52: Chapter 52 "Comrade Captain of the Royal Fortune Inspects the New Industrial Zone"

By the time Li Ming realized there was a problem, it was already noon the next day.

Well, because he had slept until noon the next day.

As for why A6 didn't wake him up?

Li Ming glanced at A6, who was wrapped in a blanket and curled up on the equipment of a restraint rack to one side.

As an "artificial intelligence," can't you even resist video games? Tsk, this A6...

After checking his terminal and confirming there was no signal, Li Ming immediately got up, quietly went out to wash up, and then went to get some lunch.

Since things had come to this, he would first take A6 to have lunch.

However, necessary deployments still had to be made. Considering the considerable time required for ship engines to start up, Li Ming didn't plan to have the fleet set sail yet. Instead, he began preheating them first, while producing some American gunboats and torpedo boats to patrol the coastal waters. At the same time, he temporarily halted part of the Industrial Zone construction to prioritize building some infantry and armored equipment.

Currently, the investment in army equipment R&D wasn't very high. The equipment Li Ming could field that was suitable for rugged island terrain was the M4A4 and M3A3. Disregarding amphibious operations, it was best to only keep these.

The armed Manjuu, holding a Garand rifle and wearing an oversized steel helmet, looked a bit incongruous but at least had sufficient firepower.

Next was waiting. Fujian's reaction should be faster than his. Running around chaotically now might just cause trouble, so it was better to guard the transport ship.

However, he had underestimated the intensity of the electromagnetic interference.

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"Gah-oh— Captain! An island has been spotted!"

Hearing Dolphin's shout, Royal Fortune rushed out of the captain's cabin to look into the distance. A sizable island with steep terrain appeared before her eyes.

"Hahaha, heaven never seals off all exits, we finally have a lead!" Royal Fortune laughed heartily... and was then promptly disciplined by Golden Deer.

"My sixth sense seems to be pointing towards that island," Dolphin added. "But! It seems there are ships approaching..."

"Ships?" Royal Fortune, who had been laughing and fooling around, immediately became serious and looked in the direction Dolphin indicated.

"Gunboats? They look like Eagle Union's," Royal Fortune analyzed. "It does seem likely they're Eagle Union comrades. After all, they sometimes deploy with mass-produced ships during sorties."

"Should we identify ourselves?" Golden Deer deployed her rigging... It must be said, the style of Hurricane's rigging was distinctly Lovecraftian, though the anime art style made it hard to dislike.

"Let's try... Huh?"

In Royal Fortune's view, the two torpedo boats circled around, seemingly glitching as they nearly collided, then stopped to observe, and finally sailed directly towards the island.

What did that mean? Royal Fortune was covered in question marks.

"Ah, never mind! Let's prepare to go ashore! If that Eagle Union friend is really here, she'll definitely come find us!"

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Twenty minutes later, Royal Fortune's flagship dropped anchor near the island, and they landed on this side.

"Doesn't look very developed..." Royal Fortune pinched the sand on the ground, puzzled.

"It could also be on another part of the island. An island this big might not be fully developed," Gary Adventure analyzed.

"Then let's split up and search!" Royal Fortune waved her hand grandly. "Let's go!"

Everyone scattered. Royal Fortune chose to go straight into the woods.

It was already dusk. While night might seem less safe, come on, they were Ship Girls.

Entering the forested area, she punched a black bear flat...

"Why is there a bear on the island?!" Royal Fortune complained.

Then she continued forward, relying on the Ship Girl's superhuman physique to climb over the mountain, and then saw lights.

"Ooh, looks like we found it!" Royal Fortune was pleased with her luck. She immediately returned, left Vida to guard the ship, gathered the others, and headed over together.

After dark, they finally emerged from the woods. Before them was what looked like a newly built complex of structures.

"Is that... a Manjuu?" Gary Adventure wondered, looking at the Yellow Chicken wearing a steel helmet and holding a Garand.

"That basically confirms they're allies, right?" Royal Fortune walked forward confidently and boldly. It turned out she was right; the half-human-tall Yellow Chicken just raised its rifle in salute and took no further action.

The group walked inside, observing the bustling activity within.

"Is this a factory?" Royal Fortune asked curiously. "It looks newly built..."

Continuing inward, the group walked and looked around.

"What's that?" Royal Fortune pointed curiously at the huge machine in operation.

"That is a Molecular Assembler, the core of the Industrial Zone, used to produce basic components."

"Ooh... What about those belching black smoke?"

"That's the power hub, supplying electricity for the district's operations."

Royal Fortune nodded and continued forward. "Looks good!"

After walking a bit further, she saw trucks shuttling back and forth and Yellow Chickens performing assembly work.

"What's this area for?" she asked.

"A sub-assembly plant. It assembles the most basic components into sub-assemblies, which are then sent to the next area for final assembly."

"Ooh, so the area ahead is the final assembly zone?"

"Yes, they are assembling robotic arms. The robotic arms are used to expand the assembly lines... You do know what an assembly line is, right?"

"Of course this Captain knows!" Royal Fortune said indignantly, but still praised, "This place is quite nice! Is this the so-called Industrial Zone?"

"It's still different from a traditional Industrial Zone..."

Before the speaker finished, Royal Fortune ran ahead. She saw a large number of Yellow Chickens and some engineering vehicles digging on the beach.

"What's this for?"

"Building a dry dock."

"Putting a dock together with the Industrial Zone?"

"It's an island. Terrain is limited."

"Makes sense." Royal Fortune nodded, looking at the lit-up cruiser in the distance. "That should be the rumored fleet, right? Looks like brand-new ships."

"Uh... should be."

"I see. Let me think, maybe I can find information about that comrade there..."

Royal Fortune froze. Her other companions hadn't been speaking, yet she had been conversing with another voice without realizing anything was wrong at all.

Looking back, her companions were looking at her with awkward yet polite smiles, while Li Ming stood behind her wearing a 'nuclear-grade' benevolent smile.

"Hello there, Captain Royal Fortune. Welcome, venerable one, to inspect our new Industrial Zone construction."

"Eep... C-Commander?" Royal Fortune broke out in a cold sweat. "S-so it's you?"

Wait, Commander?

"Aha! So you're here after all!" Royal Fortune pounced.

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