117: Chapter 117 Clubs (2)

Saying goodbye to Zhou Hong, Li Ming turned back.

Although one club was enough to earn the credits, Li Ming still intended to look around some more.

After all, some stalls also sold things on the side; there might be some interesting gadgets.

Diving back into the crowd, Li Ming felt he shouldn't let everyone recognize him just because of what had happened earlier.

As it turned out, he was right; people didn't notice him.

...By the way, where was Alert? Why hadn't he run into her at all along the way?

The club she was interested in couldn't be...

The Federation shouldn't have that kind of club, right?

He casually bought a bottle of Cola from a roadside stall. He didn't drink much Cola nowadays, but since no one was around to nag him, it didn't matter if he enjoyed himself a little.

"Pay attention to anime, meow! Please check out the Anime Club, meow!"

An otherworldly 2D culture? Not bad.

"Sir, would you like to try the Poetry and Prose Society?"

Western poetry collections? That's also quite nice. But not for me.

"Young man, do you have a certain... for Destroyers?"

"Thanks for the invite, but although I like lolis too, I'm not like you perverts."

Sighing, Li Ming gave up on the idea of having Logic call the Military Police to come and arrest them.

Although Destroyers had short training cycles, low resource consumption, and high versatility, there weren't many powerful ones. An overpowered monster like his own Z52 seemed almost impossible to find.

Liking big ships was normal.

However, according to Logic's information, a significant number of Destroyers were naturally generated every year, but in the end, they generally worked on the front lines or in the second line of the Apprentice Knights Order or the Ship Girl Bureau. Few were "fished up" by Commanders (or rather, the ratio of being recruited was very low compared to cruisers and battleships).

Perhaps for this reason, the "Today's Destroyer Squad" club was placed in the busiest area of the street, and it seemed to have quite a few members?

Quickly passing by this group of potential perverts, Li Ming felt he should give Alert a call.

He took out his phone and dialed the number.

Beep... beep...

It connected.

"Comrade Commander?"

It was very noisy on her end as well; she was clearly on the street too.

"Where are you now? I'll come find you."

"I'm... at this Naval Ship Model Club?"

"Ship Model Club? Where is it?"

"On the street to the left."

"I'm coming right now."

Li Ming hung up. The left street was in the other direction, exactly opposite to the way he had gone when he was running away. It wasn't too far, though; he could just pass by the stalls and cross the central lawn.

Compared to the right street where the Summer History Society was located, the left street wasn't as bustling as the center, but there were still quite a few people.

Ship Model Club, Ship Model Club...

Although there were many blonde Ship Girls, Alert's unique attire was still recognizable at a glance.

He could tell she was waiting for him.

He walked over quickly and picked Alert up.

"Whoa! Commander!..." She struggled and finally managed to get down. "What are you doing! I told you I'm not a child!"

"Right, right, not a child," Li Ming said with a grin. "I just saw that lolicon club over there and was a bit afraid those perverts would carry you away."

"Eh?" A look of confusion appeared on Alert's face, but then she realized her Commander was joking with her. "Is the Commander an idiot? How could I possibly be carried away!"

"Haha, my bad, my bad... Have you decided which club to choose?"

"Hmm... I do have one I'm interested in, but they have a strict rule against Ship Girls joining..."

"There's such a thing?" Li Ming raised an eyebrow. If it was something she was interested in, she probably really shouldn't be allowed to join, because...

Ship Girls could not interfere in human political affairs.

Or rather, except for those few in the General Bureau, Ship Girls in the Federation were basically in a state of cooperation with humans.

Ship Girls enjoyed certain privileges and conveniences, managed maritime affairs and assigned fleet escort duties, and were even completely autonomous within the Ship Girl Bureau's jurisdiction and the Maritime Academy, but they could not interfere in other matters.

He tapped her forehead. "Then how about a different club?"

"But... why?" Alert puffed out her cheeks. "Aren't we also a part of this world?"

"It's probably some kind of balance." Li Ming shook his head, but then he suddenly remembered what he had promised her the day before yesterday. "And we indeed are not a part of this world."

He could certainly brush it off by pretending he was drunk, but Li Ming felt that doing so...

"But, Comrade Commander, that's not right!" Alert looked at him, her small stature forcing Li Ming to take her seriously at this moment.

At this moment, however, she didn't seem too angry or overly emotional. Instead, she told him solemnly, "The name of the club I just saw is the Auronia Volunteer Service and Workers' Rights Society."

"Hmm..." Li Ming raised an eyebrow. Such an organization actually existed? But that name...

"Do you feel it? Why would students in the Maritime Academy form such a club, especially when they also have off-campus service work, and they even explained to me that their actions have local support?"

"You mean they have a complete organization outside the school?"

Li Ming felt a bit of a headache coming on. But looking into her eyes, he still said, "Alert... go back and tell Anshan and Z23. I'll go over and see what's going on, and we'll meet at the cafeteria in a while."

"But, Comrade Commander, you're alone..."

"Don't worry, this is inside the academy. Look around, there are also the ladies from the Military Police. I'll be fine, trust me." Li Ming patted her head.

"Alright... see you in a bit!"

Out of trust for her Commander, she nodded.

Turning around, Li Ming immediately ducked into a nearby restroom and sent a message to Logic.

"Zheng-chan, give them a thorough check for me," Li Ming typed. "Look into this so-called Rights Society... and while you're at it, check the Summer History Society too."

"Internet speed is limited, give me some time."

A message from Zheng-chan appeared in the chat box: "Commander, why don't you go and investigate in person while you're at it? I've already taken control of the nearby surveillance cameras."

"I know." Li Ming closed his phone and looked at a relatively empty stall outside.

The support poles of the four-cornered parasol were covered with all kinds of posters and photos, but they failed to attract many people.

Probably because everyone had already seen them. After all, according to Alert's description, even just doing simple volunteer service was quite exhausting.

Moreover, there seemed to be no reward, and it was likely to worry one's own Ship Girls.

After thinking about it, Li Ming turned back to the mirror over the sink to tidy up his appearance, then walked out of the restroom and headed toward that stall.

"Um... excuse me, could you introduce your club to me? I'm... a bit interested." Li Ming scanned the posters and photos, then fixed his gaze on the person in charge.

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