97: Chapter 97 Oronia

Evening.

The sea breeze blew across Oronia, bringing a unique atmosphere to the city.

Compared to Edenia with its population of 88 million, this city only had about 10 million people, yet it could still be considered a megacity.

The Auronia Knight Kingdom, a member state of the Edenia Knight Federation.

Since conquering half of the Xia Empire 150 years ago, Oronia had been built upon the ruins of the Xia Empire's great cities.

Due to its unique geographical location, it caught the eye of the famous Federation naval general, Marshal Brooke, who persuaded the Grand Knight Commander of that time—perhaps he could be called the "Conqueror King"?—to grant him this piece of land on the peninsula as a trophy of merit, while the rest of the peninsula was handed over to other knight states.

Today's Oronia is a border port city.

Skyscrapers stood tall, and the prosperous port saw a constant stream of ships.

The famous Auronia Maritime Academy is located in this city, providing the Federation with countless excellent Commanders to serve as the backbone in the fight against the Sirens.

Because of its prosperous industry and commerce, it possessed the ability to support the academy's operations independently, and the Ship Girl General Bureau was also happy to maintain a massive and independent Maritime Academy through trade with the Kingdom.

The presence of the Maritime Academy also improved the city's public security and maritime trade coordination, providing an extremely secure guarantee for the surrounding waters.

Although this area was inherently part of the continent's interior and far from the open sea, the Xia Empire's occasional harassment was still quite troublesome, wasn't it?

After all, that part of the Empire's coast faced Oronia across the sea.

A heavy cruiser traversed the busy shipping lanes—she was cutting in line.

Relying on the flag of the Ship Girl General Bureau, she gained priority docking rights.

She slowly drifted into a berth in the civilian port specifically reserved for ships with special needs and dropped anchor.

The gangway was pushed to the shore by a transport vehicle and connected to the ship's side.

Three women and one man walked down from the ship.

Li Ming looked at the busy dock, the transport vehicles coming and going, the dockworkers at work, and the various crates being hoisted on and off ships by gantry cranes.

"The era of container ships hasn't arrived yet?" Li Ming thought to himself. Even though they had entered the information age, it seemed this country's development was a bit lopsided.

But then again, who was truly lopsided, who was genuinely well-rounded, and who could really say for sure?

At least Li Ming felt that nothing should be too absolute.

A6's equipment was covered with a cloth and sent onto a truck.

Fortunately, as long as it was re-equipped within 72 hours, there wouldn't be much of an issue, though it would take twice as long to recover afterward.

Considering the issues here, Li Ming stayed close to the Ship Girls so they could react in time if anything happened.

"Ta-da! Commander Li Ming, this is—Oronia!"

Finally back on their own turf, "How is it? How is it? Isn't it lively?"

"Indeed, it's my first time at a place like this, a trade port..."

"Right? Right?" Kano jogged forward a few steps, turned back amidst the surprised looks of the people around her, and made a hugging gesture. "You'll be living here from now on!"

"Uh..." Li Ming adjusted his glasses. "It's... it's quite nice. At least it's very lively."

"Right? Right? Keep up, I'll take you to the Academy!"

After exchanging a glance with Z23, Li Ming reached out to A6. A6 then lunged forward and was carried by Li Ming as they walked, reducing the risk of Li Ming being questioned.

She's really light, Li Ming thought.

Following Kano, the four of them got onto the truck carrying A6's equipment and drove out of the port.

Passing through bustling streets and by the coastal defense barracks, Li Ming arrived at the sprawling "Ship Girl General Bureau Edenia Knight Federation Maritime Academy, Auronia Campus."

"Are the Alert sentries all Ship Girls?" Sitting on the tailgate of the truck, Li Ming observed curiously.

The two Ship Girls on duty were also observing him and the two girls beside him.

Kano jumped down from the driver's seat. "Hi, you two. I'm Kano from the Federation General Bureau. Here are my ID and pass."

She smilingly took her documents out of her pocket and handed them over.

"Ah... Good evening, Deputy Director Kano!" After checking the IDs, the two Ship Girls quickly saluted.

"Hey, hey, no need to be so formal..." Kano waved her hands quickly. "This is an unofficial visit, no need for that."

"Understood, Deputy Director Kano." A guard Ship Girl raised the electric barrier.

Since Kano presented a special permit, Li Ming and the others weren't inspected, and Kano drove them inside.

"So you're a Deputy Director?" Li Ming finally asked once they were away from the sentry post.

Verres had never mentioned this to him.

"Surprised?" Kano turned the steering wheel stylishly. "I've been doing this for ten years!"

"We're going to flip, you idiot!!" The three of them were tossed about.

After some commotion, the truck finally reached its destination.

Because of the relationship between Commanders and Ship Girls, the residential area of the Maritime Academy consisted of individual detached buildings.

From Li Ming's perspective, this place looked a lot like the high-end residential communities hyped up in the real estate market of his memory.

"Rows as letters, columns as numbers?" Li Ming looked at the layout of the buildings.

The truck arrived at Building A7. Row A was the row closest to the sea; the beach was right outside the door, and the south-facing windows had a direct view of the ocean.

"There, this is where you'll be living." Kano turned off the truck. "The third floor is yours, but you'll still have to go through some procedures yourselves... oh, wait, I'll have to take you to get some IDs sorted out first."

Li Ming nodded and glanced at A6.

A6 uncovered her equipment, sat on it, connected to it, and then went upstairs gently, trying her best not to collapse the stairs!

Fortunately, the construction was sturdy enough. The treads were retracted, and the equipment was made as compact as possible. A6 used her legs to support the equipment as she reached the third floor and then struggled through the open door.

Li Ming and Z23 breathed a sigh of relief, while Kano stood with her hands on her hips, rubbing her chin. "So, how are we supposed to get down next time?"

"Good question. We'll worry about that next time." Li Ming shrugged.

"Makes sense. Alright, put your luggage away, it's almost seven o'clock!" Kano clapped her hands. "Next, I'll take you to get your IDs, and then we'll go to Baihui Street for some good food!"

"Sure." Li Ming nodded, while Z23 entered the room and began taking out daily necessities from her rigging space to set them up.

Li Ming took out his tablet and glanced at it. The tablet lit up on its own, displaying a line of text.

"I have successfully infiltrated this country's internet. I will now begin researching this world; give me some time. By the way, I have upgraded the software on your electronic device, and it is now compatible with the local network. Please use it with confidence."

Li Ming put away the tablet, glanced at the camera, blinked, and then looked at Kano, waiting for Z23 and A6 to finish settling in.

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