Chapter 12: Beaches and the Stones

"Cheers," All of us celebrated in sync as we clink our glasses and bottles of various drinks, most of them being alcoholic of course with me being the only outlier with my glass of water.

After helping our boys in retaking captured territory, we essentially tipped the war in our favor. The enemy's own anti-ship weapons are impressive and overpowering, but in my eyes, they were underutilizing the technology's fullest potential with its flashy rail guns and wasp drones that seek out to kill any sailor that isn't behind cover. Now, we are forced to be kitted with a pistol on hand or a shotgun at all times whenever we are engaging.

We are all sitting outside as the day is setting, signaling the last battle on the waters for us today while we in the shivering cold wind while being warmed up by the restaurant's outdoor gas-powered grill table in the middle by the beaches the salty air that we are so used to mixed in with the smokey smell from the various meats that are on the grill. My friends were going at it with the alcohol as Commander Lenard is willing to pay for the drinks for us if we made it out in one piece.

Of course, I didn't have the proper credentials to drink, which was fine for me. I needed to save my brain cells to be promoted again and again until I am the ship's commander.

"Yes, yes… and after that, she just put her arms on her hips and the customer was all like 'Oh! You did this wrong and now you are doubting the customer? Let me speak to your manager!' At first, I wanted to say 'Bitch, get the fuck out of this chain.' Of course, I had the decency to refrain from saying it, so I just told them 'Well you can tell my parents about this, or I can tell them about what happened.' Unbenounced to her, I am just friends with the owner at most. Always works. She just fucked off without any complaints after that," Stiles told us, pulling a piece of beef off the grill, raising it in the air, and dropping it in his mouth.

"Well, that's one way to get karens off of your back," chuckled Nate as he started craning his head back to start chugging away at his bottle of beer.

"Welp, women never change, do they," Monroe joked, forking some of his salad.

"This is why you are single," Yardun joked back.

"I'm pretty sure everyone here has been romantically involved at least once. All except for you, Monroe," Stiles smirked, popping open another bottle of beer.

"Let's see, Yardun has his girl back at his town, Nikolai with his wife and two kids, and Shikikan here, surprisingly was in a relationship until it ended. What about you two," Monroe questioned, pointing at Stiles and Nate.

"Me, I fell in love with an upper classmate back when I was a tender college student. We got together after she graduated and we haven't talked ever since that had happened. I just took that as a sign that she wasn't that interested in me so I believe it was a mutual breakup," Nate dropped on the leftover meat left on the grill as he explained his love life.

"Well, when I was in school. I was a natural-born chick magnet," Stiles said without missing a beat.

"What? You're lying," replied Monroe.

"No, it's true. I was one of the most popular guys back in my high school."

"Really? You seemed more like a nerd than an outgoing type."

"You don't have to believe me. But I have proof. If we ever get to visit my home. I'll show you some old photos that I have stored in my old files."

"School was a great experience for all of us. Probably the best experience you can get out of your youth," babbled Nikolai, popping what is probably his fifth beer.

"You sure are going at it with the booze there, Nick," I broke in.

"Well, this is about the best I can get to something strong. If they had vodka or anything stronger on their shelves, I would have asked for that," replied Nikolai as he proceeded to chug an entire bottle in one go, "So how about you? How did school go for you?"

"Me? I didn't really do too great in that many subjects other than history," I answered sheepishly.

"No, that's not what I meant. I mean like how did your experience go? We all know that you found love. You must have made some friends or found a subject or club that would have interested you. Maybe some stories to go with it?"

"Well, it wasn't necessarily love that I found. I think she wanted to be closer, but I kept things platonic."

They were all equally curious as to why I kept it that way, Nate being the first to inquire. "What stopped you?"

"I don't know. I felt like she was wasting her time with me," I lowered my eyes, gazing into my empty cup. "When I found out, I didn't know how to react. At first, I acted normal but we began drifting away from each other when the senior year began."

"So you chickened out?" Monroe joked haphazardly, earning a stone-cold glare from Nikolai. "That was a joke by the way."

Nikolai took a shot in the dark. "Was your heart not in the right place? It was the same for me and my wife. Known each other for a while, got awkward, sorted a few things here and there, and bam! We got engaged."

"I don't know. Love is such a fickle thing that I can't stand talking about it. I'm going to go on a walk on the beach," I excused myself.

"If you need to talk. You always have us," Nikolai reassured me.

"Thanks," I said as I left them to continue with some conversation.

