Today's tutelary fort remains peaceful.

Xue Cheng hesitated, glanced at the teapot beside him, and wisely changed the subject: "Come to think of it, Hu De can also make black tea, right?"

"Of course." Hood puffed out his hollow chest and said complacently, "Usually, when King George V of England holds a tea party, the black tea is always prepared by me. But today, hmm, hmm, there's no one to make such delicious black tea for them. Who told me to..."

"Huh?" Lexington, who was looking out the window at the street scene with her chin in her hand, suddenly let out a low cry of surprise. She pointed out the window and said, "Look, that person...isn't he Tirpitz?"

"Huh?" Xue Cheng looked in the direction of Lexington's finger. A girl wearing an old-fashioned blue and white long tracksuit, sunglasses and a mask, with messy pink hair, was hiding stealthily behind a thin lamppost.

Although the girl tried hard to hide herself, unfortunately, the lamppost was not enough to conceal her figure.

"It seems... to be her?" Xue Cheng looked at her carefully. Except for the pink messy hair with a few stubbles standing up, all the girl's features were covered up, and her recognition level dropped sharply, so much so that he couldn't be sure.

"It's her." Shengyu narrowed his eyes and said curiously, "But what is she hiding there for? She looks around like she's looking for someone."

"I'll go say hello." Xue Cheng put Oscar down, watched the cat squatting on the ground and licking its paws, then stood up and walked outside.

He has always had a good impression of this girl who has the same hobbies as him, and all the dressing rings in the game are arranged in place.

Just as Xue Cheng stood up, no one noticed that Hood, who was sitting opposite him, suddenly looked a little strange, his eyes began to wander, and he seemed a little restless.

126. The Soul of the Creator

"Is this the last one?" At the entrance of the commercial street, the fully armed Tirpitz took out his mobile phone, looked at the data displayed on the screen, and clenched the book hidden in his arms with his hands in his shirt pocket.

She had just finished working all night and was sent out to deliver the goods. It was absolutely impossible for the girl not to be angry.

However, when he thought that this result was all his own fault, Tirpitz, who never liked to vent his anger on others, was filled with resentment and had no way to vent it, so he had to admit that he was unlucky.

Starting today, I must stop procrastinating! Tirpitz made a secret decision and arrived at a cafe according to the address given on his phone. He found that not only his business partner but also some troublesome people were inside.

"How could that idiot Hood think of conducting such a dangerous transaction in the commercial street!" Tirpitz looked at the blonde girl with glasses who was talking to the admiral in the cafe not far away, and scratched his hair in distress.

Under normal circumstances, Tirpitz could have walked in with a swagger, handed the thing hidden in her arms to Hood, and then left, but the appearance of Xue Cheng and Lexington made her give up this idea.

As the admiral's spokesperson, Lexington is always present in all the major and minor events in the garrison.

In the most recent campaign to rectify the atmosphere, she personally led Tianlong and Longtian to raid Tirpitz's studio. Since then, Tirpitz's industry has been completely moved underground with the support of a wealthy man in the port area.

As for the Admiral...

Although the admiral did not show any objection to his unauthorized use of his image to draw a book last time, Tirpitz did not think it would be the same this time.

She rubbed her sore eyes, noticing that the four people in the cafe showed no sign of ending their conversation. She grumbled quietly, "Speaking of that Hood guy, he used to claim to be a secret agent? His professionalism isn't even as good as Ticonderoga's Chuunibyou. He's basically just playing a role-playing game with the Admiral... Hmm, I think I've found a theme for a new work."

"The heroine, a special agent, disguises herself as a shipgirl and joins the naval base, intending to approach the admiral to obtain secrets. Unexpectedly, she is knocked unconscious while sneaking into the office and cracking the safe code."

"When she woke up, she unexpectedly found herself tied up with ropes and locked naked in a dark, cold basement!"

