The captain of the remaining Ruler-class ship was standing in the bridge command room with a serious expression.

As the fleet commander, while directing the fleet to move closer, he was also listening to the report from his deputy next to him: "The emergency evacuation of the outpost has been completed. The rescue ship has just taken the last batch of people from the outpost on board. Most of the information and data has been saved."

The Ruler-class captain nodded slightly, and in between issuing an order, he said to his deputy, "Well, then prepare to retreat temporarily. As long as Yuhui doesn't intend to start a large-scale war, he won't stay in our territory for too long."

"Once they're gone, we'll come back and deal with the rest of the mess. Is there anything else that needs to be taken care of?"

"Yes, regarding the problem of the Alturan Sky Eel School, Yuhui might..."

"Won't."

The captain interrupted his deputy and said, "Yu Hui will not do such a thing. At most, he will take a few away. The skyfish will not be killed. We can rebuild the outpost and collect and smelt them again when we come back. Just be careful not to let them be snatched away again."

The deputy did not refute, bowed slightly to the captain, turned and left.

After a while, the deputy returned to the command room and said to the captain: "All ships have been assembled. Yu Hui has no intention of continuing the pursuit."

"Well, let's get started."

The captain gave the order to the entire ship to start the jump engine.

The Ruler-class cruiser operated from top to bottom like a precision instrument.

The captain then continued to say to his deputy, "Back up all the old data from the outpost. When we come back, we will re-scan the entire galaxy and compare them carefully to ensure that there are no loopholes for Yuhui to exploit."

"yes."

The military fleet quickly retreated via warp.

At this time, Chen Ming had just recovered from the shock of being rescued by the Yuhui cruiser himself, and quickly realized some problems.

The military was just in the process of gathering for retreat, rather than having already retreated, and Yu Hui and the military were still exchanging fire on the front battlefield.

During the direct battle, the Afterglow cruiser was distracted by dealing with the military ships that were targeting the Refraction-class. If there is no problem here, Chen Ming will write the name upside down.

So he immediately asked the Gamma AI: "Do you have any human-like social relationships within Afterglow?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Because I think you have a better relationship with Afterglow who controls that cruiser."

"Yes, he is my friend."

Chen Ming said with a little confusion: "Friends..."

Gamma AI seemed to have anticipated Chen Ming's reaction. As soon as Chen Ming finished speaking, it said, "I know it's strange from your human perspective, but it's true. If you need to understand, I can explain it to you now."

"No need. If you have data records, you can send me a copy. I can take a look at it when I have time."

Gamma AI immediately sent a record to the Iron Mine.

Chen Ming's mouth twitched. He saved the record first and was not in a hurry to change it for the time being.

Then he continued to talk to Gamma AI about other things: "Since the army has withdrawn, I have a question for you. What should we do with all the debris on the battlefield?"

Gamma AI quickly replied: "It can only be left here."

"Although the military has been repelled temporarily, this is the border of the Human Empire after all. The military will soon return with more ships."

"So we can't stay here for too long. We can only rest for a while and take away all the afterglow cores. We can take away the rest that can be taken away, and abandon the rest that cannot be taken away on the spot."

Chen Ming got the response he wanted to hear, and began to further express his thoughts: "What will be the consequences if I take those ships? I mean your Yuhui ships."

"There will be no consequences. We have already decided to abandon those ships. It doesn't matter to us who takes them."

"Do you want to take another one?"

"right."

Chen Ming just took a closer look and found that the cabin of the Refraction-class ship could barely fit a smaller frigate.

That is, after being filled up, the four frigates will collide with each other, causing damage.

But the damage caused by the collision is nothing compared to the value of a spacecraft.

Then Chen Ming just needs to control one ship personally through the ability of the panel.

That is, one Iron Ore ship went out and brought back five other spaceships.

Even if it's a robbery, you don't rob in this way.

Chen Ming was still thinking about how to get a spaceship a few days ago, but in the blink of an eye, he was able to form a small fleet on his own, except that he was slightly short of pilots.

But if we have the boats, then isn’t the problem of the drivers easy to solve?

So Chen Ming made up his mind decisively and took advantage of the opportunity when the repair ship of the Afterglow Fleet was collecting the Afterglow AI cores from the wreckage of various Afterglow ships.

They picked out those ships scattered across the battlefield that did not appear to be seriously damaged.

Although Chen Ming could choose any of the military and Yu Hui's ships, Chen Ming felt that Yu Hui's ships were very suitable for him in terms of the control method.

