Chapter 63

（Thank you to Weizhai's Wuxiang and Tusi's reward! Abandoned Town - Guam 136564821, welcome all readers to join! I thought that by deepening the characters through these plots, I could make them more vivid, but it seems the effect is not ideal... Did I overthink it? Anyway, I still need recommendations, clicks, rewards, and collections~ If we can push into the recommendation list, there will be extra updates, that's it~）

63. Gentle Does Not Mean Indulgent

"Ah, I indeed knew about it long ago."

Looking at the Haihu, who was kneeling before him, penitently, the Admiral smiled gently.

"Whether it's the things you secretly hid from me, or the fact that you formed factions and attacked each other, or even the fact that you lied about military reports, I knew about all of it long ago."

"—!"

As if stabbed by a military saber, Haihu knelt on the ground, her whole body trembling.

"Recently, I've felt something is off in the Admiral's office. Or perhaps it has been off from the very beginning. When everyone speaks, there's no smile, and they seem to be hostile towards each other. I've been wondering where the problem lies."

Sitting in his chair, the Admiral quietly wrote a series of newly calculated data with a pen, not looking at Haihu, but still speaking gently about his thoughts.

"You are shipgirls, a race of warriors, but you still have human hearts."

"I have never treated you as weapons or emotionless machines. To me, you are more like my daughters. Many times, I have been troubled about how to correct your behavior. I've secretly vowed many times that this can't go on, but I always end up breaking my resolve."

"How could I possibly lay a hand on my own children? Moreover, the root cause is for my sake. If I were more capable, this wouldn't have happened."

Facing the surroundings, which were not a pleasant sight, the Admiral smiled helplessly.

Because he was poor.

Although he looked powerful, the places that truly required resources were numerous. Maintaining the existence of DS-1 required a large amount of resources, as did sortieing and long voyages. There were also defense missions, patrols, weapon development and repairs, and the construction of new companions.

All of these required resources, which were extremely scarce for him. It wasn't that the total amount was small, but compared to an Admiral who had the support of the Governor's Office, with development and construction compensated, and no worries about near-sea defense missions and defense systems, his daily consumption was astronomical.

So, in the past, he could turn a blind eye, but the fuel shortage yesterday was the last straw. The Admiral could no longer tolerate this. However, he couldn't bring himself to scold and dismantle the ships, so he had to resort to this indirect method.

"The reason an Admiral is called an Admiral is to promote and supervise you."

The Admiral put down his pen and switched to another document.

"Promote those who have achieved merit, and supervise those who have strayed. Give them a wake-up call before they completely fall off the path and pull them back to the right path. That is what an Admiral should do."

"But recently, even I feel that I have been too lenient. Misappropriating military funds and concealing military reports can be forgiven, but hiding something as important as the coordinates of Hawaii and building a submarine is something that even I would be slightly angry about."

Flipping through the old documents in his hand, the Admiral's pale face showed a hint of a bitter smile.

Although it wasn't something to be proud of, the Admiral was still connected to the soul of the Northern Deep Sea. He could hear her voice from the scar on the back of his head.

This time, the remaining coordinates were not so much a clear backup plan given directly to the Admiral, but rather a deliberate move to discipline these unruly shipgirls. The Admiral couldn't bring himself to scold and hit them, and being gentle would definitely cause problems. So, it was better to have it come from the North. Since she was the Deep Sea flagship, it wouldn't seem suspicious.

The product left by a third party naturally wouldn't raise suspicion. However, the Admiral knew the coordinates of Hawaii and the fact that the Deep Sea had been there shortly after he woke up. After all, the scar on his head was still there, and he could feel the vibrations in his soul.

During the conversation last night, while the Admiral was shouting, the Northern Deep Sea was directly conveying the message through their souls. This was something that couldn't be forgotten.

And this connection was a small breakthrough, a small test.

"After all, this is a very thorny issue for me. I don't want to make you sad, nor do I want to use brutal methods to solve the problem. But I can't learn the methods of other Admirals. So, I can only use this indirect method to tell you."

"We are a whole, a complete family. While you help the Admiral expand the territory, the Admiral also uses his strength to protect you."

"Recently, you have gone too far."

The Admiral's expression gradually became serious, and his voice deepened. Haihu knelt on the ground, her head lowered, trembling, not daring to look at the Admiral's stern face. This feeling of loyalty being torn apart even made this strong shipgirl want to cry.

He knew everything. Everything about this Admiralty. After all, he was the Admiral, and he knew everything. But for the chaos, the Admiral thought time would make up for it.

However, unfortunately, this small test resulted in a zero score for the shipgirls.

"To sum up, I am indeed somewhat disappointed now."

The Admiral sighed slightly, looking at Haihu and speaking softly.

"But, I hope you can learn from this. You are shipgirls, companions, and family to me. There is nothing that needs to be hidden between us. Not to mention such underhanded actions. I hope you will think about it and pass my words on."

"I hope you can convey my wishes."

"…Yes."

Haihu bit her lip, stood up silently, and turned to leave the Admiral's office. Watching her somewhat dejected back, the Admiral sighed helplessly and slumped in his chair.

It was definitely painful. Seeing the shipgirls in distress, the Admiral felt a sharp pain in his heart. But with the situation having developed to this point, he had to, and it was his responsibility to pull everything back to the starting point, to prevent the spread of evil.

"Both hands are flesh, no matter how you look at it, it's wrong. This battle is really hard to fight. In the end, it's my fault for giving you too much freedom..."

Looking at the water-stained ceiling, the Admiral sighed and closed his eyes slightly.

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