Chapter 54 Chapter 54

Ruan Shiqing finished work and went upstairs. He happened to see Xueqiu coming up from downstairs. He picked up the kid and held him in his arms. He pinched the tip of his ear and asked, "What are you doing downstairs alone?"

He was just asking casually, but he couldn't stand Rong Heng's guilty conscience. He stiffened for a moment, tried to open his eyes to make himself look innocent, and rubbed his head against Ruan Shiqing's arm, making a soft "whine".

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince tried to get away with it.

Ruan Shiqing really fell for it. He rubbed the kid and thought about what Mr. Rong said. He felt sad that such a small kid had to undergo training. He didn't continue the previous topic and asked, "Are you tired of training in the military?"

How can we train such a small group?

Mr. Rong is really strict with his younger brother, Ruan Shiqing thought.

Rong Heng shook his head, continued to rub his arm, and even uttered a little "howl" in a childish voice.

In fact, once you become proficient in it, this behavior won't be too much of a burden.

After all, sometimes it is very useful.

"What a good boy." Ruan Shiqing lowered his head, rubbed the top of his head with the tip of his nose, and held him and sat down on the soft cushion in the living room.

The three little cubs who were playing immediately gathered around and rolled around Ruan Shiqing.

Only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who was caught off guard by being rubbed affectionately, was still a little dazed. The place where his nose rubbed seemed a little numb and itchy.

He tried his best to hold back and not raise his paw to touch it.

A strange feeling spread in my heart, like the first flower blooming on a branch in the cold winter of June.

Ruan Shiqing played with the kids for quite a while before washing up and going to bed.

Rong Heng lay on his special pillow, so close to him that he could even hear his faint breathing.

The strange feeling lingering in his heart made him unable to fall asleep, so he simply closed his eyes and forced himself to think about Xijin.

According to the information conveyed by Lucien, there are currently at least three forces in Sikkim.

The royal family headed by Si Yan; the four great tycoons; and the so-called "Creator" who suddenly appeared.

Si Yan launched the "Sacred Transformation Plan" to restart the human body mechanization experiment. The leaders of the four major chaebols are obviously interested in this experiment, but are still cautiously watching. The marriage between Seya Bart and Si Yan is probably a signpost for old Bart. And old Bart's attitude is likely to affect the other three. The "Creator" who suddenly appeared today hid behind the scenes and created a suicide attack, claiming that Si Yan is a false god. The purpose is probably to block the "Sacred Transformation Plan", or to destroy the possible cooperation between Si Yan and the four major chaebols.

These three forces are currently closely related to the "Sacred Transformation Plan".

Everything has just begun, and the current situation among the three parties is still delicately balanced. But once the advantage tilts towards one side, the balance will be broken and war is inevitable.

Apart from the "Creator" of unknown origin, both Si Yan and the four great tycoons hold enough power to start a civil war in the empire.

Rong Heng does not intend to get involved. What he needs to do now is to keep a low profile and accumulate strength.

Only after the trumpet of war sounded did he have the strength to fight.

However, Yengeis is too far away from Sikkim, and many things are not convenient to do. B3024 is quite close to Sikkim, but it is too backward. If a war really breaks out, a long-range missile can turn this planet back into star dust.

Too fragile.

If B3024 is to be used as a transit station, it must be armed as soon as possible.

Rong Heng glanced sideways at the person sleeping beside him.

With Ruan Shiqing around, spending a large amount of star coins to purchase weapons and equipment from outside is not cost-effective and will easily attract attention; it is better to purchase more advanced fully automatic production lines and corresponding equipment to improve production efficiency and manufacture a large number of weapons by themselves.

Cheap and safe.

Rong Heng lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then quietly left the bedroom and went downstairs.

When they got to the yard, he called Noah and said, "Check to see if the Naxi Group or the Kuok Shipyard has any new ordnance factories that are being built or are under construction."

"Please wait a moment. I need three minutes to confirm." Noah quickly searched and screened the relevant information: "There are twelve arsenals under construction under the Naxi Group, and thirty-six have been approved for construction; there are nine shipyards under construction in the Gaoke Dockyard, and twenty-nine have been approved for construction."

Three quarters of the Galaxy Empire's arms manufacturing industry is controlled by the Naxi Group and the Kok Shipyard, and the remaining quarter is divided between the military's research institutes and scattered small businesses.

If you want to get these devices as quickly as possible without attracting attention, you must start with these two.

"Which one is closest to us?"

"The closest one to us is the Balham Arsenal, which is jointly invested by the Naxi Group and the Kok Shipyard. It is the largest arsenal in terms of investment in the past decade and is still under construction."

It just meets Rong Heng's needs.

