Mobile Game Wife Comes Knocking - Part 2

"Does Laffey want to live with me?" Ye Ming extended an invitation to the little girl.

"Mm~?" Laffey rubbed her eyes, looked up at Ye Ming, and wondered why he was asking such a strange question.

Ye Ming smiled.

"Let me be clear first—to me, Azure Lane is just a game. I have memories of Laffey from the game, but when it comes to specific daily interactions or details from the past, I don't have any of that at all. So today counts as our first real meeting. From now on, if Laffey has any thoughts, she has to tell me directly."

"Actually, Laffey doesn't remember much from before either. But Ship-Girls are unreasonable lives by nature. In Laffey's eyes, only a life spent with the Commander has meaning. So as long as she's with her most beloved Commander, Laffey is the happiest Laffey."

After their long separation, Laffey boldly made a declaration that didn't quite match her usual personality.

"Then, please allow This Humble One to take Princess Laffey home. There are still many things This Humble One needs to ask about." Ye Ming reached out his hand to Laffey.

Laffey didn't move.

She looked down at the Bunny-Ear Cotton Slippers on her right foot. "Because of the Commander, Laffey's shoes are broken."

"Huh?"

Ye Ming was stunned. Laffey had indeed cracked the ground with her right foot earlier, but the motion was small, and the Bunny-Ear Cotton Slippers clearly weren't damaged.

"Laffey is not trying to trick the Commander into carrying her. Probably." Laffey stared at her own toes.

So Ye Ming had no choice but to crouch in front of Laffey. "Suddenly I feel like carrying the adorable Princess Laffey. Princess Laffey, would you do me the honor?"

Laffey's skirt was longer than in the game—probably a mid-length skirt. Ye Ming supported Laffey's thighs through the fabric, stood up with her on his back, and as he took a step, he heard Laffey whisper in his ear.

"Benson-class Destroyer Laffey awaits your orders... Commander, these ears aren't real, please stop staring at them..."

Ye Ming paused for a moment before remembering that this was exactly the first thing Laffey had said to him when he started Azure Lane and chose her.

A new beginning?

Ye Ming was silent for a long time before replying, "I look forward to working with you from now on."

But after he said it, he didn't get a response from Laffey for a while.

Ye Ming turned his head and realized the little girl on his back had already fallen asleep.

"..."

Forget it. He'd deal with it when they got back.

Even though there were still plenty of questions—like how Laffey had come to this world, whether other Ship-Girls had come too—there was plenty of time tonight. He could ask Laffey about everything before bed.

Right, first go home. The afternoon shift? Ditch it.

Ye Ming made the decision cheerfully and walked away from the Comic Convention.

Laffey2.jpg

On the second floor of the Comic Convention, the purple-haired beauty who had spoken to Ye Ming that morning watched him carry Laffey away, completely frozen in shock.

Elsewhere, on the outskirts of town, a pink-haired girl draped in a Haori stopped in her tracks and turned around. She stood face-to-face with a fox-eared girl in a pink Miko outfit, their gazes sharp as swords.

"Who are you, really? A Heroic Spirit? Why have you been following me?"

"That's what I should be asking you." The fox-eared girl didn't back down. "Who are you? And why are you stalking the Captain!?"

"Captain?" The pink-haired girl frowned. "Nonsense. Get out of my way now, or don't blame me for being rude."

Remembering the purple-haired girl who had spoken to Ye Ming on the subway that morning, the pink-haired girl grew anxious, deeply worried for Ye Ming's safety.

The fox-eared girl, equally concerned for Ye Ming, naturally refused to yield. "You're the one who should get out of the way!"

"If that's the case, let the sword speak."

The pink-haired girl extended her right hand. Light flickered, and a longsword gleaming with biting cold appeared in her palm.

She gripped the sword with both hands, her right leg slightly bent forward, her upper arms curved, her torso straight and upright. The blade leveled between her brows and eyes, she assumed the starting stance of the Hyoujyo-gan Stance.

