301: Little Sara's Number One Fangirl

As expected, Yorktown and Baltimore had already gone ahead to prepare for the party.

Lin Lan suddenly remembered that his phone issue still hadn't been resolved.

"Oh right, Little Sara, do you have a spare phone? I lost mine when I got captured by the Sirens."

As he stepped outside, Lin Lan glanced at the sky. It was probably past ten o'clock now. He turned to ask Saratoga.

Hearing his words, Saratoga grinned mischievously and with a flourish of her hand, a brand-new silver phone appeared in her palm.

"Commander~ You have to give Sister Sara a kiss to get the phone~"

A kiss in exchange for a new phone—an unbeatable deal.

Lin Lan bent down and gave Saratoga's soft, rosy cheek a peck. Finally, he obtained a custom Eagle Union smartphone.

It actually wasn't bad at all. The silver casing on the back was emblazoned with the Eagle Union faction's logo rather than a half-bitten apple.

Click!

Just as Lin Lan stood up, admiring Saratoga's happy expression, the crisp sound of a camera shutter came from behind him.

"Commander! You kissed her way too fast! I didn't catch the key moment of you kissing Little Sara—it's such a shame!"

With that lively, energetic chibi voice, a golden twin-tailed little girl holding a black, silver-rimmed camera popped out from behind a column outside the white building.

"Gridley, you little rascal, sneaking photos again!"

Recognizing the destroyer chibi, Lin Lan laughed and called her name.

Wearing a sea-blue Eagle Union sailor uniform and black stockings, this lively little girl was Gridley—the number one Saratoga fangirl in his port, and the most well-known journalist of the Eagle Union faction. 

She was also the lead ship of the Gridley-class.

To be honest, Lin Lan wasn't surprised at all by Gridley's sudden appearance and secret photography.

In his memory, as long as Saratoga was around, this number one fangirl who once guarded Little Sara would always show up.

"Yaho~ Sara's little fangirl, staking out here to sneak pictures again today, huh?"

New Jersey waved cheerfully at Gridley, who happily ran over to stand in front of Lin Lan.

"Gufufufu~ The commander waking up is big news! 

Plus, when I heard from Sister Yorktown that you came to find Little Sara, my journalist instincts told me this place definitely had major headlines~"

Lin Lan picked up the little chatterbox of a journalist and jokingly said:

"I thought you rushed over because you were worried about me."

"Of course I was worried about your safety too! I even took photos of your hospital room every day. Look, see for yourself!"

Still grinning in Lin Lan's arms, Gridley pulled out two photos from the pocket of her sailor uniform and held them up.

In the photos, Lin Lan was lying unconscious in a hospital bed with an IV drip, while Saratoga sat by the bed, eyes brimming with tears as she gazed at his face.

"Commander, commander, this limited edition photo of you and Little Sara is only 800 red shinies! If you don't like it, I've got other angles too."

"I even saved all the pictures of Little Sara when you weren't around—just 600 red shinies each! You sure you don't want to consider?"

Gridley whispered proudly in Lin Lan's ear, her face radiating smugness.

Of course Saratoga wasn't deaf and had clearly heard Gridley's little sales pitch. Her face turned bright red as she urgently tugged on Lin Lan's sleeve.

"Gridley! You're not allowed to sell those pictures to the Commander! S-So embarrassing!"

Seeing the usually mischievous Saratoga all flustered and blushing, Lin Lan couldn't help but laugh. He glanced at Gridley's cheeky face and said:

"We'll talk later."

Gridley shot Lin Lan a look that needed no words. Finally, she could share her treasured photos with her beloved commander—her heart was brimming with joy.

After setting Gridley down, Saratoga, still blushing, quickly confiscated the two photos and carefully stowed them back into her ship equipment storage.

Of course, neither Lin Lan nor Gridley believed there was only one copy of those photos. They could just be reprinted later anyway.

Little Sara really wasn't that straightforward. Taking this chance to claim the photos as her own with a seemingly righteous reason.

Once Saratoga safely tucked the photos away, Lin Lan finally smiled and asked:

"So, about the party—have you already decided on the location?"

"Yup! The party to celebrate Honey's return to the Eagle Union will be held at the large mall down the mountain. 

It's a suuuper~ suuuper~ suuuper big restaurant—enough for all our sisters to sit comfortably!"

New Jersey dramatically stretched her arms out wide to show Lin Lan just how enormous it was.

Not that she needed to—Lin Lan already knew she was quite big…

"Down the mountain, huh? Then we'll need to drive over. Let me see, including Gridley that makes six people. Will one car be enough?"

Lin Lan noticed a brown convertible sports car parked on the road outside the lawn. It didn't look like it could seat all six of them.

"Commander~ Who said there's only one car?"

Hearing this, Saratoga once again flashed her mischievous grin. She pulled out her phone from her ship gear and began tapping on it.

"Honey~ Just a friendly reminder: the cars in this country can drive themselves, you know~"

New Jersey said with a smile, and Lin Lan immediately understood what Saratoga was getting at.

In the major cities of the Orlan United States, all cars had automatic navigation functions.

And since the Eagle Union had taken over the Goilia Conglomerate, how could they not make use of such convenient vehicles?

Sure enough, just as New Jersey said, a driverless yellow convertible rolled up from the distant road and came to a smooth stop beside the brown car.

As everyone gathered around the cars, Saratoga placed her mechanical magical girl staff in the back of the brown convertible and grinned at Lin Lan:

"Commander~ You'll be riding in the yellow one with Anchorage, Eldridge, and New Jersey. Gridley and I will take my car."

No one objected to Saratoga's arrangement—not even Lin Lan. They all got in and took their seats.

And so began Lin Lan's first ride in a convertible sports car.

Back on Blue Star, he'd only ever seen such high-end convertibles at car shows. Even after arriving in Orlan, he had never truly experienced one.

This luxurious, sleek yellow sports car—with its meticulous craftsmanship and lavish design—had the Eagle Union's logo emblazoned in silver at the front.

"Honey~ You just sit in the passenger seat and enjoy watching New Jersey drive in style!"

Since New Jersey had enthusiastically volunteered to be the chauffeur, Lin Lan simply smiled and followed her instructions, settling into the passenger seat.

He didn't know how to drive Orlan's cars anyway—he really should learn now that he was staying with the Eagle Union for a while.

But looking at New Jersey, with her alluring figure and stunning features, sitting in the driver's seat of this luxury car—this was a scene he never thought he'd see.

As the saying goes, a fancy car and a beautiful woman are the classic signs of success.

Lin Lan had never deliberately chased after those things, yet thanks to his Eagle Union shipgirls, he'd unexpectedly attained both.

Ahead of them, Saratoga's car started up first. The two girls on board waved cheerfully at Lin Lan as they drove off.

After confirming that Anchorage and Eldridge in the back seat had their seatbelts fastened, Lin Lan turned to see New Jersey flashing a confident smile as she started the car.

With that kind of smile, her driving should be pretty smooth, right…?

VROOOM!!!

Yeah, no.

Just as that thought crossed Lin Lan's mind, the roar of the engine suddenly exploded—and a powerful wind pressure slammed into him head-on.

As the scenery around him rushed past in a blur, Lin Lan was instantly dazed by the wind and suddenly understood why, back on Blue Star, people online were always warning against buying convertibles.

Especially when the driver was the bold and unrestrained type—this kind of thing really wasn't for ordinary people.

_______

50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta

_______

If any of you noticed an error, please point it out in comments!