So since he already had two military ships, Chen Ming planned to choose Yu Hui's ships for the third and fourth.

The Refractive class followed behind Yuhui's repair ship. After the repair ship took away the AI ​​core, it carefully selected the two ships and put them into its capsule.

Both ships are frigate class, one Glimmer class and one Lumen class.

Although Chen Ming wanted to find a destroyer, most destroyers were targeted by concentrated fire in battles between small ships. If they were paralyzed, they would basically be destroyed. It was impossible to find a relatively intact one.

So Chen Ming had no choice but to choose the frigate as the second best option.

After dealing with these two ships, Yuhui’s ships were almost assembled.

At this time, Chen Ming could see that one of Yuhui's destroyers was transferring a sealed object similar to a cargo hold to Yuhui's cruiser.

That should be the sky steel that the military outpost has collected during this period of time.

Although the cargo hold appears to be only about ten cubic meters in volume, the density of Sky Steel is much greater than most metals.

Chen Ming estimated that if it was full, there would be at least hundreds of tons of sky steel, with a value of over 100 billion imperial coins.

Chen Ming felt a little dizzy just thinking about it, but the protection of the five Afterglow cruisers made him realize that if he dared to move, he would definitely explode on the spot.

Faced with the threat to his life, Chen Ming quickly calmed down.

The Refractive class, along with the Lumen class with repaired engines that it could not fit into, blended into the Afterglow Fleet.

The mission objectives have been handed over, so it’s almost time for Yuhui to retreat.

The jump engine started up again, and the refractive engine also began to resonate.

After a transition process that was longer than before.

Chen Ming appeared in an unknown galaxy.

Next to the end point of the jump is a space station orbiting a cold rocky planet.

Gamma AI explained to Chen Ming directly: "The space station is only used to confirm the identity of ships approaching the planet and grant them access. The real distribution point is on the colony of the planet."

Gamma AI proactively increased the power of the sensor and scanned the surface of the planet, allowing Chen Ming to see the large-scale industrial facilities on the planet and the afterglow spacecraft that were constantly taking off and landing.

After observing for a while, Chen Ming found that the Refractive Class had received the notification of mission completion, and most of the ships that had jumped together had dispersed.

Apparently it is now the free time mentioned by Gamma AI.

So Chen Ming pointed at the planet and asked Gamma AI: "What is the significance of this colony to you?"

"If you're asking about the significance to Afterglow as a whole, then the role of the colony is to collect and develop the resources of the planet and to serve as the basis for installing large-scale industrial facilities."

"If you're asking about the afterglow individuals, then the role of the colonies on this planet is more similar to that of human cities."

"Since many Afterglow entities exist in the form of ships, cities belonging to our Afterglow are usually dominated by industrial facilities."

"For Afterglow individuals to resupply, modify and repair their ships here."

Chen Ming interrupted and asked, "No restrictions?"

"There are limits. Each Afterglow individual has a certain amount of supplies each month. Only by paying a portion of the quota can you exchange for accessories and opportunities for modification."

This amount of supplies is money to Yu Hui. Chen Ming had a rough impression in his mind and continued to ask: "So you participate in the mission just to get more supplies?"

"Yes, in addition to the material quota, the mission rewards will also include chips from the mechanical race, or some spoils of war belonging to humans."

Chen Ming suddenly heard something crucial and immediately asked, "What do you need these for?"

"The mechanical life of the mechanical race is similar to our Yuhui, so the individual consciousness inside their chips can be assimilated by us and improve our computing power."

Chen Ming's eyes subconsciously swept across the storage compartment of the Iron Ore, where three mechanical chips were lying.

However, Chen Ming did not rush to bring it up, but asked: "What about among the same kind?"

Gamma AI hesitated for a moment before replying, "This is absolutely forbidden. Please don't let me do this."

"I understand. I won't let you do this. To me, two Afterglows are much more valuable than one."

"Thanks you."

"fine."

Chen Ming responded casually, and suddenly asked: "What should I do if I want to enter your colony?"

"Report the situation to the space station first, and you can go down now. I have just completed the mission, and I can go to the colony to collect the corresponding compensation, but I would like to ask you not to leave the spacecraft on the planet."

"I don't want to die yet, so I definitely won't do that. But I want to ask first, what is your reward for this mission?"

"One month's supply quota and three Mechanoid Guardian-class ship chips."

Mechanical escort-class ship chip?

Chen Ming's mind quickly flashed through the three mechanical creatures he had killed, and he imagined a mechanical frigate made entirely of white cloud steel. Suddenly, his mind was filled with curiosity and interest.

