Chapter 64: Meeting Sumi Again

Ben headed to the Bridge of the Miss Love Duck. As he was walking through the hallway, he noticed how quiet the ship was. It was missing movement, laughter and activity. He thought about how big this ship was and he needed to increase his crew size. He thought about Vivi, Mikita, Zala or even Nico Robin. They would be perfect additions to his crew, he thought and there may be more. He walked up the stairs and into the Bridge.

"Hey HQ and Nojiko," Ben greeted.

Nojiko was sitting on the driver's seat steering the ship. HQ was standing nearby looking and monitoring.

"What's the status?" Ben asked.

"We are on track and should get to Gold Island within the hour with the winds being our side," Nojiko said.

"Yes Master, she is correct. However half our crew are incapacitated right now," HQ said.

" Incapacitated?" Nojiko said in shock.

"Yes, our Master went really hard on them," HQ said.

"Hard? Master?" Nojiko said with confusion and then realised what she meant. Nojiko went red, wondering when it would be her turn.

Ben cleared his throat.

"Okay let me know when we get closer. I am going to rest on the deck of the ship," Ben said.

"Yes Master, you need rest after such hard work as a Captain," HQ said.

Ben left the Bridge and headed to the deck of the ship.

"You know you just ask Master and he will take you," HQ remarked.

"I need some time," Nojiko said.

Ben got to the deck of the ship and looked around. The deck was actually pretty empty. He might need to get a chair. Ben did not want to walk so he just decided to lie on the deck.

Over an hour had passed and Ben woke up from a nap with Nojiko gently tapping him.

"Captain, we are approaching Gold Island," Nojiko reported.

"Beautiful as the summer sky which you just want to keep seeing," Ben praised.

"Thank you," she replied and added, "But get up Captain, we are approaching the Island."

Ben smiled to see Nojiko pouting a tiny bit. He got up and saw Gold Island again. He was only here a few days ago.

The island got closer and he could see Sumi waving from the coast. Ben waved back.

The ship docked and dropped anchor near the coast. The water was luckily deep enough for the ship to get this close. "Good job HQ," Ben said.

"Yeah she is amazing," Nojiko replied.

Ben disembarked and went towards Sumi who was running towards Ben with her arms outstretched.

"Work husband!" she cried. Sumi threw her arms around Ben, and he hugged her tightly, lifting her off the ground.

"I'm so glad to see you again," she said, her voice muffled against his chest. "I missed you so much."

He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "I missed you too," he replied back.

He spun her around in a circle, and she laughed. "I love you work husband," she said.

"I love you too," he replied.

"Where is Akisu?" Ben asked.

"He is back on Clockwork Island with the girls," Sumi answered and added, "Alot of work, we need the extra hand."

"I know you girls are working 200%. I will increase our numbers," Ben replied.

"Not with anyone," she sternly said and explained, "They must follow the rules that Alvida set out."

"I see, so no boys on the island but what about Borodo?" Ben asked.

"He stays on the island however nowhere near the palace or the lab. Akisu has not been in the palace either," Sumi commented.

"Okay, I understand," Ben said.

They hugged for another minute feeling each other embrace. "Let's go see Emma," Sumi said.

"Sure," he replied back.

"Nojiko we are going to the lab, coming?" Ben asked.

Nojiko heard and nodded. She saw Ben spin and hug the women. She was a bit jealous.

"HQ, stay on the ship and protect the girls and ship," Ben shouted.

"Yes Master," HQ replied.

Sumi, Nojiko and Ben walked to the building where the entrance of the lab was.

"Building looks old and ordinary," Nojiko commented.

"The lab is underneath," Ben added.

Nojiko nodded and headed into the building and down a hole in the ground. The hole in the ground led to an old mineshaft. At the end of the mineshaft there was a door.

"This feels like adventuring," Nojiko exclaimed.

Ben chuckled to see her reaction. "Yes, fun and creepy with the skeletons lying around," he said.

"Skeletons," she yelled.

Sumi and Ben laughed,

They opened the door and saw a room. Nojiko was a bit confused until she saw an odd looking lift.

"Let's go inside it," Ben said.

