103: Chapter 103 Construction Center

As Li Ming followed the teacher toward the Construction Center, Finn was already waiting in the Construction Room.

He didn't need to build anything anymore—even though he had nearly ten wisdom cubes in his hand, he still had no intention of building again.

The Construction Room was a microcosm of society; some people cried while others laughed. In two years and four semesters, he had seen it four times already. This was the fifth time.

The laughing ones were busy getting acquainted with their girls, while those who cried... weren't actually that many? After all, everyone was an adult or a near-adult; they shouldn't be that fragile.

But from Finn's years of observation, it seemed that those from ordinary families were generally more mature.

After returning from that incident, he had specifically visited Baihui Street and the local Longchuan Workshop; those places were indeed nice, with plenty of good food and fun things to do.

"Hmm..."

The xia people have a saying: children from poor families take charge of the household early.

Compared to the descendants of wealthy families who might get depressed or vow to try again next time after failing a construction, those from ordinary families generally had a flat attitude, or simply a sense of "as expected."

Looking at it now, that proverb was just too damn accurate.

"What are you looking at?"

Li Ming had appeared beside him at some point, with Cliff, wearing headphones, on the other side.

"Watching the Kaleidoscope of Life... is that how the xia people say it?"

"Close enough?" Li Ming tilted his head. "The older generation back home says you can tell if someone is destined for greatness just from their daily life. But I don't really believe that one."

Cliff had a lollipop in his mouth, quietly listening to music.

Li Ming wasn't much better, though he was wearing Bluetooth earbuds and would temporarily turn off the music when speaking.

"Hey, you three... Finn! You—you're not allowed to corrupt the new students!"

The loli teacher rushed over aggressively, but her fire was primarily directed at Finn.

One look and it was clear this guy was a repeat offender.

"Whoa, whoa, I really didn't do anything, Teacher Stuart..." Finn surrendered. "Li is an old friend, and Cliff is a new friend, that's all."

"Li Ming, Cliff! You two come here, stay away from him!" The loli teacher marched over in her small heels, making a 'da-da-da' sound on the floor.

"Uh..."

Cliff took off his headphones and looked at Li Ming.

Li Ming spread his hands. "Then Finn, we'll talk later. We're heading over first."

"Sure thing. How about we go out for dinner tonight?"

"Not me. If I build a Ship Girl, tonight will definitely be a family dinner," Li Ming waved off.

"I'll see, if you're inviting me," Cliff said, putting his hands in his hoodie pockets.

"Of course it includes you."

"Alright then, if I don't build one, I'll go with you."

"Got it!"

Watching Li Ming and Cliff follow the loli teacher away, she was still rambling about the shocking things Finn had done in the past.

She's probably really worried I'll teach the newcomers bad habits, right? Finn shrugged.

He didn't care much about what others thought of him, and besides...

He owed her a great debt. If she hadn't helped with the group tutoring, he probably would have failed his classes.

He shook his head.

By the way, what is Olena doing right now?

I'll go take a look.

Finn turned and left the Construction Room.

"...So, do you understand now?"

Li Ming finished listening to her rambling. It was clear this Finn was the academy's biggest troublemaker, the kind of tough guy who could make everyone from the ordinary staff to the academy director run around in circles.

Cliff followed with a smile. "It certainly fits his usual reputation."

"Sigh, anyway, that's how it is." She led them back to their seats in the lounge area. "Are you planning on Light Construction or Heavy Construction?"

"I think Light?" Li Ming scratched his head. "After all, with two cubes, Light means two builds. I'll treat it as a safety net."

"One Heavy," Cliff replied. "Once is enough."

"Nice one, Cliff," Li Ming commented.

Stuart nodded. "Don't worry too much. Since you passed or can be recognized by a Ship Girl, you will have your own Ship Girl sooner or later."

As for Li Ming? He already had one... so this construction was more about the experience?

Li Ming gave him a gentle nudge with his elbow as a sign of comfort, though Cliff probably didn't understand Li Ming's meaning at all.

Stuart left; after all, she had an entire class to manage and couldn't focus all her energy on just two people.

Li Ming leaned back in his chair, completely lacking the seriousness and solemnity he'd shown during the ceremony.

The atmosphere in the lounge was still very lively, but it had nothing to do with the two of them.

After all, both were wearing headphones and playing music, though Cliff's was explosive rock, while Li Ming...

He listened to everything. He had gotten the "Eastern Star" radio station files from Logic, which were copied from the original world. Re-TROS's 'Flower Bridge' was still very good and energetic.

Squinting his eyes, he gave up thinking about potential failure. He'd deal with problems when they arose.

Two Light builds—what kind of Ship Girls would they be?

A light cruiser would be best, but of course, a Destroyer would be good too...

After a while, Li Ming opened his eyes.

Cliff had already gone in to build, and the people around were getting fewer.

Once the unified registration was finished, there would be nothing left to do. Classes and the banquet started tomorrow, but that was a problem for tomorrow.

Hmm? His phone vibrated.

He pulled out his phone and saw a friend request from Royal Fortune.

Following Juus, the port finally had a second communication software.

This was good news, probably?

After accepting the friend request, more requests started coming in one after another.

As Li Ming accepted them one by one, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the instant flood of private messages.

This was the pain of being noticed.

A painful happiness.

Seeing there were still quite a few people, Li Ming planned to go in at the very end.

He could use this time to reply to all the messages and exchange information.

Royal Fortune provided an address for today's dinner gathering.

Golden Deer told him she was preparing to set off, returning to the port to manage things with Fujian.

Mary expressed that she was looking forward to meeting the new companions.

Vida sent him a bunch of files, all of which seemed to be some decent games...

contra?

Li Ming's heart skipped a beat; this was definitely not a local game.

This looked like a very important clue.

He tapped the touchscreen, and soon another new friend request appeared.

It was Logic. Her avatar was still that somewhat cute 2D anime style from the game.

"Do you need me to do a reverse trace?"

Li Ming typed in a message:

"If possible, yes. But are you sure there's no risk?"

"Their firewall is practically non-existent, or rather, they seem to have never considered the possibility of network infiltration."

"That's good then. Go ahead and do it, Miss Great Intelligence."

"Rather than Great Intelligence, right now I want to be your friend, your companion."

Li Ming fell silent.

He looked up to see Stuart standing in front of him. "Almost everyone is gone. Hurry up and go."

"Okay, Teacher. Thanks for the reminder."

"It's nothing." She crossed her arms, though it seemed her chest didn't really exist...

...

...