Chapter 54: Shopping for Outfits
An hour had passed, and Lin Lan and his group had already moved from the second to the fifth floor.
"Servant, come take a look. How does this outfit look?"
The iron-blooded girl with black hair, Deutschland, was wearing a long black t-shirt and dark blue denim shorts, paired with white sneakers.
She admired her reflection in the mirror and asked Lin Lan.
Despite Deutschland's usual destructive demeanor, her fashion sense within the Iron Blood faction was top-notch.
Seeing this iron-blooded princess, who was always in skirts, now dressed in a fresh and vibrant outfit, Lin Lan was quite taken aback.
However, his attention was inevitably drawn to Deutschland's ample chest.
She looked like a teenage girl in terms of age and figure, but there was no denying that certain areas were notably well-endowed.
"Huh? Servant, what are you staring at?"
Deutschland's sharp senses detected Lin Lan's wandering gaze. A faint blush appeared on her face, and she started grinding her teeth.
"Ahem, I was just captivated by how different Deutschland looks from usual."
Lin Lan, realizing his thoughts had been exposed, quickly explained.
In the game, the outfits and styles of shipgirls depend on the developers' mood. Deutschland's changing outfits left Lin Lan dazzled, so it wasn't entirely his fault.
It certainly wasn't because of her impressive figure, definitely not.
"Hmm, it's good that you know how to speak. I've always wanted to try this White Eagle style outfit but never found the time to look for it."
Hearing Lin Lan's explanation, Deutschland happily twirled in front of the mirror, showing a satisfied smile.
Then she shouted towards the fitting room:
"Spee, stop hiding and come out. Let me and the servant see how the outfit I picked for you looks."
A timid voice came from the fitting room:
"I'll be out in a moment. The outfit you chose for me…"
The door was gently pushed open, and Spee, with silver hair and red highlights, nervously held the edges of her clothes and stepped out.
The petite girl was wearing a white hoodie with bunny ears and a black pleated skirt.
The usually aloof Spee now appeared as an adorably cute girl in this outfit.
"Oh, this is so different from your usual style. You truly are my sister."
Deutschland was very pleased, pulling Spee to Lin Lan and positioning her in front of the mirror.
Standing behind Spee, Lin Lan saw the blushing girl's cute face through the mirror.
Ah, that stark contrast.
Lin Lan gently patted the cute Spee. She shivered slightly, quickly turning around and looking up at Lin Lan:
"C-Commander, does it look good?"
The shy blue eyes of the girl held a hint of expectation.
"Of course, Spee. You look much cuter in this outfit than usual."
Lin Lan gently adjusted Spee's bunny-eared hood, making her look incredibly adorable.
Upon hearing Lin Lan's praise, Spee's face lit up with a joyful smile.
This was the first time Lin Lan had seen Spee smile so happily.
After choosing several outfits for Deutschland and Spee, they began selecting clothes for Mainz and the others.
Fortunately, Deutschland seemed to remember their sizes, so they picked out outfits for each of them.
Lin Lan planned to wait until they returned to the port area to take them shopping in nearby towns or other cities for more clothes.
Since they had picked up so many items, Lin Lan enlisted a shopping mall's delivery robot to carry the packaged clothes.
The United States of Orlan's robots were far more advanced than those on Blue Star.
However, these robots still didn't have artificial intelligence. They could only perform basic physical tasks according to pre-set programs.
"This robot looks pretty good. It would be quite impressive as a ride," Deutschland remarked, admiring the bulky robot carrying the clothes.
"You know, these robots aren't expensive. I could actually get one for you to use back at the port area,"
Lin Lan thought, remembering that his current port area had been repeatedly cleaned out by the Sirens and was likely a wasteland.
He would need a lot of labor to rebuild it, so having a few robots to help would be ideal.
After all, construction was his field of expertise...
As Lin Lan's mind wandered, they took the escalator to the men's fashion floor.
The night wasn't a busy time for the clothing area. Most people were in the entertainment or food zones, so there weren't many shoppers here.