As I took my steps across the fine white-colored sand, I took the time for my feet to sink before taking another, leaving a crater behind right when I am going to make another to keep my mind off. I kept my footsteps in rhythm with the waves crashing in and flowing back out. The winds from the ocean were cold enough to make the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up, but I didn't pay much attention as I was fixated on creating sand craters.

The tides started to flow closer as night started to fall. The bright full moon was all that was left to light up the beaches as its reflections bounced off the simmering ocean. It almost seems like he had walked on to a romantic movie scene in which a man would catch up to the love of his life and propose to her as the camera captures their silhouettes.

I stared at the moonlight lit ocean as my eyes traced its horizons all the way to where I came from seeing the many steps I had left behind. As I was about to resume my crater making, I saw a bright light buried in the sand in front of me. I quickly pushed away all of the sand from the bright object to find a blue-colored cube no bigger than my palm with a bright light in the middle.

"What the hell? Did somebody lose their weirdly designed flashlight here?"

Picking the cube up, in my hands, I brushed away any of the remaining sand still stuck to it to find that it was interesting enough, pretty warm for something that had been out in the cold.

Picking up the cube with my fingers, I took a closer look at it until it seemingly blinded me with its white light. I couldn't see for a few seconds. When my vision came back, everything seemed normal for the most part, except the cube was gone and the atmosphere felt warmer. The air was filled with a mixture of the smells of burning oil, smoke, and a strong scent of copper from all dead people. Looking around me, I found that the world around me has changed. The sea was on fire, the clear air was now filled with a thick fog of smoke, the remains of ships were sinking and burning. Several people, most of them being our boys and a few civs, were lying motionless on both the beach and the sea dying them a deep crimson red.

"Guys?! Are you here," I yelled out in fear that I was the only one who was alive in this unknown battle, "Is anyone still alive?!"

I started tracing back my footsteps back to the restaurant that my friends are at, observing the bodies as I went by trying to identify anyone that is still alive. I kept calling out for their names as I was walking.

"Nikolai?! Yardun?! Nate?! Stiles?!"

As I inched closer and closer to the place, I found the place had collapsed and up in flames. I hastily made my way towards the building where they were seated as I began my search for my friends. The heat was bearable for the most part, it was the smoke from the fiery inferno that caused the most problems. Holding my breath, the smoke made it hard to see more than a few feet in front of me combined with the smoke getting in my eyes making it even harder to make out what is in front of me. As I explored the ruins, there weren't any signs of them or anything left behind that would have been theirs. Escaping from the fiery inferno and smoke field, my lungs were gasping for air, my skin soaked in sweat, and my eyes were burning. I was mostly relieved at the fact that there might be a possibility of them still being alive.

"You survived all this," a female voice reached out behind me.

Turning my head towards her, I saw a woman wearing a black and red overcoat as a cape, a white uniform, and a black skirt. Her face was hard to make out as my eyes were still burning and her face was mostly blocked by the thin fumes but the most notable feature that she has on her was a ridiculous bow that is the size of her and a strange aircraft carrier airways attached to her body.

"Who— What are you," I questioned, coughing my lungs out.

"When calamity strikes, you— you must be alive at all costs."

"What?"

Before I was able to ask further, the cryptic woman just skidded across the water as if she were skating on ice as a thick, strange fog started appearing making her disappear as if she were some wizard.

My eyes opened instantly to see all of my friends standing around me as one proceeded to kick me in the gut. The toe cap embedding itself into my abdomen creating a sharp but brief peak of pain making me moan and curl up in pain before the lingering started settling in.

"You didn't have to kick him that hard. Now look at what you have done," exclaimed Nate.

"You said a strong physical stimulus would most likely wake him up," Monroe argued.

"Where's the cube," I groaned, pressing my gut as I tried to suppress the pain.

"You mean the one you are holding?"

I brought my hand up to my eyes to see the same cube, but the colors changed. Instead of a blue cube with a bright glow, it was replaced with red and the center has a dark purple void center, the cube was now as cold as the sand that he is lying on.

"What is that," questioned Yardun.

"I don't know. I found it buried in some sand near the tides."

"Well, let's just turn that in. We have no idea what the hell that is," said Nate.

Shikikan woke up and suddenly found himself inside of Dr. Corrian's lab resting his head on his arms as a pillow at one of the rectangular tables. Corrian was across from him standing not too far away from the table.

"You slept again during my presentation," she said, trying her hardest to not unleash her wrath upon him.

