61: Chapter 61 Night in the Mountains

"Royal Fortune, Mary, Gary Adventure, Dolphin, and Golden Deer... Hmm, everyone's here." Li Ming counted heads at the exit, and only after confirming everyone was accounted for did he emerge.

"Commander!"

"Commander?"

He was immediately surrounded by everyone. Looking at their appearances, Li Ming found it a bit amusing.

"I can tell everyone's had a rough time." Li Ming made a gesture of surrender. "But I'm fine. See, they protected me very well."

Although they noticed the swelling on Li Ming's hand, they tacitly chose not to mention it. The group gathered to discuss and decided to leave this place immediately.

However, it was already getting dark, and it was too late to head down the mountain now.

Royal Fortune suggested camping halfway up the mountain tonight, as it was both far from the ruins and didn't require traveling much further.

The group set up tents halfway up the mountain before dark. A6 was repairing a damaged rifle, while Li Ming was pondering over his two cold weapons.

It seemed like these two things didn't really have much practical use when used in combat...

"Commander, shall we go hunting?"

"Sure." Li Ming thought for a moment. "Then A6, can you help us watch the fire?"

A6 looked up at the burning campfire. "Yes, sir."

"Alright then, let's head out!"

Except for Vida and Golden Deer who stayed behind, everyone else scattered to go hunting.

Li Ming followed Gary Adventure to set an ambush, and when he turned his head, he saw a Black Bear.

"Commander, look..." Gary Adventure asked for Li Ming's opinion.

Although he didn't know why there were bears on the island, Li Ming still shook his head. "No, bears are a Class II protected species."

"Huh?"

Though she couldn't understand, Gary Adventure had to drop the idea.

In the end, they caught a few wild chickens and called it a day.

When they returned, they saw that everyone else had similar results; it was enough to eat, and if they caught too much, they wouldn't be able to finish it anyway.

It was hard on Golden Deer and the recently returned Dolphin, as they had to process the raw meat, while Li Ming subconsciously felt nauseous whenever he smelled that slightly fishy scent of blood.

However, he did his best to endure it and went to help process the meat, but being clumsy, he ended up getting blood all over the front of his clothes.

Seeing Li Ming's awkwardness, Golden Deer suppressed a laugh and shooed him back to the campfire, telling him to go talk with the others.

Li Ming took off his coat; great, now he'd have to trouble Z23 to help him clean it later.

He pulled the dozing Vida over; she had reverted to her original form after the emergency ended.

Then he performed another 'head-pat kill' on A6.

"Negative, meaning unclear!" A6 put down her gun and protected her hair clip.

Royal Fortune leaned over and received a head-pat kill as well; she was simply happy about it.

Gary Adventure was somewhat envious that her captain could be so intimately close with the Commander without any resistance, but clearly, she had underestimated how thick-skinned her Commander could be.

"Commander, you really..." Looking at the hand rubbing her head, Gary Adventure found it a bit funny. "You're being a bit greedy."

Mary was fiddling with the pot and gave a helpless smile seeing them like that.

"Commander is playing favorites, I'm so sad..." Golden Deer teased from the side.

Dolphin squinted at them and then continued her work of draining the blood. She had many keys on her hat, but her true treasure didn't require a key.

——————

After a full meal... oh right, there was no wine. Li Ming slumped relaxedly on a tree stump that was lying on the ground for some reason. Royal Fortune tried to offer him a glass of rum, but Li Ming refused.

He was truly afraid that if he drank too much, he would say strange things or act oddly. Besides, he had a low tolerance for alcohol, and his behavior while drunk was an unknown variable.

A6 originally intended to eat just enough for herself, but she couldn't withstand Royal Fortune's enthusiastic assault and ended up eating... a lot more.

Then, with Li Ming's silent permission, she drank some rum. Perhaps because she didn't know what alcohol was, she choked a bit after drinking it. She didn't like the taste of alcohol, especially seeing that her Commander wasn't drinking either.

Royal Fortune could only give up dejectedly and went to drink with her companions.

As for Li Ming, he looked up at his terminal. There was still no signal, but luckily Li Ming had stuffed a few e-books into the terminal, so he could entertain himself for a bit now.

"How old are you, and you're already talking about 'entertaining yourself'? Is that something someone your age should be doing?"

Li Ming suddenly heard his old man's dissatisfied voice and jerked his head up to look around.

Scratching his head, he lay back down again.

In this godforsaken place, besides his Ship Girls, who else could control him?

"Query."

Fine, there was also her.

"Using an electronic screen in a dark environment will cause vision loss," A6 said solemnly, repeating the knowledge Z23 had told her.

Li Ming smiled, turned off the terminal, stuffed it back into his bag, and sat up. "If we're really talking about that, who was it that stayed up late playing games with me the other day?"

A6 was left speechless, lowering her head as if thinking about something.

Li Ming was about to pull her over to sit beside him when he suddenly felt a chill on top of his head.

It's already dark...

Wait!

"Oh no! Missiles... bah bah bah, it's raining! Everyone, get into the tents!"

A group of Ship Girls haphazardly threw down their bowls and utensils and fled into the tent, watching the heavy rain fall with Li Ming.

It was by the seaside, after all; occasional rain was normal.

A group of people were squeezed into one tent. Although the tent was large enough, Li Ming still felt there were a bit too many people.

And...

Smelling the scent of alcohol on them, Li Ming suddenly realized two problems:

1: He probably wouldn't be able to take a bath today, even though he was covered in sweat and had been soaked in water.

2: Looking at their posture, there was an eighty percent chance they were all going to sleep under one big blanket today!

Boys, I'm doomed this time.

Seeing their attention gradually shift toward him, Li Ming felt cold sweat starting to break out again.

"Um, it's getting late today, ahaha..."

"Yes, it is getting late..." Golden Deer echoed, but Li Ming detected the teasing in her voice.

"Um, Commander, since we're all squeezed into one tent today, then..." Mary's cheeks were somewhat alluringly red from the alcohol. "Is it okay if we all sleep together tonight?"

"Um, does it really have to be like this?" Li Ming asked, clinging to a glimmer of hope.

"Of course..." Royal Fortune said with finality. "After all, the Commander belongs to everyone..."

"Hiss, can we settle this peacefully?" Li Ming made a pathetic sound just like Finn's.

"At this moment, surely the Commander isn't joking?" Gary Adventure was also rarely this proactive, and even Vida showed a look of anticipation.

Alright, I'm doomed, boys. Li Ming thought to himself, it'll be a miracle if I can fall asleep today...

A6 looked at them, not understanding what was going on.

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