Ben walked in followed by Sumi and Nojiko. They pressed the "D" button and the lift went down.

Nojiko hugged Ben`s arm as they set in motion. Sumi saw this and hugged the other arm. Ben took pride in having two hot girls holding onto him.

The lift stopped and the door opened. Nojiko was shocked to see an underground lab with all this equipment similar to this Miss Love Duck. Her mouth was open and she walked around.

Ben walked and saw a beautiful blonde girl. She was typing away on a computer screen.

"We are back Emma," Sumi greeted. Emma turned from her computer screen towards us.

Emma's hair was a golden waterfall that cascades down her back.. Her eyes were the color of the ocean, and they sparkled with intelligence.Her skin was as pale as the moon, and her lips were a perfect shade of rose. She was tall and slender with big breast. She had a small waist and full hips, and her legs were long and shapely. She was wearing a black blouse, pencil skirt and a lab coat.

"Hi, I am Ben," he introduced himself.

"Hello, I am Emma," she said.

"I see you are working on the computer. Did you find anything interesting?" Ben asked.

At that moment, a beep was heard on another screen. "They have finally picked up," Sumi said.

Sumi, Emma and Ben walked to the screen. Emma sat down on the chair and pressed a button on the monitor. The video which was blank, changed and they could see Zara, Isla and Amelia.

"Hi Emma and Miss Sumi. Oh Ben you are there as well." Zara greeted.

"Nice to see you girls again," Ben said.

"Miss Sumi, we have analysed the blueprints and have mixed results to report," Isla said.

"The A.S.S Model BM has been successfully decoded and the chamber has been activated. We expect this to be completed shortly based on the timing from the last run," Isla added.

"Umm. The A.S.S Blueprint Wings upgrade has also been decoded. We have the necessary materials on Clockwork Island to install the new components on all A.S.S models back on this lab." Amelia reported.

Ben thought this would be good for HQ to get however he was going to need her for the ship operation. He thought he could rotate HQ and BM so he always has one A.S.S on the ship. Also he might be getting more soon anyway.

"Good job girls," Ben said. All the girls smiled back when Ben praised them.

Zara's expression changed and she said, "This is where the bad news starts. The A.S.S Blueprint Arms upgrade has been decoded and shows a potent weapon similar to laser projectile attack. However we don't have the core material to build it. The machinery is in this lab however we are missing a power source."

Ben thought about the Pacifista and their lazer maybe they could have some information.

"We will break through this eventually," Ben commented.

"Agreed, let's work on this together," Sumi added.

"Finally the Satellite Blueprints, we were unable to decode it. The computers here do not recognise it," Isla said.

"Maybe the lab there can help," Zara suggested.

"All ways worth a try," Sumi answered.

Amelia pressed a few buttons on her screen and a blueprint was sent to Emma`s monitor. She clicked a button and the same scanner machine on the Miss Love Duck started printing here. Ben would keep this in mind.

Emma picked up the blueprint and walked to another computer which had a slot to insert blueprints.

"Work Husband, this is a similar computer we have on Clockwork Island," Sumi pointed out.

"Yes I remember something similar when we used it for HQ," Ben remarked.

Emma inserted the blueprint into the machine. The monitor connected to this hardware showed a timer. Then a message appeared and said, "Error, incompatible."

"Same thing here, there must be more labs," Ben said.

"Yes, it seems like it," Emma added.

"Oh well, let's park this one on the side for now until we get more information. There is alot for us to do," Sumi said.

They walked back to the monitor where the girls were. "Same issue here, we think there is another lab somewhere where this will work," Ben said.

"Bummer," Zara said.

"We got to go and work on the A.S.S Model BM. It is almost ready," Isla said as she and Zara got up.

"Wait for me, bye," Amelia said.

The screen went blank after that. "Lively bunch," Ben commented.

Sumi sighed.

Nojiko came running in and shouted, "There are some scary giant humans outside there."

"Those are Mechs," Ben replied.

"Mechs?" Nojiko said in confusion.

"They are machines which can be controlled by humans. They are weapons," Sumi explained.

"Yes but they are all looking like they need some work," Ben said.

"Besides one," Sumi replied.