Azur Lane: Isekai'd with Maxed-Out Port

Lin Lan turned toward the sound of Anchorage's voice and saw the cute girl with beige-colored long hair holding a handful of seashells with her puffy sleeves, running over together with Eldridge.

"Teacher, Anchorage's gift—for you!"

"Commander! Shells!"

Seeing the two adorable girls presenting him with carefully chosen seashells, Lin Lan smiled and accepted them all, gently patting their heads as a reward.

"Good girls, good girls. These shells could be made into a necklace or bracelet later—they're sure to look beautiful."

These colorful, mostly intact little shells picked by Anchorage and Eldridge were happily placed by Lin Lan into his coat pocket.

The time had passed four o'clock, and the sun in the sky had begun to dip westward—it was time to head back.

Chatting casually with the shipgirls as they left the beach behind the artificial island's mountain, Lin Lan chose to ride back in Essex's car, sitting in the backseat with Gridley beside him.

And the reason? Naturally, the two were about to engage in an in-depth discussion on the art of photography.

Besides the driver, Essex, there was also Maury sitting in the passenger seat, and Anchorage was in the back as well.

But Anchorage had already been captivated again by an ice crystal conjured up by Lin Lan, giggling and fiddling with it in her sleeves.

"Just to be clear—I don't have any red gems on me right now. If you want payment, you'll have to wait for Akashi to come and exchange them."

Lin Lan glanced at the grinning, mischievous blonde little reporter and made this clear just as Essex started the car.

"Hehehe~ It's fine, Commander. Previews are available here. And since it's you, I can even offer a tab~"

The twin-tailed little reporter Gridley twitched her golden ahoge and looked at Lin Lan with her teal eyes sparkling, giggling as she produced a thick stack of photos like a magician.

"These are all carefully selected Sara-toga gravure shots. Take your time, Commander~"

Lin Lan took the photos from this hardcore Saratoga fangirl and chuckled.

Saratoga? Gravure? How impressive could they possibly be—

Wait, what the hell—she's this cute?!

The very first photo caught Lin Lan's eyes and completely absorbed his attention. He stared wide-eyed.

In the photo, Saratoga was alone, wearing her remodeled daily outfit, standing in front of the academy in the old port district, striking a wink and cute pose while holding a magic wand.

"That photo was taken right after you remodeled Saratoga, Commander. It's been a long time since then~" Gridley explained beside him.

Lin Lan nodded. He had to admit—Gridley really lived up to her professional-level photography skills. The angle and focus were spot-on.

And unlike the illustrations he'd seen in-game, Gridley's real-world photos of Saratoga had more soul—they were the real deal, after all.

He turned to the second photo.

This one didn't just feature Saratoga. There was the gentle pink-haired elder sister Lexington and the black long-haired light carrier Long Island as well.

In the photo, Saratoga and Long Island looked like two children who had just gotten in trouble, standing side-by-side with pitiful expressions and straight backs.

Lexington, meanwhile, was seated in front of them, eyes closed with a warm smile, clearly giving them a lecture.

"This one~ is from when Saratoga and Long Island tried to prank you, but it completely backfired.

Not only were you unaffected through the game screen, but Lexington caught them in the act and scolded them for the whole afternoon."

"Total backfire, huh? Hahaha!"

Gridley's explanation made Lin Lan laugh out loud.

Those two mischievous brats had wanted to mess with him, not realizing he was untouchable behind the game screen—and they even got caught red-handed by Lexington.

He moved on to the third photo.

This photo showed Saratoga on the ocean surface of a training ground, deployed in full rigging, giving a lecture on carrier-based aircraft launches to the four Royal Navy carrier sisters—Illustrious, Victorious, Formidable, and Indomitable.

It was well known that the Eagle Union had developed carrier warfare earlier than others, and the historical Lexington-class Saratoga had served as a tactical aviation pioneer, even mentoring Royal Navy carriers for a time.

Once upon a time, Saratoga had been the mentor to Illustrious, the lead ship of her class, and a comrade-in-arms to Victorious.

Other carrier-teachers from the Eagle Union included Ranger and Langley. Lin Lan knew they were currently taking care of destroyers at the academy on the front mountain.

But setting all that aside, for some reason, Saratoga's expression in the photo didn't look great.

She even looked… completely dead inside?

Lin Lan quickly realized why. Saratoga's "chisel body" probably felt very inadequate compared to the overwhelming presence of the four Royal sisters.

Poor Saratoga.

"Guhehe~ That one was taken for me by Scylla~" Gridley said with a mischievous grin, explaining to Lin Lan:

"Originally, Lexington was supposed to handle the Royal aviation training. But you suddenly sent her off on a mission, so Saratoga had to take her place."

"Saratoga's always hated going to the Royal faction. This rare shot will cost you extra if you want it, Commander~"

Lin Lan of course understood why Saratoga hated the Royal faction. That place was famously known as the Royal Brothel, after all.

Forget the three royals of the Queen Elizabeth class—even many of the large and mid-sized Royal shipgirls had chests that dominated the entire port.

Even Queen Elizabeth herself often felt uncomfortable staying in the Royal faction, let alone poor Saratoga.

Still...

"Wait—wasn't Scylla part of the Royal Maid Team? She actually agreed to help you secretly photograph Saratoga?"

Lin Lan asked, clearly surprised.

In his view, the Royal Maid Team, while composed of some pretty extreme personalities, had always been known for their discipline.

For one of them to engage in something like secret photography? That was unexpected.

"Oh, that was easy. I just offered to trade her some candid photos of you, Commander, and she didn't even hesitate to say ye—"

Gridley answered casually, full of confidence, but stopped herself halfway through. Her grin froze on her face.

Crap—she forgot the man sitting right in front of her was that Commander!

By now, Lin Lan's face had already adopted a cold smile. He held out his palm toward Gridley and said:

"Well done, Gridley. Now, how many candid photos of me have you taken? Hand them over—all of them, now!"

Lin Lan didn't know whether to laugh or get angry. No wonder Scylla agreed to help her shoot Saratoga—it turned out she got paid in his photos!

This was outrageous!

"N-no more, they're all gone! I already traded them away, ahaha… hahahaha…" Gridley scratched her head with a sheepish grin, trying to weasel her way out of trouble.

But then from the front seat came Maury's nonchalant voice:

"I wonder who it was that used to cry herself to sleep every night in the dorm, hugging rolls of the Commander's photo film. Hmm? Who could it be?"

"Eh?! M-Maury! I—I'm your big sister! How can you say that to the Commander?! Waaah! So embarrassing!!!"

Maury's words were like dye spilled on cloth—they instantly turned the "shameless" little reporter Gridley bright red, as she shouted in a flustered panic.

Seeing the flustered and exposed Gridley, Lin Lan let out a fond smile. He raised his hand and gently patted the head of the blonde chibi now resembling Hammann.

Forget it. Let her take the pictures. It's not a big deal anyway.

Though… he really was curious what kind of photos Gridley had secretly taken of him in the past.

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

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