"Sorry. Frankly, I'm more of a reader than a listener," he apologized, yawning from his short nap.

"Well, as I was saying. Our science team should be able to produce a series of unique and more powerful types of kansen that aren't based on just the wisdom cubes themselves."

"Uh huh, and these new kansens are created how?"

"I'll spare you the details. So we were able to uncover a secret about these cubes and we will be able to peer into another side of the cubes that let us modify and change the fundamentals a little."

"So your team finally found a way to genetically modify these cubes to essentially create super kansens?"

"Well, sort of. You see these kansens are nothing we have seen before and their analogous DNA patterns are hard to nail down. They have the typical DNA of humans, but a strange compound mixed within them most likely makes them kansens. After going deep into these cubes and further analyses there is a set of instructions if you will, that these cubes already provide for us that can let us create these stronger kansens. We called them priority ships. Unfortunately, they are very difficult to fabricate and very much expensive to make. This organization's budget can't even amount to the number of people, energy, and resources needed for them. But, I'm telling you this now as we are hoping that you are willing to make budget cuts for the kansen."

Shikikan stopped to try and absorb all that she had said and tapped his forehead to make a decision, "You said that this project is extremely expensive. How much is it for just one of these priority ships?"

"Around couple hundred million, maybe more than that," she stated.

He sputtered hearing these words, "What?! Are you using gold bars to make them?!"

"As I said, it will take a lot of people, energy, and resources to make just one of them. Not to mention the cost of the maintenance and upgrades needed to make them stronger."

"Let's put this thing on hold for now. There really isn't a reason to make these stronger weapons as of right now. Even if they are needed, we can't come even close to producing even just one of these, not right now at least."

"Alright, that will bring me to my next topic. Have you found a good candidate for our little intimacy experiment?"

"Maybe? I'm not entirely sure yet."

"One of your secretaries can be a good start on where to start."

"So it would be either Atago or Enterprise. I'm not sure about Baltimore right now. She has only been my secretary for less than a week."

"You have spent an awful lot of time with either of them. Those two would be an excellent subject. Have you considered the kansen who have a possessive nature?"

"God no. Akagi would probably kill anyone that I come near or even take a glimpse at for even a second. Taihou, almost the same story. Something about her gives me really bad vibes. The only reason why I'm not even dragged off into their private quarters is because of Amagi and Albacore. I'm just glad that there isn't another one like them or worse as of right now. I just have to pray that these cubes don't conceive another yandere."

"Alright, how about the flirtier type? I've seen you and Eugen interact with each other, how she gives you an uncomfortable feeling. She might be easy to pull through."

"Why must they be the… 'unusual' ones," he put into question, giving her the air quotes.

"Hey," she announced, "I'm trying to give you the easier options. You aren't one for making moves. Having them make moves and you making the smallest sign of interest can make for some good intimacy between things."

He simply shook his head in response, "Can't they all just be normal girls that you would typically find out in public?"

"Um… Maybe one of the maids would best suit your interests?"

"How about we do this subject when I come back from my business trip?"

"Business trip?"

"I'm going overseas back home for a while to visit and check up on my sister."

Corrian rubbed her chin, assessing the situation of what to do, "Where is your sister housed?"

In response, Shikikan pulled out his phone and answered her question with a picture of the hospital, "This one is the best I can find near my home."

"I see. Why don't you move her near this base?"

"I asked them before I moved out. The people that took care of her said that her health was getting worse. Her cancer and the damage that she sustained from battle make her entirely dependent on some very expensive and fragile hardware. Even the slightest mistreatment of the wares can result in her death. If I wanted to get her here, then they would have to move everything, and to do that, the weather, the crew handling, and finally, the amount needed for shipping her here would be just as expensive as her operation."

Corrian rubbed her chin once again of how to plan for her experiment to go. She really wanted to uncover the secret of intimacy and kansen combat efficiency that has been teasing her for the past few months. She kept rubbing her chin thinking as the seconds passed by while Shikikan sat in silence being a bit bewildered by her pondering. It went on for a few seconds until an idea popped into her head as if an invisible light bulb had lit up. A rather simple yet risky solution came to her mind.

"How about you invite one of them?"

"No."

"Why not? I'm willing to pay for the plane ticket if that is your problem."

"It's not that. Kansens are supposed to be confined in Azur Lane until we have uncovered most of the secrets and their loyalty is concrete."

