Chen Ming quickly figured out the answer to this question.

Currently, there are only a few forces that would investigate his existence.

There is a possibility that the government is involved, but the likelihood is not high. After all, they are only responsible for the logistics aspect of this operation.

Then the only ones left are the Fourteenth Legion.

I just don’t know if it’s Baiquan or the person in the war zone behind the second generation.

Chen Ming has never been reluctant to assume the worst.

So now he would rather believe it is the latter.

However, Chen Ming has already prepared himself to face different situations, and he will not feel discouraged even if such a situation occurs.

He will definitely do what he wants to do, and unexpected changes will only make it more difficult to achieve the goal, not whether it can be achieved.

Even if the people in the war zone knew he was still alive, they would still be on high alert.

As long as Chen Ming's psychic power is used, no psychic energy fluctuations will be transmitted.

Then Chen Ming is the most deadly and key risk factor that cannot be offset for them.

In this day and age, who would want to be restricted and never be able to touch a spacecraft in their lifetime?

What's more, Chen Ming can actually control not only the spacecraft, but also various mechanical equipment.

Even if he was only controlling a terminal, Chen Ming could cause an explosion by stimulating the terminal battery.

It is somewhat possible to never come into contact with a spacecraft in your entire life, but to never come into contact with mechanical equipment in your entire life, you would have to become a savage.

Therefore, if the news that Chen Ming is still alive were to reach them, then Chen Ming would definitely become a major concern for them.

I just don't know what they will do after knowing the details of this matter.

Should we send out some psychic with super long-range attack capabilities? Or is there a more practical approach?

Chen Ming first ruled out the previous idea. It is unlikely that a psychic would have such ability.

Even if he had it, this ability would be countless times more dangerous to the empire as a whole than Chen Ming's ability. A psychic with such ability would definitely die quickly.

But as to what they would actually do, Chen Ming was really a little uncertain.

After all, he had no idea what was in the war zone, and he only had a rough estimate of the resources they could mobilize.

Thinking of this, a strange idea suddenly came to Chen Ming's mind.

He began to try to use his own psychic fluctuations to restore the psychic fluctuations that had appeared along with the feeling of being peeped at.

If we could trace this back, maybe we could find some clues.

But after trying for a while, he couldn't find that psychic energy fluctuation, apparently because everyone's psychic energy fluctuations were different.

If the feeling of being spied on was still there, and that psychic fluctuation was still there, he might really be able to track it back.

But now Chen Ming could only sigh and feel sorry, and at the same time, his heart felt a little more gloomy.

If he were to be disgusted by the people in the war zone again, it would definitely have a huge negative impact on what he would do next.

Because he may be forced to reveal some circumstances in order to protect himself.

So now, Chen Ming called his boss back without any hesitation, wanting to ask for some advice.

As soon as the call was connected, the boss said directly: "Xiao Ming, you came at the right time. Bai Quan just called me and asked if I was still alive."

"I mean I don't know, but he doesn't seem to believe it. You called me suddenly again, and I guessed that it was related to Baiquan?"

"I'm not sure, but it's possible."

Chen Ming said this and told his boss what had just happened.

Just as Chen Ming and his boss were recounting what had happened.

Bai Quan was having a splitting headache.

After he found out about everything Tang Shi had done a few days ago, his brain almost exploded and his whole body felt like it was breaking apart.

He never imagined that someone could be so stupid.

Obviously, all they needed to do was to launch a surprise attack, rescue the people, and attract Yu Hui's attention.

Taking advantage of the fact that Yuhui has to be distracted to deal with the Sindar Company fleet that has also launched a surprise attack on Yuhui's other galaxy, would it be difficult to forcibly clear the galaxy's defenses and send the Marines to take the people away?

Then just pretend that the mission is accomplished and retreat, and before Yuhui can react, jump to the nearby Kletka.

Isn't it a simple process to use the weapons provided by Tachyon Technology to break through the planetary shield generator and destroy Kletka?

Even if a link fails, the fleet's strength is definitely enough to delay until the jump engine cools down and retreat with minimal damage.

As a result, someone took advantage of his plan to take advantage of it.

It would be fine if it was really just picking peaches.

The person picking peaches just didn't want the best peaches on the tree. He just smashed the best peaches that could be eaten after being kept for a while.

Then you must be greedy and pick the biggest peach growing on the top of the tree.

Not only did he not get any peaches in the end, but he also fell off the tree and was beaten.