"So the admiral had already noticed the heroine's anomaly and deliberately exposed a flaw to lure her into the trap. Just as the heroine was pondering how to escape, the basement door opened and the admiral walked in, wearing glasses with white light reflecting off the lenses... Oh, the admiral doesn't seem to wear glasses, does he? Hmm, never mind, that's not important."

"Do you want to be free? Do you want to return to the sunshine? Then tell me everything you know. The admiral pushed his glasses and said this to the heroine."

"The initially panicked heroine calmed down. She said that as a professional agent, she would never reveal any information."

"Is that so?" The admiral grabbed a plastic ball from a shelf filled with props and gave the heroine a wicked smile. "Then, let me completely destroy your dignity, your pride, and your so-called agent qualities."

"This is simply...awesome!" Tirpitz became excited, and her creative soul was burning in the burst of inspiration.

At this moment, her head, which was slightly swollen and aching due to lack of rest, and Hood, the wealthy client, became less important in her eyes. The girl turned around and prepared to return to the studio as quickly as possible to record the plot she had just thought of and start a new round of creation.

"Tirpitz?" The sudden call made the girl stop in her tracks. She slowly turned around and saw the admiral, who had changed into casual clothes and had his hair carefully styled, and looked much more handsome, walking towards her.

"Admiral." Tirpitz froze. Now that she had been recognized, there was no need to pretend. She took off her mask and sunglasses and forced a smile at Xue Cheng. "What a coincidence! Why are you here, Admiral?"

Xue Cheng blinked. "Shouldn't I be the one asking you this? Don't you always hate going out? Why do you have time to hang out in the commercial street and dress like this?"

Tirpitz stammered, "It's just that I don't like going out normally, so today I was bored and suddenly felt like going out for a walk. But I was afraid of being recognized and laughed at, so I dressed like this..."

"Is that so?" Xue Cheng looked at her doubtfully.

"That's it!" Tirpitz said firmly. Without giving Xue Cheng a chance to think, he said, "Well, the Admiral and Lexington are having afternoon tea, right? I won't bother you anymore. Goodbye."

"Don't go." Xue Cheng stopped Tirpitz. It was rare for a homebody like her to go out, so it would be a pity to just go back like this.

Since he wasn't spending time alone with anyone, Xue Cheng simply invited, "Does Tirpitz have anything important to do? If not, why don't we all come together for afternoon tea?"

"Okay..." Tirpitz subconsciously wanted to agree, but at the critical moment, the thin book in her arms reminded her. The girl quickly stopped and shook her head rapidly: "No, no! I have important things to do. I don't have time to waste here!"

Xue Cheng touched his chin: "But didn't you just say that you wanted to go out for a walk because you were bored?"

"Ugh!" Tirpitz gritted his teeth secretly. Does the admiral have low emotional intelligence, or has he seen something?

"That's exactly what I said just now, but now I remember that I haven't finished the game I bought yesterday, so I have to go back now."

"When can I not play games? It's rare for me to see you go out, and you want to use this excuse to brush me off? Huh? Wait a minute." Xue Cheng crossed his arms and looked at her suspiciously.

"I just felt something was wrong. Did you...do something bad and are afraid of being discovered? That's why you want to leave quickly, right?"

I really wish the Admiral could be a little slow in dealing with this kind of thing! Tirpitz cried out in her heart. She tried her best to hide her guilt and said calmly, "That's not the case. But since the Admiral said so, I'll go with you and prove my innocence."

"That's good." Xue Cheng chuckled and made an invitation gesture to Tirpitz. The girl rolled her eyes at him and walked past him to Meow Meow Cafe.

127. Fishing

"Lexington, Renown, hello." Tirpitz walked to the seat and greeted the two people who were looking at her in surprise. Then she looked at Hood awkwardly and said, "Oh, Hood is here too. Hello."

"..." Hood stroked Ju Za who was lying on his knees and nodded absentmindedly as a greeting.

"Please sit down. Tirpitz has finally come out. He is our rare guest." Lexington chuckled and teased with her chin in her hand. As for the strange attitude between Tirpitz and Hood, it did not attract her attention.