With just that one motion of leveling her sword, the pink-haired girl shed all emotion. Her amber eyes were as empty as a deep mountain pool in winter, her presence faint to the point of vanishing into the world itself. Only the inch of sword-edge grew sharper, more intense.

A bone-chilling cold aimed straight at her throat. The fox-eared girl's expression changed.

Chapter 3: Let's Buy Laffey a Wedding Dress

The neighborhood where Ye Ming lived was a Resettlement Community. Rent was cheap, and it was less than a kilometer from the subway station, making commuting convenient. Most residents were young office workers. With so many tenants, all kinds of small shops had gradually opened nearby, and there were even two large supermarkets. Life was fairly convenient.

Laffey had woken up after they left the subway. Now she was holding Ye Ming's hand, curiously taking in the slightly aged neighborhood.

"So this is the Commander's base in this world? It looks so small."

"No, I'm just an ordinary tenant here."

In the world of Azure Lane, the Commander leading Ship-Girls against the Sirens was a great hero, a warlord commanding formidable military forces. But in the real world, Ye Ming was just one of many ordinary people.

He led Laffey up to the ninth floor, unlocked the door with his phone, gestured for Laffey to enter, and closed the door behind them.

"This is my place. Two bedrooms, one living room. Small, sure, but the decoration's decent, and the appliances are all here."

Ye Ming took out a pair of women's slippers and handed them to Laffey. "These slippers were originally for my mom if she ever came to visit me, but I've had them for half a year and she's never shown up. Laffey can make do with them for now. When we go downstairs for dinner tonight, we'll go to the supermarket and buy new ones."

"Does the Commander have a mother too?" Laffey was curious.

"I didn't pop out of a rock, and I'm not some transmigrator whose parents died to give him power. Of course I have a mom." Ye Ming chuckled.

"But back at the Port District, Laffey never heard the Commander talk about his family."

"The Port District? Speaking of which, Laffey, what was I like in your memories?"

"The Commander's image? Hmm~"

Laffey furrowed her brow, thinking for a long while before speaking with some uncertainty, "Actually, until today, Laffey wasn't too sure what the Commander looked like, and didn't know much about the Commander's past. But things like sorties together, some stuff about the Port District—Laffey remembers all that clearly."

Laffey ticked off on her fingers as she continued, "Laffey remembers at the start, it was just the Commander and Laffey at the Port District. Back then, the Commander was clumsy and loved to command, always crashing into torpedoes during sorties. Even shells that clearly couldn't hit would often slam into them because of the Commander's orders. Sorties were always single-line breakthroughs, and the Commander kept giving Laffey all sorts of weird equipment. By the time the Commander let Laffey sortie on her own, those bad habits were already stuck."

"Later, more Ship-Girls gradually joined the Port District, and the Commander started swapping Secretary Ships frequently, blatantly farming affection. Sister Enterprise, so proper and cool, was forced to wear a Wedding Dress all day just because of the Commander's quirks, and got harassed by the Commander every now and then. The worst was Sister Saint Louis—the Commander forced her to wear that really revealing dress all the time. She was Secretary Ship for a long time, got harassed plenty, but never got any equipment or chances to sortie, and the Commander even called her 'Auntie.' Even worse, she never got a ring, even though the little submarine kids all got rings from the Commander."

"And then..."

Laffey's expression turned a bit downcast: "And then, the Commander started showing up at the Port District less and less. At first, the Commander still arranged drills, research, sorties, and commissions every day, and occasionally harassed everyone. But slowly, the Commander's appearances got rarer. Sorties stopped, drills stopped. Sometimes the Commander would show up once every few days, just quickly set up commissions and research, then vanish. Later, the gaps got longer and longer, and somewhere along the way, the Commander just never showed up again..."

