After explaining the usual things, Chen Ming and Lao Wu got back to business.

Chen Ming also stated his needs directly: "I currently need about ten escort-level spacecraft to support supplies for about three months, not counting the crew."

"It's not too much, Old Wu, you can calculate it, right?"

"Are you looking down on me?"

As Old Wu spoke, he directly listed a series of supplies that the spacecraft needed, including weapons and ammunition, logistical supplies, fuel consumption, spacecraft maintenance and all other aspects of the material needs of the spacecraft.

Before asking the question, Chen Ming had a rough estimate in his mind and had no objection to the result of Lao Wu's calculation. There was only one small question that needed to be raised.

"Weapons and ammunition can be slightly modified. If some ammunition can be directly purchased from raw materials, some savings can be made."

Old Wu did some calculations again and nodded, "Okay, I'll remember that. After we buy the supplies, what next? Buy a spaceship?"

"Yes, I need the Rainstorm class from Tachyon Technology."

After Chen Ming finished speaking, Old Wu waited for a few seconds. Seeing that Chen Ming had no intention of continuing, he asked, "That's all?"

"No, I think I can only afford one Storm."

"I have less than 50 million in my own card, and the card that the factory manager opened for me has a little over 40 million, which adds up to 90 million."

"Then I have two mules parked at the space station, right? I plan to sell one."

When Old Wu heard this, he couldn't help but ask, "Who are you trying to trick?"

"It's not a scam. I'll sell it off. I'll just pretend that I don't have this ship anymore. I won't go out of my way to get it back. I just don't know if anyone would want this second-hand civilian ship."

Old Wu touched his chin and said as he considered, "Mule-class ships are fine. They are merchant ships with militarized subsystems. The original price would be over 200 million. If they can be depreciated by half, that's good too."

"Besides, your abilities aren't known to just anyone. As long as you don't take the initiative to trick others and expose your abilities, selling them shouldn't be a problem."

"Well, anyway, let's buy the supplies first, pay the deposit for the rainstorm, and then sell a mule and the money should be enough."

"The purchased materials will be piled up in the repair shop first. There should be room in the factory, right?"

When Old Wu was on sentry duty just now, he had obviously passed through the repair shop. He immediately said, "Of course there are some. The things you took from Old Wu last time are also piled up in the repair shop."

"Anyway, our repair shop doesn't make money from the storefront. You can just pile it up, who can object?"

After receiving a positive answer, Chen Ming continued to ask with satisfaction, "Okay, then is there any problem with buying Heavy Rain?"

"That's fine. The rain of speed is a commodity. What's wrong with paying for it?"

"Is the price of a Storm worth more than 170 million? And isn't this one ship a little too little? Don't you consider other ships? Didn't you say you wanted to build a fleet?"

Old Wu's doubts at this time were obviously not unreasonable.

After all, the price of the Heavy Rain is indeed more expensive among frigates.

But in addition to its excellent drone control AI, and the same excellent radiation energy system as other spacecraft produced by Tachyon Technology that can perfectly adapt to energy weapons.

Other aspects are not worthy of the price.

Moreover, under normal circumstances, the price of an ordinary military frigate is around 30 to 50 million, without considering whether the buyer is qualified to operate the ship.

One Stormboat can be as powerful as six proper military spacecraft, such as the Sentinel and the Expedition.

A more expensive ship like the Centurion is worth more than three.

The money from buying the Storm was used to buy other frigates, and the prototype of a small-scale fleet could be said to have emerged all of a sudden.

And you have to know that when Chen Ming was shopping in the black market before, the Hammerhead he saw was only worth 130 million.

At that time, he also saw that it was really outrageous that a Storm could be sold for 170 million.

Although the spaceships sold on the black market are definitely different from normal commodities, the prices may fluctuate compared to normal.

For example, if Chen Ming remembered correctly, the Hammerhead on the black market had additional specially modified load-bearing points and mounting points, which must have been leaked out from within the Xinda Company to make money.

Then the Storm also seemed to have something special, and it was said to have more advanced drone AI intelligence.

So the price will naturally be higher than that of ordinary spacecraft.

But no matter what, the value of Heavy Rain itself is there, and it will definitely cost more than 150 million.

However, Chen Ming felt that the heavy rain should be worth the price for him.

With the assistance of Chen Ming's abilities, the Terminator unmanned fighter squadron carried by Torrential will definitely be able to produce terrifying effects.

Even in a one-on-one combat, it would be more powerful than a destroyer's hammerhead.

“This thing is worth the price to me.”

Besides this reason, there is another reason.

