It is Kokang and Changchun

　After the call ended, Captain Wang got out of the car and pressed the remote lock button. After confirming that the car door was locked, he walked to the Fengchao express locker at the entrance of the community to help his son pick up the package.

　After entering the pickup code, the corresponding express lockers opened with a system prompt. Captain Wang took the package out of the locker and took it home.

　Captain Wang looked at the large package on the way home, wondering what his son had bought. After returning home, the bright light allowed him to finally read the relevant information on the delivery slip.

　"Fleet Collection Prince Eugen Figure"

　Captain Wang looked at the product information written on the express delivery note and was confused.

　"Fleet, collection, Prinz Eugen—I understand all these words, but why don't I know what they mean when put together? And what's that figurine?"

　In order to find out what was inside, Captain Wang went to the kitchen, got a fruit knife, and started unpacking the box.

　However, Captain Wang could never have imagined that after unpacking the package, through the transparent part of the product packaging, he would see a statue of a girl with blonde twin tails wearing a gray dress and a gray military cap...?

　Captain Wang knew Prince Eugene of Savoy as a distinguished military commander of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty and Field Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire, a man of immense power. But the fact that the girl before him was described on the delivery note as Prince Eugene left him perplexed.

　So he decided to call his son and ask him what he had bought.

　"Hey, son, what did you buy? It doesn't look like Prince Eugen to me. Isn't Prince Eugen a man?"

　"Dad, I've told you so many times not to touch my package. This Prinz Eugen is not the same Prinz Eugen. What I bought is the Prinz Eugen heavy cruiser."

　"What? Your dad has very good eyesight! I think this is just a little girl, not a cruiser."

　"This is..." Captain Wang's son was about to explain, but fearing to widen the generation gap, he stopped talking and said perfunctorily, "Don't worry about it. A cruiser is a cruiser. Put the figurine away and don't move!"

　After saying that, the son hung up the phone.

　Faced with his son's attitude, Captain Wang was a little angry, but also a little helpless.

　Captain Wang is a cadre with a strong sense of public responsibility. He had great ideals when he was young, but he was also down-to-earth and methodical at work, and has received many commendations and honors.

　But all of this was achieved by sacrificing time for family, which led to disharmonious family relationships for Captain Wang, leading to his divorce from his wife ten years ago and an average relationship with his son.

　However, in recent years, he has gradually realized the importance of a harmonious family and has always wanted to make amends, hoping that his son can give him the evaluation of a qualified father.

　Therefore, after his son refused to answer his questions just now, Captain Wang felt more guilty.

　In order to build a good relationship with his son, Captain Wang took the initiative to learn about his son's interests and hobbies to see if he could find some topics to talk about to promote the father-son relationship.

　Captain Wang returned to his room, lay on the bed, took out his mobile phone, opened the browser, typed the twelve words "Prince Eugen heavy cruiser girls" in the search box, and pressed the search button.

　The phone displayed a vast amount of relevant information. After checking numerous Baidu entries and other information, Captain Wang couldn't help but utter a comment:

　"I thought my son was talking about something shameful, but isn't this just a warship transformed into a spirit? Young people these days are always coming up with new ideas. Anthropomorphizing warships is truly outrageous."

　Then he joked, "I wonder how many ships we can capture if we ask Master Lin and Fahai to come together?"

　Captain Wang put down his phone, lay down on the bed with his eyes closed to rest, and continued to think, organize and reason about the case in his mind.

　After a while, Captain Wang suddenly thought of something related to solving the case. He immediately threw back the covers, got out of bed, and sat down at the desk. He opened his phone and searched Baidu again.

　Soon, he looked surprised and thoughtful, muttering word by word: "It seems that they are very likely... to have really grown legs and ran away on their own..."

　Captain Wang's phone displayed the interface for "Kanr Wikipedia - Changchun." The character portraits on the image matched the characteristics of the target the task force had targeted.

　----------------------

　The next morning, after a fierce ideological struggle, Captain Wang decided to express his views to the task force.

　He called the task force leader, Deputy Minister Hao, and asked if they could hold an informal discussion meeting. He had important progress to report, which might be of great help in breaking through the case.

　After obtaining the approval of Deputy Minister Hao, Captain Wang immediately drove to Yantai City, where the task force headquarters was located.

　Two hours later, Captain Wang entered the meeting room temporarily requisitioned by the task force.

　Seeing Captain Wang come in, Deputy Minister Hao, who had been waiting for a long time, waved his hand and greeted him, saying, "Comrade Wang, you're in such a hurry. Have you made any new discoveries?"