"That's not an excuse you know? The organizers and representatives of Azur Lane approved of this experiment. As long as we are in line and don't do anything out of the ordinary, we should be good to go."

"Have you listened to yourself?! Sending them out for some stupid— stupid experiment of yours," he exploded, "This is ridiculous!"

"This is a line of your work, Shikikan," she said calmly, "If you do this, I'll get out of your hair."

"No, I refuse. I refuse to let my week of tranquility in my own personal trip be interrupted by them!"

"Are you that determined to not make friends or someone you can lean on again," she fired back, breaking her calm spirit to make everyone who wasn't on break in the lab turn at the two's feud.

"I don't want to have the responsibility to keep them incognito or the bad relationship I had before leaving!"

"And what for? If anyone dares approach them, they can defend themselves. What do you mean by bad relationships? Is someone out to kill you?"

"You wouldn't get it."

"Come on. How complicated can it be?"

"There is a reason why I kept this trip personal."

"That is because?"

"Just drop it," slamming his hands on the table.

"Is it trauma?"

"I said drop it. I'm not discussing this any further."

"Listen here kid, we need to be reliable on each other to bring the best out of this small organization. If so, we would be funded more and your life would be easier. You just need to tell me what bothers you. So just tell me—"

At this point, he was well over the edge with her trying to pry away at him. Gritting his teeth, he vaulted over the rectangular table bringing himself over to her and grabbed her by the collar of the white lab coat lifting her up a bit, forcing her to look at a now furious commander.

"Shut your fucking hole before I do it for you. I know that you have a PhD in psychology, but you're not a psychologist that I have booked for my next appointment. I've dealt with enough of this bullshit while working in the military. So keep your line of work out of other people's personal lives."

"Alright, have it your way," she assured him not to ask any more about his past. He let her go, slightly relieved that he didn't have to think about his unwanted memories. Thinking that he was done, he began his walk towards the exit. However, this was stopped by a firm grip on his left shoulder.

"What is it," he asked, his face still fixed on the exit.

"Here is one final matter that I would like to talk about that doesn't involve your trip."

He turned around to face the doctor, "That is?"

"Our research team had also found another blueprint hidden within these cubes. It's a blueprint for a watch. When our engineering team and a few manjus helped create it, there doesn't seem to be much of a connection to kansens."

"How do they not know the function of it if they made it?"

"That's the thing, the red cube converted our typical electronic parts into strange unseen pieces of hardware. When we tried analyzing it, interchanging them in as replacement parts of computers that it was converted to, it didn't register. We tried taking it apart but found nothing."

"And now your last train of thought is to let me test it?"

"I just want you to take it and see what use it can be to you other than well being a watch."

"Fine, where is it?"

The doctor immediately handed the watch as he finished his sentence. Taking it, he was able to make out that it looked like a regular smartwatch with its screen instead of the ticking hands or digital numbers and its plastic wristband. It was quite bulky as it was nearly half an inch thick. He tried booting the watch on by tapping the screen only for it to not turn on.

"How am I supposed to use this thing if it's dead?"

"It's not dead. The engineers who designed this prototype double-checked its battery and sure enough, it's a full battery. They even made several ones like it and it still doesn't compute. We tried giving them to kansens and sure enough, it didn't do anything."

"If that's all you want me to do is to wear this thing then you should have just started with that, I have to go now. If you need to talk to me, I'll be in the training room serving punishments," he waved as he started his march out.

"Hustle ladies, don't make me increase your numbers," he watched as the four insubordinate kansens pulled themselves up on the bars.

Most of them were doing fine for the most part. Bel and Enterprise were easily able to do their thirty bars. Bismarck struggled a bit with her own punishment of thirty-five. Then there was Atago with her forty, she has simply been neglecting training, unlike her younger sister.

"The rest of you can rest while she finishes up. After this, you have squats."

"Shikikan… why are we doing this… when… the AC unit is broken and it's… scorching hot today," Enterprise asked, pausing to breathe between words.

Her face is a bright red with her sweat covered skin glistening in the room's bright lights.

"Well, I could let you all relax. You know what, you all earned it. After this, you can all relax on the beach or something," he told them, handing her a bottle of water as she gladly took it, "This is if Atago can do ten bars in fifteen seconds."

"Eh," the Sakura cruiser shouted.

"Everyone is cheering for you. Your time starts— now you have ten more!"

She proceeded to go at it doing around seven in quick succession but was soon stuck in the mud near the end as her pulls became more sluggish as if she was moving through honey.