A well-planned and perfect plan could turn out like this.

What’s more important is that it was actually ruined by a completely incompetent second generation.

Bai Quan had never paid attention to Tang Shi before. He just had some basic understanding of him, such as that he was a good-for-nothing second-generation and had some war zone connections in his background.

He was too lazy to even look at what was in front of him.

After the previous incident, he specifically looked up some information about the Tang Dynasty.

Then he discovered what had happened in the war zone and in Chen Ming's past.

Now he understood that the problem with the plan was not only due to Tang Shi’s greed, but also due to hatred and stupidity.

But knowing this did not affect Baiquan's headache and inner madness.

Because when Chen Ming died, not only one person died, but Cheng Xinghe was still in Chen Ming's hands. It was like two lives for one corpse.

However, Bai Quan still didn't believe that Chen Ming died so easily.

So he chose to forcibly detain Tang Shi, trying to find the possibility that Chen Ming was still alive.

From the second day when he imprisoned Tang, pressure continued to be exerted on him from all sides except the headquarters of the 14th Legion on the other side of the empire.

The employee was not released after a week, and the desk was already piled up with documents of various complaints.

Forcing him to make a decision immediately.

But Bai Quan knew that he had to consider all factors comprehensively before he could figure out what approach was truly worth doing.

So he chose to believe himself.

He found a psychic with detection capabilities today.

Then, he discovered that the psychic's detection of Chen Ming was directly cut off, instead of failing to detect him.

He knew exactly what this meant.

Either Chen Ming took the initiative to cut it off, or someone helped Chen Ming cut it off.

And the meaning of these two is the same.

Chen Ming is still alive.

At this time, Bai Quan's detention of Tang Shi had reached its limit, but fortunately he managed to delay it until the moment he discovered that Chen Ming was not dead.

So he contacted his boss directly.

He needs to talk to Chen Ming.

He needs to decide his final treatment of Tang Shi based on Chen Ming's attitude and situation.

As for Chen Ming, since he was sure that the fact that he was alive had been exposed, he might as well not pretend to be dead.

He directly controlled the terminal he gave to his boss and connected it to the terminal his boss usually used to communicate with Baiquan.

After the call was connected, Chen Ming came up and said very rudely: "I'll give you three sentences. If I don't hear what I want to hear, I'll leave."

Bai Quan was not angry because of Chen Ming's attitude. Instead, he felt slightly relieved that Chen Ming was still willing to communicate with him.

He thought for a moment and said, "I was in a coma due to an accident before the mission was carried out. This accident was man-made."

"I can compensate you for all the losses you incurred during this mission."

"Also, I don't represent the Fourteenth Legion now. I only represent myself."

"That's all?"

Chen Ming did not hang up the call directly, which calmed down Bai Quan's slight anxiety caused by uncertainty. He asked, "What else do you need?"

"cost."

"It has been a week since the mission. I think you should already know what happened."

"I followed the rules you and I had agreed on. I sent out the positioning signal as promised, and tried to contact you when you came here ahead of time."

"When I couldn't get in touch with you, I didn't expect you to do anything. I just needed to grasp the means of retreat I had arranged. If you send an Afterglow Cruiser over, I can leave by myself."

Chen Ming deliberately prolonged the intervals between his speeches so that Bai Quan could listen and think about what he said.

"As for the result, I don't know whether you didn't receive my message or not, but anyway, you destroyed the cruiser."

"That was my only chance to save my life. First, you had two cruisers that forced it out of the protection range of the linked shield."

"Finally, it was destroyed by an offensive-class thermal pulse laser."

"They want to kill me, so... can you kill all of them to pay for my life?"

Baiquan said hesitantly: "Is this a bit..."

Chen Ming knew that he was just talking nonsense, but wasn't that how negotiations worked? Since Bai Quan wanted to talk to Chen Ming, then Chen Ming, as the victim, had to express something.

Anyway, he was just talking casually, and he knew that those soldiers were always just accepting orders and executing them.

If he really asked the tens of thousands of people on these three spaceships to pay for his lives, he might even have mental problems.

But on the surface, Chen Ming still has to pretend.

"Do you think I'm extreme? Or am I forcing others to do something?"

"Let me think about what the imperial law says. Intentional murder is punishable by death, right?"

"but……"

"But what? But I'm not dead?"

Chen Ming's last few sentences were a bit far-fetched, but he didn't need to appear rational now.

Even actively abandoning some rational remarks would be more in line with his current interests.

