183: Chapter 183 Above the Yellow Sands

"Awake?"

"Mm..."

"Want to sleep a bit longer?"

"Mm..."

"Then sleep a bit longer..."

"..."

...

"Commander, you can't sleep anymore."

"Ugh..."

"You've been asleep for sixteen whole hours, Commander."

"Mm... huff..."

"...I really can't do anything with you."

Li Ming suddenly felt a bout of difficulty breathing and hurriedly opened his eyes.

Glorious was cupping his face, their lips pressed tightly together; her tongue slipped into his mouth while he was defenseless and his mouth was half-open.

"Mmm...?!"

Oh, I wondered what it was; it turns out I'm being forcibly kissed...

Huh?

About half a minute passed before Glorious finally let go of him and stood up to look at him. "Are you awake now, Commander?"

"Awake, definitely awake..."

Li Ming reached out a hand.

"It's good that you're awake." Glorious subconsciously licked her lips. "If you aren't fully awake in reality yet, Commander, you can take a walk around the base. Some members are still resting here, while others are permanently stationed at the base."

She stood up, and although she was a bit reluctant, she still laid Li Ming's clothes out on the bed.

———Evidently, these clothes had been taken off by Glorious while Li Ming was asleep... they had even been washed and dried.

Quickly getting dressed, Li Ming stood up.

Although his head was still a bit dizzy... likely from sleeping too long, Li Ming felt that his mental state had indeed improved quite a bit.

Glorious had already left the room, and Li Ming looked around her room.

Her room was much more luxurious than he had imagined, yet it probably didn't cost much.

There were some cosmetics on the dressing table. Li Ming didn't recognize the brands... or perhaps they didn't have brands; Dunkerque had once mentioned that the port had its own supplies.

After finishing his morning routine and leaving Glorious's residence, Li Ming returned to the hallway.

From five o'clock yesterday afternoon until now, past nine in the morning, Li Ming really had slept for sixteen whole hours.

There were over a dozen doors along the hallway, some open and some closed. Although Li Ming didn't want to pry into others' privacy and decided to head straight for the elevator, a half-open door caught his attention.

The ordinary flooring and decor didn't pique Li Ming's curiosity, but he seemed to see a silhouette.

He leaned in and looked inside.

But in the blink of an eye, a head poked out from behind the door, looking at him expressionlessly.

Li Ming was startled and hurriedly took a step back to observe the other person.

White hair and blue eyes, a very normal color scheme, but the unique animal ears and the signature cross-knot covering her right eye made her very easy to identify.

"Kasumi? You're here too."

"Commander, welcome... um..."

Ignoring the blue will-o'-the-wisps flitting about behind her, Li Ming patted her head.

Her hair was icy cold, yet unexpectedly smooth.

"Did Helena send you here?"

"Um... it was Miss Memphis... she brought me here."

"Memphis? Do you know where she is?"

"Miss Memphis is... very busy... after bringing Kasumi here, she left..."

"I see. Kasumi, do you know who else is in the base right now?"

"In the base... there's Dark Realm, Béarn, and Vestal... Kasumi doesn't go out often, so I don't know where they are..." the young girl answered.

"It's alright, Kasumi. Knowing that is enough... Is there anything you want? Or anything you want to ask me?"

"With the Commander here, there's nothing else..."

"Er-hem..."

Li Ming felt things were getting a bit tricky.

The Destroyers and children he had at home now were mostly the well-behaved type (with the exception of Vicious and Terrible; one was purely lazy and the other was full of schemes), but this gave him a disadvantage: he wasn't actually very good at coaxing children.

"Thank you, Kasumi." Li Ming could only use the simplest and most direct method, giving her a hug. "Before I leave, I should be in the Central Control Center. If anything comes up, you can come find me directly or contact my terminal."

"Okay..."

Saying goodbye to Kasumi, Li Ming hopped onto the elevator and went to the first floor.

This wasn't the control center, but the Residential Sector connected to it. Since there weren't many people in the Meta faction overall—or rather, although Li Ming's Ship Girls seemed like many, in a single base there were only a few hundred—one Residential Sector could easily provide everyone with a one-bedroom apartment with a kitchen and bathroom.

The sky outside the window was still gloomy; he didn't know when they would be able to see the real sun again.

Li Ming stood before the tall floor-to-ceiling window. The buildings on the ground in the distance were neatly arranged, their tops quietly emitting white steam.

The production facilities here had much higher efficiency and resource utilization than his own side.

———Of course, the consumption was also higher.

Turning around, Li Ming looked at a multi-functional trailer parked nearby...

Well, it was likely placed here for moving luggage, but didn't Ship Girls have Rigging Space? That thing was much more efficient than a trailer...

Leaning over and patting the trailer, Li Ming headed toward the Central Control Center once more.

It was time to start doing the things he hadn't done last time.

On the top floor of the Central Control Center, Li Ming stood by the table where he and Glorious had sat before, in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.

He looked at the city ruins in the oasis in the distance. After a brief moment of thought, he looked at the camera.

"Logic, I'm preparing to enter the city... Given that the situation in the city is unknown, I want to mobilize the armed forces within the base."

"Received, Commander."

The Outpost Base built on the sand and dust seemed to be activated.

The medium-caliber fortress cannons that had been pointing toward the ground were uncovered and raised once more.

All the elevators on the airport runway began to work, transferring planes one by one to the taxiways.

One by one, the wheeled combat vehicles stored in the underground garage drove out, completing their assembly at the base's main gate.

"Such high efficiency."

"Isn't it?" Logic replied. "This is the power of science. It blows any theology or magic out of the water!"

"Then do you think wisdom cubes count as science?"

"...The end of science is metaphysics."

"See, you're avoiding the question."

"Mistakenly~ entering the heavenly home~"

"See, singing again."

Shaking his head, Li Ming turned back to the elevator and arrived at the first-floor lobby.

Glorious was already waiting for him.

"Commander, planning to head out?"

"Yeah, I decided to explore that city earlier, and now is a good time to go take a look."

"If you plan to go in person, take Béarn and Dark Realm with you; they can be of help."

"Alright... how do I contact them?"

"They're already waiting for you at the gate."

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