Chapter 35 - Siren Surprise Attack

 [ Eagle Union Command Room. ]

 Arthur was busy with long-distance telegram reports that flowed non-stop. The machines in his room moved without break and continued to turn on until it touched the secret orders.

 The emergency signal sent by the USS Enterprise messed up his work hours. As an Admiral in charge of managing the Eagle Union nation, the burden of saving the ship girl who emitted the emergency signal became the top priority of his other duties.

 "Admiral! The emergency signal from the USS Enterprise was detected again by the Azur Lane emergency secure channel!" Helena, who served as Arthur's secretary, looked panicked after hearing the report that entered her communication line.

 With ship equipment on her body, Helena served as a ship girl who carried out her ship's functions beside Arthur. Because ship girls were able to use their ship form as armor attached to their bodies, the term ship girl was interpreted as girls who were able to carry out ship functions in the form of women. All of this happened because of the Wisdom Cube which was able to change the form of the ship into small, easy-to-use equipment without reducing the ships main function.

 Currently, Helena is receiving various kinds of information through the radio antenna on her head. The reports she received had their priorities that were separated directly. With that technique, Helena was able to lighten Arthur's workload who was focused on saving the USS Enterprise task force. Until an unknown communication channel tried to contact Helena's private network frequency.

 "Helena.. Bzzzzttt.. Helena.. Do you hear me?"

 Helena adjusted the unknown frequency by minimizing the noise that was heard through the channel.

 "Helena.. Helena?"

 The voice received by Helena sounded clearer until she realized that the voice came from the USS Seawolf which contacted her via a unknown frequency that was not registered on the Azur Lane public network.

 Sensing important information that she was about to receive, Helena replied with a morse code that buzzed like static electricity.

 "Is Arthur still on duty? Accidentally, I received an emergency signal from the USS Enterprise."

 Slowly but surely, Helena explained the situation with a static signal. The USS Seawolf who understood the meaning of the static signal fell silent to hear it. The complicated situation could be explained in detail by Helena.

 Arthur, who was focused on taking care of the rescue documents and military operation permits, did not notice Helena's suspicious actions. He calmly assembled a rescue team from the Eagle Union nation. The unknown enemy and the distance between the USS Enterprise and the Azur Lane main base were obstacles that Arthur needed to overcome. Miscalculations would add to the losses suffered by the Eagle Union nation.

 "I don't want to add to your workload regarding the USS Enterprise's emergency signal, it's just that..."

 "Some uninvited guests have been caught on my surface radar. Looking at their ship signatures, I can confirm that the guests are siren submarines moving in a large group."

 "I don't want to add to your panic, but remember this one thing, Helena..."

 "It's not a normal sign for siren surface ships to move in groups, but for siren submarines to move in groups. That's an abnormal occurrence."

 "Do the emergency signal sent by the USS Enterprise and the siren submarine reconnaissance have the same relationship? I don't know... I'm not responsible for answering that. I leave everything to Admiral Eagle Union and accept all his decisions."

 The communication frequency from USS Seawolf was cut off and left static waves without a receiver.

 Helena unconsciously fell silent after hearing the report from the USS Seawolf. The achievements and myths circulating about the actions of the USS Seawolf were common mysteries for Eagle Union ships. Helena thought that all of it was just Eagle Union propaganda to spread enthusiasm for Eagle Union ships. However, after the siren attack that was successfully thwarted by USS Seawolf alone. Helena could not deny that one fact. Moreover, she had seen the capabilities of the USS Seawolf with her own two eyes.

 Helena swallowed her saliva and moistened her dry throat.

 "A-Admiral.." Helena hesitantly called Arthur who was busy writing the travel route on a large map.

 "..." Arthur responded to Helena's call by looking at her and stopping his small activity.

 "USS Seawolf just contacted me about something... an its important intel about siren."

 "Altair? I thought he was relaxing in his room," replied Arthur.

 "He informed me that there were several siren submarines that had been lurking around the Azur Lane main base," said Helena.

 Hearing Helena's words, Arthur's expression turned serious.

 "Does this have anything to do with the attacks on the Royal Navy ships?" Arthur asked.

 "Such a possibility is not impossible. If the report from the USS Seawolf is proven true, the attack on the Azur Lane main base, the emergency signal from the USS Enterprise, and the presence of the Siren submarine have explained all of these events. They are all related to each other," Helena said.

 Arthur held his chin and thought hard about the possibilities that had occurred. The heavy thoughts became even heavier because of his responsibility that was racing against time.

 The Eagle Union Command Room was quiet, only the ticking sound of the clock broke the atmosphere and the responsibility that felt heavier with each turn of time.

 "I think I have to do this. The movement of this Siren submarine looks very strange. I don't doubt Altair's report because of his experience when serving as a Seawolf submarine unit. But... I have a bad feeling about this decision. My instincts tell me that something must be sacrificed in this decision."

 For no apparent reason, Arthur had a bad feeling about his decision. It was as if the decision he made would harm the Eagle Union and Azur Lane nations.

 Arthur was very confident in his analytical skills, but when it came to direct battle experience, he had none. In contrast, Altair was a veteran who fought on the front lines. The Siren's behavior was like a book that was easy to read for him. Arthur wanted to hand over the Siren submarine into Altair's grasp. But... His body seemed to reject his thoughts.

 "W-What is this? Why does my body feel hesitant to make an important decision like this?" Arthur muttered with heavy breaths that shook his body.

 "Admiral, what should we do?" Helena who was standing beside Arthur continued to urge him to make a decision as Admiral Eagle Union.

 "Contact USS Seawolf and the Third Fleet to report to my room immediately," Arthur said.

 "Un!" Helena responded quickly. Her ship's equipment actively emitted a radio frequency that was connected to the USS Seawolf and the Third Fleet.

 In Helana's busyness, Arthur stared at the window of his room and watched the sunlight slowly sink into the ocean. The day quickly turned to night and the anxiety that haunted Arthur's heart became heavier.

 From a distance, Arthur saw a small light coming from the depths of the ocean. The thin bluish light that slowly shone brightly quickly entered his sight.

 What Arthur knew was that it was a surprise attack caused by a siren submarine.

 And... Arthur was too late to realize it. The blue laser attack hit the Eagle Union command room and destroyed part of its body perfectly. In his last consciousness, Arthur saw Helena who looked panicked and tried to catch his body that was slowly falling apart.

 Kaaboooommm!!

 When the curtain of the night opened, a surprise attack from a siren submarine marked the beginning of a long night battle.

 Azur Lane's main base entered emergency mode and the echoing warning sound became the beginning of the hunt for the siren submarine wrapped in anger and revenge.