　After saying that, Deputy Minister Hao poured Captain Wang a glass of warm water and motioned him to take a seat.

　"Yes, I have a new discovery." Captain Wang took the paper cup and sat down, then said: "But I have something to say first, my next reasoning may surprise everyone.

　"I don't know what you are talking about, and you might even think I'm confused and talking nonsense... Arthur Conan Doyle once said in his Sherlock Holmes collection that when all possibilities have been eliminated, whatever remains, no matter how improbable and incredible it is, must be the truth."

　The conference room fell into a brief silence, and then Deputy Minister Hao said, "It's okay, you go ahead."

　Captain Wang looked at the deputy minister, then at everyone present, nodded, and began to explain his reasoning.

　"First, we all know that the clues in this case are very strange. As the investigation expanded, we finally locked on to our target. Although we currently have no direct evidence to indicate that they are the suspects, based on various evidence and experience, they are definitely inextricably linked to the disappearance of the warship...

　...But that's precisely the problem. Their attire wasn't strictly navy sailor uniforms, but more like the kind young people wear for role-playing. After investigation, it turned out they were playing characters from a game, and these characters happened to be personifications of Unit 101 Anshan and Unit 103 Changchun. Furthermore, when we used big data to match faces, we found no results. We've also investigated the possibility of smuggling, and it's incredibly unlikely...

　...Also, isn't there news from Dalian? The disappearance of the warship and the inability to match faces are like the sudden appearance of a girl. This is very similar to the situation in Rushan and Qingdao. And according to information from the Dalian police, after investigation, it was confirmed that the girl was playing the 104 Taiyuan in "Azur Lane"...

　...This was the same thing that had been bothering me before, and I'd been making no progress. But yesterday, I had a flash of inspiration. I was helping my son unpack a package when I got home. It was clearly a sculpture of a girl, but it said Prinz Eugen. However, historically, Prince Eugen was a man. I was puzzled, so I called my son to ask why. He said it was a cruiser and wouldn't tell me anything more, so I had to Google it myself. And then I found this thing..."

　Captain Wang then began to translate his own understanding of Kancolle culture to his colleagues, and then organically linked it to the case.

　"...So that's it. I think these three warships didn't disappear, but rather transformed into spirits, searching for their sisters. If they were a deliberate act, then why can't we find anything about them? It's like they just appeared out of nowhere. Think about it, the Anshan-class is of Russian origin, and the facial features of these three girls are typically Russian. And then there's that inexplicable blue light... Is such a coincidence really possible?"

　A member of the task force nearby frowned, disagreeing with Captain Wang's reasoning. He interrupted and said, "Comrade Wang Zhuhui, China is a socialist country. We believe in materialism. Please don't promote feudal superstitions and monsters here!"

　Captain Wang Zhuhui was about to retort when someone suddenly knocked on the door of the conference room.

　"Please come in!"

　After gaining permission from the people in the meeting room, the door was opened. A police officer opened the door and shouted into the room, "Comrade from the Navy, there's a hotline for you!"

　Comrade Haijun heard the police calling outside the door, apologized to the task force, and then temporarily left the meeting room to answer the phone.

　Then, after the door of the conference room was closed, Captain Wang Zhuhui began to refute the comrade who had just questioned him.

　"Comrade, I wasn't willing to think this way at first, but you can use a little proof by contradiction. If we assume this is true, then all the doubts in the case can be suddenly explained. The girl floating on the water, the size 35 shoe print, and so on... Don't forget, I've already reminded you before that when all possibilities are eliminated, whatever remains, no matter how improbable and incredible, is the truth. If you don't even dare to acknowledge objective existence, what kind of materialist are you?"

　As Captain Wang finished speaking, the entire conference room fell into a long silence.

　A comrade from the National Security Bureau spoke first, breaking the silence. "No matter how perfect the reasoning is, it's still just reasoning. Reasoning requires rigorous logic, but reality often doesn't. Facts speak louder than words. Comrade Wang, do you have any conclusive evidence to support your reasoning?"

　Just then, there was another knock on the door of the conference room. It turned out that the navy comrade had returned.

　After taking his seat, the navy comrade said to Captain Wang, "Comrade Wang, I just received a piece of news that may prove you are right..."

　Captain Wang's eyes lit up, and he quickly turned to the navy comrades and asked, "What's the news?"

　"It's like this. Yesterday at noon, we intercepted a Japanese armed merchant ship that had intruded into the Donghuang Sea near Taiwan. After comparing the ship's type, we discovered it was a transport ship—the Kashino, a former Japanese Navy transport ship. When our men boarded the ship to search, they discovered a young girl who claimed to be from this transport ship. This girl also had some non-human characteristics..."

