152: Chapter 152 Letter

"Ta-da! This is the box Miss Fujian gave you."

Kano put down a large box.

Having changed into clean clothes, she finally didn't look so miserable.

Li Ming tossed the hairdryer to Kano and began to examine the black box.

Ah, the lock on the box wasn't anything difficult, so there was no problem.

Quickly opening the box, Li Ming spread its contents out.

"Hmm..."

Li Ming looked at the items in the box and pondered for a moment.

The left half was food, and the right half was medicine.

An envelope was sandwiched in the middle.

Li Ming picked up the envelope and glanced at it.

The handwriting should be Fujian's; it said "To the Commander."

Li Ming opened the envelope.

——————

(At the top is a bunch of crossed-out handwriting)

Commander, it's Golden Deer here.

It seems our dear Miss Fujian isn't quite able to accurately express how much she misses you. So now I'm ghostwriting for her, helping her write a little something.

By the way, Miss Fujian has missed you quite a lot this week. If it weren't for her official duties, she'd probably be curled up in your room every day.

(The paragraph above was crossed out several times; it looks like there was a struggle over the pen and paper)

Alright, jokes aside, first I'll talk about our internal situation.

The Ship Girl Bureau in Plata Port has completed its organizational structure. Their director, the battleship Ishtar, is less of a director and more of a diplomat; she's likely someone sent by Lady Verres.

Under my operation, the Federation's ocean-going fishing vessels have already begun operations in our offshore waters. Just as our scanning results showed, the fishery resources in our waters are rich beyond our imagination.

According to the plan, Plata Port will next begin construction of a civilian pier. This will naturally crowd out our external screening ship pier, but as we discussed at the time, it's worth it. The Plata Port shipyard has already prepared to assist fishermen in repairing their fishing boats.

Of course, after receiving your message, according to Logic's inference, subsequent diplomatic affairs will inevitably involve the Federation. Therefore, she is already conducting an assessment called the "Personnel Contract Agreement."

According to her, if the assessment results meet the requirements, you will be able to produce humans through the base's biochemical pods.

I have some doubts about whether such an agreement is truly reasonable. I hope Logic can give us an explanation later.

In the core area, the two Main Industrial Islands and the core port are all functioning normally. The Naval Shipyard has been expanded according to plan.

The first improved Essex-class aircraft carrier is already being assembled in the dockyard, and construction of the Independence-class aircraft carrier in the cruiser dockyard has also begun.

Of course, at the prioritized Plata Port shipyard, FVS-1002, 1003, and 1004 are also under simultaneous construction.

I'm not very familiar with the technical information that follows, so I can only relay what Fujian dictated.

Regarding the first-generation jet engines and corresponding airframes you requested as key research priorities, the analysis is complete and they have entered the localization adjustment phase.

Next, our technical breakthroughs will shift toward rigging accessory technology and Cube-compatible powered exoskeletons. The information from Terrible came very opportunely. If we need personnel to work on the front lines in the future, exoskeleton technology will become an urgent necessity.

However, try not to get your hopes up too high, as parsing technology from scattered oral data and fragmented information databases is also quite troublesome.

According to your previous requirements, the new generation of aircraft that have completed adaptive design will not be placed in the open. They will gradually replace the aviation equipment and reserves in our core area. At the same time, we will immediately allocate resources to begin researching jet-powered carrier-based aircraft.

Our productivity focus will still be on expanding the industrial system. It is expected that by mid-October, we will complete the construction of the next batch of Core Production Groups and transport them to the next planned industrial island to begin expansion.

Finally, regarding the node expansion requirements you provided in Oronia, we have completed the loading of the core components onto ships. As soon as the timing is right, we will complete the transport work in the shortest possible time.

But please, Commander and colleagues, keep a close watch; the volume of this equipment is almost impossible to hide.

Additionally, we received a message from Logic. The Federation's prejudice against the xia people is quite obvious. Please be cautious in your words and actions, Commander. If necessary, please remember that any of our evasive actions are based on your safety. If your safety cannot be guaranteed, then none of our current "win-win" solutions have any meaning.

There is also a USB drive in the envelope that can be plugged into a phone. Inside is what Logic wants to say to you.

Next, let's talk about Miss Fujian during this time...

(The following handwriting was scribbled into a mess, completely illegible)

——————

Li Ming put away the letter, feeling a bit amused and exasperated.