With the corners of his mouth raised, Rong Heng said, "Pay attention to the transport items and routes of their transport ships. If there is anything related to military equipment, notify me immediately."

I want production equipment but I don’t want to spend money.

What's the best way? Of course, see who has it and grab it directly.

Noah agreed, and couldn't help but confirm, "Your Highness, I have to remind you that robbery violates the laws of the Empire."

"The robbers are interstellar pirates, what does it have to do with me?" Rong Heng sneered. Before turning off the intelligent brain, he taught the upright AI: "Besides, this is not called robbery, it is called robbing the rich to help the poor. In ancient times, it was a virtue that would be praised."

????

There seems to be some truth in what he said, but I can't really think about it.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince always has a point, and it is impossible for me to expose him.

So Noah chose to keep his mouth shut.

Rong Heng waited for a week and finally got news from Noah.

——Three days later, five transport ships will leave the Baku region and head to the planet Balem.

After receiving the news, Rong Heng immediately contacted Hector and Mori. He himself sent a text message to Ruan Shiqing in the name of Xueqiu needing training, and asked Mori to send someone to pick him up.

To make the whole thing seem more real, he also brought a little fox along.

This "training" can last as short as a week or as long as at least ten days.

The little fox was excited and reluctant, and said goodbye to his father 09, the little dragon and the little mermaid one by one.

Ruan Shiqing put a communicator on her wrist so that the kid could contact her at any time when she was out; the little mermaid handed her a small backpack filled with snacks, and smiled at her with a cheering gesture.

Only the little dragon kept circling around her, asking questions curiously, as if he couldn't wait to go with her.

Hector watched from the side, clicked his tongue, and said, "This time it's just a small mission. If Herri wants to go, he can come along."

Anyway, I already have two cubs to take care of, so it seems no problem to take care of one or two more.

——The story Rong Heng made up this time was: he and Hector needed to carry out a small mission near the planet B3014. The mission was simple and they had plenty of time, so they took Snowball and Nota with them for training.

!!!!!!!

The little dragon boy's eyes widened immediately: "Can I go too?"

After saying that, he looked at Ruan Shiqing hesitantly. He had never been far away from home.

The curious little cub is curious about the outside world, but is reluctant to leave his father.

"You can go if you want." Hector raised his eyebrows, looked at the little mermaid, and said, "Since you want to go, let's all go together, Yuebai can come too."

The little mermaid, who had never expected that she could go too, her eyes lit up, with excitement and nervousness in her clear eyes.

Seeing the cubs like this, Ruan Shiqing couldn't help but laugh. With Mr. Yourong and Hector looking after them together, he had nothing to worry about.

So he patted the cubs on the head and said, "If you want to go, go and have a look."

Now he is unable to take the cubs away from B3024, but now that he has the chance, he will let the cubs go out and have a look.

So in the end the three cubs followed Snowball and went to participate in the "training" together.

Hector led the cubs onto the "Glory", while Mori, who used a disguise capsule, followed closely behind in a flying vehicle with his men.

The drone flew through the atmosphere of planet B3024 and landed on the suspended cyan battleship...

After the kids left, the house seemed empty all of a sudden.

The Xiong brothers are now able to take on independent responsibilities and handle most of the repair work in the store on their own, and no longer need Ruan Shiqing's guidance.

Ruan Shiqing, who no longer had to take care of the baby, suddenly became free. Apart from studying and working, there seemed to be nothing to do.

Looking out of the workshop window -

In the front yard, the Xiong brothers were doing maintenance work while chatting with waiting customers; on the other side, a small golden robot was singing and pruning the overgrown Fallen Star vines with brisk movements.

He alone seems to have nothing to do except work and study.

Ruan Shiqing curled himself up in the chair, transformed his smart computer into a neural connection helmet, and decided to go online to relax for a while.

"Sir, long time no see."

Entering the holographic space, a gentle mezzo-soprano voice sounded in my ears: "How can I help you?"

Thinking of the AI ​​lady's previous "help", Ruan Shiqing still felt a little scared, so he decisively rejected the other party's kindness: "Thank you, I just want to read the news and relax."

Noah was slightly disappointed: "Okay, if you need help, you can call me anytime."

Ruan Shiqing entered the news section.

In the holographic world, each section is a virtual world.

In the news section, people of all kinds stood in front of a wall covered with screens, discussing the latest news in low or loud voices.

Ruan Shiqing vaguely heard words such as "shuttle" and "attack".

Just as I looked up to carefully watch what was playing on the screen, a familiar voice came to my ears: "Master Ruan! It's you!"

Looking back, it turned out to be Dais, whom I had met once in Metista.

Dai Si's expression was very excited, he could even be described as dancing with joy: "As soon as I saw you were online, I rushed over."

