The loss of a mining space station was something Chen Ming thought Sinda Corporation should remember for a while.
And his existence happened to be the key here.
So regardless of the situation, if the military discovered Chen Ming’s identity, it was very likely they wouldn’t let him go. As for Sinda, it depended on the circumstances.
Fortunately, the military outpost had been dismantled, and to acquire Sky Steel again, the outpost would definitely need to be rebuilt. In the short term, they likely wouldn’t have the extra energy to investigate other matters.
Therefore, Chen Ming still had time to do some things he needed to do.
Chen Ming temporarily allowed his mind to relax, no longer pondering too much.
The time was almost up, and it was time to go back to the Space Station.
Chen Ming transferred the control authority of Iron Ore No. to Lumin-level.
He personally controlled Iron Ore No., taking the Lumin-level, and once again entered the deep and mysterious superspace channel.
It had once taken Chen Ming over a month to travel from Dark Graveyard to the Pirate Space Station, but now it only took over ten seconds through the superspace channel.
Thirty hours after Chen Ming left the Space Station.
Which was just after six in the morning Earth Time, Chen Ming finally returned to the Space Station and entered Space Arm 15.
This was the last remaining dock at the Space Station.
When approaching the Space Station, Chen Ming first shut down the Lumin-level engine, relying on traction equipment to bring Lumin back to the maintenance bay.
Then he drove Iron Ore No. out and parked it in the dock.
When getting off the spacecraft, Chen Ming noticed the dock was more lively than before. It seemed that the mercenaries who went to support the military and then fled midway had returned.
Moreover, Chen Ming also noticed that some people in the dock seemed to be observing him and his Iron Ore No.
It should be the matter Old Wu previously talked about, how he piloted a civilian ship and blew up four commercial ships. He wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing.
Chen Ming couldn’t stop the gazes of others, so he chose to ignore them.
He headed straight to the maintenance bay.
Inside the maintenance bay, Chen Ming met the director.
He had clearly already seen Chen Ming’s spaceship and that Lumin-level, and wasn’t surprised by Chen Ming’s appearance.
After greeting Chen Ming, he looked at him as if he were gazing at something rare.
Chen Ming felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze, so he proactively said, "Director, is there any work that needs to be done?" Thɪs chapter is updated by N(o)vᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt
"There is, but you and your captain just captured a ship. Do you need a couple of days to rest?"
Chen Ming sensed the director’s attitude towards him seemed to have changed positively.
Although the reason for this change wasn’t very clear to Chen Ming, he felt it shouldn’t be a bad thing.
Besides, Chen Ming had already rested previously, so he insisted, "No need, let’s just get to work. I haven’t taken a day off, so I’d better get back to work."
The director beckoned into the depths of the maintenance bay and shouted, "Old Wu, bring the man here for me."
Old Wu quickly appeared in front of Chen Ming, glanced him up and down, and said, "Alright."
Then he led Chen Ming deeper into the maintenance bay.
Once out of the director’s sight, Old Wu acted as if he were seeing Chen Ming for the first time and said, "Yo, Little Mu, back already? What have you been doing these past two days?"
Looking at Old Wu, who was grinning foolishly, Chen Ming seriously said, "I went to hang out with Dusk. They invited me to join a military operation against the military."
"Still love telling cold jokes, huh?"
Chen Ming shrugged and pointed towards the maintenance area.
"You saw it, that Dusk ship, it didn’t keep up with Dusk’s main force, so we found an opportunity to catch up and bring it back."
Old Wu glanced at the Lumin-level a few times and said, "Not bad, your spacecraft, combined with the previous one, should fetch at least fifty million if sold. How long have you been at the Space Station, a few days?"
Picking up on Old Wu’s underlying meaning, Chen Ming said, "I’m not in a hurry to leave yet. Even if I’ve earned the money, there are still things I haven’t finished."
"Moreover, if you envy me, you could come with me to find Dusk. As long as you bring back a ship, you could earn just as much."
Receiving Chen Ming’s response, Old Wu laughed, "Better not, my old bones can’t handle life-threatening things."
"Oh right, the director asked me to ask if you have plans to sell your Dusk AI Core."
Upon hearing Old Wu’s question, Chen Ming’s first thought was to deny the existence of the AI Core in his possession.
But just as he was about to speak, he suddenly hesitated.
Because the fact that many forces, even official ones, were purchasing Dusk AI Cores was known to anyone involved in such work.
So having an AI Core and comparing offers wasn’t an unreasonable thing.
It was only out of reflex that Chen Ming wanted to hide it.
However, for some reason, Chen Ming suddenly felt that he could afford to give some trust to others, so he changed his mind and said, "I still have use for the Gamma AI for now. I want to try researching it."
"Oh, if you change your mind, go find the director."
Old Wu seemed to be casually relaying a message and didn’t say much more.
He led Chen Ming to the deepest part of the maintenance bay, where the engineering ships were docked.
Two engineering ships sat quietly there.
Old Wu took the initiative to start the routine ship inspection, and Chen Ming lent a hand, asking, "What do you need me to do today? Is it the same as before?"