He took the USB drive out of the envelope and plugged it into his phone, then left it alone for the time being.

"Z23, are you ready?"

"Coming, Commander!" Z23 took an umbrella and came out with an insulated bag.

Tossing an umbrella to Kano, Li Ming finally opened the door.

Just now, this girl had squeezed in and not only taken up half of his umbrella but also gotten him half-soaked. Her soaking wet clothes then got him another half-wet, resulting in him having to change his clothes as well.

Li Ming fixedly washed four sets of clothes every three days. It wasn't that he didn't have more; he was just too lazy to take them out of the box.

Without Hu Jian watching him, he was too lazy to tidy up. Taking out too many clothes would just be a hassle for his Z23.

Z23 turned off the light and followed at the back to lock the door.

The next destination was the cafeteria.

The three of them stepped into the curtain of rain.

In other rooms of the dormitory building, some lights were on, and some windows were open.

Li Ming turned his head to look. On a nearby floor, someone was leaning against a windowsill, though whether they were watching the rain or something else was unclear.

He didn't recognize them, but he was truly hungry.

Following the two Ship Girls, they left the dormitory area and walked along the shaded path. The academy in the rain lacked its usual bustle, instead giving off a unique feeling.

The camera next to a streetlight that hadn't yet lit up flashed a red light, overlooking the grand academy buildings.

"Are we eating out today?"

Kano suddenly asked.

"We'll get food from the cafeteria and go over to the Gaming Club."

"Why the cafeteria..."

"Go out yourself if you want; it's raining so hard."

"I don't want to."

"Then follow us obediently to the cafeteria."

"Alright..."

Li Ming sighed and looked at the giggling Z23.

"What does Z23 want to eat today?"

"Eh? Me?... I don't have anything special I want to eat. But you, Commander, you say you'll eat anything, yet you're the pickiest eater." Saying this, Z23 put her hands on her hips. "Afraid of grease, afraid of fishy smells, and you don't like bland food either..."

"Ahaha..."

...

...

Attachment: Personnel Contract Agreement

Protocol Drafter: Central Control Unit of the Human Civilization Governance Body

Protocol Number: 571282119

Protocol Content:

Considering that in unknown dimensions and space-times, Commanders at all levels will deal with special circumstances such as manpower shortages, I completed the certification of this agreement on January 1, 2135 AD, and completed the first batch of information collection within the agreement on January 1, 2136 AD.

This agreement will be signed as a completely voluntary agreement with locals who prove their information at different points in time and in different worlds, collecting their genetic data, brainwave information, and memory information, and recording them in the database.

After Commanders at all levels obtain permission from the highest-level local control unit, this database will be decompressed, and approval will be granted to "reconstruct" the bodies of the corresponding personnel in batches.

Personnel after "reconstruction" will follow the following agreement:

1. They will perform three years of service, working for our armed forces. After the three-year term, they can choose to stay or leave. They are only required to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and the supreme Commander and their command system must not prevent them.

2. All personnel possess independent personalities and obey the Commander's orders, but have the right to refuse any absolute unreasonable demands that violate personal sovereignty and the contract agreement.

3. The Commander has the right to require all personnel to perform non-ethical work, but the Commander must bear the relevant responsibilities.

The following information was completed in 2140 AD.

Breakthroughs in simulated personalities have made it possible for some created personalities to enter the database, leading to a rapid increase in the quantity contained within the database.

However, please note: although their memories have "manufactured" components, they are still fully immersive simulations conducted in the Meta-world. According to Article 215 of the "Governance Body Meta-world Management Law," they still fall within the category of human beings and therefore still enjoy the rights and assume the responsibilities provided by the agreement. Their memory and personality sovereignty remain inviolable after physical construction.

Excluding created personalities, the number of personnel who have signed contracts with us over the past five years has reached as high as 1.32 million.

Its members include peacekeeping operation members, social contributors, international brigade soldiers, etc.

Final Remarks:

Commander, your current situation has reached the corresponding authority level.

You've worked hard this year. Although I was unable to meet you immediately due to agreement restrictions, I believe you can still keep going.

Please treat them well. A significant portion of their members have already sacrificed themselves in their own worlds. I hope that on your side, everything will be different.

Humanity shall prosper.

We shall prosper.