Help Laffey Buy a Wedding Dress

"Would Laffey like to live with me?" Ye Ming invited the little girl.

"Mm~?" Laffey rubbed her eyes and looked up at Ye Ming, not understanding why he would ask such a strange question.

Ye Ming smiled.

"Let me make this clear first: to me, Azure Lane was just a game. I have memories of the Laffey from the game, but I don't remember any specific details about the everyday time we spent together. So today counts as my first time meeting Laffey too. From now on, if Laffey has anything on her mind, make sure to tell me directly."

"Actually, Laffey doesn't remember much about the past either. But Ship-Girls are unreasonable forms of life to begin with. To Laffey, only a life spent with the Commander has meaning. So as long as Laffey is with her favorite Commander, Laffey is the happiest Laffey."

Reunited after so long, Laffey made a declaration that did not quite suit her personality.

"Then, Princess Laffey, please come home with me. There are still many things I'd like to ask you about." Ye Ming held out his hand to Laffey.

Laffey did not move.

She lowered her head and looked at the Bunny-Ear Cotton Slipper on her right foot. "Because of Commander, Laffey's shoe is broken."

"Huh?"

Ye Ming was dumbfounded. Laffey had indeed cracked the ground with her right foot earlier, but the movement had been tiny. The Bunny-Ear Cotton Slipper clearly was not broken.

"Laffey isn't trying to tempt Commander into carrying Laffey. Mm, probably." Laffey stared at her toes.

So Ye Ming could only squat down in front of Laffey. "I suddenly feel like carrying the adorable Princess Laffey. Princess Laffey, would you do me the honor?"

Laffey's skirt was longer than it had been in the game, probably a midi skirt. Ye Ming supported her thighs through the skirt, stood up with Laffey on his back, and as he started walking, he heard her whisper in his ear.

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

Ye Ming froze for a moment before remembering that these were the first words Laffey had said to him when he first got into Azure Lane and chose her.

A new beginning?

Ye Ming fell silent for a long time before replying, "Please take care of me from now on."

After saying that, he did not receive Laffey's response for quite a while.

Ye Ming turned his head, only to discover that the little girl on his back had already fallen asleep.

"..."

Forget it. They should go back first.

There were still countless questions, such as how Laffey had come to this world and whether the other Ship-Girls had come here as well. But they had plenty of time tonight. He could ask Laffey about them one by one before bed.

Mm, home first. He was skipping his afternoon shift.

Ye Ming happily made his decision and walked out of the Comic Convention.

Laffey 2.jpg

On the second floor of the Comic Convention, the purple-haired beauty who had spoken to Ye Ming that morning watched him leave with Laffey on his back, and her entire body turned to stone.

Elsewhere, in the suburbs, the pink-haired girl wearing a Haori stopped walking, turned around, and faced the fox-eared girl dressed in a pink Miko outfit. Their gazes were as sharp as swords.

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

"That's what I should be asking you." The fox-eared girl refused to back down. "Who are you? Why have you been following the Commander!?"

"Commander?" The pink-haired girl frowned. "Nonsense. Move aside now, or don't blame me for getting rough."

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

The fox-eared girl, who was equally concerned for Ye Ming's safety, naturally refused to yield. "You're the one who should move aside!"

"If that's the case, let our swords do the talking."

The pink-haired girl extended her right hand. Amid flickering light, a longsword radiating a grim, icy gleam appeared in her palm.

The girl gripped the sword with both hands, bent her right leg slightly forward, curved her upper arms faintly, held her upper body straight, and raised the blade horizontally before her brows, assuming the opening stance of the Hyoujyo-gan Stance.

With that single motion of raising her sword, the pink-haired girl cast aside all emotion. Her amber eyes became as empty and serene as a cold pool deep in the mountains. Her presence seemed both there and not there, as if her entire being were about to vanish between heaven and earth. Only the inch-long edge of her blade grew increasingly distinct, increasingly sharp.

A bone-chilling cold pointed straight at her throat, and the fox-eared girl's expression changed.

Help Laffey Buy a Wedding Dress

The community where Ye Ming lived was a Resettlement Community. The rent was cheap, and it was close to the subway station, less than a thousand meters away, making commuting and getting around convenient. Most residents were young office workers. With so many tenants, all kinds of small shops had gradually opened nearby, along with two large supermarkets. Life there was fairly convenient.

Laffey woke up after leaving the subway station. She was now holding Ye Ming's hand and curiously examining the somewhat old community.

"Is this 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 who led the Ship-Girls against the Sirens was a great hero, a warlord commanding powerful military forces over his own territory. But in the real world, Ye Ming was merely one of countless ordinary people.

Ye Ming took Laffey up to the ninth floor, unlocked the door with his phone, gestured for her to enter, and closed the door behind them.

"This is where I live. It's a two-bedroom apartment with a living room. It's a little small, but the furnishings are decent enough, and it has all the appliances."

Ye Ming took out a pair of women's slippers and handed them to Laffey. "I bought these in case my mom ever came to visit, but she hasn't come even once in the past half year. Laffey, just make do with them for now. When we go down for dinner tonight, we can buy new ones together at the supermarket."

"Commander has a mother too?" Laffey asked curiously.

"I'm neither someone who popped out of a crack in a rock nor a transmigrator whose parents died to make him invincible. Of course I have a mom." Ye Ming laughed.

