The tone was determined to jointly develop hyperspace channel engine technology and divide the profits in proportion.

Later on, the 14th Corps will have its own professional technical personnel to do the related work, so Chen Ming does not need to worry too much. At most, he will need to occasionally participate in a few issues.

At other times, just wait to collect the money.

As Baiquan entered its busiest period, the morning teaching was suspended, and Chen Ming had some free time to do some things that were not originally planned.

For example, in cooperation with Brilliance, we started the final exploration work around the first jump landing point early.

Last week, the exploration of the galaxy around the temporary base had made about 80% progress.

It is expected that all star systems with potentially habitable planets will be explored within two weeks, but of course there is only about a week left.

Then it's time to start preparations for the second jump.

Chen Ming needs to compile statistics of all survey data and gains in various aspects so far, and summarize a set of efficient exploration processes based on the exploration situation around this first temporary base, and apply it to the next exploration.

Of course, saying it is finishing does not mean that Chen Ming is going to leave immediately.

It is impossible that this temporary outpost that has just been built will be demolished in just over a month.

He could arrange for Yuhui to go to the next temporary base while leaving some Yuhui individuals to investigate other galaxies that had not yet been investigated.

The backup afterglow that was specially left before was taken out and used at this time.

After all, 80% exploration progress does not mean a comprehensive exploration of the galaxies around the stronghold. There are still many galaxies that Yu Hui, Chen Ming's subordinate, has never visited.

It’s just because some stars make it impossible for habitable planets to exist inside the galaxy, and galaxies without habitable planets have no value for Chen Ming to build a colony, so his Yuhui has never been to those galaxies.

But there will always be some galaxies where even if habitable planets are impossible, there will still be some valuable planets.

It is not a loss for Chen Ming to sell the data he collected from valuable planets and galaxies.

Under the current premise that he is conducting a large-scale investigation, the cost of each fuel can be reduced significantly.

Then these survey data, when converted into direct money, will definitely be much more than the fuel cost.

Unless the surrounding hundreds of light years are completely empty and there are no valuable galaxies or planets, but this is unlikely.

The money earned can also be invested in the commissioning of the second batch of Yuhui and the construction of the second temporary base.

The activation of the second batch of Yuhui will definitely be arranged in due time.

The construction of the second temporary base requires special investigation of planets and galaxies suitable for building a temporary base.

Due to the situation at the time, Chen Ming chose a random planet to start construction of his first temporary base.

The choice of the location of the second temporary base must be carefully considered on the premise that there is sufficient time.

At least you have to choose a planet that has certain resources that can be developed for a period of time to make up for some of the material consumption.

Let the afterglow left on the surface of the planet play a greater role.

Of course Chen Ming didn't have time to do this difficult task, so he finally handed it over to Huiyao.

It is the afterglow that is most suitable to accomplish this goal.

There are also some things that Chen Ming has always been doing, and he has stepped up his efforts on them after having free time in the past two days.

For example, continue to persuade HR, which has shown obvious signs of giving in, so that it can completely let go of its prejudice against humans, at least let go of its prejudice against Chen Ming, and completely join him.

Another thing is to find a way to remember in his mind that he also has Flash, an Alpha-level afterglow individual.

All I can say is that Alpha Afterglow, Flash, has always been very taciturn.

Although it was basically certain that Flash would not have any other ideas after Chen Ming rescued it from the massacre of other Afterglows, and it was indeed silently guarding the temporary base, it was much easier to deal with than HR, but the only problem was that it was too taciturn. Chen Ming basically never heard it talking to him on its own initiative.

The rare contact was when Chen Ming regularly repaired several cruisers that had no suitable docks and had to be repaired by himself.

As a result, Chen Ming often forgot about flashing and the fact that he still had an Alpha-level afterglow.

So these two days, while trying to soften HR, Chen Ming also tried to remember flashing.

The effect...is not ideal.

But it's not a big problem, Flash will still do what it is supposed to do.

It can only be said that Bai Quan's busyness did provide Chen Ming with a lot of time to do other valuable things.

In addition to the preparations for the second jump, persuasion and understanding of the afterglow at hand, as well as the daily study planned according to the daily schedule.

Chen Ming also performs deep maintenance on the appropriate positions before going to bed every night, which is basically equivalent to once a day.

For example, optimizing the afterglow core and helping the Queen optimize biological buildings.

At the same time, Chen Ming also specially allocated some time to Shao Yang, completing the first trial cooperation.

Everything is moving in a good direction.

And time passed quickly and it was the day of Baiquan's promotion ceremony.

Although Chen Ming could not attend, he still needed to pay attention to the situation of the ceremony.

So, he contacted his boss in advance and told him if there was anything.

Of course, even if Chen Ming didn’t mention it, the boss would definitely tell him when the time comes.