Chen Ming continued: "I want you to ask the company for me."

"During the previous fight with the military, there should have been two destroyers that survived in the company's fleet. I have already taken control of them."

"I want to ask how the company plans to deal with this."

Chen Ming's ability has already determined that any spaceship he has touched will become an unstable time bomb for others, and it is absolutely impossible to continue using it as before.

So if the company wants to deal with the spacecraft, Chen Ming might be able to get these ships at a relatively low price.

Then his problem of buying the Rainstorm level can be solved here.

Anyway, it is impossible for the company to take the initiative to conflict with Chen Ming now, so Chen Ming might as well go over and ask for it with a thick face.

After hearing what Chen Ming said, Old Wu seemed to have suddenly remembered something and said, "That's your plan. Okay. I mentioned it when the company contacted me."

"As long as you can go back, all the spaceships you have controlled, even if they are destroyed, as long as they are barely worth repairing, they will be repaired and given to you all at once, including the armor-piercing ship."

Chen Ming frowned slightly, repeated Old Wu's words and asked, "As long as I can go back?"

"Well, they said that no matter how you go back, as long as you go back, back to the company, and have personal contact with Lao Lu or the stationmaster, who are people who have a certain degree of influence in the company, then it counts as going back."

"It's not that easy. In the end, it all depends on their efficiency."

Chen Ming said this casually, and suddenly seemed to realize something.

The company's words seemed to imply that someone else also wanted to get him back? "Wait a minute, Old Wu, tell me, besides the company and the military, how many other forces already know about me?"

Old Wu did not answer, but asked in surprise: "Why are you asking me this?"

"Because I feel like you know."

Chen Ming said it was a feeling, but it was actually the reason.

It was when he went to Glasses, where he sold intelligence last time, that he saw the level of familiarity between Old Wu and Glasses when they were exchanging information about pirates. This was definitely not something that could be achieved by drinking together often.

Old Wu blinked his glasses and said, "How can you be so smart?"

"Then I'll be frank. Apart from the company and the sector military, there are only three major parties who know about your psyker situation: the 14th Legion, the local sector government, and Tachyon Technology."

"You don't really need to worry about the younger ones. They are generally well-informed but don't have much combat power themselves."

"But there is one thing you should pay attention to. The Illumination Research Institute seems to be a purely scientific research company funded by Lude Zuojing. They have been targeting you since the last incident."

"They will definitely not let go of the chance to kill a psychic like you who is blaspheming their doctrine of 'high technology is harmful to people' all the time."

"The Fourteenth Legion and the Star Region Government have already made it clear that they want you. The attitude of the Star Region Military is still unclear, and they have some internal divisions."

"It seems that it is because they are basically under the direct jurisdiction of the higher-level war zone. Some people in the war zone want to kill you, but there are also people who want to protect you. It can only be said that your psychic power has really become a hot commodity."

Chen Ming knew that it was certain that his abilities would be exposed, but he did not expect that other forces would have ideas about him so quickly.

Although they have ideas, their reaction is definitely or probably slower than that of the company.

But no matter how slow it is, when there are too many people, Yuhui's star field will probably be in complete chaos.

It is hard to say whether Chen Ming would find a way to go back on his own, or be taken back by some force, or even be killed here.

However, Chen Ming has nothing to worry about. There are only a few people who want to kill him, and other forces who want him will also protect him to a certain extent.

Moreover, if the arrangements he is currently making can be carried out step by step, he will not be afraid of anyone who wants to kill him.

Chen Ming remembered everything that Old Wu said and continued to think about the previous topic in his mind.

Although Chen Ming felt that if these ships of the company could really be returned to the company, he should be able to get them.

But returning to the company itself is the biggest trouble.

After thinking about it, Chen Ming decided to forget it. It didn't matter if he didn't get the company's spaceship. At worst, he could just continue saving money to buy the spaceship.

Given his current situation, it is not difficult to make money.

And Chen Ming is now planning to find pirates.

A pirate ship with a bounty always has to have at least a military subsystem installed.

Chen Ming collected some and sold them. It shouldn't be a problem to sell three or four ships in exchange for a proper military ship.

As long as Chen Ming has the ability to ensure that the fleet's ships are not destroyed, they only need to consume some materials for repairs. Sooner or later, he will be able to support the fleet by fighting.

Chen Ming paused his thoughts on the fleet's ships and said to Old Wu, "Thank you, Old Wu."

Old Wu waved his hands, as if Chen Ming had seen through what he was doing. He leaned back in his chair dejectedly and half-collapsed in the chair.

