143: Chapter 143 Kitchen

Strasbourg glanced outside again, then closed the door properly.

"The Commander is quite playful now," she said with a chuckle. "He's actually fighting Anshan for the controller..."

"Pfft... that's actually pretty good." Dunkerque was handling flour and didn't turn to look. "It's better than him cooped up in the office all day."

"That's true..." Strasbourg began rummaging through the kitchen cabinets. "Where's the sugar?"

"It's over here," Dunkerque replied. "You look for the cream; I really couldn't find it."

"But in the port area, the Commander seems a bit safer staying in the office... after all, there are quite a few Ship Girls who want to carry him back to their bedrooms." Strasbourg rummaged through everything. "Couldn't find it. I'll go ask Marie; no one knows where things are on this ship better than her..."

"Guac!" Li Ming's scream came from outside.

"It's broken! Why did you fight over it?!" Anshan's complaint followed. "If it's broken, none of us can play."

"My controller..." This was Vida's lament.

"Don't, don't, don't rush..." Li Ming's voice came again. "It can be fixed; just give me a moment."

"Oh, wow? I didn't expect you had this skill?" Anshan teased.

"Did you forget what major you forced me to study? Please, I'm the one who deals with these electronic components..."

"Wow, so amazing!" Anshan's sarcastic praise.

"Go, go, go, get me some tape..."

"Hmph, now that things are urgent, you start ordering me around." Anshan replied discontentedly, and then the two could hear shuffling footsteps.

Dunkerque turned to look at her sister, and Strasbourg gave her a wry smile. Then Strasbourg opened the door and went out.

"...Cream? The cream seems to be used up. I'll go buy some." After a while, Marie's voice came through.

"No need, I'll go," Strasbourg replied. "Is there anything else to buy? I'll pick it up on the way."

"We don't need anything here..." Marie's voice paused. "Go ask the Captain; maybe she has some ideas?"

"Royal Fortune...?"

"...I was wondering why this controller felt so heavy; why is it a transistor one?" Li Ming's voice came again. "Bought locally?... That's not right either. There are smartphones now, so why are controllers still transistor-based? Is this correct?"

"Hoh? Our great engineer is stumped?" Anshan mocked.

"I really am stumped. If it were a PCB, I could figure out how to replace a component, but if a transistor is broken, I really don't know what to do... Alert, do you know?"

"I... how could I possibly know!" Alert's innocent voice drifted into the room.

"Alright... then it looks like we'll just have to buy a new one... Vida, which manufacturer is this controller from?"

"It's... it's Conway. But their manual says the whole set is integrated, so if it breaks, you can only buy a new console along with it..."

"Tsk, either they're lying or it's intentional." Li Ming's annoyed voice. "Vida, don't worry, at worst, I'll disassemble the undamaged components and install them into this one. The signal components aren't broken, so there shouldn't be any issues..."

Transistors, huh?

Dunkerque recalled; those were truly ancient things.

Even for her, these were distant memories.

"Strasbourg, wait for me!" Li Ming seemed to start moving. "Let's go together; I need to buy some things too."

"Oh, okay!" Strasbourg responded. "What does the Commander want to buy? Just leave it to me."

"Besides the controller, there are some other... hmm, I haven't thought about it yet..."

"Haven't thought about it...?"

Their voices faded away.

Putting the dough aside to rise, Dunkerque took eggs from the refrigerator, cracked them open, and poured the egg whites and yolks into a bowl, beginning to whisk.

The door was pushed open. It wasn't Strasbourg this time, so Dunkerque looked back.

"Ah, Miss Anshan..."

"Just call me Anshan, or Pink Hair? It's all the same." Anshan shrugged. "Everyone's bored, so I came to help out."

"Hmm... could you chop some green onions for me?"

"Sure."

Anshan went to the refrigerator to find green onions. "You know what? The night before last, when he came to find you late at night, he got into a fight on the way."

Dunkerque's hand, holding the whisk, stopped.

"Local street patrol gendarmes dragged a local xia people woman out of her operating shop, attempting to... well, you understand."

"Since this world doesn't have such a strict surveillance network, the Commander went in with his face covered." Anshan found the green onions, took out a cutting board and a knife. "He probably didn't tell you because he didn't want you to worry."

Dunkerque continued to whisk the egg mixture. Then the Commander shouldn't go to crowded places as much as possible...

Ah, Strasbourg, she has black hair.

"What was the outcome?" Dunkerque asked.

"Those two gendarmes were disarmed on the spot, and then—" Anshan deliberately paused. "Relax, your Commander doesn't like to kill. They were tied up and left on the street, and your Commander quickly left and changed clothes, and Logic... yes, the one the Commander calls Zheng-chan, covered for him, so no one could trace him."

"Ah..."

Dunkerque took a deep breath, put down the bowl, took out her phone, and dialed Strasbourg.

"Strasbourg, is the Commander next to you?... Hmm, what I mean to say is, remember to protect the Commander as much as possible, and don't get into conflicts... Do you understand? Okay, that's all..."

After hanging up, Anshan glanced at her, just continuing to chop green onions.

"Are you making a cake? Why are you using green onions?"

"No, the green onions are for dinner..." Dunkerque shook her head. "You don't seem worried at all?"

"First, you have to have confidence in your sister. Her Quadruple 330mm/50 Model 1931 isn't a joke." Anshan replied. "Second, you have to have confidence in your Commander; believe that his eighteen years of muscle weren't for nothing. Although that little girl Fujian isn't reliable, her training for your Commander wasn't watered down."

"Hmm..." Dunkerque tilted her head. Fujian? Her Commander had mentioned her several times; she was truly an interesting Ship Girl.

After a while, Dunkerque looked up at Anshan. "But, given the Commander's personality, would he tell you?"

"Of course he didn't say." Anshan smiled. "But I just know. Guess why?"

"You followed him?"

"More than that..." Anshan looked over, her smile undiminished. "The hands he couldn't bring himself to use, I did."

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