After all, Chen Ming still has a major performance to perform at this ceremony.

With Baiquan and related personnel in place.

The promotion ceremony also starts normally as the time comes.

However, the actual process of awarding Baiquan the title of Lieutenant General only invited relevant personnel from the military and the government itself, and not many people were able to see it.

However, many people were invited to attend the subsequent banquet.

In addition to personnel within the military, there are also representatives from no fewer than companies with which the military maintains cooperative relations.

So the entire banquet hall was basically divided into two sides.

On one side, the people of the Fourteenth Legion were sitting upright, and the atmosphere was dull and serious.

However, the atmosphere on the side where those who maintained cooperation with the 14th Legion gathered was much more lively.

After all, such a banquet is an excellent place for socializing. It is a great opportunity for people from different work fields to get to know each other and discuss business.

Baiquan, with the lieutenant general insignia on his chest, entered the banquet hall.

The atmosphere in the banquet hall was at its most lively.

However, everyone present restrained their behavior.

Bai Quan, the protagonist of the banquet, walked towards where the military was sitting after entering the banquet hall.

Then they came to the half where various forces cooperating with the 14th Legion were concentrated.

Along with him came several younger members of the 14th Legion who had been led by Bai Quan before.

They are all young people who have stood out from their peers and have demonstrated talent and practical abilities.

They are the future of the Fourteenth Legion, so they need to follow Baiquan to contact the partners of the Fourteenth Legion.

Among them were Cheng Xinghe, who had met Chen Ming before, and his sister Cheng Xinghai.

However, Cheng Xinghe was not in a good condition at the moment, and he looked a little depressed.

One of the reasons was indeed that he was beaten by Chen Ming, who had no command experience at all, and was eventually captured.

But after all, he had been unconscious during the days of cryogenic hibernation, so it was okay, at least he was still alive.

So the main reason is that after he was taken back by Bai Quan, he was beaten up several times by Bai Quan himself. He had worked hard to get promoted but his position was demoted again and again, which is why he is in this state now.

In addition, he was assigned some tasks after he came back alive.

That is, he must personally handle the task of paying pensions and subsequent security arrangements for all the soldiers who had died because of the decisions he made.

This is the rule of the 14th Legion, a rule that every battlefield commander must follow personally.

Although this task is troublesome and difficult, it is not too annoying for Cheng Xinghe, as he is also aware of the benefits of doing so.

But two days ago, Baiquan gave him an additional extremely troublesome task, which was to overturn a case that had already been settled.

The various things involved are even more troublesome.

He also heard that this task was created by Chen Ming, which made him almost suffer from PTSD when he heard Chen Ming's name.

So when Bai Quan walked towards Wu An, who was surrounded by many people and was the center of attention in the other half of the court.

Cheng Xinghe silently lowered his head and began to pretend to be dead.

Cheng Xinghe's sister Cheng Xinghai is in sharp contrast to him.

Although Cheng Xinghai was also wearing a military uniform, her short hair just added a bit of vitality to her.

This made her look completely different from the other military personnel at the banquet. Instead, she looked very lively.

She walked in front with a smile on her face, pushed through the crowd and greeted Wu An.

He also pulled Cheng Xinghe, who was feeling embarrassed, over to meet Wu An and greeted him.

Cheng Xinghe knew that Wu An and Chen Ming had a good relationship, so in the past few days he had been trying to avoid seeing Wu An even though he knew that Wu An was staying at the headquarters of their Fourteenth Legion. But now he had no choice but to see him.

After all, the first person Bai Quan brought them here to see was Wu An, and he couldn't be avoided since he was hanging around with Bai Quan.

Those who had been complaining about Cheng Xinghai's somewhat barbaric actions immediately changed their expressions when they turned around and noticed Bai Quan coming over.

Some people gave up on Wu An and gathered around Bai Quan, praising him and hoping to chat with him more.

However, they did not dare to go too far. When Bai Quan responded to them with a smile, they took the initiative to make way for Bai Quan to lead to Wu An, whom they had surrounded before.

Wu An, who was originally sitting in his seat, stood up out of respect and raised his glass to Bai Quan.

Bai Quan immediately raised his glass and clinked it with Wu An, then said, "Mr. Wu An, I heard that you didn't ask anyone to pick up the gifts when you came this time?"

"Yes, some things you have to accept yourself."

Both of them looked towards the corner of the banquet hall, where there was a box-shaped object covered with a layer of cloth.

"OK."

Wu An agreed, and together with Bai Quan, they walked to the corner of the banquet hall surrounded by a group of people.

On the way over, Bai Quan suddenly asked: "Mr. Wu An, can you tell me what it is in advance?"

"I heard Chen Ming say a few days ago that he would give me a surprise, but since he didn't come..."