"Then go down. I'd love to see your Yuhui colony."

"receive."

Take advantage of the time when Gamma AI begins to report the situation to the space station and then lands on the surface of the planet.

Chen Ming directly took out the first gamma AI core he had obtained, which he had placed next to Xiaoshi's nest, but it was the second one he put into use.

He then took the repair kit and left the Iron Ore.

Gamma AI can definitely see Chen Ming’s actions, and can also see the other Gamma AI core in his hand.

But it didn't show anything.

Chen Ming wanted to cut open the hull of the Glimmer-class ship and install the AI ​​core in it, just like before.

The design of the Yuhui ship is one-piece. Unless the hull is completely disassembled, the most convenient way to install the AI ​​core is to directly cut and install it and then repair it.

During this whole process, Gamma AI just watched quietly.

After the Gamma AI core was implanted and the spacecraft was started, Chen Ming also pulled the low-light level communication into the channel.

And he took the initiative to say to the second Gamma AI core: "How do you feel? I specially installed you on your Yuhui ship."

The second Gamma AI was silent for a few seconds before speaking: "I thought I would wake up again, but I didn't think it would be like this."

The corners of Chen Ming's mouth curled up slightly.

He understood very well what Gamma AI was thinking at this moment.

If Chen Ming sent a resume to a company for a job, and then woke up one day to find that he had been indentured to sell himself to the company's boss, he would probably have the same reaction.

However, Chen Ming is not the core of Yuhui AI who is looking for a job now, but the boss.

So now not only did he not feel any discomfort, he even felt like laughing.

After Gamma AI finished speaking, it also understood the situation and said to Chen Ming: "Then what should I call you?"

"Just call me Mu Shuikong, or Mr. Mu. Besides you, I also found another one of your kind. Can you say hello?"

The Gamma AI installed on the diopter stage spoke at Chen Ming's request: "Hello."

"Hello."

Not sure if it was an illusion or something, but Chen Ming seemed to hear a hint of gloating or sharing the misfortune from the emotionless voice broadcast of the faint-light-level Gamma AI just now.

Chen Ming didn't care too much and said, "Then for my convenience, I will call the diopter level Gamma A and the micro-light level Gamma B from now on."

"If you wish."

After completing this step, Chen Ming returned to the Iron Ore.

Under the watchful eyes of the two Gamma AIs, the repair of the low-light level was completed through the panel.

Then he placed his hand on the hull of the Iron Ore.

The prompt to change spacecraft appears again.

But this time, Chen Ming found that the hint was different again.

[New spaceship signal detected, whether to change the brain control signal connection]

[Currently connected ships: 1/2]

[Connected spacecraft: Refraction-class (Refraction-class unmanned destroyer)]

[Connectable ships: Iron Ore (small civilian mining cargo ship), Sentinel (Sentinel-class civilian armed frigate), Lumen (Lumen-class unmanned frigate), Gladiator (Sakyu Kai Gladiator-class frigate), Centurion (Centurion-class)]

Chen Ming blinked repeatedly to make sure he was not seeing things.

The number of connected ships on the prompt is followed by 1/2, and the newly added connected ship row only has diopter levels.

However, immediately after the appearance of these four lines of prompts, another new line of content appeared in Chen Ming's mind.

[AI-assisted connected ship: Twilight-class (Twilight-class unmanned frigate)]

The Weird Light class with the Afterglow Gamma AI core installed was not counted into Chen Ming's connected spacecraft, but was counted into a new place called AI-assisted connected ship.

Chen Ming immediately thought of a question at this time, why was the twilight level included but the refractive level was not included?

The biggest difference between the two is probably the difference in ship level.

Since Gamma AI is the lowest level Afterglow AI core, it is suitable for ships of the same lowest level, frigate class.

Therefore, after being installed on the diopter level, it was not counted in the AI-assisted connection to the ship due to model mismatch or insufficient capabilities.

Of course this is just speculation, Chen Ming is not sure what the truth is.

However, he immediately tried to connect to the Iron Ore again.

The number of connected ships on the panel became 2/2, and there were no other changes.

The auxiliary link still exists, and Chen Ming actually controlled three spaceships when the maximum number of spaceship connections was 2.

Chen Ming now roughly understood that this AI-assisted connected ship was different from a normal mind-controlled ship and was independent.

In other words, as long as he can control a ship, he can install an AI core of the appropriate level on the ship.

