96: Chapter 96 Departure

"Do you have all your clothes?"

"I have everything for all four seasons."

"Do you remember everything you need to do over there?"

"I remember."

"Did you bring your electronic devices and other essentials?"

"I have them all."

"You know where Royal Fortune and the others are, right?"

"Of course..."

"What about A6?"

"Right here." He held A6 up in front of Fujian.

"Clarification: Miss Fujian seems a bit overly anxious." Despite being held in mid-air, A6 maintained her dead-fish expression while explaining Fujian's state. "Miss Fujian has been preparing for two months; please have some confidence in the Commander."

"Ugh..." Fujian's cheeks flushed slightly; she really did seem a bit neurotic today.

Setting A6 down, the girl silently crawled back onto her equipment, which was then hoisted onto the cruiser Kano had brought via a crane.

"Wow..." Kano watched as A6 was sent aboard like a dried salted fish, looking somewhat comical.

On the other side, Hu Jian looked at Li Ming, seemingly having much more to say, but before she could find the chance to speak, Li Ming took the initiative to hug her.

She froze for a moment, then wrapped her arms around Li Ming's back.

This trip would last several months; by the time she saw him again, it would be the snowy season once more.

After lingering in her Commander's embrace one last time, Fujian took the initiative to push him away.

Li Ming saw the other three girls behind her.

Laffey was the first; she stepped forward to hug him and gave Li Ming a quick peck on the lips.

Well, it worked every time. Li Ming stiffened for a second before accepting her gesture.

"Wow... Laffey is so bold..." Javelin marveled.

Ayanami didn't react, simply waiting for Li Ming's gaze to fall upon them.

After a bit of a fuss, Li Ming finally set Laffey down and gave Javelin and Ayanami each a hug.

It was time to depart, to leave this sea area he had watched develop with his own eyes.

Z23 stood at the bottom of the gangway waiting for him, dragging a small suitcase.

"I should get going." Li Ming turned around and followed Z23 up the gangway.

Fujian looked at Kano, who gave her a thumbs-up before jogging to catch up with Li Ming.

The three of them stepped onto the deck, and Li Ming looked back at everyone.

The gangway detached from the deck and was moved toward a corner.

The cruiser's anchor was raised by electric motors, and the hull slowly moved away from the port, towed toward the mouth of the bay by tugboats.

Li Ming reached out for a final wave, then, perhaps for the first time, gave a military salute toward the shore.

—I'm leaving the home in your hands.

Fujian returned the salute, while Laffey waved her wine cup.

Ayanami, at the very back, also gave him a salute, while Javelin cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone:

"Commander— Remember to come home!—"

Li Ming let out a laugh and turned his head away.

Kano rubbed her hands together, looking a bit unnatural.

This was the first time she had ever encountered such a scene, so she was naturally a bit uncomfortable, but then she suddenly remembered something.

"Oh no! I forgot to arrange rooms for you guys!"

Li Ming's calm expression instantly crumbled. "You don't mean you want us to sleep with you?"

Oops, looks like a slip of the tongue...

Before Li Ming could correct his wording, Kano jumped up like a startled rabbit. "You can't! My room isn't that big to begin with!"

Li Ming didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Then please help us find one or two cabins, and while you're at it, help us move A6's equipment inside too."

Z23 sighed and facepalmed.

——————

Night.

The officers' mess, originally designed for the ship, was now a good place for the Ship Girls to relax.

After tricking Li Ming and Z23 into providing dinner, a slightly bloated Kano rubbed her nose, wondering if she had been a bit unethical?

Making guests do the work when she was the host—though she was technically more like a supervisor?

To her surprise, Li Ming and Z23 didn't seem to mind much, and they had actually made a decent dinner using the ship's stores.

"Oh, so these games are yours. I was wondering why the games Senior Leica had were all things I'd never seen on the market..."

"I remember I mostly gave her some single-player games..." Li Ming recalled the orange-haired girl who had suddenly appeared at his door in the core residential area a few months ago, blocking his way and demanding games.

He had been a bit suspicious of her motives at first, but thinking he was going to refuse...

She had darted straight into the room and curled up quite simply under his blankets.

What else could Li Ming say? He had to resolve the issue before Fujian found out, so he gave her some games from his laptop's hard drive.

He didn't know how she transferred things between two completely different interfaces, but she had basically copied every single game on his laptop...

He really didn't know what would happen; those games of his were essentially 'Otherworld Specials'...

Sighing, Li Ming looked at Kano, who was currently playing a fighting game with A6, each holding a controller.

It was fine; she wasn't the difficult-to-get-along-with type. He just didn't know what Verres' intention was in sending this girl.

Z23 finished cleaning the kitchen and sat down next to Li Ming.

"Commander?"

"I'm thinking about what we'll encounter next." Li Ming watched the two playing games. "It's like when I transferred campuses in my senior year of high school; everything felt fresh. But for now, I just hope I don't get seasick again... that would be a real embarrassment."

"The Commander looks fine so far." Z23 observed. "If you aren't sick by now, you probably won't be, unless we hit rough seas again."

"That's true." Li Ming nodded in agreement. "Oronia... where was it again?"

"According to the map, it's in the central part of the continent." Z23 looked at the map. "Oronia is located on the Federation side of the central continent. The border between the Federation and the Empire is the shortest north-south section of the entire continent, only about 1,000 kilometers."

Li Ming recalled the map of the continent; she was right.

Oronia wasn't right on the land border but on a peninsula about five hundred kilometers south of it, facing the Empire across the sea. From the descriptions, it was a top-tier metropolis with a population of tens of millions.

Li Ming glanced at the overcoat hanging on the rack. His han sword and Tang Dao were both attached to it, but he probably wouldn't be wearing that coat for a long time, would he?

A three-day voyage meant they would arrive on the morning of the day after tomorrow.

Three days... Although he had spent longer at sea before, this was his first time traveling this far across the ocean...

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