Seeing the moon spirit grass slowly flying toward her, Hood was overjoyed and carefully reached out her right hand to grab it.
Shokaku, on the other hand, looked despairing because she recognized this glowing Blue-Grade moon spirit grass; it could allow a Three-Star Epic Ship Girl to break through to a Four-Star Epic Ship Girl with 100% certainty.
If this thing was given to Hood, wouldn't she likely break through to a Four-Star Epic Ship Girl immediately? If that happened, Zuikaku would have even less chance of escaping!
"Hahaha! Illustrious, do you recognize me?" Hood said sinisterly.
Illustrious said in confusion, "You?! You look a bit familiar. You are...?! Forget it, who you are isn't important. What's important is that you release Shokaku quickly."
"After all, hearing your tone, we should know each other. That's even better then. Since we're acquaintances, shouldn't you release her quickly for the sake of our acquaintance?"
Hood's whole body trembled with rage. To think that all these years she had been wanting to avenge the humiliation of the past, only for the other party to have long since forgotten her.
"Illustrious, you will pay the price for your actions. I will definitely cut off your legs, lock you in a dark room, and then give your Ship Girls to the Young Master as playthings. Once he's tired of them, I'll sell them to a hotel to be hostesses."
"Sigh! Why are you so angry? I have no grudge against you, so why do you treat me like this?" Illustrious said with a smile.
Although Illustrious spoke with a smile, in her heart, she already considered Hood and her Young Master to be dead. A dragon has a reverse scale, and those who touch it die. Illustrious's reverse scale was her Ship Girls. If anyone dared to do anything to her Ship Girls, whether they were gods or demons, she would cut them down without fail.
Hood didn't bother to pay attention to Illustrious, focusing her gaze on the Blue-Grade moon spirit grass floating in her right hand. Just by sniffing it, Hood could feel the barrier that made it so difficult to break through to a Four-Star Epic Ship Girl starting to loosen slightly.
It was already this powerful before she had even eaten it. If she swallowed it directly, wouldn't she be able to break through immediately?
It seemed this was a real moon spirit grass, the kind she had been searching for for years without success!
Knowing it was a real moon spirit grass, Hood could no longer resist the temptation and swallowed it in one gulp. She then sat down cross-legged on the spot, focusing all her attention. She intended to break through to a Four-Star Epic Ship Girl right then and there.
Azuma saw that after Hood got the glowing Blue-Grade moon spirit grass, not only did she not release Shokaku, but she also swallowed it directly, intending to break through to a Four-Star Epic Ship Girl on the spot. Even more unexpectedly, Illustrious, seeing this result, was not angry at all; instead, a smile hung on her face.
This left Azuma completely baffled! "Admiral, what's wrong with you? Shouldn't you be angry at Hood? That thing is a treasure that can let her break through, right? After she got that glowing blue grass, not only did she not release the hostage, but she also ate it directly, intending to break through."
"Angry?! Why should I be angry?! I should be happy! Hahaha!" Illustrious laughed heartily.
Illustrious's answer and strange behavior made Azuma even more confused. Could the Admiral have gone mad?!
"Admiral Illustrious hasn't gone mad, has she? I thought it was some'superpower,' but it turned out to be this 'money power.' Could she have gone mad because her money power didn't work? I originally thought I'd see what kind of money power she'd use to save people, but instead of saving anyone, she went mad first," Chen Xiaoqiang said, shaking his head and sighing.
The laughing Illustrious was too happy! Perhaps some people found her behavior strange and thought she was mad, but no, she wasn't mad at all, because the first objective of her scheme was finally about to succeed!
Telling Azuma that Tianhai Island was a dating sanctuary was just a lie to trick her. In fact, there were many nearby islands that were no worse than Tianhai Island. And taking Shokaku and Zuikaku as her own Ship Girls was just one part of the plan; it wasn't the primary goal.
Illustrious had only two real goals: one was to have a blood-boiling, hearty battle with a strong opponent, and the other was to find the purple silver heart and Red Silver Heart that could release the first layer of the silver sword's seal.
Before Illustrious came to Tianhai Island, she had used the Hundred-Sight Class ship device in her rigging space—the Thousand-Mile Mirror—to search for clues regarding the purple silver heart and Red Silver Heart.
The clues were found in the ruins of a treasure on a certain Blue Azure Island. The map and the key to the treasure were with a pair of Ship Girl sisters. There was only one clue to find them: there was such a pair of Ship Girl sisters on Tianhai Island, one with light brown long hair and one with silver long hair.
When Azuma pulled her to see the commotion and they discovered Shokaku and Zuikaku, and she looked at their hair, Illustrious's female intuition told her that this was definitely the pair of Ship Girl sisters.
It was impossible for them to hand over the treasure map and key easily. Illustrious was nothing to them, so why should they give them to her!
So Illustrious came up with a plan: the plan was to save them to build up favorability, bring them into her harem, and make them her Ship Girls.
Once you become my Ship Girls, you're my people! Then what's yours is mine, and what's mine is still mine! Then it's only natural to give your treasure map and key to your dear Admiral!
Furthermore, when Illustrious came to her own Naval Base, her master had requested that she stop causing trouble and getting into fights.
Illustrious had agreed. After all, she had to show some respect for her master's words. But if the other party acted first, and she only stepped in because it was a matter of justice, then it wouldn't count as breaking her promise to her master!
In order to have a blood-boiling, hearty battle with Hood, Illustrious even found a witness to prove that the other party had acted first and that she had only stepped in for the sake of justice. That way, her master wouldn't be able to find fault with her.
This witness couldn't be her own Ship Girl, as her master wouldn't believe it. She had to find an outsider, so Illustrious set her sights on the apprentice Admiral Chen Xiaoqiang! She tricked him by saying she had money power and could save the Ship Girl sisters, and as expected, he took the bait! He had followed her all the way here.
And to make Hood erupt with even greater strength, Illustrious not only gave her medicine to break through but also provoked her by saying she didn't recognize her.
In fact, Illustrious had thought Hood looked familiar when she was on Tianhai Island. Recalling her memories, she finally remembered that Hood was a Ship Girl she had defeated fifteen years ago in the Strongest Ship Girl Competition. She hadn't expected her strength to reach Three-Star Epic Ship Girl level. If she gave her medicine to break through to a Four-Star Epic Ship Girl, then Hood would perfectly satisfy her first goal of having a blood-boiling, hearty battle with a strong opponent.
It could be said that Illustrious had formulated a detailed plan for these two goals of hers.
This plan brought her five benefits.
Benefit One: Accomplishing a blood-boiling, hearty battle with a strong opponent.
Benefit Two: Finding the purple silver heart and Green Silver Heart that can release the first layer of the silver sword's seal.
Benefit Three: Not violating the promise her master had repeatedly exhorted her to keep.
Benefit Four: Taking in the pair of Ship Girl sisters, Shokaku and Zuikaku.
Benefit Five: Establishing an Illustrious image of a warm-hearted person who helps others in need before her junior, the apprentice Admiral Chen Xiaoqiang.
This plan was truly killing five birds with one stone!
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