salvo from the heavy cruiser hit Amagi's back hard, forcing her to change her flight direction and fall directly into the hole.
"elder sister!!!!"
Akagi, who witnessed the whole process, screamed and cried, then collapsed on the water as if he had lost his soul, allowing the liquid from his wounds to mix into the cold sea water.
[Enterprise] pursed his lips, leaned over to pick up the unconscious Shokaku, moved a distance, and placed him next to the panting Atago.
"Three days, and then I'm back."
"Go back and heal your wounds first."
She paused and sighed.
"...Thanks."
After [Enterprise] left, Aoba was the only person still standing on the sea.
She looked around and saw ship girls lying everywhere. There were unorganized ship girls who came to help, military police who were ordered to provide support, and port area ship girls who had many secrets but had lost their backbone.
Aoba looked at the camera attached to his chest and found it was still working normally.
She knew very well what was recorded in the device card. After all, she saw it with her own eyes, and it was no exaggeration to call it the "news of the century."
If Aoba can send this video material to the client and draft a report at the same time, she will become famous overnight and no one will fail to know her as reporter Aoba.
She thought for a long time, unable to make a decision, until she heard the painful murmurs of the ship girls who were beginning to wake up, and then she trembled as if she was suddenly awakened.
The miniature camera is round like a green bean. If it sinks into the sea, it can never be found again.
"..·snort."
Qingye loosened his hands and let the small piece of "big news" fall into the water and disappear in the blink of an eye.
"As a journalist, you still need to have some conscience."
Aoba completed this undercover mission very well. After confirming that there was no suspicion about the person being observed and that he had disappeared, the client quickly gave him the reward.
It was an exclusive interview notice about the [Original Energy] research project.
Aoba curled his lips, remembering what the observer said about the "Meta-Cube" that would make the ship girls lose their minds, and suddenly felt disgusted.
She had witnessed the results of the change with her own eyes. Helena had indeed gained powerful strength, but at the same time she almost became an inhumane killing machine.
What exactly this research is for is obvious to everyone.
However, even if it was just for the purpose of gathering intelligence, Aoba had to go on this exclusive interview. After all, it was always beneficial to know more information.
But just one day before she had agreed to come for an interview, an explosion seemed to have occurred at the institute.
The official announcement said that a white-haired aircraft carrier sneaked into the interior with the intention of stealing the research results. A senior commander led the ship girls to fight hard. After retrieving the results, the commander was seriously injured and eventually died.
Qingye looked at the words "White-haired Aircraft Carrier" for a while, then looked up the deceased's position based on the name in the report, and immediately sneered.
"Take it back? I'm afraid it's been taken away and you're still trying to hold on to it?"
"Oh my... the mission reward hasn't been paid yet, and the person is gone. Isn't this a huge loss for me?"
"Hmm...why don't we dig into the bad things this guy did? There must be something fishy."
"For the time being...it's big news~"
Su Xin felt a severe headache and her left arm also hurt. It was burning and she could hardly move.
Her eyelashes trembled, and as if she had spent a lot of effort, she finally opened her dry eyes and saw the dark sky in the distance.
The strong smell of blood and gunpowder lingered at the tip of her nose, which was very choking and made her nose sore. She wanted to sneeze, but the sneeze was stuck there, making her feel uncomfortable.
"Hello··."
Commander Su was startled, coughed twice, and tried to turn his head to observe the surroundings to see who was talking.
"Don't be awkward... cough... my stomach is itchy..."
Su Xin was stunned. No wonder the back of her head felt soft. She thought she was resting on cotton.
It seemed like she had slept for a long time. Su Xin felt very hungry, but at least she had some strength after resting for a while, so she struggled to get up and looked at the person who had just spoken.
"【Helena】...sister?"
[Helena]'s face was stained with mottled dried blood, but the whites of her eyes were still clear. "I will temporarily allow you to call me... [Nana]."
".··Aren't you older than me?"
[Helena] said with a light "tsk" and unceremoniously ordered Su Xin who had stood up, "What are you doing standing there? Why don't you find a place to rest first? Can't you see that it's going to rain soon?"
Su Xin tilted her head, put away the small wrench on Helena's forehead to charge it, and then dragged Helena's feet and walked forward.
“I’m in pain…”
"...But Sister Helena, my other hand is too weak to hold you..."
"Then find it quickly, or I'll go bald... And, didn't I tell you to call me Nana?"
".....·oh"
Not long after the two left, a hole suddenly appeared in the dim sky, and a small ball of something rolled out and hit the hard ground directly.
“Woo…”
The little ball seemed to be in great pain and whimpered softly, making a soft sound like an animal cub.
After it struggled to stand up on its legs, it seemed to be unable to adapt to the movement mode and its body tilted and fell back to the ground.
“Hmm… Wu?!”
It raised its butt, lay on the ground, twisted its neck and looked around, standing there stiffly for a moment as if it couldn't accept it, until the raindrops fell, it was forced to come to its senses.
The light around it dimmed again. Its hair was soaked by the rain and hung down in a mess, but it didn't care. Instead, it moved its limbs around awkwardly, as if looking for something.
It was not until it opened its mouth and bit a circle of thin rope soaked in water that it shook its body in satisfaction, twitching its wet nose, and staggered forward in a certain direction in the pouring rain.
ps: Super long chapter, the plot ends, the love line starts, and daily life returns. Emmm...it shouldn’t be that painful, right?
