Elder brother's garrison

"Freshly caught," Xiaobai replied.

“Oh…” Lu Ming seemed to understand.

Chapter 2420 Lu Ming's Trouble

"Hello." Lu Ming turned his gaze to the ship girl and the Dean of the Deep Sea behind Xiao Bai, a faint kindness showing in his eyes.

"Hello! I am Saratoga!" Saratoga stood on tiptoe and raised her arms high in front of the deer.

"Hello, Miss Saratoga." Lu Ming greeted Saratoga, then looked at the others.

“Miss Shikamaru, allow me to introduce you. This is my Akagi.” Shiro quickly moved closer to the remaining people and enthusiastically introduced them to Shikamaru. “And these two are Kaga and… the other Akagi!”

"Akagi and... another Akagi?" Shikano asked with a puzzled expression.

"It's normal for ship girls to have the same name sometimes." Xiaobai chuckled twice, then tugged at Akagi's sleeve and explained to Shikamaru, "This is Akagi, who came to Cloud City with me. She and Saratoga were there when we went to the studio to record a program last time. The other two are our newly acquired partners—their situation is a bit special. They're not very familiar with human society, so I brought them here to broaden their horizons."

"I see." Lu Ming glanced at Deep Sea Akagi and Deep Sea Kaga, and nodded in understanding.

Akagi pressed Kaga's head down, and the two bowed silently to Shikame.

Lu Ming looked at the two Deans of the Deep Sea Academy with polite gestures, his eyes softening, as if his goodwill towards them had increased.

"This is my dressing room, which also serves as my rest area, so no one will bother me when I'm not working. Please make yourself at home," Lu Ming said, taking a few ice creams from the refrigerator in the corner of the room and walking back to the group, offering them to everyone.

It's winter now, but Yuncheng's climate isn't cold due to its geographical location. In addition, Luming's dressing room seems to be equipped with a full range of heating facilities, so enjoying cooling desserts like milk cakes and popsicles here isn't out of place.

After thanking Miss Luming, Xiaobai and his friends picked up their ice creams and started taking bites.

Xiaobai took a bite of the ice cream and immediately felt the sweet milky taste mixed with a cool sensation as it went down her throat, making her feel refreshed all over.

In the dead of winter, snuggling in a warm room and eating a cool popsicle is a truly unique experience.

Lu Ming stood silently in place, his hands clasped together, watching the crowd without a sound.

"Miss Luming, didn't you take your share?" Xiaobai noticed that Luming didn't have her share of ice cream left and couldn't help but ask curiously.

“There’s none for me.” Lu Ming shook his head. “These are for you.”

"Eh? Miss Luming doesn't like ice cream?"

"Because I need to maintain my figure."

"Uh... but you took me out for high-calorie fries and fish fillets before, didn't you?"

“That’s different.” Lu Ming’s face flushed slightly. She turned her head away, unwilling to meet Xiao Bai’s gaze. “If I don’t eat that for a while, I’ll become listless.”

Little White held half an ice cream stick and blinked at Lu Ming.

So French fries and fish fillets hold such an important place in Miss Luming's heart...?

Well... if that's the case, then there's nothing we can do.

Xiao Bai regretfully took a few bites of the ice cream and looked at Lu Ming's figure.

It has to be said that she is a superstar... Lu Ming's figure is among the most eye-catching even among models. She has beautiful curves from top to bottom, long legs and a slim waist. Overall, her figure is not particularly exaggerated, but she is curvy and shapely. While maintaining the maximum feminine charm, she also exudes a particularly pure and clean temperament.

Unlike ship girls who can eat whatever they want without gaining weight, humans are not like ship girls who have the advantage of ship equipment. Human body shape is often difficult to control. Sometimes, if you indulge for a day or two, a piece of fat will grow around your waist without you even noticing. Since Miss Luming can maintain such a top-notch figure for a long time, it means that she must have put in a lot of hard work every day.

Ah... what a pity.

A life devoid of the pleasures of food is devoid of much joy.

Xiao Bai felt a deep sense of regret for Lu Ming.

"Finished!" Just as Xiaobai was thinking to himself, Saratoga behind him had already finished a popsicle. She glanced down at the symbol on the popsicle stick, then her eyes lit up, and she waved the bare popsicle stick at Luming repeatedly, "Wow! I won! Another one!"

“There’s still plenty in the fridge, and I’ve also prepared some snacks and candies,” Lu Ming said, pointing to the fridge and smiling at Saratoga.

"Whoosh!" Saratoga, having received Lu Ming's permission, happily ran to the refrigerator and started rummaging through it.

"Saratoga, don't mess up Miss Deer's refrigerator!" Shiro called out to Saratoga hurriedly.

"OK!" Saratoga didn't even turn his head, but stretched out a hand and gave Little White a knowing look.