"So what do you do after you buy the boat? What else do you do?"

"Go out and fight the pirates."

Old Wu was stunned for a moment, then he straightened up and asked in a tone full of disbelief: "You don't want me to go, do you?"

"No, I'll do it."

"That's good, but wait, can you remotely control the spaceship with your ability? I mean, control the new spaceship."

"No, but I can do it indirectly through other means."

Chen Ming just discovered that if the AI ​​core he controlled replaced the spaceship, he would be able to directly control the new spaceship, which could be put to good use.

After Chen Ming allowed Gamma B to move freely, it took on some tasks issued by Yuhui internally and was busy upgrading to the Beta level.

By the time the Rainstorm-class arrives, it should be about the Beta level and can be idle.

When the time comes, Chen Ming can ask Gamma B to come back and install it on Chen Ming's spacecraft to achieve indirect control of the spacecraft.

Of course, after controlling Gamma B, it still has to return to Yuhui, as it has more important things to do afterwards.

So when Gamma B returned to the pirate space station alone.

"I need your help, Old Wu."

"It has come to this, just don't let me really fight."

"Well, no, I just need you to help me finish the fight and collect the bounty. I'll reimburse you for the travel expenses."

After hearing this, Old Wu became a little suspicious and asked, "You really don't want me to fight?"

"I really can't."

"real."

Chen Ming repeatedly assured Lao Wu several times that he would not let him do anything dangerous before he got Lao Wu's consent.

After finishing this topic, Chen Ming brought up a new one: "In addition, there is another test of the effect of my ability. I plan to try it now. I need your help."

"oh?"

Old Wu perked up all of a sudden and said, "A new function? It seems like you've made more progress since you went to Yuhui's place than you did here at the space station. Normally, I've seen you barely use your abilities."

Chen Ming was stunned for a moment and found that it seemed to be just as Old Wu said.

The opportunities and times he had to demonstrate his abilities in the space station seemed to be less than the two days he had spent with Yu Hui.

It seems that when he is in a safe place, he will unconsciously be lazy, or relaxed? Decadent? But when he is in a dangerous place, if he does not make progress and find ways to improve and expand his abilities, it is no different from waiting to die.

Just like before on Ramu.

At that time, Chen Ming would think hard about the limits of his newly awakened spiritual power under various conditions.

But after arriving at the space station, without the immediate threat of a dangerous external environment, he subconsciously relaxed a little.

Chen Ming realized this, but there was nothing to say. He was the only one who knew the situation, and only he could change it.

Chen Ming said, as if expressing his feelings or explaining, "A bad environment will force people to move forward."

Then he changed the subject and said, "Let's not talk about this anymore. I want to see if I can really get this thing back first."

Old Wu stood up from his chair and asked, "What should we do? " "Wait a moment."

Chen Ming took some time to move the antimatter shock wave back to the Iron Ore.

Then he opened the Sentinel's panel and began to change weapons.

The antimatter shock wave gradually melted like the materials used in Chen Ming's previous experiment and disappeared in his palm.

Afterwards, it appeared at the bearing point of the Sentinel-class ship that was stationed at the repair shop of the Pirate Space Station.

"It's done."

Chen Ming immediately dismantled the intermediate antimatter wave, and a ball of metallic liquid quickly condensed into its original appearance in front of Lao Wu.

Old Wu half-knelt on the ground, looking at the thick antimatter shock wave in front of him and asked, "What is this?"

"Antimatter shockwave, Afterglow's technique."

"Antimatter?"

"Yes, antimatter."

"I don't understand, but I am..."

"Stop, stop talking nonsense, give this thing to the factory manager, he should be able to help me deal with it."

Old Wu stretched out his hand and gestured, but his thin body seemed unable to withstand the thick antimatter shock wave.

Moreover, besides the company, there should be many people paying attention to Chen Ming’s current situation.

If Old Wu just carries it this way, I'm afraid something might go wrong.

So after a brief discussion, in order to prevent the information about the things Chen Ming brought back from being monitored, Old Wu went directly to the administration building in person.

Amid tighter security than before, he quickly ran to the factory director's office relying on his familiar face and ID card.

He just barged in without knocking.

The chairman is in contact with other people at this time.

When he saw Old Wu coming in, he just waved his hand and motioned him to wait for a while.

At the same time, he continued to say to the person on the other end of the call: "What?"

Old Wu sat down on the sofa next to him. Although he couldn't hear the voice on the other end, from Old Lu's attitude, he could probably guess who it was.

The factory manager obviously didn't have a good attitude towards the person on the other end of the call, and said very bluntly: "I don't know, go ask Lao Wu, don't ask me."

