At the edge of the battleground between Dusk and the military, where the military fleet was regrouping.
The captain of the remaining Ruler Level ship stood in the bridge command room with a somber expression.
As the fleet commander, while directing the fleet to move closer, he also listened to the report from his deputy next to him: "The emergency evacuation of the outpost is complete, the rescue ship just picked up the last batch of people, and most of the information and data have been preserved."
The Ruler Level captain nodded slightly and said to his deputy during a brief interlude after issuing a command: "Hmm, then prepare for a temporary retreat. As long as Dusk has no intention of launching a full-scale war, it won’t stay in our territory for long."
"Once they’ve left, we will come back to deal with the remaining mess. Is there anything else that needs handling?"
"Yes, regarding the issue of the Altrulan air eel group, Dusk might..."
The captain interrupted his deputy and said, "Dusk won’t do such a thing, at most they might take away a few. The air fish won’t be wiped out. Once we return and rebuild the outpost, we can resume harvesting and smelting, just be careful not to let them get snatched again."
The deputy did not argue, bowed slightly to the captain, and turned to leave.
After a short while, the deputy returned to the command room and said to the captain, "All ships have gathered; Dusk does not intend to continue pursuing."
"Alright, let’s begin."
The captain issued the command to activate the teleportation engine to the entire ship.
The Ruler Level cruiser began operating like a precision instrument.
At this point, the captain continued speaking to his deputy, "Later, go back up all the old data from the outpost, so we can do a full scan of the star system when we return. Compare carefully to ensure there’s no loophole for Dusk to exploit."
The military fleet soon retreated via teleportation.
Meanwhile, Chen Ming had just recovered from his shock of being personally rescued by the Dusk cruiser and quickly realized some issues.
The military was still in the process of gathering for retreat, not yet retreated, as the frontline battle was still ongoing between Dusk and the military.
The Dusk cruiser, while engaged in the front-line battle, handled a military ship targeting the Refraction level. If there’s no issue here, Chen Ming would write his name backwards.
He immediately asked Gamma AI, "Do you have interpersonal relationships like humans within Dusk?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"Because I think you have a pretty good relationship with the Dusk controlling that cruiser."
"Yes, he is my friend."
Chen Ming said somewhat puzzled, "A friend..."
Gamma AI seemingly anticipated Chen Ming’s reaction and said as soon as Chen Ming’s words fell, "I know it seems strange from a human perspective, but that’s the truth. If you need to understand, I can explain it to you now."
"No need, if you have data records, send me a copy, and I can read it when I have time."
Gamma AI immediately sent a record to the Iron Ore No.
Chen Ming twitched his mouth, saved the record for now without rushing to look at it.
Then he continued discussing other issues with Gamma AI, "Since the military has retreated, I have a question to ask: what about all the debris on this battlefield?"
Gamma AI quickly replied, "It can only be left here."
"The military, though temporarily repelled, this is after all the border of the Human Empire, and the military will soon return with more ships."
"So we can’t stay here for long. We can only take a brief rest, take all the Dusk cores, and abandon the rest here."
Having received a response he somewhat anticipated, Chen Ming further elaborated on his thoughts, "What if I take those ships? I mean your Dusk ships."
"There will be no consequences; those ships are already decided to be abandoned, so whoever takes them doesn’t matter to us."
"You intend to take another one?"
Chen Ming had just taken a closer look and found that the hull of the Refraction level could barely accommodate another small Frigate inside.
However, once full, the four Frigates would collide with each other, causing damage.
But this collision damage pales compared to the value of a ship.
Then Chen Ming only needs to personally control one through the panel’s ability.
That would mean one Iron Ore No. going out, returning with five ships altogether.
It’s a robbery-like no other.
Just a few days ago, Chen Ming was considering how to acquire a ship, and now in the blink of an eye, he could build a small fleet on his own, albeit lacking pilots.
But if there are ships, can’t the pilot issue be solved?
So Chen Ming decisively made up his mind, taking advantage of the Dusk Fleet’s maintenance ship collecting Dusk AI cores from the remains of various Dusk ships.
He began selecting from the numerous ships scattered across the battlefield that appeared to be not severely damaged.
Although Chen Ming arbitrarily chose between military and Dusk ships, he felt Dusk ships suited his control methods excellently.
So with already two military ships in hand, he planned to choose Dusk ships for the third and fourth ones. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs NovᴇlFir(e).nᴇt