　After hearing the navy comrade's story, Captain Wang immediately took out his phone and searched for information about Kashino. It didn't take long before he found a portrait of Kashino from "Azur Lane" and showed it to the navy comrade, asking, "Does that girl look like this?"

　The navy comrade took a look at the picture and said firmly, "At least some of the main features are the same as described on the phone just now, the huge part, the horns, the ears, and the tail."

　Captain Wang and Comrade Haijun, one inference and one extension evidence.

　This pairing had a significant impact on the task force members' worldview.

　After the shock subsided, Vice Minister Hao thought carefully and said, "Well, comrades from the navy, please help me find out who the captains of Anshan, Changchun, and Taiyuan were. Then, please inform their last captains of this matter."

　"Yes, I understand!" the navy comrade responded.

　Chapter 18: Ship Girl and Captain

　Dalian Xinghai Square, the largest square in Asia, is a place where first-time visitors are captivated by the towering Huabiao (Chinese Zodiac) monument. Its base is decorated with the twelve Chinese zodiac animals, and many people take photos in front of their own animal.

　Behind the Huabiao is a passage, accompanied by a long fountain that separates the passage. From a distance, it looks like a jade belt inlaid on the green grassland.

　The square is surrounded by a variety of buildings, which are like giants, protecting Xinghai Square day and night. These three-dimensional skyscrapers form a sharp contrast with the flat Xinghai Square. The square and the buildings together look like a holy place.

　The Changchun group strolled in this huge square and looked around. They were dazzled by the square's complete infrastructure, natural and cultural scenery.

　Then they found a bench on the sidewalk to sit down and rest for a while, chatting with each other and talking about whatever came to their minds.

　Changchun reminisced about the delicious buffet and said, "Come to think of it, the baked potatoes at the buffet a couple of days ago were absolutely delicious. I was trying to see if there were any baked potatoes on the street these past couple of days, but all they saw were baked sweet potatoes."

　"Roasted sweet potatoes are also good. I think they taste better than potatoes. Sister Anshan, you think so too, right?" Taiyuan and Changchun had different opinions.

　Anshan agreed with Taiyuan and said, "Yes, the roasted sweet potatoes are even coated with syrup. I just don't understand why you, Changchun, are so keen on potatoes?"

　Changchun also couldn't understand why he liked potatoes so much. It was probably because everyone has their own preferences.

　At this time, a mixed smell of charcoal fire and sweet potatoes came from the air, arousing the appetite of Anshan and Taiyuan.

　Taiyuan suggested to her elder sister, "Sister Anshan, there seems to be a place selling roasted sweet potatoes nearby. Let's go buy some and eat them."

　"Yeah, no problem," Anshan said, just in case she wanted to eat roasted sweet potatoes. Then she asked Changchun, "Changchun, do you want me to bring you some?"

　Changchun was very hesitant. Although roasted sweet potatoes were just average to her, this time they were roasted sweet potatoes full of her sister's love, so she finally agreed.

　When Anshan and Taiyuan were about to buy roasted sweet potatoes, Changchun suddenly stopped Anshan.

　"Wait a minute, Sister Anshan, come here for a moment, I have something to say."

　Anshan: "? What's the matter?"

　Changchun leaned close to Anshan's ear and whispered to her, "This is my dear sister's tuition fee."

　Anshan understood exactly what Changchun was referring to. His face flushed instantly, and he turned into a steamy girl. He said to Changchun helplessly:

　"Tsk, we're not done with what happened two nights ago! I'll give you the sweet potato first. If you do that again next time, I'll show you how I'll deal with you! Also, you stay here and save a seat. I'll be back soon."

　After saying that, Anshan pulled Taiyuan, who was standing nearby and didn't know what was going on, to buy some sweet potatoes, leaving Changchun alone sitting on the bench.

　Changchun was listening to the radio and sitting in a daze on the bench.

　Suddenly, an elderly man sat down next to her, snapping Changchun out of her daze. She turned, wanting to remind him that the seat was already occupied and to reserve it. But when she saw the elderly man, her entire body trembled slightly.

　This white-haired old man, wearing a well-worn yet neat white Type 87 navy winter service uniform, was neither humble nor arrogant, and his demeanor and temperament revealed the qualities of a soldier.

　"Ah...that...it's okay, please sit down." Changchun's eyes were a little flustered when he saw the old man.

　The old man looked at Changchun and said, "Is anyone sitting here? Little girl, I'm sorry, I'll sit somewhere else."

　Before the old man stood up, Changchun stopped him and said, "Yes, there are people here, but they will be here in a while. You can sit down first..."

