After eating and drinking her fill, Akashi went back to researching Su Luo's energy supply problem.
Meanwhile, Su Luo played with Azi for a while. By the time Azi had worn herself out and started feeling sleepy, the sky had darkened at just the right time.
He picked up the already sleeping Azi and laid her on the soft mattress that Akashi had generously provided—though she had made it clear that he would have to pay for it once they returned to the port. Su Luo let out a breath.
Playing with children naturally put one in the mindset of an old father. With more things to worry about, he became more tense and more easily fatigued.
Now that Azi was asleep, Su Luo could finally, for the moment, step out of that old-father mindset.
He glanced at Akashi, who seemed to be constantly calculating something. Not wanting to disturb her, he quietly walked to the door of the small house and looked toward where the village had once stood nearby.
The village that had been engulfed in flames earlier was now gone, and so was the firelight.
The Manjuu worked very meticulously. Not only had they extinguished the flames, but they had also buried all the victims so they would not be left exposed in the wilderness.
To keep Azi from being reminded of the scene and grieving again, the Manjuu, under Akashi's direction, did more than simply lay the victims to rest. They cleared away every house that had already been burned to ash. Now, they were continuously transplanting all sorts of flowers and trees they had found in the surrounding forest.
Since those victims had suffered so much pain while alive, then at the very least, after death, let them rest in a place where flowers bloomed and the scenery was beautiful!
Su Luo did possess Momo's plant-control ability, but because of his current energy problem, he could not help the Manjuu. Otherwise, they would not have to work so hard! Akashi had plenty of flower and plant seeds. According to Akashi herself, she had prepared them to sell to ship girls in the port who enjoyed growing flowers and plants. Of course, if Su Luo wanted to use them, he would have to pay too...
All that could be said was that, as the proprietress who monopolized the port's business, Akashi's value kept rising!
Looking at the distant field of flowers that was beginning to take shape, Su Luo nodded. Once Akashi solved his energy supply problem, he would use Momo's ability to make this place even more beautiful. Until then, the Manjuu would have to work hard a little longer!
Su Luo yawned. There had been far too many twists and turns today, and he was tired!
In that case, he should sleep first! With no married ship girls around tonight, he could finally get a good night's sleep!
"Akashi, I'm going to sleep first. You should turn in early too!"
Su Luo looked at Akashi, who was still immersed in her research, and softly called out to her. After hearing her instinctive response, he left her alone and walked toward the other bed in the room.
It had been a long time since he had experienced sleeping alone!
Su Luo lay down and quickly drifted into dreamland. Akashi, who had been sitting nearby and seemingly calculating, stopped moving once she noticed that Su Luo had fallen asleep. She put all the scratch paper she had been using for calculations into her cargo hold, then blinked her big eyes as she looked toward her Commander.
Sneaking over to Su Luo, she softly called out to the Commander a few times. Seeing no response, Akashi confirmed that Su Luo was truly fast asleep, and her eyes instantly lit up.
"The Commander is asleep, nya! In that case..."
Akashi quietly took out a camera from her cargo hold, aimed it at Su Luo on the bed from every angle, and frantically pressed the shutter.
"Pictures of the Commander sleeping will definitely become a bestselling product in the port, nya!"
After taking pictures for quite a while, Akashi felt that she had taken enough and was about to put away the camera. Then, perhaps because Su Luo felt a little hot, he tugged the blanket aside, and then... the abdominal muscles that had become far more defined after Gene Matching were exposed before Akashi.
Akashi fell silent for a moment, looked at the camera in her hand, and then the shutter started clicking again.
"Restricted photos are worth even more, nya!"
After taking more pictures, Akashi put away the camera with satisfaction. Then she looked at Su Luo, whose blanket had been pulled far aside, and shook her head.
"The Commander's sleeping posture is terrible, nya. No wonder the married ship girls say that when the Commander is asleep, he's like a child who needs looking after, nya!"
Akashi pulled the blanket back up and covered Su Luo properly, then walked over to the bed where Azi was sleeping.
Although she was alone in the same room as the Commander, she was not a married ship girl. Nor was she as uninhibited as Akagi or Miss Mordor. All she could do was take pictures of the Commander.
"Good night, Commander, nya!"
Lying on the bed, Akashi softly spoke toward Su Luo, then closed her eyes and entered a state of feigned sleep. She did not truly fall asleep; her ship rigging's radar remained active, guarding against any outsider who might threaten her Commander's safety.
Once the sky had fully darkened and everything within the small house had calmed down, the only ones still awake were the Manjuu working tirelessly outside the house, and... Angel Yan, who watched every movement Su Luo and Akashi made from the sky.
Angel Yan, concealing herself somewhere in outer space, watched what had just happened. The girl named Akashi had frantically taken pictures of Su Luo while muttering something about promotional products, making her frown.
Still, she did not think too deeply about it. She merely uploaded everything she had seen here, detail by detail, to the Sacred Knowledge Repository.
Earlier, her mission here had already changed. The latest message from Kaisha said that Zhixin was on her way. When Zhixin arrived, she would take over Angel Yan's previous assignment of observing Su Luo.
Angel Yan had no objections to this assignment. She supported Queen Keisha's arrangements without condition!
What puzzled her was that Queen Keisha had not issued her next mission. She had merely told Angel Yan to act according to her own wishes...
She had doubts about Kaisha's order and asked Kaisha for clarification, but Kaisha did not explain. She only told her to act as she saw fit.
Angel Yan remained where she had hidden herself, observing Su Luo's side while silently recalling every conversation she had had with Kaisha today, trying to discover some useful information.
After all, the Queen had not clearly told her whether she was to leave and hand everything over to Zhixin, or carry out the observation mission together with Zhixin...
Angel Yan recalled that, at the beginning, the Queen had said... if Su Luo had no connection to other factions, then he might be... the future of Angel Civilization!
Remembering this, Angel Yan's furrowed brows relaxed slightly, though they remained faintly drawn together.
"He might be the future of Angel Civilization... The Queen said Zhixin would come to take over my observation mission..."
"Is she planning to give Zhixin to him in marriage?"
Angel Yan guessed, but a new doubt immediately arose.
"But the Queen never clearly said whether I should stay or leave..."
"And... what did the Queen mean when she said that all my future actions would be up to my own wishes?"
Angel Yan pondered.
"Besides, those words feel strangely familiar."
Angel Yan truly felt that Kaisha's words sounded familiar, as though she had heard them somewhere before. Yet she was certain that this was the first time Kaisha had spoken to her that way.
As the words felt increasingly familiar, Angel Yan simply searched through her seven thousand years of memories. Before long, she found the answer!
She had indeed heard those words before, and... the person who had spoken them was herself! When she had first entered Amagi and argued with Kaisha over the Angel Civilization's Gene Matching system, she had personally told Kaisha that she hoped to choose her future other half according to her own wishes, rather than according to cold data...
(Akashi: Sell the ship girls' clothes to the Commander, and sell the Commander's photos to the ship girls!
I make money, and they get happiness! That's a three-way win, nya!)
Before you continue