21st Century Necromancer-Chapter 938 - 931: Hot Springs

Chapter 938 -931: Hot Springs

When the 6th Destroyer Squadron launched an attack on the warehouse, Chen Yu was watching Inomata Naoki walk into the alley, heading toward Minami’s small shop.

Seeing him enter the shop that emitted a dim yellowish glow, only then did Chen Yu start his car and leave the area.

The provocation against Inomata Naoki today was somewhat coincidental, but also inevitable.

It was coincidental because Chen Yu hadn’t planned to talk about this with Inomata Naoki today; their encounter was purely accidental, a mere happenstance.

But even though it wasn’t something Chen Yu intended to discuss today, the matter between Inomata Naoki and Minami, which Chen Yu had been scheming about for so long, had clearly reached the point where it was time to reel it in. At such a moment, Chen Yu’s words were meant to provoke Inomata Naoki, to make him realize his feelings for Minami—an action Chen Yu was bound to take sooner or later.

The only difference was timing, but the outcome remained unchanged.

Piercing through the thin veil between Inomata Naoki and Minami now would indeed accelerate the progress, but it wouldn’t matter much overall.

After all, Chen Yu had been planning and preparing for this for over a year. Every bit of groundwork had already been laid, and they had even rehearsed the process of seizing the world’s rules. Everything was in place; all they needed was the final push.

And the affection between Inomata Naoki and Minami was precisely that final push.

Previously, Chen Yu had refrained from taking overly aggressive measures, allowing things to develop naturally. But nudging the situation occasionally didn’t hurt.

Moreover, compared to before, the birth of Chen Yu’s daughter, Little Yixi, had completely transformed his mindset.

His daughter’s arrival filled Chen Yu with urgency to wrap this matter up as soon as possible so he could secure the planned Divine Rank for his daughter. Ending things early would also ensure that it wouldn’t affect Little Yixi’s upbringing.

Although Chen Yu had previously left plenty of room out of consideration for his brother, keeping the situation in a state of natural progression with minimal intervention, when measured against his daughter’s importance, his brother would have to take a backseat.

Besides, this wouldn’t cause Inomata Naoki any actual harm or damage—just some emotional frustration at most.

Without dwelling further on the matter, Chen Yu pressed the gas pedal and drove his beloved car toward home.

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“Finally home!” In front of the dormitory in Minato Ward, the four girls of the 6th Destroyer Squadron looked up at the dormitory they hadn’t seen for several months, cheering aloud.

In their recent attack on the warehouse occupied by Kusanagi Ritsuko’s group, although the four girls of the 6th Destroyer Squadron hadn’t sustained any injuries, the scene was filled with smoke and fire. Coupled with the fight and gunfire, they ended up covered in soot and looking rather disheveled.

So, after returning to the dormitory in Minato Ward, which they hadn’t visited in nearly half a year, the four girls of the 6th Destroyer Squadron couldn’t wait to soak in the long-missed hot springs and thoroughly clean the dust off themselves.

However, as they walked toward their rooms, Dian tugged on Rai’s sleeve and asked, “Rai, your helicopter’s broken, right? Do you need me to help you fix it? Before coming back, I grabbed some extra parts from those factory engineers. If you need them, I can lend them to you.”

“Thank you, Dian-chan! But no worries. I’ve installed a repair module in my hangar during the modifications, so I’ll be able to fix my Helicopter-kun myself.” Rai seemed to have decided to name her helicopter Helicopter-kun.

Hearing Rai’s response, Dian nodded reassuringly, relieved of her concerns for Rai.

After all, Rai’s affection for her helicopter was the strongest among the four sisters. When the helicopter was shot down, Rai’s reaction was also the most intense. As the most empathetic of the four, Dian had naturally been worried about her.

Now, seeing Rai return to her usual spirited self, Dian felt much more at ease.

The four girls greeted their long-unseen elder sisters along the way. Once they reached the 6th Destroyer Squadron’s private rooms, they quickly rummaged through their closets for yukatas and small wooden bathing buckets before dashing toward the bathing area.

As they watched the four youngsters rush to the bathroom, the Ship-girls in the dorm couldn’t help but smile knowingly.

Upon entering the bathroom, the four girls swiftly took off their dirty clothes and rinsed themselves under the showerheads. Then, they eagerly plunged into the hot spring bath.

Rai even jumped straight in, like a bomb dropping into the pool, splashing water everywhere.

“Rai! Don’t jump into the bath!” Akatsuki quickly raised her hand to block the flying water droplets and shouted at Rai in dissatisfaction. Then, behaving more like a proper young lady, she gracefully stepped into the bath, folded her towel neatly, and placed it on her head before sitting quietly at the pool’s edge.

As she felt the slightly scalding hot spring water envelop her body, Akatsuki sank into the pool, leaving only her little head, with the towel perched on top, above the surface. She let out a satisfied little sigh, but since her head was too low, her mouth dipped below the water, and the air she exhaled turned into a string of bubbles.

The somewhat childish scene made Akatsuki blush slightly.

Seeing this, Rai—already swimming in the bath—mimicked her action, blowing bubbles in the water too, which made Akatsuki turn even redder.

At this moment, the bath wasn’t occupied solely by the four girls of the 6th Destroyer Squadron. The other Ship-girls who witnessed the scene merely smiled, like older sisters watching their younger siblings being mischievous.

Soaking in the hot spring as well, Yamato noticed the four girls entering the bath one after another. She looked at Akatsuki, who had nearly submerged her entire head underwater, and smiled at her, saying, “Akatsuki, if you go any lower, you’re going to sink! Come and sit by me. Let me take a look at what’s different after your modernization upgrade.”

Hearing Yamato’s voice, Akatsuki finally lifted her head out of the water and looked at Yamato—who exuded the commanding presence of a flagship—along with Musashi and Shinano beside her. Seeing Yamato nod and beckon her over, Akatsuki cautiously walked to Yamato’s side and sat down beside her.

“Modernization upgrade, huh! I’m so envious! If possible, I’d like to undergo modernization too!” Yamato said with a smile, expressing admiration for Akatsuki’s recent upgrade.

Although Yamato was the IJN’s ultimate flagship during World War II, the technology used to build her—advanced for its time—was now noticeably outdated when compared to Missouri, the United States’ response to Yamato.

Thus, Yamato had long wanted to undergo modernization as well. Now that the children of the Sixth Destroyer Fleet had returned after finishing their upgrades, she naturally wanted to ask them about the experience of modernization upgrades.