"Yes, I was asked to pass on the surprise."

As Wu An spoke, he took out a spindle-shaped crystal that could just fit in one hand and a piece of paper from his pocket and handed them to Bai Quan.

This crystal is the back shell that the crystal crab naturally shed during this period, and it sparkles with gorgeous luster under the lights in the hall.

Before Bai Quan could ask or Wu An could introduce, Cheng Xinghai said, "What a beautiful stone," just like a little girl who was attracted by something shiny.

Bai Quan took the crystal, looked at it for a few seconds, and then handed it to Cheng Xinghai, who was standing next to him with shining eyes, and then picked up the paper.

This is a test report.

Although Bai Quan is not a designer who specializes in designing warships, he is clear about the capabilities of each component of a warship, what performance it should have, what is considered good and what is considered bad.

Therefore, when he read the test report, he was first surprised by the nature of the material itself, and then he was shocked when he saw the actual specific data with his own eyes.

Finally, he felt joy after understanding the reason why Chen Ming and Wu An brought this thing to him.

The benefits of such a material that can crush all current energy storage devices after mass production are extremely significant.

And before long, countless people across the empire will be eyeing this piece of fat meat.

Although with Wu An and Chen Ming around, no one would openly snatch this technology, but all kinds of tricks are definitely emerging one after another.

Those people will not only try to get involved, but also try to replicate it in every possible way, and even want to get the complete production methods and production system.

Although Wu An and Chen Ming have connections and abilities, they do not have enough power.

After all, the Psychic Society is a loose organization and it is impossible for it to really help them with these things.

Therefore, they need a force with sufficient weight in the empire to protect this unique business.

And their final choice was him, Baiquan.

Baiquan raised the corner of his mouth and said, "So that's what's in the box?"

Wu An nodded slightly, walked forward and pulled open the cloth covering the energy crystal crab observation box.

A total of four crystal crabs, two large and two small, appeared in the sight of everyone present.

The two big ones were the ones that Chen Ming had given to Wu An before, and the two small ones were hatched from the two eggs that Chen Ming had given to Wu An before.

At this time, Cheng Xinghai, who was standing next to Bai Quan and glancing at the test report in Bai Quan's hand, was immediately attracted by several moving, shiny crabs.

She immediately asked Wu An, who had pulled back the cloth, "Uncle Wu, what is this?"

Although Wu An was not very familiar with Bai Quan before, let alone Cheng Xinghai.

But since he came here for a few days, Cheng Xinghai knew that he was the top psychic in the Psychic Society.

From time to time, she would come over, under the pretext of having something to do with Bai Quan, while the two were chatting about something, to ask about psychic matters, and after a few days she became familiar with him.

Cheng Xinghai had just reached adulthood, so it was not offensive to call Wu An, who was actually over 30 years old.

After Wu An confirmed with Bai Quan's eyes, he explained with an expression as if he was looking at a junior: "This is a crystal crab, the animal that produced the crystal."

Cheng Xinghai blinked, and crystal clear light reflected in his dark pupils.

Her eyes gradually moved away from the crystal in her hand and asked, "Is there anything special about this crystal?"

"This is a special energy storage material. Its effect is definitely stronger than all the professional energy storage materials and energy storage devices currently available. There is also specially tested data to prove it."

Although Wu An was answering Cheng Xinghai's question, he was obviously speaking to the other people present.

There were obviously quite a few businessmen among the partners of the 14th Legion who were gathered around. One of them immediately realized something and asked Wu An, "Mr. Wu An, what data are you talking about?"

Wu An pointed to the corner of the box and said, "You can see it by reading this string of code with the terminal. I found the result from the energy material research institute with government-issued qualifications. It has their seal on it."

The crowd that came with Bai Quan immediately gathered around the observation box and soon saw the same content as that on Bai Quan's test report.

Representatives from several companies specializing in energy storage materials and equipment began to breathe heavily.

They know how much impact it will have on the entire market if such materials really exist and can be mass-produced.

Wu An didn't keep them in suspense and said directly: "If you have been paying attention to Baiquan's movements recently, you should have heard about Chen Ming, right? This is the technology that Chen Ming got from Yu Hui."

"Chen Ming can already mass-produce this material?"

When someone in the crowd asked this question, Wu An recalled what Chen Ming had said to him before, and replied, "Basically, it is possible, but the output will be a little low in the early stage, and it will gradually increase later."

"What about Yuhui?"

Wu An was not at all surprised when he heard this question.

Just like what he had said when chatting with Chen Ming before, when someone learned about the existence of such a thing, they immediately had strange thoughts.

However, he also answered very straightforwardly: "Before Chen Ming left Yu Hui, he had successfully taken away Yu Hui's entire research institute for this kind of creature, and obtained the complete breeding method and breeding equipment."

