Two of them were standard-built frigates called the Scrambler class.

Chen Ming remembered that the standard data of this type of frigate was 42 meters in length, 25 meters in width and 11 meters in height.

The overall shape is close to a diamond, and the front end of the spacecraft is more prominent.

It is usually operated by four to eight people, and has a total of three small load-bearing points located on the top and left and right sides of the spacecraft.

It is an excellent escort ship.

The remaining ship is an armed merchant ship called the Cerberus class, which is even larger than the Conquest class.

The ship is 65 meters long, 33 meters wide and 21 meters high.

Although they are also frigate-class, merchant ships are often larger in tonnage than other frigate-class ships because they need to transport cargo.

And the Cerberus class has an advantage that most other frigate-class ships cannot achieve.

It has a legal, medium-sized load-bearing point protruding from the front right side of the spacecraft.

This means that the Cerberus class can be equipped with some large-caliber medium weapons, which is the biggest threat to the Iron Ore.

These two types of spaceships are very common at the mining space station, and many trade caravans are basically composed of these two types of ships.

So Chen Ming was not surprised at all that the pirates had these two types of ships.

Just as Chen Ming was thinking about the weak points in the design of these two types of ships so that he could find an opportunity to break through.

A communications request suddenly came to his ship.

Chen Ming thought about it and connected the call.

A rough voice sounded from the communication channel.

"Stop the ship. We only want the valuables on your ship. We don't need people or supplies. Just cooperate honestly and we won't use force."

These were the first group of people Chen Ming met and the first sentences he heard.

But Chen Ming never expected that the first human words he heard were actually pirates threatening him.

So Chen Ming deliberately slowed down his speech and said in a very calm tone: "Idiot."

Then he immediately hung up the call.

Only a fool would believe them.

Instead of listening to their lies, think about what you should do next.

Those two expedition-class ships were not easy to deal with. After all, they were professional combat ships, and our own civilian ships could definitely not compare to them in terms of combat performance.

Even if his spaceship has undergone a lot of modifications, it would be difficult to find a chance if he went ahead with it, surrounded by two expeditionary ships.

But the Cerberus class was different.

The Cerberus class is a merchant ship, and even though it comes standard with one medium-sized load-bearing point and three small load-bearing points, it has extremely strong firepower output.

But its own ship type limits its combat capability.

The Cerberus class has a larger mass than other frigates, which makes its acceleration in a short period of time definitely the last among all frigates.

Although its relatively huge size provides it with heavy armor, it also means that it is very difficult to travel in complex terrain, such as the current asteroid field.

These are its disadvantages compared to other frigates.

And these disadvantages have begun to manifest themselves.

As Chen Ming controlled the Iron Ore and continued to go deeper into the dark cemetery, the three ships following behind him had already opened up a considerable distance between them.

The Cerberus class was left far behind by the two Scrambler class ships, almost falling behind to the point where it was out of the shooting range of the electromagnetic javelin.

At this time Chen Ming had already seen the opportunity and immediately took control of the spacecraft's weapon system, pointing the gun at the rear.

However, the violent vibrations caused by the continuous collision of the Iron Ore's hull with asteroids made aiming completely impossible.

At this time, the Iron Ore and the Cerberus were more than ten kilometers apart. Any slight shake would cause shooting errors and miss the target.

Civilian ships do not have special auxiliary aiming equipment, and the automatic locking function of the target positioning system is difficult to perform under such circumstances.

Although Chen Ming had tried to lock onto the hellhound, he was unable to open fire.

It is difficult to perform at the expected level in extreme situations, such as now, or when you may be attacked soon.

It seems that I must pay attention to this aspect in my future modifications, or simply change the boat.

As for now.

Chen Ming tried to fire a few shots, but no one knew where the bullets went.

And there is also bad news.

The sensor detected an empty area in front of the Iron Ore with almost no asteroids. This area was most likely left over from past mining.

Although Chen Ming felt a little uncomfortable due to the vibrations caused by the constant collisions with the asteroid, he would definitely feel more uncomfortable if he lost the protection of the asteroid.

He had no time to turn around and continue maneuvering in another direction, as the two expedition-class ships had blocked his position.

The Iron Ore can only move forward now.

As soon as the spacecraft was forced into an open area,

The two expedition-class ships at the back opened fire, and the weapons on the three small load-bearing points burst out with strong arcs of electricity and flames almost at the same time.

It was completely different from the civilian version of the 22mm machine gun he had used before. The flashing arc indicated that the speed of the weapon's projectile would definitely not be low.

Chen Ming's heartbeat began to accelerate with the flash of electric arcs, and a feeling of tension and excitement intertwined in his heart.

Chen Ming immediately ordered the spaceship to begin maneuvering and twisted the hull at the same time, allowing the relatively fragile engine to avoid the firing range of the two expedition-class ships.

There were a series of noises of bullets hitting the top of the spacecraft.

Chen Ming's actions failed to avoid the shooting from behind.

He immediately locked onto the trajectory of the bullet that Zhengfa had just fired through the sensor.

Then Chen Ming discovered that the crossfire from the two ships had almost completely blocked his emergency evasive route.

The shooting technique is very professional.

When Chen Ming looked at the two expedition-class ships again, he discovered some special features.

Although the appearance of the two expedition-class ships does not look particularly new, it is obvious that they have been maintained and cared for for a long time, as if they take special care of the spacecraft.

The weapons loaded on the spacecraft also gave Chen Ming the same feeling.

He also noticed that the Conqueror-class performed very smoothly when shuttling between asteroids.

Unlike Chen Ming, they cannot control the spacecraft with their consciousness, so they can only control it through the spacecraft computer.

A spaceship like this, and such professional combat and spaceship piloting skills, don't seem like a group of desperate criminals who only care about money and the present moment.

Chen Ming even had a feeling that this group of people were not pirates at all.

They were just a merchant caravan, but they took the initiative to tear off their disguises in some remote places and engage in pirate activities.

Although this was just Chen Ming's guess, if it was really as he thought, then his chances of success in counterattacking them might be...

"Um?"

Chen Ming was suddenly stunned.

Because he had just opened the panel and was confirming the damage to the armor on the top of the spacecraft.

However, in the three-dimensional image of the spacecraft, there were no bullet holes where the armor was hit, only some slight dents.

Unless they can continue to attack the Iron Ore face to face, so that every bullet can have the most effective effect.

Otherwise, these bullets would not be able to cause sufficient damage to the external armor of the Iron Ore, which had been modified by Chen Ming and mixed with Baiyun steel.

Chen Ming stared at the panel for a few seconds and felt the baptism of a round of bullets again.

When he saw that the durability of the armor on the panel was still at 99%, he couldn't help but ask himself a question.

"What on earth was I so nervous about?"

(End of this chapter)