After all, Hood had just had a quarrel with Bismarck and was still angry. Of course, he would not be in a good mood when he saw her sister at this time.

Xue Cheng called Santiago over to get more tableware and some snacks, then asked, "Has Tirpitz ever had afternoon tea with everyone?"

"..." The otaku girl looked at Xue Cheng with resentment, picked up a piece of dessert and put it in her mouth.

"Admiral, please don't look down on me. Although I don't like going out, Prince Eugen likes to come visit me. Hindenburg and Hutten also occasionally come to our house for tea parties. I've been dragged along a few times. Hmm, this snack isn't as delicious as potato chips."

"Indeed, this is too sweet." Xue Cheng felt like he had found a soulmate. He didn't really like this kind of greasy dessert. "It would be better if the snack was replaced with potato chips or fried chicken, and the black tea was replaced with cola."

Tirpitz's eyes lit up. He reached over Lexington and shook Xue Cheng's hand, which was on the table. He said excitedly, "I knew it! The Admiral is the only one in the garrison who understands me best!"

Lexington looked at Tirpitz and felt something was wrong for some reason, as if he had overlooked something.

It's not that he has any prejudice against Tirpitz, although during the last rectification, Lexington cracked down severely on Tirpitz who disrupted the order of the garrison.

But since then, the notebooks that were openly circulated in the port area have disappeared. Although they are definitely still circulating privately, Lexington doesn't bother to pay attention to them as long as they are not brought to the surface and seen by those submarines and destroyers.

So, is it because you saw a rare otaku girl on the commercial street that you felt strange?

Lexington thought about it and it seemed that this was not the case. Although Tirpitz did not like to go out, some things did not always go as she wished, so Bismarck often drove his sister out for a walk.

Besides, bookstores on the commercial street occasionally sell light novels and comics that Tirpitz is interested in, but these stores do not provide door-to-door delivery services, and Bismarck will not run errands for her.

What exactly is it... Lexington narrowed his eyes and suddenly noticed that Tirpitz was wearing a blue and white long-sleeved sportswear. The zipper at the collar was pulled up to her chin in the hot summer, and her left hand was still in her shirt pocket even when she was drinking tea and eating snacks.

There's something inside the clothes! Lexington almost subconsciously made a judgment. Considering what Tirpitz had done before, could it be that what's hidden inside is...

Lexington looked at Reputation calmly. The head maid also frowned slightly, obviously noticing something was wrong. Their eyes met slightly and they nodded at the same time.

"Speaking of which, has Tirpitz gained weight recently?" Lexington held his chin with one hand, his eyes moving around the girl and falling on her round cheeks.

"Eh, is that so?" Tirpitz took the sandwich and started eating. It was not the first time that her sister said this to her. At first, Tirpitz was really a little scared. After all, the body shape of the ship girls is not static. Some individuals will indeed change their body shape due to unknown reasons.

During that time, in order to lose weight, Tirpitz got up early for a run for the first time, which almost made the passing ship girls think that there was something wrong with his eyes.

However, after Tirpitz bought a weighing scale, Bismarck's intimidation was no longer effective. After all, the numbers on the scale would not lie. After realizing that his sister was just lying to him, Tirpitz returned to his bad state again.

"I think so too." Reputation nodded seriously. "Although it's not too obvious, Miss Tirpitz's cheeks are indeed a little rounder. Miss Hood, what do you think?"

"Eh?" Hood, who had been staring blankly at the teacup in front of her, came back to her senses. She didn't expect the question to be thrown at her suddenly. She turned her head and looked at Tirpitz's face for a while. Hood hesitated and said, "It seems... yes?"

In fact, Hood didn't notice any signs of Tirpitz gaining weight, but Lexington and Reputation insisted that Tirpitz had gained weight, and their expressions didn't seem like they were joking at all. Hood subconsciously thought that his observation skills were not sharp enough, so he chose to agree.