"Come on. If you don't make it, everyone will hate you for the time being. You can do it. Fight, fight, fight, fight…" Shikikan chanted repeatedly, clapping his hands in a beat.

She came nearing closer to her goal, the sands of time coming close to running out as he counted down in his head.

"Aaaand that's forty. Great job, you all deserve the rest of the day off. You can enjoy the rest of the day on the beach or something," he repeated.

She immediately fell to the ground exhausted, rubbing her now sore biceps. Shikikan walked up to her and extended his hand, flashing her joyful smile for pulling off. She blissfully accepted his offer as he pulled her up.

"Will you be there," questioned Bismarck which was pretty out of character for her. Out of all the people, he would expect someone like Atago to ask.

"Most likely no, I still have work to finish," he answered.

Upon finishing his spewing words, Atago smothered him with a bone-crushing hug. This threw him off as a threat as he didn't expect her to have so much vigor after her punishment.

"Hands off," he said, his words barely audible due to being stuffed into her bare, hot, and sweaty bosom. He tried pushing her away while squirmed in her embrace in an effort to free himself.

"How can I stop myself if you make such a cute face? This is your fault," she argued, increasing her grasp of her commander, "Besides you can't stay in your office today without being stressed about the heat. After all, you have to relax for the week as we wished~"

"Fine! Let me go," he babbled, as his words were barely audible, he started feeling lightheaded as the lack of oxygen was making him blackout.

Letting him go, he gasped, rapidly breathing to fill his lungs with fresh air. He coughed a little from her unexpected suffocating hug. His face was rather red from embarrassment. His clothing was now a bit wet from the kansen's heated hug and most notably, he absolutely reeked from the body odor.

"Ladies! Showers! Now," he exclaimed, still trying to steady his breathing.

All of them started their path towards the ladies' locker room in an orderly fashion. Some of them complained about the harsh punishments while others giggled at Shikikan's humiliation which he decided to let slide for today. Pulling on his uniform to take a look at it in which the front was covered in sweat.

Great, I smell like a wet dog and now I have to shower. What am I going to plan for all of you later?

Before he was about to make the decision on whether to shower or change into beachwear, he noticed that his watch had lit up. Pulling his watch in for a closer look, he sees a white background with a little icon of what looks to be a head icon of Atago on the left side with a bright pink, blocky heart on the top right and the number 85 at the bottom right.

"What the hell," he said to himself, pulling it closer to only pull it away from the strong odor from the kansen's sweat, "Yeah, I have to shower."

"Doc," he exclaimed, busting the doors down of the lab alerting everyone in the facility to look at a tropical open button-up shirt, blue swim trunks, and sandal wearing commander.

"Yes," she asked, turning away from one of the machines that she was using.

"Take a look at this," he said, dangling the watch to show her that the watch is now turned on.

"Huh, interesting. How did you turn it on?"

"No clue. What is the watch trying to tell us?"

"I have no clue. The pink heart, the number. It could mean anything. Come back when something changes."

"But it did change."

"I meant the signs. Just stay vigilant of its number and symbols. Also, are you going to go for a swim? Don't you have papers to sign for me?"

"Well, long story short. I made a regrettable promise to the four girls that I am currently giving punishment to and now I have to spend some time relaxing a bit."

"Well, it can't hurt to have some R and R."

"Alright, I'll see you another time," he said, leaving.

"Be sure to tell me anything different," shouted Corrian.

He gave her a thumbs up as he left.

"Haah… today is really hot," he said to himself, blocking the sun's brightness with his hand.

The sun loomed overhead in the blue skies shining its deathly, hot rays onto the sandy beach. Many of the kansens had the same idea of taking advantage of the summer heat by visiting the cool beach. The beach's cool winds tickled his skin a little as he walked closer to the roaring ocean waters to look for a good spot in the gorgeous, white sand.

"Commander~"

He turned to see surprisingly all four of the kansens to be cladded in swimsuits walking towards him. Atago wore the most erotic white bikini showing more exposed cleavage than he was comfortable with, a small bikini bottom that put her hips on full display with a thin, white translucent skirt loosely hanging around her waist, and a parasol lazily held over her shoulders. Belfast and Bismarck were a bit less revealing, covering up a bit more but their very large assets still exposed an ample amount of their cleavage, both wearing similar small bikini bottoms that put their hips on display. The district difference between the two was that Bel's was white similar to Atago's while Bismarck's was black with small stripes of red and yellow. Then there was Enterprise who was extremely conservative of showing off, wearing a black and white one piece swimsuit that covered her entire body.