He immediately hung up the call, looked at Old Wu and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Xiao Mu brought back something."

"Xiao Mu is back?"

"No, he brought it back with his power. He said it was some kind of anti-..."

"Stop, stop talking, just take me there."

"Okay."

The factory director immediately brought two guards who had appeared in his office at some point, and followed Old Wu to the repair shop.

After seeming to feel several gazes on him on the road, he successfully entered Chen Ming's sentry.

At Lao Wu's reminder, the director unplugged the terminal battery and saw the antimatter shock wave in the captain's room.

The factory manager tentatively asked, "Xiao Ming?"

Chen Ming displayed a sentence on the control panel again: "I'm here."

"This thing is the antimatter blaster I got from Yuhui."

"Although my knowledge is not at this level, I can say that I am sure that it is an antimatter shock wave, and that it does contain antimatter as a material, and that antimatter does play a role in it."

"The only problem is that this is a weapon used in Yuhui's experiments, and this experimental weapon itself has certain problems. It can be considered a failure."

"But at least its name is Antimatter Blaster."

"I see."

The factory director took a deep breath, frowned, and dialed back the number.

"There's something I need to bring back for you. Take it to the research institute that the company has recently established. It should be useful."

One day later.

Afterglow Colony Factory.

Chen Ming successfully sent the antimatter shock wave to the space station.

But Huihuang didn't care about this. After all, it had no way to detect the situation inside the Iron Ore without being discovered by Chen Ming.

And today, when Chen Ming woke up and walked into the factory.

He discovered that when he was resting last night, Yu Hui had taken away all the repaired weapons.

And some new things were delivered.

There are three items in total, including a large live ammunition weapon.

A pile of materials, including the lost materials reported by Chen Ming yesterday.

Although Yu Hui seemed to be able to see how much Chen Ming had used in the warehouse, they still delivered 1.5 times as much as Chen Ming had said.

and one, with the Gamma A removed, unmanned, and also loaded with the refractors of the first two.

Brilliant communications also arrived in due time.

"Mr. Chen, Gamma A has chosen to leave. We have decided to hand over the Refraction he controls to you."

"You mean I can use it as I please? Even if I have to drive it somewhere else?"

"Yes, but please note that this Refraction does not have any Afterglow units installed at this time. There is no Afterglow mark outside the planet, and it may be destroyed at any time."

This can also be considered as a threat from Yuhui.

But it still surprised Chen Ming.

He thought that the refraction would be dismantled, and he planned to try to take the boat away when the refraction was dismantled, but he couldn't give up.

Anyway, doing this can't be considered a direct confrontation with Yu Hui. If it works, that would be the best. If it doesn't, that's fine. At worst, he can just dismantle it and take away all the materials.

Chen Ming was really surprised by Yu Hui's generosity.

But you should collect it when you should.

As long as he has the boat, Chen Ming will always find an opportunity to take Qu Guang away.

Moreover, there just happens to be a position for refraction in Chen Ming's future fleet composition.

The capture of valuable pirate spaceships depends on the electromagnetic capture device of the refractory pirates. Otherwise, the success rate and efficiency of just destroying the engine is still a bit low.

Chen Ming accepted the things given by Yu Hui.

Unlike yesterday when the task was assigned through a task list, Huihuang personally told Chen Ming today: "Today's task is to repair this weapon."

Chen Ming waited for a while, but did not receive any follow-up words from Huihuang.

"That's all?"

"Yes."

"All right."

Chen Ming was too lazy to move at this time.

Directly through the refractive panel, he selected this large live ammunition weapon called the Inferno Cannon.

Chen Ming took a quick look at the panel.

In other words, he could tell what this thing was without even looking at the panel.

Because the Infernal Cannon is a product of human technology, and a very early product in the process of human development.

And in Chen Ming's impression, the shells of the Purgatory Cannon should be...

Chen Ming looked at the panel.

He discovered that just as he thought, the Inferno Cannon's reserve ammunition was all empty.

Because all of its shells are loaded with plasma-charged warheads.

A plasma-charged warhead that can vaporize the target location with one shot and rely on a jet of high-temperature liquid metal to penetrate armor and structures is not an easy thing to produce.

Chen Ming immediately understood what Yu Hui meant.

Yu Hui wanted to use this weapon, which used special ammunition that was difficult to mass-produce, to test Chen Ming's maintenance ability and the effectiveness of replenishing ammunition.

Simply put, it is to test the upper limit of Chen Ming's ability.

(End of this chapter)