Chapter 10 Medical Station
"Redesign the weapons and power systems of the small mining ship?"
Mingyu pushed open the door of the modeling room.
The modeling rooms at the designer headquarters were in short supply. Since Mingyu arrived, no more modeling rooms had been available. Song Lan and Tai Hu were still sitting on the waiting chairs along the wall. When they heard the noise and looked up, they saw Mingyu coming out, and both looked surprised.
There is only one possibility for Mingyu to come out at this time. His design draft and the one that passed the feasibility test
...but how long has it been?!
Song Lan looked at Mingyu in disbelief. Less than four hours... so short it made one wonder if Mingyu had only gone through the feasibility study once or twice to approve the starship project.
Mingyu didn't pay much attention to Song Lan and Taihu. After leaving the house, he turned left and called to Mu Baixing, "This way."
Mingyu took him to a medical station near the designer's headquarters.
He was tall, his body wrapped in combat uniform, and the blood on his arms showed that he was not someone to be trifled with. His eyes fell on Song Lan and Tai Hu, and they subconsciously lowered their eyes instantly, not even daring to look at his face.
Mu Baixing carries an aura. Even when he is calm like now, most people would consciously stay a few steps away from him.
His eyes passed over Song Lan and Tai Hu, and then he took a quick step to catch up with Ming Yu.
It wasn't that Mingyu couldn't sense the coldness of the starship pilot. It was just that part of this aura was filtered by the middle school boy filter he had when he first met Mu Boxing, and another part was overcome during their initial confrontation. As for the last part, Mingyu quickly got used to it.
Mu Baixing is just powerful, but he is not unreasonable.
"I'm actually just a junior starship designer." Mingyu finally said what he wanted to say when he just entered the Star Navigation Competition lounge a day or two ago.
"I've been self-taught as a starship designer. I've submitted designs to competitions run by some starship model companies, but I've never actually designed or modified a starship."
He looked at Mu Boxing and said, "I can help you modify the weapons and power systems of the mining ship, but...why don't you find a professional designer?"
Mu Bohang: "The mining ship in the mining area is old, and the cost of implementing the modification plan is too high."
Mingyu: “…”
What this means is that the starship is too old, so we don’t want to spend a lot of money to renovate it.
Many starship designers are reluctant to take on such projects because they are tedious and time-consuming, and the employers often haggle over the price of every component. Mingyu doesn't mind. For him, every design is a new experience and a learning process.
A street away from the starship designer's headquarters, three white cubes were stacked in a staggered pattern. The red and white capsule symbol of the medical station was lit on top. Mu Baixing checked into a self-service treatment room, swiped his card, and looked at Mingyu, motioning for him to come in.
The automated medical robot, originally embedded in the wall, sensed a patient entering and activated its green light. A treatment table rose from the ground, and Mu Boxing sat on a chair, resting his injured arm on the table.
The self-service medical cubicles were not very big. Mingyu sat down next to Mu Baixing's left and saw the man confirming his identity information on the operation panel and checking the treatment options.
"Do you have the original blueprints of the mining ship for me to see?" Mingyu asked him without paying much attention, sitting aside, "Let me take a look at the situation first."
Mu Boxing confirmed the treatment plan, and the robot in front of him began to replace its mechanical hand. The five fingers on its right hand, which simulated human behavior, retracted and replaced them with surgical scissors. It cut open the bandages Mu Boxing had wrapped himself and began to clean the wound.
"I don't have the original blueprints. I modified it from an abandoned mining ship." Mu Baixing said in a steady tone, "I can provide photos."
The medical robot had already torn off Mu Boxing's bandages and combat uniform on his arm. After scanning, it found some foreign matter residues in the wound that needed to be removed, so it dug deep into the flesh.
"Oh, you changed it yourself..." Mingyu looked at the movements of the medical robot, and then his voice suddenly stopped and he took a breath.
Mingyu unconsciously raised his voice: "Why don't you use anesthesia?!"
Mu Baixing looked at him sideways.
The designer's body tensed, his eyes widened, and he looked furious.