"Really?" Tirpitz looked at them suspiciously. However, when she realized that Lexington and Reputation were not joking, the sandwich in her hand immediately lost its flavor. She put down the food with some fear and turned to Xue Cheng and asked, "Admiral, have I really gained weight?"

"..." Xue Cheng was speechless. He had traveled to this world for less than a week, and had seen Tirpitz only a pitifully few times. How could he possibly have noticed it?

So Xue Cheng made the same choice as Hu De: "I seem to have gained a little weight, but it's not very obvious. If you don't look closely, you can't tell at all. Maybe it's my illusion."

Tirpitz said nothing, his face showing the solemnity of impending disaster: "Scale! Where's the scale nearby?"

"Weight alone doesn't mean anything," Lexington shook his head. "Thin or fat can't just be determined by the number on the scale; it also depends on the girth. I happen to have a tape measure here. Would you like to try it on, Tirpitz?"

"Of course! Right now!" Tirpitz couldn't sit still for even a minute. There are very few girls who don't feel anxious about their figure. When they realize that their figure has actually changed, even a stay-at-home girl can't ignore it.

Lexington stretched out her hand and grabbed at the void. Transparent space ripples appeared out of thin air, and a tape measure fell out and was caught in her palm.

"Come on." Lexington stood up and said to Tirpitz, "How can we measure while sitting like this?"

Tirpitz nodded and stood up. Her anxiety and fear about her figure made her forget some things, including the bottom edge of the sportswear she was wearing. Earlier, at her request, her sister had taken out the elastic band inside.

"Plop." A light sound was heard, and a book simply wrapped in plastic fell to the ground. Tirpitz was stunned for a moment and hurriedly wanted to pick up the book, but the head maid was one step faster than her and easily snatched the thing into her hands.

"What is this?" Xue Cheng asked curiously.

One Hundred and Twenty-Eight, Darkening

"This, this is..." Tirpitz's expression was extremely interesting. She glared at Lexington and Reputation hatefully. If she still couldn't guess that she was being tricked at this point, she would be too stupid.

But now is not the time to start a war. The most important thing right now is to find a way to prevent the contents of the book from being discovered.

Hood's face was also pale. This book was exactly what she ordered from Tirpitz. Due to her reading habits, she even paid extra for the physical version and asked for it to be delivered to her door. She didn't expect to run into Xue Cheng here.

She didn't think Tirpitz would keep a secret for her. If necessary, Hood believed that the otaku would betray her without hesitation. She was already thinking of an excuse to escape.

"Master." Reputation ignored Tirpitz's gaze that was almost spitting fire, and handed the book to Xue Cheng. The latter took it in his hand and took a look. He found that the book was very thin and had no cover. It was simply wrapped in a blank book cover. It was a little different from the common books in bookstores, and more like a privately printed one.

"Is this a light novel or a comic?" Xue Cheng asked curiously. After all, it was someone else's thing, and he couldn't open it to read the contents without permission.

Tirpitz coughed twice, forced a smile, and said, "It's a short comic. A light novel can't be this thin, right?"

Xue Cheng scratched his head. He had never bought a light novel, so this question really touched his blind spot.

Xue Cheng decisively changed the subject: "Why doesn't this comic have a cover? And there's not even the title of the work or the author's signature. It looks like... uh, this can't be your work, right?"

Xue Cheng suddenly thought of the line drawing of the painting he and Tirpitz had looked at in his room that day, and his eyes suddenly became subtle.

"No, no!" When watching anime, Tirpitz had often scoffed at the flawless lies of the characters. However, when the same thing happened to her, Tirpitz couldn't keep her composure. She stammered, "My manga is...it's special."

"Special?" Xue Cheng looked at her suspiciously.

"Actually, I got this comic from a friend." After the initial panic, Tirpitz quickly calmed down. In just a few seconds, he came up with what he thought was a perfect excuse, and his speech became fluent again.