63: Chapter 63 The Edge of Vision

"Ahem, uh, the port's first family meeting... probably? Anyway, meeting's in session."

In the meeting room of the qinglong ship, Li Ming clapped his hands to signal everyone to quiet down (though it was actually already very quiet).

Li Ming signaled the ship's artificial intelligence to turn on the large screen, displaying the current map of the continent and the southern sea area to everyone.

Li Ming pointed to some relatively concentrated dots on the lower-left part of the map. "We are here. A relatively dense archipelago. There might be some discrepancies in the relative distance from the continent, but overall it should be about right."

"But one thing is that our location is not on any of the Federation's charts, and the location of our last battle..."

Li Ming used a stick to point to the site of the previous battle. "...is at the edge of their known charts, a place where almost no one goes. Only two types of ships basically appear here."

"One is the so-called immigrant ships, which can basically be equated to exile or murder. The shipwreck we explored before was one of those. The other is ocean current routes, using the currents nearby for maritime transport, as well as some novel, thrilling ways for travelers to face risks directly."

Li Ming paused. "And the ones we rescued last time were the latter."

Li Ming glanced at Royal Fortune. She hadn't taken this information seriously at first, and it was only after Li Ming asked that she belatedly answered.

"Therefore, we now have the absolute initiative, but at the same time, we need a non-aggressive external name to call ourselves," Li Ming continued. He wasn't actually very good at giving speeches, but he had already formed some preliminary ideas about these things.

Regarding this point, Fujian had already communicated with him and deemed it necessary.

The name Port was too abrupt and might not be suitable as an official external title. While it might be eye-catching, it could also lead to unnecessary trouble.

Therefore, to be safe, the name Port was directly passed over.

"Another thing is to spread our information out." Li Ming looked at the members of the Hurricane. "I need your help."

Li Ming saw that they were waiting for his next words, so he continued:

"I need you to notify the Ship Girl General Bureau—note, not the Federation officials—inform them of our approximate location and report our official faction title."

"Is there anything else to say?" Royal Fortune was indeed reliable when it came to serious business. "I mean, what can be said and what cannot."

"Of course, first let's talk about what must be kept strictly confidential." Li Ming thought for a moment, took out an A4 sheet of paper, and began to write.

Strictly Prohibited:

1. Location of the core area.

2. Industrial equipment technology.

3. The true identity of the Yellow Chickens.

4. Information regarding the Commander and the port's Ship Girls.

5. Scale of the armed forces.

"Take a look and see if there's anything else that should be prohibited?" Li Ming slid the A4 paper to the middle of the table for everyone to see.

"Uh..." Everyone frowned as they looked at the content. Royal Fortune looked up. "Commander, are you writing in Chinese?"

"No..." Li Ming looked down. Indeed, to put it nicely, it was flamboyant calligraphy; to put it bluntly, it was like a dog's crawl.

Silently putting the paper away, Li Ming repeated the five points he had thought of. "Next is the core that must be emphasized."

"First, we have the intention to cooperate and exchange; second, we hope the other party can respond; third, we have established communication channels on those islands to the north, but remember to only specify the location of these islands and nothing else; fourth, we are an organization with Ship Girls as the main body."

Royal Fortune nodded, snatched the A4 paper back from Li Ming's hand, and took notes with a ballpoint pen.

"Of course, there are also some contents that can be discussed later," Fujian added. "For example, the fishery resources in the northern part of the archipelago, as well as some commodity trade, but these must be told to them—they need to be negotiated with us... that is, the core personnel."

Royal Fortune naturally understood. "Anything else?"

"At least, that's what I need you to do..." Li Ming paused. "Thanks to the... uh, generous donations from some enthusiastic citizens, our next strategic deployment can be more flexible."

The pirates breathed a sigh of relief; the Commander had accepted it.

Li Ming glared at them but ultimately said nothing.

"First of all, our flagship for a considerable period of time, the admiral class. By the time the other party responds, it should be officially launched."

Although this was equivalent to being forced out through direct spending of resources, the performance and quality remained the same.

"The admiral class will serve as our core deterrent. Meanwhile, the heavy cruiser dock has also been put into production for the subsequent expansion of the main fleet."

"For the next period, we must be even more careful. We won't be able to launch a second capital ship in a short time; we can only replenish Destroyers or submarines," Li Ming emphasized.

Using one-time molding is very efficient, but the accompanying electricity and resource consumption are also enormous. Just tanks and planes are 40% higher than normal production, and for a behemoth like a warship, the various extra losses can add up to 200%.

Therefore, Fujian's order-based production is completely accurate. Li Ming couldn't continuously invest in full-speed production; that would be playing himself to death, even though he had plenty of resource reserves, not even counting Royal Fortune's.

Royal Fortune faithfully recorded it, and then Li Ming looked at Fujian.

Fujian shook her head, indicating she had nothing to add—he had done well enough.

The subsequent security tasks were not her concern.

Z23 faithfully wrote the meeting minutes in her notebook, and then Li Ming suddenly remembered something.

"Golden Deer, I remember you mentioned you reorganized a merchant house around here?"

"Hmm?" Golden Deer was taken aback. "There's something for me?" But she quickly reacted, "Commander, do you want to..."

"Is there anything that catches your eye?" Li Ming showed a profiteer-like smile. "I'm specifically referring to things that are precious to the continent but considered ordinary on our side."

"Of course there are." Although Golden Deer thirsted for the Commander's body, she knew what to do and when. "Then please assign some manpower to me, Commander."

"No problem." Li Ming nodded. "And everyone else, you can take whatever you want... except for warships and planes, I still need those."

"Anyway, back to the point, Commander." Royal Fortune folded the A4 paper and put it in her pocket. "What title do you plan to use for ourselves?"

"I actually have a good idea," Li Ming replied. "Horizons Edge, Frontier Vision."

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