178: Chapter 178 Immense Pressure

"You mean, this report was written by Alert?"

Li Ming put down the two sheets of manuscript paper and looked at Anshan.

Anshan sat on his bed with her arms crossed, watching him. "Yes, what about it?"

"I have to admit, this report should be very valuable, but..." Li Ming hesitated for a moment. "I don't understand Russian, so I can't read it."

"..." Anshan was almost moved to laughter by her annoyance. "You haven't even understood it, yet you think it's valuable?"

"Because I feel it's valuable, it is valuable."

"...You're really something, Li Ming." Anshan kicked off her left shoe and shoved her foot into Li Ming's face. "If you can't read it, you can't read it. Why act so profound?"

"So what?" Li Ming pinched Anshan's ankle. "It's like a child writing an essay for the first time. Even if it's not well-written, shouldn't they be encouraged?"

"I think otherwise. If it's written poorly, it should be laughed at properly..."

"Then how do you think Alert's writing is?"

"Above average."

"See, you can understand it."

"So it's really strange that you can't understand it." Anshan tried to pull her foot back, but found that Li Ming was holding on tight as if competing with her. In this position, it was difficult for her to exert force. "How terrible, Li Ming."

"Yeah, it's really terrible..." Li Ming shrugged. "I'm useless."

"...Wait, what?"

This time Anshan really lost her confidence, completely unsure if he was being serious or joking.

She used a bit of strength to pull her foot back, only to find that this time Li Ming wasn't intentionally holding onto her.

He withdrew his hand, took out his phone, opened a translation tool, and began translating Alert's report word by word.

Anshan stood up and leaned gently against Li Ming's back, watching him work. "With Logic around, we're almost spoiled by her convenient assistance."

"Logic's function is just an AI called the Long March System; what we usually call Logic is her personality."

The text being translated suddenly stopped, then two spaces were typed into the phone's text field, and an extra line of words appeared:

You're quite the smooth talker.

Then the line was deleted, and Logic continued her work.

"How does it feel?" Anshan asked.

"This content is very valuable, but..." Li Ming looked up. "Anshan, when did she go?"

"Well..."

Anshan's eyes flickered.

"Was it last Saturday? Also, was my bag tampered with?"

"Uh, yes..."

"I was wondering why she suddenly asked me what six hundred yuan could do that afternoon..." Li Ming shook his head, took out a data cable, and plugged his phone into the computer. "I thought I said I didn't want her getting involved in these things yet."

"She doesn't need you to protect her that well."

Anshan sat back down. "She's not as fragile as you think."

"Maybe..." Li Ming shrugged. "When the ones from the Northern Parliament return, these reports will definitely have to be handed over to them. Looking at it this way, it seems fine for Alert to delve deeper into theory and practice on their side."

"..." Anshan narrowed her eyes. "So you plan to evade your obligation as a Trainee Commander to guide your Ship Girls?"

"I can't evade my own incompetence either." Li Ming turned on the computer. "Some things I'm just not good at. What I understand and learn might not necessarily suit you; forcing you to listen to me would only be counterproductive."

Anshan was speechless.

It took only a few seconds for her expression to shift from sharp to worried; she felt that the actual problems were only increasing.

But...

"The information this time is very important. It's enough to prove that the information we get solely from the Rights Society is incomplete or even biased." Li Ming changed the subject. "The only outrageous thing is that during the Xia People Community's attack, they actually sent the Labor Union's thinkers to heaven as well. This resulted in the Labor Union's manifesto being only a half-finished product, which in turn means their current core manifesto is just a half-finished product, leaving the rest open to any interpretation."

"That is true. Although I don't know much about this, but... well..."

"Normally, I wouldn't want you to know about these things either."

After importing the file into a TXT, Li Ming dropped it into an external hard drive and then shut down the computer.

"But there are still some issues. If, according to the document, the Xia People Community chose to attack because they were dissatisfied with the Labor Union's compensation plan, then I'll have to consider the cost of cooperating with them next." Li Ming continued looking at the translated report on his phone. "But the reality is, I don't sense that kind of insatiable greed."

"Most importantly..." Li Ming organized his thoughts. "Most of the information in Alert's report comes from data on Labor Union members. Many things are mentioned, such as big merchants plundering the practical innovations of ordinary workers. I can't deny that veteran and talented workers indeed create some things through experience, but the innovation of factory energy equipment mentioned in the content... that's not something that can be achieved through experience alone."

"Therefore, I reasonably suspect that the workers Alert encountered might be radicals; at the very least, their views are highly likely to be biased. However, since I don't understand their so-called Magical Industry, I'll just leave a question mark there."

Anshan's head was buzzing. She didn't want to hear any of this at all; talking to her about it was like playing a lute to a cow.

After one last read-through, Li Ming looked at Anshan. "Forget it, I won't talk about these things anymore."

"Hey, Li Ming..."

"Hmm?"

"Are you an idiot?"

"Huh?..."

Anshan shoved her foot into Li Ming's face once more. "Are we even talking about the same thing?!"

"Uh..."

"Do you know you'll be hated by girls if you're like this?"

"I'm not forcing you all to like me."

"..."

Anshan poked Li Ming's head hard with her foot. "My conclusion now is that you're just an idiot who has no idea how to please girls."

"So, will you hate me?"

"Heh?!"

Anshan withdrew her foot and stood up. "You've improved, being able to talk back to me now?"

"Mm-hmm?" Li Ming shrugged and turned off his phone screen. "The last person to say something like that was my mom."

"Huh?"

"She said that I'm the type of person who acts tough towards whoever is good to him."

Anshan tilted her head, not understanding what he was trying to express.

"I mean, don't expect me to say anything nice." Li Ming stood up; being half a head taller than her, he looked down at her. "Maybe you feel I'm being a bit offensive, but that's just my personality."

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