Anyway, he is not the one in the wrong in the end, so he is naturally qualified to do so.

"Baiquan, this is not a conflict between us. It's a conflict between me and the Fourteenth Legion."

"It is impossible for me, the victim, to be held responsible for the fact that I was nearly killed because of this issue."

"Mr. Chen Ming..."

Chen Ming interrupted again impatiently: "Someone should have paid the price for your internal struggle, right?"

"You, a major general, were seriously injured, so at least all those who were directly involved should receive the appropriate punishment, from imprisonment to death penalty, right?"

Baiquan hesitated for a long time before saying, "Yes."

"And me?"

Baiquan was silent.

Chen Ming continued, "I just want to ask you a question. Has the commander-in-chief received the punishment he deserved?"

"He took the initiative to attack the target of the rescue mission, which ultimately led to the failure of the mission, the loss of at least one-third of the fleet and a huge number of casualties. What kind of punishment should he receive?"

"Did he receive it?"

Bai Quan's silence let Chen Ming know the answer to his question.

"So, someone has to pay."

"Don't stop me. You can't stop me. You never know which part of the spaceship next to you has been touched by me."

"If this matter has nothing to do with you, you'd better clear yourself of it."

Bai Quan suddenly let out a long breath. He had thought it through since the moment he found out that Chen Ming was still alive.

It was indeed the Fourteenth Legion that did the wrong thing first, and he couldn't deny it.

As the current supreme commander of the 14th Legion in the Galo star field, he is willing to take responsibility for the wrongdoings.

He not only wanted Chen Ming to be alive, but also wanted Cheng Xinghe to return safely.

So when facing Chen Ming, he was willing to lower his posture.

There is no shame in lowering your posture to a psychic who has the ability to subvert afterglow.

So, after Chen Ming said these words, Bai Quan took the initiative to say: "The commander is still under my control, I... can make him receive the punishment he deserves."

"In addition to the losses you caused because of the Fourteenth Legion, I will give you additional compensation."

Chen Ming was very surprised that Bai Quan could say such a thing.

Because these words were a sign of submission and catering to his demands, and they didn't sound like something someone from the Fourteenth Legion would say.

And if he did so, he would offend many people. Would Bai Quan really dare to do so? Chen Ming was not sure, but he would not question it, because no matter how many words he said, they could not compare to the facts.

"Then let me see it."

If Bai Quan said these words sincerely, and Chen Ming also saw what he did.

Then what's the problem with him reconciling with Baiquan instead of the 14th Legion?

The boss, who had been listening quietly, suddenly said, "I received a courier notification."

Chen Ming asked doubtfully: "Express delivery?"

"It's Baiquan's express. The courier must have been waiting outside for a long time. Let me take a look."

"It's an anonymous card. There's... 2 billion on it. It should be for you."

Chen Ming thought about it and realized that the cheapest destroyer usually costs just over 100 million yuan, while 400 to 500 million yuan for a better destroyer is normal.

The price of a cruiser is at least ten times that of a destroyer, so seventy or eighty billion or even nearly ten billion is normal.

The battleship is something beyond the standard.

The purchasing power of these 2 billion can only be said to be just barely enough.

At least it is definitely not as powerful as the Afterglow cruiser that Chen Ming lost.

Baiquan also knew this, so he immediately added: "These are just the most basic compensations, which are considered as compensation for the boat you usually drive. There are also other things."

"I can directly compensate you with a cruiser and an Alpha-class afterglow core. You decide on the specific model."

"I know you were looking up various spacecraft technical papers while you were in the space station some time ago."

"The Fourteenth Legion has its own spaceship engineers. I can give you a series of spaceship component technologies."

"I will personally apologize to you when the time comes."

Baiquan had already made enough gestures, but he still had no intention of stopping, and continued: "There is also an extra compensation I will give you."

"A psychic weapon."

The boss suddenly said in surprise: "Oh? Heavy bleeding."

On the surface, he was saying this to Bai Quan, but in fact he was reminding Chen Ming that the psychic weapon Bai Quan mentioned was very valuable.

As the person who took the initiative to bring up psychic weapons, Bai Quan certainly knew the value of psychic weapons, but compared with Chen Ming and Cheng Xinghe, it was nothing.

He introduced: "Psionic weapons are weapons that can amplify the psychic abilities of psychics as long as they are held in the hand."

"It only has symbolic significance as a weapon. In reality, it is just an amplifier."