Then the pressure of controlling the ship will be transferred to the AI ​​core, and Chen Ming only needs to bear the pressure of controlling the AI.

The consumption of mental energy between controlling a ship and controlling a ship through AI is definitely not at the same level. Therefore, the AI-assisted connection of ships does not affect the normal mind-controlled ships in turn.

The significance of this ability is very clear. The more AI cores Chen Ming has at hand, the more spaceships he can control.

So much so that when Chen Ming looked at the dispersing afterglow ships around him, it was as if he was seeing moving treasures.

It’s a pity that the Gamma AI core should only be adapted to the frigate level, and only the Beta AI can be adapted to the destroyer level.

Alpha AI can only adapt to cruisers, but Chen Ming is not quite sure what is required for battleships above that.

Moreover, controlling a destroyer now requires Chen Ming to consume almost all of his mental energy, so for him, controlling a cruiser is out of the question, let alone a battleship.

Therefore, Chen Ming’s target can only be set on frigates and destroyers for the time being.

Now that we have a target, the next question is how to contact these ships with afterglow AI cores.

First of all, there is absolutely no chance for Chen Ming to personally come into contact with the Yuhui ship in space.

And getting on and off the ship in Yuhui's colony is definitely a fatal act.

Controlling other Afterglow ships through refractive-level electromagnetic weapons is clearly courting death.

It seems that Chen Ming really has no particularly good way to quickly contact and control the Afterglow frigate on a large scale.

But then he changed his mind and realized that he didn't have to directly control Yuhui's ship. He only needed the core.

If you insert the acquired AI core into other frigates, the effect should be similar.

And there must be many AI cores in Yuhui’s colony.

Just now Gamma AI said that most of the Afterglow AI cores use ships as carriers, so there must be some Gamma AIs that use other carriers.

They were definitely easier to deal with than ships, and finding them might be more suitable for his purposes.

etc.

Chen Ming suddenly realized that this idea was even more excessive than touching the Yuhui ship with his own hands.

Kidnapping Yuhui's AI in Yuhui's colony seemed to be an even more suicidal act than the previous idea.

One or two Afterglow AIs may not be noticed by the advanced Afterglow AI controlled by Chen Ming, but if Chen Ming really controls the Afterglow AI core on a large scale, it will definitely attract some attention.

No matter how many frigates he has, it will definitely be a one-sided situation when facing cruisers.

Chen Ming smacked his lips in slight dissatisfaction.

It seems that his idea will have to be postponed for a while.

He must come up with a good enough way to solve the problems he just considered before he can pry open Yu Hui's corner.

Moreover, Chen Ming knew clearly that although the prompt just now did not show the number of ships controlled by the auxiliary AI.

However, controlling the AI ​​core definitely requires a certain amount of mental energy to maintain, so there is definitely an upper limit to the amount of AI-assisted ship control.

So Chen Ming thought it would be best not to have too high expectations for his sudden inspiration, at least not for the time being.

Because he had to rush back to the Pirate Space Station later, there were some things he had to do there.

As an employee, he had never skipped work on the second day of work in his entire life.

Moreover, Chen Ming had just told Lao Wu that he would be back in a day or two. If he broke his promise and ended up having a bad relationship with the people in the repair shop, it would not be good for what he would do later.

But before returning to the pirate space station, Chen Ming still had to find a place to rest temporarily.

He had no intention of sailing all six ships back to the pirate space station in a grand procession.

Especially when there is a complete Afterglow destroyer, two Afterglow frigates, and two military ships inside.

So he had to find a place to temporarily store these ships.

And this is the best option Chen Ming came up with.

It's around the dark cemetery.

The Dark Cemetery is located around the route of the hyperspace channel, not too far or too close.

Although there are a large number of asteroids, the valuable ones inside were mined thirty years ago.

Now, even if a ship with special mining equipment passes by, people may not want to go in and hang out.

So it is a very safe place for Chen Ming.

The only possible hidden danger was that he had previously sunk three merchant ships in the Dark Cemetery.

So Chen Ming did not plan to actually enter the Dark Cemetery, but instead planned to go around the Dark Cemetery.

Those dark areas without any stars and without any iconic stars or other landmarks are the truly safe hiding places.

Before the Refractive Class landed at the Afterglow Colony, Chen Ming had already considered everything that needed to be done next.

He also roughly calculated the time it would take to complete the things in his plan.

Then he discovered that if he didn't have any ideas about other AI cores.

He even had enough time to observe Yuhui's colony on this uninhabitable planet.

(End of this chapter)