"Commander, do you want to buy some clothes too?" Spee, wearing the white bunny-eared hoodie, tugged at Lin Lan's shirt and asked.
Lin Lan looked at his own white naval uniform. Most of his clothes were of this white military style.
Buying a few new outfits wouldn't hurt.
"Hehe, it's important to look good as a servant too," Lin Lan said.
Under Deutschland and Spee's strong insistence, Lin Lan ended up picking a few clothes.
By the time they left the clothing area, Lin Lan was wearing a brown leather jacket over a white t-shirt and jeans, giving off a trendy western style.
The three of them then took the delivery robot to the department store section.
The shelves here were like those in Blue Star's large malls, with countless products neatly arranged.
These supermarkets were maintained by robots, which was why they could still operate late at night.
After finding the daily necessities and bedding sections, Lin Lan had Deutschland choose styles for the other Iron Blood members, and the robot packed everything up.
Additionally, Lin Lan bought a lot of snacks like chips and candies, and several books about Orlan's history to bring as gifts for Nimi and Z46.
They also needed various toiletries and miscellaneous items.
When they came out of the shopping area, the sheer amount of stuff made Lin Lan feel a bit overwhelmed.
Although he had substantial savings, if he continued spending at this rate, it wouldn't last long.
It seemed he needed to get to the port area and start his new duties soon.
Upon reaching the final floor of the shopping mall, the thirteenth floor, Lin Lan chose to take the vertical elevator down to the first floor and leave the mall.
Beyond that were the entertainment and food zones. Since he needed to leave Dongyun City early, there was no need to visit them. He could come back another time.
After calling a driverless cargo vehicle and, with the help of the mall's robots, moving all their goods, Lin Lan and the Deutschland sisters said goodbye to the bulky robot and the bustling shopping mall.
Setting the destination to the dock, Lin Lan prepared to leave Dongyun City under the cover of night.
While Lin Lan was shopping in the mall, at the Dongyun City Central Hospital, in the dimly lit emergency room hallway:
Bang!
The door to the emergency room was flung open.
The middle-aged man from the arms manufacturer, whose right hand had been blown off by Deutschland, staggered out.
His wound had already healed, and he now had an ugly mechanical arm in place of his missing limb.
"Hey, isn't this Hong Sen? How did you end up with a prosthetic arm after just a few days?"
A tall, thin man in a white trench coat, also sporting a button with the arms manufacturer's logo and round glasses, stood outside the emergency room.
He looked at Hong Sen, the proxy from the Maritime Affairs Office, with a mocking grin.
"I'm going to kill those three guys! Shipgirls… shipgirls, so what? Dr. Tian Ming, please get that thing to the dock! I need to take them out!"
Hong Sen, dressed in blue, had bloodshot eyes, clearly in immense pain from the recent arm replacement surgery. He was desperate to vent his frustration.
"Are you sure? That machine is still in its testing phase. If it causes significant casualties, it'll be a huge problem."
"And if you don't deal with the enemy quickly, getting caught by civilians attacking a naval commander will completely ruin your relationship with the Navy."
Dr. Tian Ming pushed up his glasses, seemingly having anticipated that this frenzied Maritime Affairs Office proxy would demand the release of the machine.
This was why he had appeared here first.
"If there are serious consequences, you'll be responsible, Hong Sen. You need to think it through."
"It's just two little destroyer girls, maybe a light cruiser at most. If you're worried about exposure, release the other two machines as well. Let's finish this quickly!"
Despite the terrifying aura of the two girls he had encountered, even Hong Sen's anger momentarily subsided, and he begged to have all the machines released.
In his view, dealing with two light cruiser shipgirls was an overuse of resources.
Dr. Tian Ming, under Hong Sen's furious gaze, sighed with a hint of falseness and a confident, cold smile:
"Alright, alright. As you wish."
"I've actually been looking forward to seeing how the combat mecha powered by the Mind Cube Energy performs in real combat against shipgirls."
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