When Deutschland stormed into the cafeteria, Lin Lan had already made his escape, leaving the unfortunate Akashi behind to face Deutschland's wrath under Roon's watchful eye.
Meanwhile, the culprit himself had been dragged back to the office by the time management master, Peter, due to time constraints.
Of course, before leaving the cafeteria, Lin Lan confiscated Akashi's umbrella as punishment.
The store owner had plenty of stock, so even if Lin Lan took her umbrella, she could easily ask Manjuu to bring her another one. It wasn't an excessive penalty.
By this time, the sky over the port area had brightened, but under the heavy clouds, it still looked gloomy.
The autumn rain had begun to lighten, and the downpour had turned into a soft drizzle.
..
"Commander, I have sorted out the matters requiring your review this morning. Please begin your work."
Back in the office, Peter smiled as she pushed a stack of documents across Lin Lan's desk.
Her meticulous scheduling left Lin Lan with no chance to test his heroic skills.
But he didn't mind. After all, before becoming a hero, he was still the commander of a fleet of ship girls. He couldn't afford to lose sight of his primary responsibilities.
"Let's see what we have here..."
Lin Lan took the documents Peter handed him and began reviewing the information she had compiled.
In truth, this was the first time he was formally assuming his role as a commander.
But to put it bluntly, his current position was mostly administrative.
In the past, during his time playing the game, all he needed to do was press a few buttons to complete his daily tasks.
The first document in the pile was an official order, stamped with the Trident Seal of the Orlan Admiralty.
On the second page, there was a message from Sun Xiaozhu of the Navy Department Office in Lihu County, requesting that Lin Lan personally review it.
In response, Lin Lan merely chuckled and didn't give it much thought.
In the game, whenever the officials assigned a task, the rewards would be credited to the player's account within seconds.
But now, considering the current sorry state of the Orlan Navy Department, there was no telling when the rewards would actually arrive—even if the mission was completed.
So Lin Lan simply skimmed through the document and set it aside.
The content outlined a request for him and all port commanders near Yalang City to provide full support to the city.
However, this no longer concerned Lin Lan, so he felt no need to act on it.
After all, he was already in Yalang City. This document was essentially a useless piece of paper to him.
Apart from that, the document also contained standard assignments for clearing out nearby Sirens.
For a trainee port commander stationed in a remote area, the Navy Department's daily tasks weren't particularly demanding.
They were all repetitive—eliminate Sirens in the vicinity.
The Iron Blood ship girls had already cleared out all the Sirens before their arrival, making this assignment redundant.
However, the last item in the document caught Lin Lan's attention.
It detailed the Navy Department's year-end evaluation.
This was an annual exercise and competition jointly organized by the naval departments of both the Eastern and Western continents.
The primary objective of this competition was to assess the strength of the secretary ships trained by each commander.
The results would be linked to the issuance of new equipment from the Navy Department and the promotion of the commander's personal rank.
However, since each port was constantly facing threats from the Sirens, the competition would be conducted in batches according to a predetermined schedule.
For the Western Continent, the year-end evaluation would take place at the Admiralty Base Fortress in the West Sea.
Lin Lan still had nearly two months before it was his turn.
So, after noting the information, he set the document aside and moved on.
The second document contained a report from Akashi on the current resource stockpile at the port.
After raiding the Tomahawk Military Oil Depot in Yalang City, Lin Lan's oil reserves had surged to nearly 200,000 barrels.
As a major city within the Six Cities Alliance of the East China Sea, Yalang City's oil storage was naturally abundant, thanks to Ming Muhan's careful management over the past twenty years.
Although 200,000 barrels of oil weren't enough for Lin Lan to launch the entire Iron Blood Fleet against the Royal faction, he could now use mass-produced fleets freely.
In the battle against the Testers in Yalang City, if Brunhilde and the others had been able to deploy mass-produced warships, it would have significantly boosted the fleet's overall combat power.
Although mass-produced ships weren't as powerful or flexible as ship girls, they had the advantage of sheer numbers.
With sufficient oil, the Iron Blood Fleet could fully utilize mass-produced units.
Next time they faced the Sirens, these ships could take the brunt of the Executors' attacks, buying precious time for the ship girls to focus on advanced Sirens.
Aside from oil resources, Akashi's report also listed the current number of Manjuu and Muscle Manjuus at the port.
The Manjuu population had increased to fifty, while there were ten Muscle Manjuus.
Lin Lan already knew about the Muscle Manjuus—ten powerful, burly feline workers who were quite helpful in port construction.
However, he was puzzled about the Manjuu.
Why did their numbers keep increasing over time?
How exactly did these magical creatures reproduce?
Lin Lan decided to ask Akashi later to uncover the mystery behind the Manjuu.
The third document was a combat report from Zeppelin, detailing her anti-Siren submarine operations on her way back to port.
The fourth document was...
Two hours passed as Lin Lan carefully reviewed each document Peter had given him.
During that time, Peter sat quietly beside him, occasionally offering assistance.
"Commander, thank you for your hard work."
Seeing that Lin Lan had finally finished, Peter smiled and handed him a freshly brewed cup of mint tea.
"It's nothing. This is my responsibility. I left too much unfinished work before, but thankfully, I've managed to catch up today."
Lin Lan accepted the teacup with a smile.
With the hero's skill column, his mental clarity had improved significantly.
In the past, reviewing lengthy documents would make him drowsy.
But now, he could process everything with sharp focus and methodical thinking.
The hero's skills weren't just useful in battle—they subtly improved his everyday life and work efficiency.
By now, it was 10 AM.
Though it was still raining outside, the drizzle had become even lighter.
"Commander, today's routine tasks have been completed. Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?"
Peter held the stack of approved documents in her arms, glanced at the clock, and stood gracefully in front of Lin Lan's desk, awaiting his answer.
Lin Lan was surprised that the work had only taken two hours.
"Hmm, let me think..."
He stroked his chin, pondering for a moment before coming up with an idea.
"Peter, can you help me buy some brushes and talisman paper from Akashi?"
Peter raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Brushes and talisman paper? Commander, are you planning to...?"
"Yeah, I want to try drawing spells."
Lin Lan smiled, explaining his plan.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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