Chapter 491 Food is Available
This is a scarred world.
The land area is very small, fragmented and scattered, and every place where people can settle down is dead silent.
For some reason, there was a burnt smell in the air. It wasn't very strong or pungent, but it was impossible to ignore. Even with the heavy rain, it didn't go away.
The temperature was not very low, but with the heavy rain, the wet clothes certainly would not make people feel comfortable, only bringing a cold and sticky touch.
A girl with her hair loose was stumbling forward in the rainstorm.
She seemed to have insufficient physical strength. Her left arm was hanging down and swaying slightly with her body. Her right hand was holding something that must have a certain weight, so she had to drag it with all her strength.
"Cough...cough..."
The girl paused, put down what she was holding, and wiped her rain-soaked face. There were several stains on her pale skin, as if she was just a stray cat.
"..It seems there is nothing here that can be used to shelter from the rain."
"Puff, cough cough..." The "object" being dragged also spat out a few mouthfuls of dirty water and explained weakly, "Another unsuccessful test site, right? It's good enough to have a piece of grass."
"...Sister [Helena], have you been here before?"
The immobile Helena seemed dissatisfied, "I told you to call me Nana. Isn't it easier to say two words than five? You might as well take a few more steps if you have the time."
"I just feel..."
"What do you think? Do you think I see another person through you?" Helena laughed at herself, "You don't need to remind me. I know she's dead, and I also know you're not."
"......sorry."
[Helena] seemed surprised and raised her voice a little, "Su Xin, did you kill her?"
"Of course not!"
"Then what do you feel sorry for me? Is it because you couldn't cut through the dark clouds and stop the rain, or you couldn't heal my wounds in one go?"
[Helena] lay on the ground, looking at Su Xin's slender back, as if she was looking at some compassionate saint. She was clearly looking up, but there was some disdain in her eyes.
Su Xin didn't reply, but just took a deep breath, then bent down again, held Helena's cold ankle tightly, and started walking again.
As the one being dragged, Helena felt like a rag, the kind that was soaked with dirty water and exuded a fishy smell.
If it was the beach or mud, it would be better, at least it wouldn't be so rough after getting wet. It was really torture to go through a hard surface. She even suspected that the back of her head was bald.
"I said...Susu."
"...Um?"
[Helena] coughed twice. "Can't you just heal your hand first and then carry me on your back? My hair is almost falling out."
"...But if you are not treated every once in a while, the black energy will escape from your body again...It is very dangerous."
[Helena] sighed, unable to think of a solution.
Her physical condition is very poor now. Her legs are injured, her left shoulder is pierced by an arrow, and there are countless wounds of varying sizes. It is difficult for her to even stand up, and she can only be dragged by others.
The negative impact of excessive METAization has not yet faded, or rather, it is an unpredictable miracle that she was pulled back from the brink of collapse by a small piece of metal.
The current [Helena] has the physical qualities of a ship girl, but other aspects are useless. Her energy and ship equipment seem to be offline and cannot be used no matter what she does.
Su Xin is not much better. Although she is close to a ship girl overall, she still has the weaknesses that humans have, such as fear of cold, need for food, and illness.
In this almost empty place, it was really difficult for them to find anything to shelter from the rain and provide a place for rest.
Su Xin was very hungry, and her flat stomach was growling, which made her blush. She could only close her mouth and swallow silently, hoping that her disobedient little stomach would calm down for a while.
[Helena] lay on the ground and laughed. She was choked by the strange-tasting rainwater twice, and then she knew to use her right hand to block it. "Don't you have a space too? There's nothing edible in it?"
"...I gave them all to the executor sisters."
[Helena] snorted, "That's quite generous. What about the other things? Umbrella? Clothes? Quilt?"
Su Xin looked through the space and found that there were only some of her underwear, nightgown and pajamas for night, and two large boxes of torpedoes. She didn't bring anything else.
"...The clothes are at my sister Sheffield's place. I have to bring snacks for them, so... I didn't pack anything else..."
[Helena] was silent for a while, then suddenly asked her, "You won't starve to death here, will you?"
"...Probably not."
Su Xin looked around. All the trees were burnt and no grass grew. There was no green on the hill in the distance. It was bare, like a grave.
"Hai... um Nana." The little commander was a little uncomfortable with such a close address. "Do you think there are caves on the mountain that can keep out the rain?"
[Helena] was satisfied that Su Xin was so sensible, but she couldn't guarantee the answer to this question.
"And climbing a mountain... I won't get a lot of lumps on my head, right?"
"I don't think so. Why don't we look around?" Helena said with some guilt.
Su Xin sighed as she opened the cat's eye, "But I've already checked all the flat land around here... I can only try my luck in the mountains, and... I'm running out of energy."
[Helena] widened her glassy eyes and asked, "Are you complaining about my weight?"
"... a little."
The conversation between the two ended here. One of them was so depressed that he let the other drag him up the mountain, while the other was so breathless that he just wanted to fall asleep.
Fortunately, there is always a way out. After passing a section of burnt charcoal wood, Su Xin suddenly found that at the bottom of the hillside on the left, there was an area covered with dead shrubs, and the number was a bit abnormal.
She thought about it and simply gave up Helena's ankle. She ran over in two or three steps and saw that there was indeed a small cave hidden behind a pile of dead branches placed there by humans.
