A few days after Chen Ming returned to the Space Station.
The military personnel returned to the RM-2 Star System with a reassembled fleet.
Aside from combat-ready ships, the fleet included numerous engineering ships and cargo ships full of goods.
With substantial manpower and material support, the military repaired the outpost that was half-destroyed by Dusk within a week.
After the outpost was repaired, the military’s high-intensity sensors swept across the entire star system.
Soon, an urgent report started from the military’s grassroots, being passed up layer by layer.
Finally, it reached the outpost commander, the captain of the Ruler Level ship.
When the report arrived, the deputy who was responsible for conveying orders for the captain and processing the report before reaching the captain saw a rarely grave expression on the captain’s face.
Two more days passed.
The abandoned Mining Space Station in the RM-2 Star System.
A small transport ship suddenly appeared near it.
The five people inside the cabin were all equipped with professional weaponry—this was a special task force. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ ɴovel(ꜰ)ɪre.nᴇt
Leaning against the cabin door, the captain suddenly knocked on the ship’s hull, drawing the team members’ attention to him, and said, "Let’s confirm the mission one last time."
"We need to enter the abandoned Mining Space Station with the code DG-C-9527 and investigate the disappearance of the civilian mining ship ’Iron Ore No.’ within the station."
With scattered responses from the team members, the captain’s voice sounded again: "Let’s go."
The small transport ship gradually approached the dock of the space station.
Before its shape was visible to the naked eye, a team member suddenly said, "Honestly, it’s been thirty years, right? And now we’re finding problems?"
The captain recalled the mission files he had read many times and said, "I heard it was because the person responsible for the sensors didn’t want to go through the list of ships in the star system every day and decided to block all previously recorded ship signals instead."
"The sensors only scan for new ships, and the effect is similar, but the ships that were recorded were completely overlooked."
"Now that the outpost is rebuilt, the sensors have scanned again, revealing the problem."
"There’s a missing ship from the space station and some signs of human-caused damage."
The team member asked in surprise, "If foreign ships were always being monitored, does that mean someone lived on that abandoned space station for thirty years?"
The captain casually shook his head and said, "Not necessarily thirty years. I recall the person handling the sensors at the outpost had a five-year cycle, and new personnel are scheduled to arrive next year. The ship may have disappeared several years ago, and it’s just now being discovered."
"In any case, it doesn’t matter how many years it’s been. We’re not sure if the internal people did it or if someone from outside infiltrated the star system."
"If it was an insider, this person was probably frozen in the Hibernation Pod all this time, so when we go up, we need to look for clues in the living area with the hibernation pods."
"Then why are we stopping at the dock?"
The captain turned slightly to let the team members see the growing view of the space station outside the porthole and said, "Because it’s spacious here; any danger will be spotted first."
"Besides, isn’t it written in the mission record? Originally, the space station was wiped out by a group of bugs hiding inside asteroids."
"Even if our ship’s scanners haven’t picked up anything, we need to ensure safety."
The team member curiously asked again, "What kind of bugs can destroy a space station?"
"A type of bug about the size of humans."
"That can’t be right; can their shell block bullets or something?"
"Ugh, don’t ask if you shouldn’t."
Seeing the captain’s attitude, the talkative team member quietly closed his mouth.
Under the pilot’s control, the transport ship gradually approached the dock of the space station.
After circling near the dock a few times with no emergencies, the transport ship steadily docked at the pier.
The ship door opened, and a few team members streamed down, cautiously vigilant.
Though the space station’s dock was dilapidated and covered in stains in many places, it didn’t seem dangerous.
The large commotion from the ship’s approach hadn’t attracted any bugs or similar creatures, indicating the dock area might be safe.
After confirming there were no dangers at the dock, the captain displayed the station map inside his protective suit’s helmet.
After a brief check of directions, he said to the team members, "Let’s go inside."
The team quickly maintained a formation ready to handle any sudden situations, quietly and swiftly crossing through the dock to the office area.
Just entering the transitional space between the dock and the office area, a team member suddenly said on the communication channel, "What’s this?"
Everyone quickly gathered around the voice, seeing a rounded hole in the office area wall.
On the opposite wall in the office area was another identical hole.
Deeper into the space station, there were more such holes.
"These look a bit like Mechanical Race weapons."
The captain moved closer to let the recording device on his helmet capture the details of the bullet hole.