After that chance encounter in Metista, the two added each other's messaging methods, but Dais never dared to take the initiative to contact Master Ruan.

As a master of mechanics, he must be very busy. Deshuang dared not disturb him easily. He could only look at his address book every day, hoping that he would log into the holographic world again one day.

He finally got what he was waiting for!

"You came up to check because you noticed something was wrong, right?" Dai Si asked in a low voice.

????

What's wrong?

Ruan Shiqing looked at him with a puzzled look in his eyes.

Dais seemed to have gained some recognition from this, and continued, "Although Metista has released the data of the shuttle and even a virtual model, there are still some places that are not detailed enough." He looked like he was taking credit for it: "My teacher happened to be in charge of investigating the shuttle. He sent me the 3D scan model of the entire shuttle. Do you want to take a look?"

Ruan Shiqing: ???

Perhaps the doubt on his face was too strong, and this time Dai Si finally understood. He asked in surprise: "Aren't you here for Haiyan?"

"What is Haiyan?" Ruan Shiqing shook his head: "I just came here to check the news."

As expected of a master of mechanics, he can actually turn a deaf ear to what’s happening outside!

Dais pointed to the screen on the wall with admiration in his eyes and explained, "A few days ago, the Parka Palace was attacked by a shuttle suicide attack, and the entire west side of the Parka Palace was destroyed. But no one knows how the shuttle avoided the palace's guards and protection systems. And according to witnesses, after destroying the Parka Palace, the other side also played a holographic image for half an hour. What does this mean?"

He couldn't help dancing with joy and said, "That means it took the guards half an hour to break into the shuttle! What a powerful defense capability! The ordinary model of the 'Haiyan' shuttle can't do that. My teacher said that the shuttle has been modified, and the cloaking device and shield emitter have been cleverly changed. He asked me to study what changes were made based on the stereo scan."

Dai Si was in high spirits, but Ruan Shiqing's expression gradually darkened.

"Petrel" shuttle, cloaking device and shield modification, suicide attack.

These overlapping familiar words made it hard for him not to associate it with the shuttle he had modified before.

Is it a coincidence, or...

"Can I see the 3D scan?" Ruan Shiqing asked.

"Of course." Dais set the private mode and then released the stereo scan.

The moment he saw the scanned image, Ruan Shiqing's heart skipped a beat. After carefully checking the interior, he was even more certain that this shuttle was the one he had modified before.

He didn't bother to talk to Dais and quickly browsed through all the recent news.

Several days have passed since the incident, and various video data have flooded the holographic network, and the identity of the attacker has been revealed.

It turned out to be an ancient human.

Ruan Shiqing clicked on the video data, and when he heard the sentence "Only the Creator can save the world from disaster, and the 'Sacred Transformation Plan' is a hypocritical scam", his brows furrowed even more tightly.

Calling them "creator" and "false god" sounds like a cult member.

The businessman who introduced him to this business, Joel, was also an ancient human. Did he know this? Was he also a believer in the so-called "Creator"?

Ruan Shiqing had doubts one after another. He quickly said something to Dai Si and prepared to log off.

Dai Si finally managed to catch up with him, but he didn't expect him to leave so soon. He reluctantly asked, "Master Ruan, have you discovered the problem with Haiyan? Are you going to go offline and study it in depth?"

Ruan Shiqing paused for a moment, suppressed his anxiety, retrieved the scanned image, and roughly explained the improved principles of the cloaking device and the shield: "I just remembered that I have some urgent matters to deal with. If you have any more questions, you can send me a text message. I will reply after I see it."

!!! ...

"Master Ruan, you are such a good person!"

Dais saw him off with a farewell gesture.

After logging off the line, Ruan Shiqing called Joe, and the other party's image appeared in the room, seemingly the same as before: "Mr. Ruan, what's the matter?"

Ruan Shiqing observed his subtle expression and asked, "Have you read the latest news?"

"Are you talking about the attack on the Palca Palace?" Joel said, "Of course I saw it. The entire holographic network is talking about it now."

He looked calm and composed, without showing any guilt or other emotions.

Ruan Shiqing said slowly: "The 'Haiyan' shuttle that the attacker was driving was the one I modified."

Joel's smile froze. He raised his voice and confirmed again in disbelief: "What did you say?"

"The 'Haiyan' shuttle driven by the attacker is the one you sent me to modify." Ruan Shiqing said.

Joel looked even more surprised than he was. "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"

There was no sign of worry on his face. It was just the normal reaction of a person who just found out that he was involved with a cult member.

Ruan Shiqing couldn't tell the difference between the real and the fake for a moment, so he could only get straight to the point: "It's absolutely correct. Do you know the customer's true identity?"

