50: Chapter 50 Arrival

"Hi hi hi! The beach! I'm here!" Li Ming stepped onto the shore of the new island, looking like a monkey on high-potency stimulants.

He felt that he should be like MacArthur right now, putting on sunglasses for a photo; it would definitely look cool.

A6 watched him run around the beach in silence. After the landing craft docked, she controlled her equipment and stepped onto the sand.

Unlike dust, the feeling of sand under her feet was... curious. But for now...

"Question: Does the Commander have a history of mental illness?"

Li Ming stumbled and fell face-first into the ground, getting a mouthful of sand.

The camera drone faithfully recorded the moment; it looked like Li Ming's dark history was about to get a +1.

"Cough, cough, cough... A6, if you put it that way, there isn't a single normal person left in the world!" Li Ming rolled over and spat out the sand.

"Negative. Miss Z23 and Lady Fujian are extremely normal social entities."

"What the... what the hell is a 'social entity'?!" Li Ming said helplessly. "Fine, they are indeed quite normal, I can't argue with that."

Li Ming stood up, looked at the Yellow Chickens building Mulberry Harbor and the engineering drones preparing for surveying work, and walked over to discuss things with the engineering drones.

Though it felt like a layman instructing experts, considering the island's terrain was relatively steep, Li Ming had ultimately designated it as the naval factory. The mountainous areas would serve as resource production sites and wind power facilities—maybe even underground factories later? But that was a matter for another time.

Through low-altitude reconnaissance by seaplanes, a zone suitable for logistics was identified. This spot was selected for the Molecular Assembler factory, and construction began.

Besides the Molecular Assembler, the qinglong ship had another miraculous thing called a construction pack, though it wasn't actually that high-tech. In games, you'd see a crate pushed out of an MCV construction vehicle which then disappeared into a lift to complete a building; that was impossible in reality. This construction pack was actually just a container for core working components; the rest still required prefabricated panels and building materials for construction.

Even so, construction could be very fast. Prefabricated parts avoided the process of laying bricks one by one and applying cement—or rather, that step could be handled after the facility was operational. It was a great thing for emergency expansions.

"Query: You have not considered anti-air and coastal defense systems."

"You're right, A6. That's something I'll consider in the next phase." Li Ming pulled A6 over. "The deployment of anti-air positions needs more scouting from the recon planes. Let's get the Radar Station up first, and also..."

He gave her a head pat.

"Objection: Meaning unclear!" She struggled to straighten her hairpin.

"Heh heh, and I plan to prepare mobile anti-air units too."

The technical foundation he had accumulated previously could now be used, whether it was trucks, light-to-medium tracked chassis, or 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns. The M42 'Duster' dual 40mm Bofors carrier was Li Ming's preference; he really liked that thing.

"Query: Mobile anti-air systems have a lower cost-performance ratio compared to fixed facility anti-air."

"That's true, I overlooked that point." Li Ming was lost in thought. "Build them on rooftops? That seems a bit obvious..."

"Affirmative. The tops of buildings provide a good field of vision and are necessary placement areas for anti-air facilities."

"You're right." Li Ming scratched his head in slight annoyance. "Then A6, can I ask for your help with the drafting of the anti-air facilities? I don't want Fujian to have to rearrange everything for me later."

"Affirmative. Assisting the Commander is part of a..." A6 paused. "...subordinate's duty."

"Thanks! Phew, that's a huge help."

After talking in circles on paper for so long, Li Ming felt it was more practical to just start working. This was the biggest difference between Li Ming and Fujian; Li Ming needed physical objects for comparison, whereas looking at a diagram just left his mind blank.

A6 felt something wasn't quite right, but seeing that Li Ming had already made up his mind, she didn't argue.

After all, she didn't actually understand industry or design.

The Yellow Chickens began their work, and Li Ming went back to being that eccentric monkey.

A6 stood to the side, watching him point and gesture at this construction site, then put on a scholarly look at that planning area, and finally act like a grand strategist at Mulberry Harbor, only to end up being chased around by an engineering drone with a wrench.

"...Query: Meaning unclear."

After a while, he must have tired himself out, as he found a random landing craft by the shore and sat down on its ramp.

A6 walked over and stood quietly behind him.

"Well, what do you think they're doing right now?"

"Response: Lady Fujian and Miss Z23 are processing information that could not be handled during your absence. It is inferred that Miss Laffey is currently sleeping. Miss Javelin and Miss Ayanami are likely playing video games together."

"True... looks like everyone is doing just fine without me..."

A6 showed a hint of confusion, then continued speaking a few seconds later.

"Objection."

"Why the objection?" Li Ming suddenly became interested. He leaned back against the cockpit and accidentally bumped his head. "Ouch..."

It was metal; that really hurt.

"...Objection," A6 repeated. It seemed she couldn't quite explain why.

"Alright, I'll stop teasing you... What do you want to eat tonight? I'm telling you in advance, I really can't manage sea fish or wild game..."

"Suggestion: A normal diet will suffice."

"Okay, I'll go cook in a bit. Hope I make it in time for dinner."

Li Ming cooking personally? A6 recalled that in the week she had been here, this seemed to be the first time in her database that he had offered to cook himself.

——————

"This should be roughly the sea area where the cruise ship had its accident." Mary checked the map again.

"It looks like there's nothing around except other exploration ships..." Royal Fortune looked around with her binoculars. The surrounding area was filled with various steamships or small freighters; their group sailing a tall ship was quite conspicuous.

She had personally gone overboard, moving her sea-monster-like rigging around the ship to drive away several fellows who tried to tail them.

"Darn it, are we destined to return empty-handed?" Royal Fortune was unwilling to give up.

"...Although I want to go too, I have a feeling it's more appropriate for you to lead the way..."

She remembered what Gang Yishawa had said to her. Was there some deep meaning in those words?

"Whatever..." Royal Fortune took out her compass—the token between the Port and the Hurricane world. But now, it had almost no reaction; it would spin wildly if there was any significant movement.

She slammed it hard against the railing. The compass spun rapidly, and finally, the red marker stopped, pointing Southwest.

"We're going Southwest!" Royal Fortune declared.

"Are you sure? Any further and there really won't be any charts to guide us." Golden Deer sighed.

"I'm sure!" Royal Fortune said. "Everyone, let's vote!"

A drowsy Vida raised her hand.

Mary raised her hand, and Gary Adventure, who hadn't appeared in the text at all until now, also raised her hand.

Golden Deer raised her hand.

"Alright, passed unanimously. Let's go!"

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