"I can customize whatever shape you need."

The boss then interrupted and said, "The appearance doesn't matter. Xiao Ming is not going to really chop someone with a knife. As a firearm, psychic weapons are no different from ordinary firearms in terms of combat function. Just pick the one you like."

"Then the revolver will do."

"Xiao Ming has good taste. He also likes retro style, right?"

"Um."

Chen Ming responded casually.

To be honest, he now felt that what Baiquan had just said was enough compensation.

There are four things in total as apology. Chen Ming would feel bad if he asked for more.

"That's it, then."

"But compared to these, I want to see something happen more."

Bai Quan responded immediately: "Yes, the remaining things will be sent to Mr. Wu soon."

"And the apology of the Fourteenth Legion will also be placed before you later."

"I hope so."

"One more thing, Mr. Chen Ming, I have an idea."

"I hope to work with you again, not as the Fourteenth Legion, but as myself."

"I know you don't want to hear it right now, so please wait a day or two and I'll contact you then."

Bai Quan didn't say much and hung up the call.

He actually wanted to mention Cheng Xinghe, but he also knew that now was not a suitable time to mention Cheng Xinghe.

So, he had to do something first.

A second generation, a second generation with a war zone background.

And a psyker, a psyker with the ability to subvert Afterglow.

Bai Quan already had the answer in his mind as to who to choose.

Baiquan opened the drawer in front of him, and there was a gift box inside.

Inside the gift box was a vintage, exquisite revolver with ornate carvings.

This was when he was promoted to major general after he had commanded a small surprise attack fleet on the battlefield of Yuhui and made achievements that were enough to influence the larger battlefield.

A gift given to him by a big shot, a big shot with a very special identity.

Bai Quan loaded the six bullets that were placed in the gift box and were also carved with subtle patterns and would have no effect on actual use into the magazine.

He gripped the revolver tightly, turned the chamber, stood up and left the office.

Privileges must be met with privileges.

One day later.

The boss has already received some of the subsequent compensation, such as storage cards containing a series of technical blueprints and instruction books for the extremely heavy armor of the Fourteenth Legion's ships that Chen Ming needed.

And Chen Ming's blueprint for the psychic weapon design. Chen Ming can make some requests for this blueprint.

After the boss gave these two things to Chen Ming through Chen Ming's terminal, he also told Chen Ming the news that there was unrest within the 14th Legion.

The boss just gave him a general account of the situation, and when the boss told him the news, the situation in the 14th Legion had already stabilized.

Bai Quan also contacted Chen Ming again.

Although he couldn't see Bai Quan's face, Chen Ming could hear a hint of fatigue in Bai Quan's voice just by listening to it.

So he didn't waste any more time and asked Baiquan directly: "What did you do yesterday?"

Bai Quan did not answer directly, but said to the boss: "Mr. Wu, please help me explain it. I may not be convincing if I say it."

"Okay, Baiquan killed that second generation with his own hands yesterday."

Chen Ming waited for a while, but didn't hear the boss's second sentence.

“That’s it?”

As if to highlight the contrast between the two, the boss deliberately spoke several rows slower before saying, "More."

"He eliminated interference from all sides, forcibly suppressed the dissenting voices within the entire legion, arrested several high-ranking officials who had objections, and took sole control of the power."

"Afterwards, they took the 14th Corps' internal military regulations and read out all the violations he had committed one by one to the corpse, and made the whole scene public for everyone in the Corps."

After hearing this, Chen Ming believed in Bai Quan's sincerity.

But isn’t this approach a bit too exaggerated?

Chen Ming couldn't help but ask: "Will this have any impact on the 14th Legion?"

Baiquan denied: "No, this is actually a reassurance to the rest of the 14th Legion."

"If a battle results in heavy losses due to the commander's fault, and the commander just walks away without causing any trouble, that would be a huge blow to morale and military spirit."

"But correspondingly, although I have gained the support of the lower-level soldiers, some of the upper echelons, that is, those behind Tang Shi, are no different from crazy."

"That's why a lot of opposition to me suddenly emerged within the legion, but I suppressed them all."

"I can only suppress it temporarily, and the people in the war zone are still adding fuel to the fire. I still have a lot of things to do."

"I can only barely spare some time to talk to you now."

In this case, Chen Ming said very straightforwardly: "Then tell me, I think you can now tell me the thing you didn't say yesterday."

"I need to cooperate with you and make sufficient achievements."

(End of this chapter)