23: Chapter 23 Dinner

"Here, come on up... heave-ho!..." He pulled Fujian up, then hauled up the soaking wet Laffey and Z23 one after another. "Anyone hurt?"

He picked Laffey up to avoid her making direct contact with the clothes he had just changed into, spun around, and set her back down.

"No, we didn't run into anything on our end, but we did find some nautical charts..."

"You all go take a shower first," Li Ming interrupted Z23. "You'll start crusting with salt soon."

"Mmm, alright then..."

Seeing Z23 lead Laffey off to shower, he turned his gaze toward Hu Jian.

She had just let down the high ponytail she'd tied up for convenience. He had to admit, her hair was the longest he could remember ever seeing; let down, it could actually touch the floor.

"Hmm? Commander?" She noticed Li Ming's stare. "Is something wrong?"

"Won't letting your hair down like that trip you up?"

She paused for a moment. "It might, but it's not a big deal."

"Okay..." Li Ming still couldn't help but glance at her wetsuit. The rigging-integrated wetsuit was so form-fitting, it perfectly showcased her figure.

He stared blankly until his eyes met Hu Jian's, then quickly looked away.

Hu Jian gave a light chuckle. "Well, I'll go shower too."

"Ah, right!" Li Ming nodded repeatedly. By the time he processed it, she was already gone from the deck, leaving only a scent carried on the sea breeze.

Did the sea breeze here not have that salty, fishy smell? Or was this actually just her scent?

Li Ming wasn't sure, only feeling his mind was a tangled mess, until the first mate chirped and bumped into him, snapping him out of it.

The Lingering Spring Chill was still a bit cold. He should have known better and brought them in the summer.

What a miscalculation.

He turned and headed for the kitchen, partly to cook for the girls, and partly out of worry that if Doubling Lin got into the kitchen, some wild idea might spark a revival of her Royal Navy Genes and treat everyone to something 'grand'.

He tapped Doubling Lin on the head to stop her from getting any ideas, then glanced at Ayanami, who was chopping vegetables, and gave her a thumbs-up.

Maybe it was his imagination, but although Ayanami's gaze didn't shift, her movements seemed to speed up a little.

First, he cooked the rice, then started preparing a simple meal of four dishes and a soup. Fancy delicacies were out of the question—Li Ming didn't have the culinary skills for that. Fortunately, none of the six on board were particularly picky eaters (the pickiest one was probably Li Ming himself). He just had to carefully control the amount of salt he added; what he considered a normal amount, they found too salty. His taste buds were probably the ones with the problem.

Aside from the prep time, the actual cooking was the relatively simple part.

Not long after, one dish was ready. As he somewhat clumsily poured it onto a plate, wondering who to call over to take it out, a pair of hands picked up the plate.

He turned to look. "Z23? You're done showering?"

Z23 shot Li Ming a look for asking such a dumb question. Li Ming shrank his neck in and didn't dare make a sound.

Z23 sighed and turned to head to the dining area.

Ignoring the snickering Doubling Lin, Li Ming continued stir-frying, instructing Ayanami to pour the freshly chopped carrots into the wok.

Instantly, oil vapor rose with a sizzling sound, drowning out the others' hushed conversation.

Almost every Ship Girl would inevitably, unintentionally, bring up the Commander in some topics.

"Ayanami, did you see the scar on the Commander's arm?" Doubling Lin asked quietly.

"Mm-hmm," Ayanami nodded, saying nothing more.

"Then..."

Ayanami shook her head sharply at her, signaling her to stop, while simultaneously scooping a spoonful of salt and adding it to Li Ming's dish—not too much, not too little, just right.

Stir-frying a dish was quick work. At least Li Ming could still manage the heat, turning it off just in time before disaster struck and pouring the food onto a new plate.

Although the weather wasn't hot yet, the steamy oil fumes had Li Ming sweating profusely. In the past, he might have just taken off his jacket and kept working, but with girls around now, he couldn't do something so uncouth.

Fortunately, Doubling Lin was their little sweetheart, wiping his sweat and helping out. It was just wonderful (sob).

With the help, Li Ming finally finished preparing dinner half an hour after sunset. The rice in the electric cooker had been kept warm for a while.

Although the Western Ship Girls weren't used to eating rice, because of Li Ming, they had learned to adapt to Eastern cuisine.

... 'Adapt' was putting it mildly. They had been completely conquered by Eastern food. The mysterious power of the East was truly fearsome.

With the dishes laid out, dinner was ready to begin.

Just then, Hu Jian, who had gone to organize their findings, finally came down from the Bridge. After her shower, she hadn't changed into her usual clothes but had put on a retired Navy-Striped Shirt that had once belonged to Li Ming.

The shirt had been torn during a particularly vigorous washing by Li Ming after a training session. He had intended to throw it away, but Hu Jian kept it. For reasons known only to her, it had since become her casual wear.

Her Bridge (compared to some super-sized Ship Girls from the port) wasn't particularly large, so Li Ming's XXXL-sized shirt essentially became her pajamas.

Li Ming's eye twitched. Only then did he properly take in the people in the dining area and realized that, aside from himself—who for some inexplicable reason was dressed like a veteran cadre—everyone else was quite casual...

He immediately felt awkward. He seemed to be sticking out again. Fortunately, nobody seemed to pay it much mind, so he just lowered his head and focused on his meal.

Javelin's gaze kept drifting toward Li Ming's left arm. Under the light, the crisscrossing pattern of scars reflected slightly, something you'd hardly notice if you weren't looking carefully.

Laffey's attention was completely on dinner. Ayanami ate quietly, as if the world around her didn't exist. Z23, reading the atmosphere, occasionally served Li Ming some food, distracting him.

Li Ming was flustered by this behavior. In the past, only his mother would do something like that, but unlike then, he felt no resistance now.

Across from him, Hu Jian seemed distracted, poking at the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks, lost in thought.

"Fujian?" Li Ming finally noticed her unusual state. "What's wrong?"

"Ah..." She snapped back to reality. "Nothing, I was just thinking about the information we found."

As she said this, she noticed Laffey had nearly picked all the good bits from the dishes and hurriedly raised her chopsticks to fight Laffey for the remaining morsels.

"Laffey! Leave some for me..."

Watching her struggle against the Destroyer, not daring to go all out, Li Ming found it amusing and decided to drop the line of questioning.