Xiao Bai looked away and smiled apologetically at Lu Ming.

"Speaking of which, Miss Luming, what are we going to do today?"

"I can show you around the company, show you our film library, or our new employee training courses, or take you to the dance studio or the broadcasting studio." Lu Ming put his hands down and placed them on his crotch. "As long as you don't leave this company, you can do whatever you want."

"That's quite a large area." Upon hearing this, Xiaobai nodded and asked thoughtfully, "Miss Luming, are you not allowed to leave the company today?"

“Hmm…” Lu Ming’s expression changed slightly when he answered the question.

Lu Ming's subtle changes in expression were naturally noticed by Xiao Bai, who had been observing her.

It seems... Miss Luming has something on her mind.

Just as Xiaobai was pondering whether he should subtly probe the matter, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Deep Sea Kaga not far away, who was curiously flipping through a pile of documents in the spot where Shikamaru had just been standing.

Hua Hua Hua——

Kaga Fukami immediately rummaged through the documents on Shikamei's desk, causing contract sheets to fall to the ground one by one.

"Eek—!!" Upon seeing this, Xiaobai gasped. Forget about Shikamei in front of her, she ran straight to Akami Kaga and grabbed her hand. "Akami... Kaga! You can't touch Shikamei's things!"

Upon hearing this, Kaga from the Deep Sea released his hands.

Xiaobai quickly bent down and picked up the fallen contract paper. As she did so, she said to Shenhai Kaga, "Kaga, remember this: whether in the human world or in the naval base, when we are invited to someone's house, we must never take their things without their permission, especially messing up their things. That's very impolite."

Kaga Shinkai blinked, listening to Shiro's words with an innocent expression, and then nodded quickly.

"Did you remember?" Xiaobai picked up the paper from the ground and asked Shenhai Kaga.

“Mm.” Kaga Fukami nodded.

"That's good... Sigh..." Xiaobai touched the contract papers in her arms. Luming's dressing room was very clean and tidy, and there were no stains or water stains on the floor, so the documents didn't get dirty when they fell to the ground. Xiaobai patted the contract papers in her arms and apologized to Luming, who walked up behind her, "Miss Luming, I'm really sorry, my ship girl has caused you trouble."

"It's nothing." Lu Ming's expression was kind, and he didn't seem angry at all.

Lu Ming reached out and took the documents from Xiao Bai's arms, placing them back on the table.

Xiaobai breathed a sigh of relief. She watched Luming organize the documents and subconsciously glanced at the pages on the document.

And then, just that one glance.

Xiao Bai was immediately surprised.

The thick stack of documents that Lu Ming had compiled were clearly her schedule for this period of time! According to Xiao Bai's estimation, this schedule was accurate to almost every minute, and it was even busier than all the directors of the Deep Sea Academy in Xiao Bai's family combined.

Miss Luming, aren't you quite free today?

Why does she have so much work on her schedule?

Thinking about this, Xiao Bai was immediately filled with curiosity.

"Um, Miss Luming," Xiaobai approached Luming again, his gaze sweeping over the documents in her hand, "Could this be... your schedule for today?"

"..." Lu Ming paused for a few seconds while organizing the documents, then nodded, "Mm."

"Miss Luming, you must be very busy today," Xiaobai asked疑惑地问道, "Why are you telling me you're very free today?"

Lu Ming remained silent for a few seconds, then tidied up the documents on the table and placed them neatly on the dressing table.

After doing all this, Lu Ming turned around and said to Xiao Bai, "Because the schedule has been abolished."

"Abolish...?" Xiaobai didn't quite understand what Luming meant.

“Hmm.” Lu Ming nodded. She thought for a moment and said to Xiao Bai, “Starting three days ago, all my work has been put on hold.”

"Voluntary?"

“Half voluntary, half forced,” Lu Mingping said calmly.

"Huh?!" Xiaobai covered her mouth and asked, "Could it be that what Yamato-neechan said, Miss Luming, is true, that your company has encountered some serious trouble recently?"

Seeing Xiaobai's astonishing words, Lu Ming seemed a little puzzled as to where Xiaobai had learned this information. But looking at Xiaobai's concerned gaze, Lu Ming thought for a moment and then nodded gently.

“Mm,” Lu Ming replied.

"You really are in trouble!" Upon hearing this, Xiaobai quickly stepped forward, grabbed Lu Ming's wrist, and asked with shining eyes, "Miss Lu Ming, what happened to your company? Is it a cash flow problem? Or a scheduling issue? Or are you being boycotted by other companies in the industry, or have you encountered some other kind of trouble?"

Chapter 2421 Infiltration and Threat

Xiao Bai's unusually enthusiastic behavior startled Lu Ming.