　"Okay," the old man said, accepting Changchun's request without refusing. Then, the old man saw Changchun's clothes and asked, "Little girl, look at what you are wearing. Who bought it for you?"

　"I...myself" Changchun's answer was erratic.

　The old man laughed and said, "Hahaha, rare, rare. Girl, are you more interested in the navy?"

　“…” Changchun didn’t know how to answer, so he simply remained silent.

　The old man didn't care that Changchun didn't answer. He nodded and said, "I can see without you saying it. It's very precious for a girl to like the navy. I used to be a soldier and served in the navy. If you are interested, would you like to hear my story?"

　"I... uh, go ahead and talk. I'm listening."

　The old man exhaled lightly, closed his eyes, recalled his years in the military camp, and said:

　"At the time, I was serving on the Anshan-class destroyer Changchun, also known as the 103 Changchun. Looking back on those years, my duties on board the ship were all about training, studying, and being on duty. I learned a lot that I hadn't learned at the Naval Academy, such as how to organize navigation training, ship management, and repair and maintenance.

　At the same time, I have personally experienced the warships in general

　Sailing under various circumstances and complex conditions, defense and offense of warships; also participated in formation training and formation navigation.

　After each mission is completed, a careful review must be conducted, first in the class, then in the department, and finally for the entire ship, pointing out the gains, progress and existing problems in training, and how to overcome them in the future. These continuously accumulated experiences have laid a solid foundation for future work.

　So, in a sense, Changchun is our teacher. Without Changchun and her sister ships, there would be no Chinese Navy today."

　Changchun blushed slightly as she listened, a gratified smile spreading across her face. She said to the old man, "Yes, Changchun is the best. Oh, by the way, is it hard and tiring for you on the ship?"

　"If you want to talk about hardship and fatigue, honestly, it's definitely that. The cabins are small, there's no dining room, and the kitchen is also small. The few pots have deep bottoms, so we can't cook, only boil. In the summer when we're docked, everyone goes to the dock, each class spreads a plastic sheet, sets out the tableware, and everyone shares the food. In bad weather or when it rains, we can only eat on deck at designated locations. In winter, we eat in the warehouse.

　And then there's the cramped living quarters. Aren't we all often complaining about the old green-skinned trains? But the living conditions on the Changchun were even worse than those. The soldiers' quarters had three bunks: upper, middle, and lower, less than 50 centimeters apart. The beds were also 50 centimeters wide. To sleep, you had to undress before you could roll into bed. And in the summer, you can imagine the stench.

　The old man didn't notice that the girl next to him was clutching her skirt and puffing her cheeks slightly, as if she was angry, but not angry at all.

　"In fact, these are nothing. The most difficult work on the ship at that time was when the ship was in the factory for repairs, which required scraping the bottom of the ship and cleaning the oil tanks.

　When the ship is under repair, it is fixed on the rack in the dock, and the entire hull is presented to the crew. The bow and side of the ship from the middle section are mostly flat walls that can be scraped up and down to remove oil stains.

　The difficulty lies in the middle section towards the stern, where the two sides come together to form a flat bottom. People cannot stand on the rack to scrape, but can only lie on the rack and scrape with their backs facing up. Firstly, they cannot use their strength, and secondly, the oil and dye fragments scraped off are toxic and can cause skin allergies. It is really painful and uncomfortable.

　Speaking of cleaning the oil tanks, there are many large and small fuel tanks on the ship. When entering the factory, the debris in the oil tanks must be cleaned so that new oil can be loaded before leaving the factory.

　These oil tanks are of different sizes, heights, widths and lengths. People can only wear shorts to get into the oil tanks. They first use small buckets to take out the waste oil one by one, and then wipe the bottom with a cloth. The smell of oil in the tank is suffocating and difficult to breathe. The ground under their feet is hard and slippery, and they can't stand steadily.

　After the cleaning, everyone came out and became exhausted. At that time, we were young and not afraid of any hardship.

　Changchun's heart was stirred by the old man's words, tears welled up in his eyes, and his head gradually lowered.

　She then gently asked the old man, "Then, when you retired, you must have been very reluctant, right?"

　The old man, with tears in his eyes, continued, "Yes, we were the last group of sailors on the Changchun. We on board really couldn't bear to part with her.

　The most touching scene was at Anshan, where the political commissar, Qu Weiping, delivered a tearful speech at the decommissioning ceremony. During the reading of his less than 1500-word farewell letter, he became so overcome with emotion that someone else had to deliver the speech. This shows how much we miss the Four Heavenly Kings.