"Today I will go on a sortie. Enterprise, please assign some shipgirls to assist me with this sortie." I ordered.

"Right now, Commander?" Enterprise blinked, surprised with my order.

"Yes, this time the sortie won't just be patrolling. We will also be increasing our territory slowly by capturing a rendezvous point held by the Sirens not far from our base."

"Won't that be dangerous to head out now Commander?" Enterprise asked.

"Sorry, but this time i have also other objective regarding this sortie, so i hope you can assist me on preparing the sortie." I apologized.

"Haa... Understood, i will comply as you ordered." 

"Good, meet me after 30 minutes."

Enterprise nodded and left the room to prepare for the sortie. I was hoping to find some useful clues about the scattered remnants of the Sirens on the surface of the water and gaining materials for the base development, if one thing that we need to be cautious for, it's the elite Siren like Observer.

"I will do my part as well." I stood up from my chair.

I closed the office door and walked to Akashi's workshop. Inside, I could see the Manjuus helping Akashi repair a broken gun and reinforce the hull of a mass-produced ship. Her workshop was a huge dock with many kinds of items for repairing ships and weapons. Of course, it wasn't as big as the front dock, but it was enough to park two battleships here.

I saw Akashi sitting on a chair next to a mass-produced light cruiser, intensely looking through a blueprint.

"Hello, Akashi," I greeted her.

Akashi looked up at me. "Oh, Commander. Good timing, nya~"

"What do you have there?"

"It's a blueprint for a battleship gun, but the materials needed are very rare to find."

"A material that is rare to find? Let me see."

I took the blueprint from Akashi and read through it. So, this is a blueprint for Twin 406mm (16"/56 Mk 4 Prototype), which is a powerful battleship gun in the game. If the required materials were this rare, it might be a good idea to search through the Siren stronghold or any other Siren base.

"I see. This might take quite a while with the manual process, but with the ε-Cube that the Eagle Union developed decades ago, we could instantly complete it after we get the required materials. You need my help, right?"

"Yes, Commander. I will need your assistance, nya~"

"I will go on a sortie soon. Can you prepare some items for me?"

"Sure, wait here."

Akashi disappeared without me noticing. After a while, she came back holding something.

"What's this?"

"A radio transmitter and a Siren Detector, nya~"

"Good. Just what we need. We will use this to make a fake transmitter to lure the Sirens."

I gave Akashi some of my currency from my wallet and left the place.

"Thank you for your always-patronage. Be sure to come back, nya~" Akashi waved.

It had been 30 minutes, and I decided to head to the harbor to meet with Enterprise. I saw around three ships docked, a light cruiser, and two battleships. I met with Enterprise to discuss minor things before departing.

Enterprise also had another mission with her fleet plus Volga to sortie on another area near the Eagle Union territory, so we wouldn't be seeing each other for a while. As far as I knew, there were also other fleets that had left the port yesterday, so right now, we only had a few ships to defend the Azur Lane ports.

Enterprise introduced me to the girls I would be sortieing with, and one of them was Helena.

"Helena? So you will be joining me today."

"Yes, Commander. I will personally guard you throughout the perimeter."

"I will be in your care then." I said.

I took a look behind Helena and saw North Carolina and Washington. I was taken aback.

"Hello, Commander. I am Washington. My sister told me that I cannot be so rough once I join the fleet. My hobby is to destroy my enemies." Washington introduced herself.

"Washington, remember to smile," North Carolina reminded her.

"Ugh... Why do I have to listen to her," Washington grumbled while forcing a smile.

"North Carolina here, awaiting your dispatch. Although I may seem to have a bland personality compared to my sisters. But as the saying goes, no personality is still a personality, hehe. Anyways, awaiting your orders, sir." Both sister saluted me.

I had an indescribable expression and feeling about this combination.

'This combination is exactly like the Fallen Wings event' I thought to myself.

"Commander, we are ready anytime." Helena said.

I coughed to avoid making them suspicious of my expression. "Yes, let's go."

I boarded the flagship, a reinforced mass-produced battleship, which was an Iowa-class ship that had powerful firepower and the ability to swiftly maneuver. Enterprise left us to deal with other things before sortying too.

I opened my comm from the bridge and ordered, "All ships, sail away!"

We started moving to the designated location of a Siren-occupied base. It would take us around two days to get there, so we might as well move at an average rate.

Hours passed since our sail, and so far it was a smooth journey with no obstacles.

The comms buzzed, and Helena's voice came through. "Commander, we will be exiting the territorial zone. Please change the communicator frequency as to not alert the Siren."

I acknowledged her request and changed the frequency of our comms.

The comms buzzed once again. "It's gotten boring. Where are the Sirens? I haven't seen a single one during the sailing." Washington yawned.

"We will not be seeing them anytime soon, Washington. Take it easy. It's all thanks to the previous Commander who cleared the sea in this territory," North Carolina responded.

'The previous Commander, huh... I wonder if there is a retired Commander who is still alive.'

I listened to their conversation all day long until we arrived at our destination. I certainly didn't get bored along the way due to the interaction between these sisters.