294: Don’t Cry Anchorage

"Be good, Anchorage, don't cry. I'll take you to see the Commander. I'll take you to him right now."

The handsome short-haired girl, Baltimore, saw Anchorage squatting in front of her, sobbing uncontrollably. 

She quickly softened her tone and tried to comfort her.

At the same time, unable to bear the sight, she walked over and crouched in front of Anchorage, gently stroking her head beneath the silver-white halo.

This girl, Anchorage—whether it was her youthful, slender figure or her formidable ship rigging, just like Baltimore's, she too was a heavy cruiser. 

But mentally, Anchorage was still a child who needed care.

Even though Baltimore was also worried about the Commander, the ship cook had said he needed rest, and only one or two people should attend to him.

As the person who usually took the most care of Anchorage, how could Baltimore not understand? 

Anchorage was being willful only because she was deeply worried about the Commander too.

"Yesterday, Sister Quincy and Sister Bremerton wouldn't take Anchorage to see Sensei. They're meanies… sob sob…"

Anchorage wiped the tears from her face with her long white sleeves and looked up at Baltimore with teary eyes.

"Uh, maybe they were also afraid it'd disturb the Commander's rest."

Baltimore instantly understood the reason after hearing Anchorage's words. No wonder she had clung to her from the crack of dawn today.

"But… Anchorage is very worried… about Sensei too…"

Seeing the pitiful Anchorage before her, Baltimore's sense of justice was even more stirred.

As a heavy cruiser shipgirl, of course she knew that the Commander was resting just up ahead in the destroyer dormitory building.

But the Commander, after all…

Anchorage saw the hesitation on Baltimore's face and, as if seeing hope, quickly pressed on:

"Anchorage definitely won't disturb Sensei! Mhm! Quiet! Anchorage will see Sensei and not say a word!"

If Anchorage promised that much, then… maybe it wouldn't disturb the Commander's rest?

Besides, I really want to see the Commander too!

Baltimore clenched her fists. Just as she was still torn, a voice came from behind:

"Anchorage! Baltimore!"

At that very instant, Baltimore's heart trembled, and her whole body froze.

"C-Commander?!"

Before Baltimore could turn her head in surprise toward the voice, Anchorage had already sprung up without hesitation and rushed past her.

"Sensei!"

Lin Lan watched as the long beige-haired girl flung herself at him like a gust of wind, crying out as she threw herself into his arms.

She buried her face deep in his chest, clutching his clothes tightly like a child. She was sobbing so hard she couldn't speak a single word.

"Anchorage, I made you worry… Good girl, don't cry, don't cry…"

Lin Lan held Anchorage in a pained embrace, softly coaxing her.

Although research shipgirls all possessed immense power, they often came with cognitive impairments.

And this heavy cruiser girl in his arms, Anchorage, had the most severe mental impairment among all his research ships.

It couldn't be denied that, as a Phase 4 research ship in the game, Anchorage had overwhelming combat strength—top-tier stats and skills—and for a while had been the tankiest front-liner in Lin Lan's port.

But the price was that Anchorage's mental age was forever stuck in a pure childlike state. That was why she relied on him so deeply.

As for why Anchorage called him Sensei, Lin Lan honestly wasn't entirely sure.

He vaguely remembered that, during an event, the game's story mentioned that the shipgirl creators of the original world had installed some kind of safety mechanism.

Since the official lore was always vague, Lin Lan only remembered that Anchorage's reason for calling him Sensei probably had to do with her connection to that original world.

But that didn't lessen Lin Lan's affection for her. Anchorage had been the first Phase 4 research ship he developed.

When he realized that her mental state would forever remain childlike, he couldn't even bear to send her into battle. 

He raised her to max level using training data books alone.

Only after she reached max level did Lin Lan reluctantly max out her equipment and add her to his team.

Now, holding Anchorage tightly, he gently patted her back.

At that moment, Baltimore and the three others—Yorktown, Hornet, and Enterprise—walked over to where Lin Lan and Anchorage were. 

Baltimore nodded at the three before looking at Lin Lan:

"Commander, when did you wake up? You didn't even tell us—you made me and Anchorage worry for nothing, hehe."

As she spoke, she cheerfully patted Lin Lan on the shoulder.

But the tears glistening at the corners of her golden eyes betrayed the truth—that she wasn't nearly as carefree inside as she seemed on the outside.

"The Commander just woke up, actually," Yorktown said with a gentle smile, explaining on Lin Lan's behalf.

"I'm a bit embarrassed. I was going to find Saratoga first and then go see all of you, but then I heard Anchorage crying and came over."

Lin Lan looked apologetically at Baltimore. 

Seeing that Anchorage was still holding onto him and unwilling to let go, an idea suddenly came to him.

"Be good, Anchorage. Sensei can do magic now, look—what's this?"

He remembered that Anchorage used to love toys, especially the star-shaped dodecahedron formed by her ship rigging.

Holding Anchorage in one arm, Lin Lan summoned the power of the Hero and used the water elements in the air to form a clear, icy dodecahedron in his right hand, which he brought up to her face.

"Look, do you like this?"

Yorktown, Hornet, and Enterprise weren't surprised by this—Lin Lan had already told them about his new element-controlling Hero powers.

But Baltimore's eyes went wide in shock. She had never seen the Commander do something like that.

Hearing Lin Lan's words and feeling the coolness near her cheek, Anchorage stopped crying and looked up at the crystal dodecahedron he held out.

"A gift? Is this… from Sensei to Anchorage?"

"Yes, but it's made of ice. It'll melt soon. It's not like the crystal dodecahedrons from your rigging. When it melts, I'll make you another one."

Watching Anchorage cradle the ice crystal in her white fluffy sleeves while still sniffling, Lin Lan smiled and reached out to wipe away the tear streaks on her cheeks.

Anchorage stared at the ice crystal in her hands, then looked up at Lin Lan's face. She gave a firm nod and finally showed a bright, adorable smile. 

She sweetly said:

"Mhm! Sensei came back! I like the gift! I like Sensei!"

Seeing Anchorage finally comforted, Baltimore stepped forward, tugged on Lin Lan's sleeve, and looked him up and down in amazement and suspicion, asking:

"Commander, a couple days ago I heard Cleveland and the others saying you had superpowers now. You weren't… like, modified by some evil organization or mad scientist, were you?"

"Evil organization? Mad scientist?"

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