"But when Laffey was in the Port District, Laffey never heard Commander mention his family."

"The Port District? Come to think of it, Laffey, what exactly was I like in your memories?"

"Commander's appearance? Mm~"

Laffey furrowed her brows and thought for a long time before answering uncertainly, "Actually, before today, Laffey wasn't too sure what Commander looked like either, and Laffey didn't know about Commander's past. But Laffey remembers clearly the times we went on sorties together and some things that happened in the Port District."

Laffey continued, counting on her fingers. "Laffey remembers that in the beginning, there were only Commander and Laffey in the Port District. Back then, Commander was clumsy and loved giving orders. During sorties, Commander often ran into torpedoes. Shells that clearly should have missed would often hit because of Commander's commands. Every sortie was always a single-line breakthrough, and Commander kept giving Laffey all sorts of strange equipment. By the time Commander allowed Laffey to sortie on her own, those bad habits were already impossible to change."

"Later, more and more Ship-Girls gradually came to the Port District, and Commander started changing secretaries frequently, openly farming affection. Enterprise was such a serious and cool person, yet because of Commander's preferences, she had to wear a Wedding Dress all day long and was occasionally harassed by Commander. The worst was Saint Louis. Commander forced her to wear that revealing gown every day. She served as secretary for a long time and was harassed by Commander for a long time, yet she never received equipment or a chance to sortie, and Commander even called her Auntie. Worse still, she never got a ring, even though Commander gave rings to all the little submarine girls."

"And later..."

Laffey's expression became somewhat downcast. "Later, Commander started appearing in the Port District less and less often. At first, Commander still arranged exercises, research, sorties, and commissions for everyone every day, and occasionally harassed everyone too. But gradually, Commander appeared less and less. There were no more sorties, no more exercises. Sometimes Commander only appeared once every several days, and every time, Commander hurriedly arranged commissions and research before disappearing again. The intervals grew longer and longer, until one day, Commander never appeared again..."

Laffey sniffled. "After Commander disappeared, everyone in the Port District argued fiercely over finding Commander. Everyone had their own ideas, and without Commander, no one could convince anyone else. Because everyone kept going on sorties to search for Commander, the Port District quickly ran out of oil and supplies. Even Ming's shop was dismantled and exchanged for resources, but there was still nothing. After the resources were exhausted, everyone left the Port District one after another to search for Commander. Ayanami left with the Sakura Empire sisters, Javelin left with the Royal Navy sisters, Z23 left with Bismarck and Tirpitz, Royal Ark left with the Sakura Empire destroyers..."

"Laffey had originally been with Enterprise. During one sortie, Laffey accidentally fell asleep. When Laffey woke up, Laffey had come to this world and sensed Commander's presence..."

"It's just a pity that the Wedding Dress Commander gave Laffey was with Enterprise. Laffey didn't bring it over..."

"..."

"Laffey, I'm sor—"

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

Laffey suddenly threw herself onto Ye Ming's legs, took his hand and pressed it to her cheek, rubbing against it gently. She tilted up her little face, cautiously and carefully watching Ye Ming's expression.

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

"For Commander, Laffey wouldn't mind becoming a demon god again. So, Commander, don't abandon Laffey again, okay?"

Looking at Laffey carefully watching his expression, afraid of being rejected, Ye Ming felt something stirring in his heart, leaving him unable to speak for a moment.

Ye Ming held Laffey in his arms. After a long silence, he finally said, "Laffey, do you want to hear Commander's story?"

"When Commander was young, Commander was always the kind of child the neighbors compared their own children to. From elementary school through middle school, Commander's grades consistently ranked among the top three in the year. Then Commander went to a boarding high school, lost parental supervision, and completely let loose. Commander's grades declined until Commander could only barely get into an ordinary university. After graduating, Commander went to work on a frontline construction site, full of passion for the three principles and five items."

"At the time, I thought that as long as I worked steadily, was competent at my profession, and earned my certifications properly, I would definitely get promoted, receive raises, and make something of myself. But reality was cruel. Never refusing overtime made overtime become something taken for granted. Helping colleagues or workers once meant there would be countless more times. Being chief engineer or project manager wasn't just about professional competence and diligent work either. It required the favor of superiors, no opposition from colleagues, and support from subordinates. To achieve that, you had to understand and balance every kind of relationship and interest. You needed the art of speaking, the art of gift-giving, and the art of management. Yet even people that outstanding found it hard to get opportunities in an environment where projects were shrinking and newcomers kept pouring in."

"By the time I understood all that, I knew that with my personality, I could never have much of a future there."

"So I ran away from the construction site."

"I joined an ordinary private company, went to work and came home every day, worked overtime occasionally, earned an ordinary salary, watched housing prices soar, played games and watched anime at night and on weekends. Before I knew it, I got used to my current life and no longer had much desire to strive for anything."

"That was how I became an utterly 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 in his heart, Ye Ming said those words.

Then he heard Laffey's answer.

"Laffey doesn't really understand, but Laffey doesn't need Commander to work hard." Laffey climbed off Ye Ming's legs and curled into his arms. "As long as Laffey is with Commander, Laffey is the happiest Laffey."

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

"Commander, can Commander buy something for Laffey?"

Laffey took the opportunity to make her request.

How could Ye Ming possibly refuse?

"Buy it! No matter what Laffey wants, we can buy it!"