Chapter 17

（Thank you to Shengsu Fei Meng for the generous donation! And with everyone's efforts, we've climbed to the fourth place! This is entirely due to all of you! Let's keep pushing forward! Towards the top three, towards the second, even towards the first place! Let's go! Also, the tone of this book is three parts battle and seven parts daily life, not the remaining ninety points. All posts that incite conflict, have intense tones, or are random rants without reading the book have been deleted. Please enjoy your reading with peace of mind~）

17. When Something Goes Wrong, Find a Temp Worker

As a cargo ship, and an outstanding one at that, and as a cargo ship second only to the China Sea Global, the Maersk clearly has her own sense of self-cultivation.

Seeing the situation turn bad and turning to run is the most basic etiquette for a ship girl. After all, life and breasts are irreplaceable, and sacrificing oneself does not align with the fundamental interests of a ship girl. Of course, if the admiral is in danger, that's a different story. But generally, ship girls all agree that survival is the primary value.

In other words, no matter what, the basic foundation must not collapse. Maersk has a very deep understanding of this. Seeing the warehouse in this state, she immediately thought of the only person who could help her.

"Sacramento? Miss Sara? Are you there?"

Maersk pushed open the kitchen door and looked around the unfamiliar surroundings, searching for her presence, which was always so faint.

Sacramento is said to be the world's strongest supply ship. As a ship girl specifically for resupply, she can easily calculate and replenish inventory. Even in terms of faking it, the specialized supply ship Sacramento is stronger than a cargo ship like herself.

But the only problem is, how to find someone with almost zero presence...

Maersk stood in the center of the kitchen, looking around in a daze.

She hadn't been in the kitchen many times and didn't know how Sacramento worked. But from what she usually saw, it was unlikely that she would be in a normal place, right?

Always acting as if it's none of her business, but always doing her job the fastest. Always moving slowly, as if she had seen through everything, watching others from the outside. Such a peculiar person couldn't possibly be sitting in a normal place.

She must be watching me from some peculiar place, watching me make a fool of myself. She's that kind of nasty person.

Maersk thought for a moment, a competitive spirit rising in her heart.

"... Sacramento?"

She lifted the lid of a vegetable jar and looked inside, but saw no one.

"Sara?"

She opened a pot that was boiling, seeing a few pieces of white fish meat rolling around, occasionally dotted with seaweed. But no one was there either.

"Sara~ sama~"

She looked under the table, only seeing some dust on the ground. She blew a breath, and the smoke immediately made Maersk's head pop out from under the table. She coughed awkwardly, paying the price for her actions.

"Why isn't she anywhere? Where could she have hidden?"

After cleaning up with water, Maersk looked around the kitchen in confusion, completely unsure where to find the person.

Even with such a low presence, she should have found her after searching so much, right?

"... Why doesn't Maersk look in normal places?"

A floating voice suddenly came from behind, making Maersk jump. She turned around instinctively and immediately felt relieved.

"Ah? You were here all along?"

"I've been watching your actions the whole time."

The person behind her nodded and closed the book in her hand.

"I just don't understand why Maersk always looks in strange places. I called you several times, but you didn't hear me. Why would you look for me in those places? It's not normal, right?"

Near the kitchen door, a girl in a white chef's outfit waved her book, speaking in her unique, ethereal voice. Her face, which looked unremarkable but was exceptionally cute, appeared like an angel to Maersk at that moment.

"Well, somehow, I just feel that Miss Sara shouldn't be in such a normal place." Maersk looked at Sacramento's face and turned away, feeling a bit guilty.

"... Did I just get subtly insulted?"

Sacramento tilted her head.

"No, absolutely not! Just pretend you didn't hear that. Anyway, Miss Sacramento, I have a very important favor to ask of you!"

Facing the calm Sacramento, Maersk clasped her hands together and knelt on the ground, looking earnestly at the completely out-of-it Sacramento. Her eyes quickly filled with large tears, which rolled down her cheeks.

"Omnipotent supply ship, I beg you—"

"Ah, if it's about the warehouse, I can't help with that."

"But I haven't even said anything yet?!"

"Because Maersk never comes to me without a reason. And since Maersk and Zhonghai manage the warehouse together, it's natural that you would come to me, right?"

The short-haired girl sitting in the chair tilted her head, looking at the sweating Maersk on the ground, seemingly not understanding why Maersk was so shocked. Her face was full of natural expressions.

"Besides, I saw Haihu and Essex going to get fuel with a fierce look. Later, when I went to the warehouse to get something, I found it. That's quite something, isn't it? What kind of experiment would use so much fuel? Forty thousand barrels? From my perspective, I'm also quite curious. Isn't it strange?"

Sacramento spoke calmly, causing Maersk to break out in a cold sweat.

Rather than the warehouse being strange, isn't your current attitude of indifference even stranger? This is a fuel crisis, not something trivial!

"Anyway, that's the situation."

Maersk wiped the sweat from her forehead and organized her thoughts.

"The warehouse has a problem, so I'm asking for your help. Not much, just a little. As a supply ship, you should have a lot of fuel barrels and empty barrels, right? Just materialize them and put them in the warehouse."

"No way. It's too much trouble. I'd get a headache, and I might not even be able to read my book. Materializing so much at once is exhausting."

"At least it can fool the admiral, right? It's better than the admiral jumping into the sea!"

"But isn't this the admiral's own fault?"

The girl sitting in the chair still had a calm expression, tilting her head and speaking softly.

"Because of too much trust, some loopholes appeared. It's entirely the admiral's fault. If the admiral jumps into the sea, I can't do anything about it. As long as they don't die, the Peace Ark should be able to save them."

"That's true, but—"

"Why not just tell the truth?"

Facing the speechless, stuttering Maersk, Sacramento shrugged indifferently and sat back down to read her book.

"..."

Looking at the ship girl sitting in the chair and flipping through her book, Maersk thought for a moment and suddenly asked.

"Tell me, do you actually dislike the admiral?"

"How could I?"

Sacramento's finger paused in flipping the pages, and she blinked, looking at the kneeling Maersk in surprise.

"I really like the admiral."

"But liking him and deceiving him are two different things, right? They can't be mixed up."

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