Chapter 8

"It's really great to be in the same world as the Commander." After a brief exchange about their recent situations, Hood spoke in a standard noble English accent, unhurriedly. "The 11 years in the harbor were really boring, with nothing but expeditions and drills."

"What about the Abyssals?" Hugo asked, recalling that in the game, there would always be a major event every few months where the shipgirls would go to beat up the Abyssals. "I thought they would come to harass you."

"Ever since you came to this world, all the self-aware Abyssals disappeared. Since we woke up over a decade ago, we've mostly just been fighting those ordinary Abyssals that keep popping up from everywhere, stiff and mechanical like machines," the petite-looking Vittorio Veneto said.

"The most important thing is that the world there wasn't very real. Whatever we did felt like sleepwalking. If it weren't for the fact that we could feel the Commander's presence much closer than before, I think the sisters would have gone mad long ago."

"I'm sorry, I only found out about your existence a few days ago," Hugo said apologetically to the two shipgirls. "If I had known earlier, I—"

"You don't need to apologize, my Commander." Before he could finish, Vittorio Veneto and Hood each took one of his hands and said, and Hood further explained, "For us, being able to feel the Commander's presence so closely is enough to make us happy. And we know you did your best to find us at this time."

"But you still suffered." Hugo sighed lightly, then suddenly remembered something very important. "By the way, do you have any identification and money?"

Due to Hugo's age, he couldn't bring the two shipgirls back to his home. So he looked at the two shipgirls with concern and asked about their current status, while reaching into his pocket to feel the 700 to 800 pounds he had saved over the past five or six years.

"We have our IDs, and they are all legal. But the money we have seems to be unusable." Hood took out her passport and a stack of banknotes. The passport showed that Hood was a 19-year-old British woman. However, the stack of banknotes was from the 1940s and was clearly no longer usable.

"What about you, Vittorio Veneto?" After looking at the items in his hand, Hugo noticed that Vittorio Veneto's hands were empty, so he asked with concern. "If you don't have any, I can—"

"Of course I do." Sensing Hugo's concern, Vittorio Veneto hesitated for a few seconds before reluctantly taking out her passport. Hugo immediately understood why Vittorio Veneto was reluctant to show her passport. The passport indicated that she was born on April 28, 1980, which made her younger than Hugo. As a battleship shipgirl, she naturally didn't want to be seen as a little girl. Unfortunately, the world's will had given her a birthday that didn't align with her wishes.

"Alright, don't be upset." Seeing Vittorio Veneto's puffed-up expression, Hugo seriously returned her passport and a stack of old Italian lira that were also unusable, along with the 700 pounds he had. "Take this money and find a place to stay. I'll think of a way to settle you in."

"That's not necessary, my Commander." Vittorio Veneto was inwardly very happy that Hugo had given her the money, as it showed that he didn't see her as a child but as a responsible adult.

However, despite her happiness, Vittorio Veneto politely declined Hugo's offer and said, "Don't forget, Hood and I are not ordinary humans. We have many ways to earn money."

"Uh—what exactly are your methods for earning money?" Recalling the game's setting where Vittorio Veneto was the boss of Sicily, Hugo suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Once we have this, we can find money from many places." Vittorio Veneto took out a Beretta M1938 submachine gun from her ship equipment space, while Hood even more dramatically produced a Thompson submachine gun.

"Ladies, listen to me." Seeing the guns in the hands of the two girls, Hugo felt cold sweat breaking out. He quickly raised his hands in front of his chest to emphasize his words. "I think you should know that this world has changed. It's a very peaceful era now. Using weapons of this level in the capital of Britain is extremely inappropriate."

"I don't think so." Hood put the gun back into her ship equipment space and shook her head, then looked Hugo in the eyes seriously. "After all, I know London better than you. The peaceful and orderly world you speak of only exists in certain parts of London. The other side of the city is different."

"Alright, you're right." After a few seconds of silence, Hugo had to admit that Hood was right. In East London, especially in areas with large numbers of illegal immigrants, the darkest aspects of the city were concentrated. Even Hugo's parents had specifically warned him not to go to dangerous places in East London, especially at night.

"If you've decided, then do what you feel is right." Hugo knew that if he gave an order, the shipgirls would follow it completely. But as a commander who saw the shipgirls as independent beings, he didn't want to go against their wishes in daily life.

"Thank you for your trust, my dear Commander." Hood made an elegant curtsey and said, "But please rest assured, we can tell the good from the bad and will not harm the innocent. After all, we are shipgirls, not those Abyssal shipgirls who are full of malice towards all life."

Unlike in the game, shipgirls had no restrictions against killing ordinary humans. After all, they were all based on warships, created for the purpose of killing. So it was reasonable that they had a combative side.

Fortunately, as shipgirls, they were also embodiments of various good and bright wills. So Hugo didn't have to worry about them causing any irreparable damage.

"I wish you all the best, then." Hugo looked at his watch and said, "It's already midnight. I have to go home. If my parents find out I'm not there, I'm dead."