Joel was still surprised and nodded, "Yes, the one who found me was a Bis man. I had dealt with him twice before, so he was not a stranger to me. Even if you said that, I still find it hard to believe that he had any connection with the attackers."

He looked calm and didn't seem fake.

But Ruan Shiqing still had some doubts in his heart. In the end, he could only say, "I don't want to be associated with this attack. You don't want to be associated with this attack either, do you?"

"I understand what you mean. I won't reveal a word to anyone." Joel promised with a serious look.

Ruan Shiqing nodded and then cut off the communication.

Then he brought up the virtual screen and continued to browse related news reports.

Unlike Dais who was focusing on "Haiyan", the focus on the holographic network was on "the Creator" and "the Divine Transformation Plan".

Most people did not believe the attackers, but a few people once again questioned the "Holy Transformation Plan."

Ruan Shiqing read the news and found that almost no one mentioned the attacker's race.

Is ancient humans just a coincidence?

After turning off the virtual screen, Ruan Shiqing pondered for a moment and called Shen Wuju again.

After much thought, he still felt uneasy about Qiao Er, so he could only try to get information from Shen Wuju.

The two made an appointment to meet at the tavern they had last time.

When Ruan Shiqing passed by, Shen Wuju had already arrived and filled the empty wine glass. He asked in confusion: "Is there a problem with your cooperation with Qiao Er?"

The matter of the shuttle might cause trouble, and Ruan Shiqing did not intend to tell Shen Wuju, so he was vague and only said that there were some contradictions in their cooperation and he wanted to confirm Joel's background with Shen Wuju.

"They are just ordinary businessmen, with a slick personality, but they are not bad people." Shen Wuzhuo thought for a while and said, "Although I have known them for a longer time, we all have our own jobs, so we don't interact with each other very often on weekdays. We only meet at mutual aid associations and occasional gatherings in bars."

He was not sure about anything deeper.

It seemed that he couldn't get anything out of Shen Wuju, so after sitting for a while, Ruan Shiqing made an excuse that he had something to do and left.

They came here in a landspeeder, but Ruan Shiqing had something on his mind at the moment, so he simply opened the protective shield, reduced the speed of the landspeeder to the minimum, set the destination, turned on the automatic driving, and then sat in the driver's seat, lost in thought.

It was not until he heard a series of rustling sounds behind him that he was brought back from his thoughts.

I had an inexplicable uncomfortable feeling of being spied on from behind.

Ruan Shiqing turned around, but found nothing. There was nothing on the display screen either.

He lay back in confusion, but the feeling of being spied on came back again. The rustling sound continued intermittently, like the sound of some kind of limbs rubbing against each other.

Ruan Shiqing remained calm and looked at the display screen, but still saw nothing.

But the sound in my ears is real.

He frowned, raised his protective shield, and hurried home.

After parking the landspeeder at the door, Ruan Shiqing looked back again, but still saw nothing. Then he drove the landspeeder into the front yard.

A lot of messy things were piling up in his mind, like a ball of wool that he couldn't sort out. Ruan Shiqing simply put them all behind him and went to take a nap first.

When I wake up after taking it, I feel refreshed.

After changing clothes and going downstairs, Ruan Shiqing prepared to video chat with the kids first.

As a result, as soon as I walked to the door of the workshop, I saw the two Xiong brothers and the small robot crowded at the door.

"What's wrong?" Ruan Shiqing asked.

"There's a kid at the door." Xiong Yuanyuan turned her head and said, "He looks weird, standing at the door without moving. When I asked him where he came from, he didn't say anything."

Little brat?

Ruan Shiqing walked out in confusion and saw a kid standing at the door, just a little taller than his knees. His skin was pale without a trace of blood, his short hair just below his chin was dark green, and his eyes were a strange dark red. What was even more strange was that he had two long, thin tentacles on his forehead.

When he left, the other person turned his head and looked up at him with a dead look in his eyes.

No wonder Xiong Yuanyuan said it was strange.

It's really strange.

Ruan Shiqing looked at him for a moment, then stepped forward and asked, "Where are you from?"

The other person looked at him without blinking, took a step towards him, but did not speak.

"Where are your parents?" Ruan Shiqing is always more patient with cubs.

But the other party either didn't understand or couldn't speak, he just stared at him without any response.

Maybe it's a lost kid.

Ruan Shiqing hesitated for a moment, then brought him a small stool and asked him to sit at the door, fearing that his parents might come looking for him soon.

But from noon to evening, when the repair shop was about to close, no one came to take the strange cub away.

He sat motionless on the small stool handed to him by Ruan Shiqing, without a trace of light in his dark red eyes.