Laffey sniffled: "After the Commander disappeared, everyone at the Port District fought over finding the Commander. Everyone had their own ideas, and without the Commander, no one could convince anyone else. Because of constant sorties searching for the Commander, the Port District's oil and supplies ran out fast. Ming's shop got torn apart by everyone for resources, but still nothing. When the resources were gone, everyone left the Port District one by one to keep looking for the Commander. Ayanami went with the Sakura Empire's big sisters, Javelin went with the Royal Navy's big sisters, Z23 went with Sister Bismarck and Sister Tirpitz, Royal Ark went with the Sakura Empire's destroyers..."

"Laffey was originally with Sister Enterprise. During a sortie, Laffey accidentally fell asleep, and when Laffey woke up, Laffey was in this world, sensing the Commander's presence..."

"Too bad the Wedding Dress the Commander gave Laffey is with Sister Enterprise—Laffey didn't bring it along..."

"..."

"Laffey, I'm sor—"

"Commander, please don't leave again, okay?"

Laffey suddenly pounced onto Ye Ming's lap, grabbing his hand and placing it on her own face, gently nuzzling. She tilted her little face up, cautiously and carefully studying his expression.

"Laffey, Laffey is very good. Laffey will always, always listen to the Commander. Laffey will try hard not to doze off, will try hard not to be absent-minded, will try hard, hard to be a good Ship-Girl, a good soldier, a good subordinate, will try hard to fulfill the duties of an Oath Ship. Laffey wants to be with the Commander forever, forever and ever, by the Commander's side."

"For the Commander's sake, Laffey doesn't mind becoming a demon again. So, Commander, please don't abandon Laffey again, okay?"

Looking at Laffey, who was carefully watching his expression, afraid of being rejected, something seemed to stir in Ye Ming's heart, leaving him momentarily speechless.

Ye Ming held Laffey, silent for a long time before finally speaking: "Laffey, do you want to hear the Commander's story?"

"When I was little, the Commander was always the 'other people's kid' the neighbors talked about. From elementary to middle school, my grades were always in the top three of the grade. Later, I went to a boarding high school. Without my parents watching over me, I let myself go completely, and my grades dropped until I could barely get into an average university. After graduating, full of the passion of 'three years as a worker, five years as a manager,' I went to a frontline construction site."

"Back then, I thought that as long as I worked hard, was skilled, and got the right certifications, I'd definitely get promoted and make something of myself. But reality was cruel. Never refusing overtime made it expected. Helping out colleagues or workers once meant it'd happen countless times. Being a chief engineer or project manager wasn't just about skill and hard work—it needed the boss's favor, no objections from colleagues, and support from subordinates. To pull that off, you had to understand and balance everyone's interests, master the art of talking, the art of gift-giving, the art of management. But even talented people like that, in an environment where projects were shrinking and newcomers kept flooding in, found it hard to get a chance."

"By the time I realized all that, I knew that with my personality, I didn't have much of a future."

"So I ran away from the construction site."

"I applied to an ordinary private company. Went to work, came home, sometimes overtime, got an ordinary salary, watched housing prices skyrocket, played games on nights and weekends, binge-watched anime. Before I knew it, I got used to this life, and I didn't have any drive to struggle anymore."

"Just like that, I became an ordinary corporate drone."

"But now I think..."

"If Laffey is by my side, maybe I can find the courage to keep trying."

Driven by the emotions inside him, Ye Ming said this.

Then he heard Laffey's reply.

"Laffey doesn't really get it, but Laffey doesn't need the Commander to try hard, okay?" Laffey climbed up from Ye Ming's lap and curled into his arms. "As long as Laffey is with the Commander, Laffey is the happiest Laffey."

"Laffey..." Ye Ming was deeply moved.

"Commander, can you buy something for Laffey?"

Laffey seized the moment to make a request.

How could Ye Ming possibly refuse?

"Buy it! Whatever Laffey wants, I'll buy it!"