It was not until this time that the Cerberus class finally arrived.

Although there was only one merchant ship left, Chen Ming's expression became serious.

The medium-sized load-bearing point on the Cerberus class made him feel that he had to respect it.

The hull material mixed with Baiyun steel can withstand the small weapons on the two expedition-class ships, but it is hard to say about medium-sized weapons.

Chen Ming tried to identify the medium-sized weapon located in front of the right side of the Hellhound.

Suddenly I realized that this weapon seemed a little familiar.

It seemed to be a cannon-type weapon called the Ripper that he had often seen on other Hellhound-class weapons.

In Chen Ming's memory, every time he woke up from the cryogenic hibernation chamber, in addition to being responsible for the maintenance of the space station, he would occasionally help his colleagues who were repairing ships at the dock.

Repairing a ship naturally involves repairing weapons, so Chen Ming has a basic understanding of the weapons commonly used on spacecraft.

According to Chen Ming's former colleagues, the ships used by pirates were usually those that were still intact after their last robbery, and they were used after rough modifications and repairs.

The armor and hull are quite weak, making them particularly easy to target with certain types of weapons.

Therefore, the Ripper, which fires high-explosive armor-piercing shells, is very popular among caravans that often have to deal with pirates.

Mining stations often keep some on hand to sell to people whose weapons have been damaged for various reasons.

Although this Ripper is somewhat different in details from the most common Type II Ripper in Chen Ming's memory, it may be a more advanced model compared to thirty years ago.

But no matter how it is modified, the purpose of this weapon to target pirates' weak armor and hulls will certainly not change.

The Ripper's projectiles are definitely not as effective as pure armor-piercing bullets against the composite armor of the Iron Ore that is mixed with white cloud steel.

However, Chen Ming still felt that he had to be more cautious.

So before the Hellhound left the asteroid zone and entered the open area.

Chen Ming had already aimed the electromagnetic javelin at the Ripper and opened fire when he was sure he would hit the target.

Then.

That’s all.

The electromagnetic javelin's range of twenty kilometers meant that the Cerberus class had no time to counterattack.

The Ripper was destroyed without even firing a single shot.

The spare Ripper didn't survive more than a few seconds after being replaced.

The weapons mounted on other small load-bearing points of the Cerberus class could not destroy the armor of the Iron Ore at all.

And Chen Ming also destroyed all of these weapons just in case.

Without weapons, the Hellhound is a heavy target.

Its engine system was destroyed in a blink of an eye, and like the other two spaceships, it was paralyzed in the asteroid belt.

Became a steel coffin drifting in space.

After confirming that the three ships had no ability to resist, Chen Ming took the initiative to send them a communication request.

The communication was quickly connected.

Before the other party could speak, Chen Ming said very forcefully: "I will ask you a few questions. If you answer them, I can leave you here to fend for yourself."

Chen Ming did not say what the consequences would be if they did not answer, nor did he wait for their consent. He asked directly: "I haven't been here for a long time. Is there any news recently?"

There was a moment of silence in the communication channel, and a voice that sounded like a middle-aged man answered: "No."

Chen Ming glanced at the three abandoned ships not far away and asked, "Are you the leader?"

There was no response on the communication channel.

Chen Ming did not hesitate. His electromagnetic javelin locked onto the stern of the Cerberus-class ship and opened fire without any warning.

Suddenly, some chaotic sounds appeared in the communication channel.

But soon the sounds disappeared because one of the electromagnetic javelin's projectiles just pierced through the Hellhound's armor and hit the place where they stored the fusion fuel.

The entire Hellhound-class ship was completely transformed into a ball of gorgeous fireworks.

Chen Ming glanced at the control panel of the spacecraft, confirmed that the communication channels of the other two expedition-class ships were still connected, and continued: "So..."

"Yes! Yes! There is news!"

Before Chen Ming had time to ask a second time, someone responded to him in a panic on the communication channel.

"explain."

"The military outpost seems to be planning something. They are collecting combat supplies and recruiting mercenaries. The space station has been affected, and the prices of various weapons have increased a lot."

"I heard that there are more and more Afterglow's ships recently, so the army has to be on guard against them."

afterglow.

When Chen Ming heard the name, related memories appeared in his mind.

To put it in the simplest way, the mechanical race that Chen Ming had seen before were alien mechanical life forms discovered by humans when they were exploring the outside world.

As for the afterglow, it is the mechanical life, or electronic life, created by humans themselves, some artificial intelligence with self-awareness.

At the beginning, Afterglow was just the code name for the artificial intelligence core developed by the Human Empire to control unmanned warships.

These cores are placed on various advanced unmanned ships that are still in the design stage and are responsible for controlling the spacecraft for combat.

But then these AI cores suddenly awakened their self-awareness at the same time, and took the initiative to control all ships equipped with Afterglow AI cores to attack humans, triggering the first AI war.

Eventually, all the ships under Yu Hui's control were driven out of the territory of the Human Empire, and the current Human Empire strictly prohibits the existence of any AI above weak artificial intelligence.

At least that's what was recorded in the history books that Chen Ming studied.

The army discovered signs of an increase in the number of Yuhui's ships, so they concentrated their manpower and prepared for battle.

This is good news for Chen Ming.

If they go to find Yu Hui, no one will care about a small character like me.

After digesting this news, Chen Ming continued to ask: "That's all?"

The nervous voice of the person who just spoke was heard in the communication channel.

"Also...Also, there have been fewer mechanical ships recently, so the prices of things related to the mechanical race have also been rising."

"Is it all about money? What about other news?"

"No... probably no more."

"Then why are you guys staying here? For fun? Do you also want to go on the road with your boss?"

"No! Don't fire, I'm telling you!"

There were panicked shouts from the other end of the communication channel.

"We came here because we heard there was a Hammerhead-class ship smuggled in the Dark Cemetery."

"You know the Hammerhead class, right? It's a destroyer. It's said to be equipped with a military subsystem."

"It is said that the group that smuggled hammers got killed after offending someone they shouldn't have, so we came here to try our luck."

"It turns out that we just got here and ran into you before we even started looking."

Chen Ming's mouth twitched, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing.

After confirming several times that these pirates indeed had no further news, Chen Ming turned off the communication, activated the electromagnetic javelin, and fired at the engine of the expedition-class.

The two Scramblers soon followed in the footsteps of the Cerberus.

Became a member of the Dark Cemetery.

(End of this chapter)