"What do you think?"

"Don't ask me. I'm out here to enjoy the atmosphere and sign papers. Not to judge women's swimwear. Also, out of everyone. Bismarck? In a bikini? I would expect you to be back in Iron Blood HQ."

"I came here to… well…" she stammered, a light brush of red appeared on her cheeks, looking away in embarrassment and shyly hiding her ample cleavage trying to recover her excuse for visiting the beach.

"Oh, right. Tirpitz said that she was going to the beach with Graf and Eugen. I will see you another time," she explained her reason, she took off looking for her fellow Iron Blood colleagues.

"Well then, I believe we had enough chatting. You three are already excused. Go have your fun, I'll be signing papers here," he said, as he started setting up shop by stabbing a parasol in the sand providing a generous amount of shade. Pulling out a large tarp instead of a typical beach towel and started covering the shaded sand. Dropping a duffel bag filled with a few stapled stacks, a box filled with pens, stamps, and whiteout, and a clipboard. Looking around, it seemed as if everyone had dispersed.

"Alright, time to start," he said to himself.

"Do you need help, Master," asked Belfast, sitting herself down next to him.

"It's fine. You can go enjoy yourself. There is no need to bother with me."

"You still have a lot left, don't you? You may have let us enjoy ourselves but as your maid. I am here to help you no matter what day or time it is."

"You want a task? Then go help one of my subordinates. I believe that Enterprise over there is having a hard time fitting in," he pointed out, looking in the direction of an out of place Eagle Union aircraft carrier standing in the shallow water staring at a mixed group of light cruisers, battlecruisers, and destroyers hesitate on deciding to join in their game of water polo.

"I see. Would you like me to bring you a beverage or something cool to eat while I'm gone?"

"No, actually. Bring me a few bottles of water. It's still really hot even with the winds and shade."

"Of course, Master," she left in a hurry, probably towards the canteen for his water.

Finally, he is alone with nothing but the sounds of the waves flowing in and out, a few gulls squawking, and of course the cheering and sounds of enjoyment from the kansens. His focus now entirely fixated on finishing the rest of his papers, drowning out any sounds as he fell into a hypnotic translation of mindless working. A few minutes went by without any interruptions, that was until his focus broke from an object bopping him in the back.

"The hell," he grunted, turning around, mildly infuriated by whatever interrupted his peace. What he saw was just a white volleyball that interrupted him. Picking it up, he looked for the owner of the ball to see Prinz Eugen in a rather exposing bikini, walking up to him.

"Is this yours," pointing at the ball in his hands.

"If I said no, would you still keep it?"

"I'm guessing this is yours," he tossed it back to her.

"You seem lively today," she remarked sarcastically, sitting in the shaded tarp next to him.

"I don't have time for your teasing or games. Piss off," he said, now focused on reading through his exercise reports.

"Awww. How many of them did you leave in tears?"

"It will become one in a second if you keep bugging me."

She laughed at his threat, "Aren't you aggressive. I think I'm in love."

"I'm not."

"What a weak reaction."

"You are pretty easy to read, Eugen."

"Am I now," she asked, pulling herself dangerously close to his face.

"What are you doing," he questioned, trying his best to prevent himself from backing off first by staring right at her as if he had had enough of her shenanigans.

"Hmmm, you are calmer than I thought," she complimented right in his face.

"Uh, thanks. You should probably go back to your game. I still have work to do," he replied.

"Why don't you join us for a game?"

"As I said. I have work. I'm sure your friends are calling for you so if you could—"

Before he could finish, he was put into a sudden loose headlock by the Iron Blood cruiser.

"What… the heck," he paused between words, trying to free himself once again.

"Why don't you ever get to hang around with us anymore? Are pages more pleasing to look at than us?"

"Why… are you… doing this," he struggled to breathe a little as she started to tighten the hold like a python and its prey.

"Answer me truthfully. Do you like us kansens or your work?"

"What?"

She tightened her grasp again.

"That's not an answer."

"You guys… Obviously… There… Just let me go…"

She let him go on command and snickered a little.

"You're a monster," he croaked, rubbing his jugular.

"Sorry Kommandant. But you just fell right into my trap."

"Again. What?"

She pulled out her phone to see that it has been recording their entire conversation.

"Now everyone will know the truth," she laughed, "So you do like us after all."

Like the naval battle, he felt defeated once again.