Chapter 34: The Iron Blood Idol Group

Lin Lan looked around and saw that there were indeed quite a few people on the third floor of the fortress.

This floor was designed like a large shopping mall, with a wide road extending forward and various rooms on either side that looked like shops.

Lin Lan and Eugen were at the entrance hall of this road, and many Iron Blood shipgirls were chatting and having fun here.

Lin Lan's arrival immediately attracted the attention of these shipgirls.

Before Lin Lan could say anything, Eugen took hold of his arm and cheerfully waved her other hand to the Iron Blood shipgirls:

"Look, Commander is here! Does anyone have something they want to say to the Commander?"

Oh no.

Lin Lan felt a sudden increase in pressure. Having just been teased by Eugen about his past misdeeds, he now felt too embarrassed to face his shipgirls.

He considered turning to escape but realized Eugen was holding his arm tightly, and walking away in front of so many people wouldn't be proper.

He had no choice but to face it.

"Good morning, everyone."

Lin Lan greeted awkwardly.

"Ah, it's the Commander and Secretary Ship-sama."

In the hall, aside from Eugen, the shipgirl closest to him was none other than Roon, whom Lin Lan dreaded meeting the most.

Today, Roon was dressed in the usual gray Iron Blood uniform and carrying a lot of vegetables and fresh meat, as if she had just come from a market.

"I should have signed up for yesterday's exercise too; what a pity."

Lin Lan noticed a hidden competitive edge in Roon's smiling expression.

"Luck is part of skill too, Roon. Sometimes you have to admit that," Eugen said.

As a high-luck heavy cruiser in the game's Iron Blood faction, Eugen was indeed quite skilled in some ways.

Roon didn't continue the conversation with Eugen but took a red strawberry from her bag and placed it in Lin Lan's mouth.

"Commander, if you want something to eat, just come to the restaurant and find Roon. Roon will make anything you want~"

With her flawless, cute doll-like face, Roon looked at Lin Lan with a sweet smile.

If Lin Lan didn't know Roon well, he would never associate this adorable pink-haired girl with a battle-crazy, yandere personality.

Fortunately, Roon seemed to be in a better mood today and hummed a tune as she left.

Lin Lan sighed deeply with relief. Just as he watched Roon leave, a new group of Iron Blood shipgirls surrounded him.

"Hallihallo! Commander, Eugen-nee, do you want to see our performance?"

Lin Lan looked down and saw several cute Z-class chibis.

Among them, two little girls dressed in black and blue crop tops and looking like energetic idol singers spoke up.

"Ah, it's Z35 and Z36. I'm glad to see you both haven't given up on your idol dreams."

Lin Lan recognized these two immediately.

Z35, a brown-haired energetic loli, looked at Lin Lan with a shy gaze.

Since she attended a concert by Saratoga, she had been inspired to pursue her own dream.

Since then, this little Iron Blood girl was determined to drag her sister Z36 along and become the first idol group of the Iron Blood faction.

Standing next to her was her younger sister, Z36, who was a serious case of "chuunibyou" (a term for someone with a delusional complex).

She looked very similar to a certain character with the "Evil Eye," especially her eyes, which were heterochromatic.

(Z35)

(Z36)

The main difference was that Z36 wasn't an ordinary human but a destroyer ship girl capable of fighting at any time.

At that moment, Z36 silently stood beside her sister, her striking red and blue eyes fixed intently on Lin Lan.

Besides these two little idols, there were also four lively Z-class ship girls accompanying them.

The lively and adorable green-haired Z20. Z21, the flagship of the Narvik battle, who looked a lot like Nyarla, with pink hair and a bit of a tsundere attitude.

Z18, the cheerful blond girl holding an Iron Blood ship outfit puppet fish. Z19, the black-haired girl in a youthful style, sneaking glances at Lin Lan.

(Z18)

(Z19)

(Z20)

(Z21)

They were all regulars of the "low-cost fleet."

In the game, low-cost fleets refer to ship girls with lower rarity whose sortie oil consumption is lower than that of others.

Because some rare ship girls are limited drops, players form such low-cost fleets for repeated salvage to save fuel.

"To debut as soon as possible, we've never slacked off in practice, just waiting for the commander's approval, hehe," Z35 said, surprisingly pulling out a microphone from nowhere.

"Hmm~ hmm~ hmm!"

Suddenly, a mischievous and youthful humming sound started.

"Commander, I've been waiting for this day for a long time. Let me, the demon idol, use my demon-infused singing voice to captivate your soul and make you my enchanted captive!"

Z36, with her severe chuunibyou, struck a classic pose covering one eye with her hand, which had an irregular little hexagram drawn on it.

"Eh, little 36, the demon power stuff is just too embarrassing! What if you scare the commander?"

Although Z35 was an active idol, she clearly didn't have the severe chuunibyou of her sister Z36.

She quickly pulled on Z36, hoping she wouldn't cause a scene here.

"Oh, what a powerful statement! Good luck charming the commander!" "I really want to hear the demon-infused singing."

Unfortunately, Z36's performance was clearly welcomed by the other four Z-class girls, who clapped and encouraged her enthusiastically.

Z35 had already anticipated this result and sighed inwardly, lamenting how her sister was always pampered despite being so chuunibyou.

"Commander, would you like to see it?"

With a cryptic smile, Prince Eugen asked softly.

Looking at the six eager Iron Blood girls waiting for his response, Lin Lan recalled the nights when he had exploited them.

His sense of guilt doubled instantly.

It would be too inhumane to refuse now.

"Since that's the case, let me see the strength of the Iron Blood's future first idol group."

Lin Lan tried to put on the brightest smile he could to make up for his past actions toward the little girls.

"Yay!" "You're the best, Commander!"

So, with the cheers of the Z-class girls, Lin Lan and Eugen went to a makeshift stage set up in the hall.

The backdrop of the stage featured some doodles by the little girls. Small faces drawn in black and red paint, and a large smiling face painted in white.

At the top, the words "Iron Blood Future Idol Special" were crookedly written.

"Um, well, our stage is a bit simple at the moment, and we don't have sound or lighting. Sorry, Commander..."

After getting on stage, Z35, holding the microphone, said awkwardly.

"It's fine. Acapella can better showcase your skills. Please do your best so I can turn around for you."

Since he decided to watch the performance, Lin Lan wanted to get more into it.

"Commander... okay, then we'll start!"

Z35 seemed genuinely moved by Lin Lan's serious attitude toward their performance and was even choked up.

The two Iron Blood dream-chasing girls looked at each other on this simple stage and began to dance and sing lively songs to set the mood.

Their youthful voices were crisp and pleasant, and despite being acapella, Lin Lan was still impressed.

Emotion, pitch, expression, dance moves—aside from some youthful awkwardness, he couldn't find any faults.

He understood the saying "one minute on stage, ten years of practice."

Although Z35 and Z36 were still little girls, they performed with the coordination of a well-practiced idol group.

Lin Lan had no doubt that if there were lights and sound, Z35 and Z36's performance could elevate the atmosphere to the extreme.

However, just as the small concert reached its peak, an unexpected incident occurred.

The makeshift stage's backdrop suddenly creaked and toppled over, crashing down on the unsuspecting Z35 and Z36!