"I can't believe it, they attacked us at the worst possible timing, fuck." I cursed as we arrived at the port and saw the extensive damage.

The main building was in ruins, with concrete walls and shattered glass scattered all around. While I knew an attack was inevitable, I never expected it to occur while I was away from the port. Hornet greeted us and informed me of the severe damage, making it clear that repairs would be a lengthy and challenging process.

"Commander, I suggest that we temporarily move out of this place while the construction takes place." Helena walked over to me.

"Do you have any place in mind?" I asked.

"NY Harbor." she replied.

"The Harbor of Eagle Union, the last defense of Azur Lane? Sure, we can move to that place." I said, nodding in agreement.

Helena left to inform everyone, and I sat down near the dock, watching as the Manjuus saluted me. Originally intended to be artificially realistic animals, I had rejected the idea and instead opted for the Manjuus to be designed without a nervous system and touch sense, allowing them to work without needing sleep or food. Despite their intellectual capacity being on par with humans, they had limited free will and were restricted to following orders.

I felt sorry for them whenever I saw them working without any rewards. Akashi claimed that the Manjuus were living artificial beings, and I had established a rule in the port that stated, "Do not treat the Manjuus harshly or suffer the consequences." Fortunately, everyone had abided by the rule, and some had even grown fond of the Manjuus.

"Commander, I'm glad to see that you're safe." Aurora's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Hey Aurora, did you just get back from an escort mission?" I asked.

"Yes, I rushed here as soon as possible after completing the escort. I was worried that something had happened to you, Commander." she replied, sitting down beside me.

"Well, as you can see, I'm fine. The port was under attack while I was on a sortie to gather materials from a Siren base located near our border." I explained.

Aurora let out a sigh of relief. "It's a relief to see that you're safe. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you."

"Thanks for worrying about me. I'm aware of my position as the Commander, i won't die easily." I said, patting her head.

Aurora blushed slightly at the gesture. "I heard from Helena that we'll be moving to a temporary location."

"That's right. We're moving to NY Harbor, the main force and heart of Azur Lane." I confirmed.

"NY Harbor? I've never seen it before, as I was always on a mission near the border during my time with the Queen. I'm excited to finally see it. Aurora said, her eyes sparkling.

"Me too. I've only heard about it, but the port is enormous. It'll be an incredible sight to see for the first time." I replied.

Aurora and I chatted until the afternoon, after which Akashi called me to her damaged gear lab.

"This place has really been destroyed, hasn't it?" I looked around at the surrounding area.

Akashi frowned. "Sure, nya..."

"Easy there, Akashi. I know you're upset because of the air raid by the Sakura Empire." I said, trying to calm her down.

"I hate them, nya~"

I decided to wait until she had calmed down before continuing.

Akashi ranted for about 15 minutes until she finally asked me to bring her some water. "Fuwah~ Thank you, Commander, for the drink."

"What did you call me here for, Akashi?" I asked.

Akashi suddenly remembered why she had called me and pointed to a pile of junk. "Commander, please help me move things here."

"What?" I blinked in surprise.

"Please, Commander, the Manjuus are helping, but I need more manpower to move some materials to the transport ships outside." Akashi pleaded.

I sighed. "Can't be helped."

Together, we moved Akashi's personal luggage to the transport ship while Akashi used her exclusive spatial treasure, which was capable of containing a skyscraper inside it. The device itself was still in the prototype phase and was also one of the forbidden items that Akashi possessed. Using the current technologies available to her, she had managed to create a small black hole inside the treasure box. I didn't know how she had done it, but I was impressed by her accomplishment. She explained that this device would not be made public because it required very expensive and rare materials to create, especially for the inside element. By the way, the materials we had obtained from the Siren base were stored inside her spatial treasure.

"Here you go, Akashi. This is the blueprint you needed to make the gun and the last batch of your personal belongings." I said as I handed her the last stack of copied blueprints.

"Thank you, nya. I will make sure to give you a discount next time," Akashi said gratefully.

"No problem, I also feel refreshed after carrying some heavy weights." I replied, wiping my sweat.

"What about your belongings, Commander?" Akashi asked, tilting her head.

"I could do it myself, but if you want to help, I'd be glad to have an assistant."

"Really?" Akashi exclaimed.

I nodded to Akashi. "What are you waiting for, nya? Let's go, Commander." she happily dragged me away.

"Wait, that direction is..." I tried to reach out to Akashi, but she fell into a big crater that had been destroyed.

"Akashi!?" I called out to her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, just a little bit hurt, nya~" she replied.

I helped Akashi get out of the crater, and as I inspected the hole, something caught my eye. There was a finger-sized shard in the middle of the big crater, with a color and pattern similar to that of the Siren's base. I looked at Akashi, but I don't think she had noticed it.

"What bad thing could happen if I picked it up? Well i hope this isn't a flag." I shrugged and picked up the shard from the ground.

"Commander, let's go, nya~!" Akashi urged me to hurry.

"I'll be there soon!"

As I left the place, I gazed at the crater and made a mental note to research about the history of this base.