142: Chapter 142 Discussion

Li Ming felt a heavy weight all over his body, unsure if it was due to the alcohol.

Of course, he believed the main reason was definitely Alert lying on top of him.

Probably last night, everyone failed to successfully pry Alert off him, so they had no choice but to let her sleep with him...

But that alone would have been fine. So, who could explain why all five of the Le Fantasque-class and both of the Artful-class girls were also on this bed?!

This bed is really big... but they definitely weren't restrained by me after I got drunk, so why were they on the bed too? Whose Terrible idea was this?!

Vicious and Terrible had monopolized his left and right arms respectively, while the other five little Destroyers were sprawled haphazardly around him.

Li Ming furrowed his brows and tried to move his right hand slightly.

"Mmm..."

Terrible let out a murmur, making Li Ming freeze in place.

Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, it was around 2 PM...

Had the whole bunch slept until now?

A6 was lying on the nearby sofa, a soft tube inserted into her back connected to an IV bag hanging on a nearby clothes rack.

This seemed to be specially ordered by Gang Yishawa; he had only mentioned it to her when she submitted the Industrial Zone plan application...

The next moment, A6 opened her eyes and sat up.

"Commander..." A6 called out softly.

Li Ming could only nod and gesture towards his own body.

A6 removed the tube and went to help Li Ming free himself.

After a few minutes, Li Ming finally managed to escape.

Patting A6's head, Li Ming hurried towards the bathroom.

After a whole night, he really needed to go...

Huh, speaking of which, where's Z23?

His actual wife, the oath ship, is nowhere to be found. Doesn't that seem a bit off?

Um...

"Commander, you're awake?"

Li Ming, who was heading for the deck, turned around. "Ah, Mary... Where is everyone?"

"They're all in the Captains Cabin." Mary leaned against the wall. "Commander, how about having lunch first? You've been sleeping most of the day."

"Sure."

Right, the Captains Cabin... Originally, the plan yesterday was to hold another round of discussions after dinner.

Drinking really messes things up... Although we did gain more from it.

"Have the kids had lunch?"

"No... In fact, we just woke up too." Mary replied, half-amused, half-exasperated. "Last night after you fell asleep, Anshan got all of us drunk."

"That intense?"

"Yeah..." Mary rubbed her head. "I still have a bit of a headache."

"That's why I don't like drinking." Li Ming shrugged.

"Not drinking is good too, healthier." Mary smiled. "Are you hungry, Commander? Everyone just finished preparing lunch."

"Then let's get everyone up first. So, what happened last night?"

"Hmm... I don't know about last night either. Probably Anshan moved us?"

"Then why was my bed full of Destroyers?"

"I don't know." Mary pretended to know nothing, but the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth gave her away.

Li Ming facepalmed. "Forget it. Get them all up; it's time for lunch."

"I don't think my words would be very effective." Mary covered her mouth and laughed. "But Vida isn't too happy about it."

That's right, she's a kid too.

Li Ming shook his head. "If it really comes to it, they can all move in with me?"

"Deal!"

Mary's reaction at that moment was unusually quick.

But it couldn't really happen, after all, they still had their own duties to attend to.

——————

After lunch, Li Ming finally sat in the Captains Cabin, watching Mary clear the messy desk belonging to Royal Fortune.

This time wasn't a closed-door meeting; everyone could attend. But undoubtedly, some issues weren't easily understood by the little ones, or they simply weren't interested.

So, the main participants this time were the older sisters and any little ones willing to join.

"Let's talk about what happened to me last night first?"

"Last night?"

Dunkerque and Strasbourg looked at each other. Terrible was organizing information and only glanced up.

"Ahem, let me explain first."

Li Ming explained the matter of the alternate dimension and the Metas. "In short... no need to worry. Although the reason my consciousness was pulled over there isn't clear yet, I have a rough idea."

Li Ming knew full well that his words alone couldn't put their minds at ease, not even Anshan, who was the most "trusting" of him.

It's just that they generally wouldn't say it outright.

"Ahem, Commander, what did you do over there?"

"I had Logic establish an Outpost and transferred control of the facility to Helena and Memphis." Li Ming replied. "If there's a next time, I can communicate with the forward base and also obtain some transferred technical data from the Meta side."

"That sounds pretty good." Anshan slumped in her chair. "Our whole bunch here can't even scrape together half a set of rigging technology. Right now, Alert and I are using training equipment issued by the academy, and... if I remember correctly, that little girl Fujian doesn't even have carrier-based aircraft for her rigging, right?"

"Indeed."

Li Ming agreed with this. Although his Destroyers had enough spare equipment to assemble temporary, sufficiently powerful gear for Anshan and Alert, and both Anshan and Fujian themselves possessed terrifying combat power even without relying on equipment, Anshan's missiles and Fujian's carrier-based aircraft remained major issues.

During the port area evacuation, the core technical data wasn't in the hands of Dunkerque and Strasbourg, and neither were the communication components.

Expensive and highly integrated equipment, only one emergency set was manufactured per faction. The port area's AI navigator—TB and Nabyia—evacuated last with the Eagle Union and Sakura Empire.

Royal Fortune clapped her hands. "Alright, let's talk about the current situation! Gang Yishawa? Say something, our that thing..."

"Ahem, okay." Gang Yishawa took out some documents. "Our application for land use in the suburbs of Oronia has passed the procedures. Although the process had some twists and turns, after some persuasion, they still gave us the green light."

"That simple?" Li Ming scratched his head; he thought it would be much more troublesome.

"They don't dare offend me." Gang Yishawa chuckled lightly. "Golden Deer and I founded the Hurricane Chamber of Commerce, not to be a pushover."

...and definitely not to let the Commander be bullied.

"...Not bad." Li Ming nodded. "Later, we might need to trouble you, Gang Yishawa, to personally transport key components and personnel. Royal Fortune's ship is too small; your Treasure Ship should be able to handle it."

"Leave it to me, Commander."

"Good, then next..."

...

...