"At most, Yuhui only has a few scattered samples left. It will take at least several generations to cultivate them to a scale that can be mass-produced. It will take several years, or even more than ten years."

"If anyone is interested, why not go to the Afterglow Star Region and try it yourself? There must be something left in the Afterglow."

It was obvious that the people present were not fools. After Yu Hui had been influenced by Chen Ming in front of him, it would be absolutely suicidal for those outside to want to go in again.

Even if Yuhui really still preserves the relevant technology, it is absolutely impossible for them to go to the Yuhui star field again and bring the technology out.

Therefore, there is no other way to obtain this technology unless starting from Chen Ming.

They can only find ways to lower their prices and join in to get a piece of the pie.

Otherwise, after a few years, when technology is updated and upgraded, the opportunity will be lost.

Quite a lot of people are interested in this technology.

But they haven't made any special moves yet.

After all, Wu An used this technology at Baiquan's promotion ceremony, so this technology could not be released without the owner's consent.

Even if they want to seek cooperation, they should not look for Wu An, but the 14th Legion.

Chen Ming is the manufacturer, Wu An is the middleman, and Bai Quan is the distributor.

At this time, Bai Quan was happy that Chen Ming was willing to hand over the sales rights of such a material technology to him, and he also understood why Chen Ming had been researching biotechnology before.

Obviously, this is to at least understand some of the cultivation technology of this special biological material, so as not to be completely in the dark and not know what they are producing.

The actual operations of cultivating energy crystal crabs and harvesting materials should be handled by the afterglow under his control.

There was nothing wrong with Bai Quan's idea logically, but he was indeed successfully misled by Chen Ming.

But at least he is happy now.

Even by the time today's banquet is over, the threshold of his office will probably be broken down, so he has to be mentally prepared in advance.

At this moment, Cheng Xinghai, who had taken the research report from Bai Quan and read it, suddenly tilted his head and asked Bai Quan, "Chen Ming? Is that the Chen Ming who relied on the ragtag fleet to beat my brother so hard that he could only hide in the escape pod?"

Hearing this, Cheng Xinghe, who was pretending to be dead, lowered his head even more, and didn't even want to explain that he was actually hit by the local military's own Ruler Cruiser.

Bai Quan obviously didn't care about Cheng Xinghe's face, and directly admitted: "It's him."

A hint of curiosity and a hint of... belligerence flashed in Cheng Xinghai's pupils, and she said to her two seniors: "Uncle Bai, Uncle Wu, I want to get to know him."

Bai Quan immediately understood Cheng Xinghai's idea and said, "Do you want to fight him?"

Cheng Xinghai showed a pitiful expression and stared at Bai Quan and asked, "Is it okay?"

Before Bai Quan could answer, Cheng Xinghe suddenly pulled Cheng Xinghai's sleeve and said, "Chen Ming is not from our Fourteenth Army, so how can he fight you on the simulation equipment? You don't want to fight for real, do you?"

“Oh… yes.”

Just when Cheng Xinghai was feeling a little regretful, Bai Quan suddenly remembered that he still had to arrange a test opponent for Chen Ming.

Originally, it would have been a good idea to find Cheng Xinghe, but he had a conflict with Chen Ming, so he was excluded by Bai Quan from the beginning. Bai Quan also had not yet decided which opponent was suitable for Chen Ming.

Now that Cheng Xinghai has brought it up on his own initiative, and there is no conflict between her and Chen Ming, it is indeed a good choice.

So Baiquan said, "It's not impossible."

"ah?"

Bai Quan ignored Cheng Xinghe who was making a puzzled sound and said to Cheng Xinghai, "I can arrange for you to fight him on a simulation device within a week. You can go and prepare yourself first."

"real?"

"A new sub-device has been installed in the Galo Star Region. The higher-ups have agreed to allow me to give Chen Ming access to this device. You can simulate it remotely, but don't come to me if you get beaten to tears."

The aggressive look in Cheng Xinghai's eyes was retracted by her, and she smiled like a good girl again and said, "How could that be? Thank you, Uncle Bai."

"Okay, okay, you've met everyone now, and I have something else to talk to other people about, so go have fun."

"Okay~"

Just as the crowd followed Bai Quan and Wu An back to one side of the banquet hall.

There was a person in the crowd who was staring at the direction where Cheng Xinghai was leaving the banquet hall and thinking.

He is the chairman of Xinda Company, Xu Lin.

He did get the invitation to Baiquan's promotion ceremony as he had said before, and he did come here and watched silently for a long time while holding the wine.

Although he felt a little regretful that Chen Ming did not give the sales rights of this crystal technology to their Xinda Company to operate.

But the focus of his thought at the moment was not here, but on a strange idea that had just flashed through his mind.

(End of this chapter)