Lu Ming stared blankly at his hands, which were tightly clasped together with Xiao Bai's, feeling the warmth coming from Xiao Bai's side. His consciousness suddenly became a little blurry.

“It’s nothing serious…” Lu Ming murmured as she explained. She slowly put down Xiao Bai’s hand and said to her, “As far as I know, the company’s cash flow is normal and it has not been squeezed out by other companies.”

"What is it?" Xiaobai asked curiously upon hearing this.

"Hmm..." Lu Ming thought for a while, and said to Xiao Bai uncertainly, "It's probably... that they were threatened."

"Huh? A threat?" Xiaobai was taken aback. "Who threatened me?"

"I don't know." Lu Ming shook her head, staring down at her wrist, which was being tightly held by Xiao Bai, and looked at Xiao Bai with a resentful gaze.

Xiao Bai quickly released Lu Ming and awkwardly scratched his cheek.

Having regained his freedom, Lu Ming walked to the dressing table where the schedule documents were placed, bent down, pulled open the drawer, and rummaged through it to find several wrinkled and yellowed pieces of paper.

Lu Ming held the yellowed piece of paper and walked up to Xiao Bai, handing it to her.

Xiaobai quickly took the paper with both hands. Behind her, Akagi and Deep Sea Akagi also stepped forward slowly. The three of them carefully examined the contents written on the paper.

The piece of paper that Lu Ming took out was a letter cut out from various newspaper articles. All the characters on the letter were cut out word by word from the corresponding newspapers. The content was also very short, consisting of only one sentence.

"Stop your activities immediately, or I'll destroy you...?"

Xiao Bai frowned as he read the contents of the piece of paper.

Could this piece of paper be... a legendary crime warning?

"Miss Luming, is this letter the reason you stopped working?" Xiaobai asked Luming.

"Mm." Lu Ming nodded at Xiao Bai.

"Does anyone in your company know about this letter?" Xiaobai asked.

“Most of them know that,” Lu Ming nodded again.

"Hmm... how should I put it, it feels quite childish..." Behind Xiaobai, Akagi examined the contents of the paper and asked, "The cost of this kind of crime warning is very low, you know. Judging from this letter alone, it should just be a prop of ordinary prank level, right? With something of this level, you can make a celebrity like Miss Luming stop working? Have you discovered something again?"

“There are a few more here.” Lu Ming pointed to the other two pieces of paper in Xiao Bai’s hand.

Upon hearing this, Xiaobai lowered her head and unfolded the remaining two pieces of paper in her hand.

The second piece of paper, like the first, was entirely composed of cut-out and pieced-together information from newspapers.

"Yuncheng Sifang District, Tonghe Street Group 15, Bishui Villa Building 6, No. 12..." Xiaobai murmured the information on the page, then looked up at Luming curiously, "Miss Luming, what is this address?"

“My home,” Lu Ming said, pointing to himself.

"Huh? Miss Luming's home?" Xiaobai opened her mouth and said quickly, "Oh no! That's terrible! The person who threatened you, Miss Luming, actually knows your address!"

“This isn’t a serious problem,” Lu Ming shook his head. “My address… can be found online. Besides, the security system in my neighborhood is very comprehensive, and no outsiders will be allowed to break in.”

"Oh..." Xiaobai was relieved to hear this. "So it seems the second letter was also a prank?"

“There’s a third one.” Lu Ming pointed to the last piece of paper in Xiao Bai’s hand, his eyes dimming slightly.

Xiao Bai could tell from Lu Ming's changing expression that this last remaining letter was the direct reason why Lu Ming had stopped working for several days.

Xiaobai prepared herself mentally and flipped over the last piece of paper.

This last piece of paper no longer had the cut-out quotes like the previous two. Instead, it contained a bunch of names printed out by the printer, numbering over a hundred, with one name specially marked in bright red.

On the yellowed and white paper, this blood-red name was extremely eye-catching.

“These names… ah.” Xiaobai looked at the names on the paper, about to ask a question, when she suddenly recalled the names on the work badges of the staff who had passed by her when she walked in. “These hundred or so names, could they be the names of all the staff in Miss Luming’s company?”

“Yes.” Lu Ming nodded.

"This prankster actually managed to get information on all the staff at Miss Luming's company..." Xiaobai murmured, holding the piece of paper with a hint of surprise. Then, pointing to the name highlighted in red on the paper, she asked in confusion, "What does this bright red name mean?"

“This person was also one of our employees.” Lu Ming said, bowing slightly, “...before.”

What did you mean before?

“He’s missing now,” Lu Ming said. “We haven’t seen him since that day, right after this piece of paper was sent to the company.”

"Huh?? Kidnapping??" Xiaobai stammered, then quickly asked, "Did you call the police, Miss Luming?"

"We called the police." Lu Ming nodded, but then added, "However, the case was not accepted."

"Uh... failure?"