Mu Baixing: "Poor."
Mingyu: “…”
"What do you mean by poor..." Mingyu couldn't agree with it: "You're so shameless even though you're poor?!"
Mu Baixing turned his gaze, with a hint of inquiry in his expression.
Mingyu didn't pay attention and was just watching the movements of the medical robot, which made him feel uncomfortable all over.
The medical robot pulled out several palm-length, two-finger-thick spikes from Mu Boxing's wound. The black spikes were stained with blood, but it was still clear that they were not made of metal. They looked like the attack organs of some alien beast.
I don't know if it's a rusty iron vine or a hurricane bee.
The thorns were stuck very deep, and after the first one was cleared out, there was a second one, and a third one.
The medical robot's scalpel cut down, exposing the bone. Mingyu saw tiny cracks on Mu Baixing's arm bones, with a row of holes in the middle of the cracks, clearly left by the spikes. Several more spikes were deeply embedded in the bone and had not yet been removed.
Mingyu's heart beat faster, his lips were tightly pursed, and sweat broke out on his forehead. Just as he was about to look away, his vision was suddenly blocked by a hand.
Mu Baixing stretched out his left hand, vaguely blocking Mingyu's view.
He could feel that the young man sitting next to him was getting more and more nervous, his fingers on his knees were pinched white, but he didn't know why he was staring at him without blinking even though he was obviously afraid.
I'm afraid he's a little scared.
Mu Baixing thought about it nonchalantly and simply raised his hand to cover it for him.
"I want you to help me redesign the power and weapon systems for the mining starship." He brought up the previous topic again, drawing Mingyu's attention. The man's voice was steady, without a trace of trembling. "It accelerates slowly and breaks down quickly. I tried to change it, but it was no use."
Mingyu: “…”
"If the idea is like the one you drew for the Star Navigation Competition, it will certainly go bad quickly." Mingyu muttered subconsciously.
He paused for a moment and didn't continue. He tilted his head and turned towards Mu Baixing: "How about... if you really don't have any money, I can lend you some money for anesthesia?"
This was truly not something a normal person could endure; it looked like torture. Even though he couldn't see it anymore, the two villains in his heart were still fighting each other.
Someone who couldn't stand Mu Boxing's "self-abuse" suggested that he help his new teammates.
Another one reminded Mingyu indignantly that he was also a poor man who was short of money.
In the end, the helpful villain prevailed.
Mingyu didn't hear Mu Baixing's answer and knew that he was not going to agree.
Mingyu didn't know why the other party was so short of money, but after considering the reward rules of the Star Navigation Competition, he took a step back and said, "If you can help me pass the first round of the Star Navigation Competition preliminaries, I'll give you a free meal."
A tube of anesthetic only costs one hundred star coins. If Mu Baixing is really strong and can help him pass the first round, it would not be a loss.
Mu Baixing: “…”
Mu Baixing raised the corner of his lip, the curve so shallow that it was unrecognizable.
LUCE was young, probably still a student. Mu Baixing thought that he might come from a well-off family and have a simple mind.
Not only did he offer to borrow money, but he also said so casually that I didn't have to pay it back. He wasn't afraid that I would always rely on him after he asked for it this time.
With this kind of personality, you should have many friends, but you are easily bullied.
Mu Baixing's thinking is divergent.
He believes and hopes that LUCE grows up in an environment where people treat him with kindness.
Kind, but a little bit temperamental.
This is true on StarNet, and probably also in reality.
He didn't say anything for a while. Mingyu couldn't stand it anymore. He nudged Mu Baixing with his leg and urged, "What are you thinking about? Can you please? Hurry up and give you the anesthesia."
Mingyu said this and pulled Mu Baixing's hand.
The man's palms were cold, with a layer of cold sweat on them. Mingyu reached out and touched them, finally confirming that Mu Baixing was a normal person.
It's not that it doesn't hurt, it's that it can be tolerated.
He pulled but failed to pull Mu Baixing's hand down. His vision was still blocked and he only heard the other party laugh again.
"Thank you," he said. "It's okay."
Mu Baixing paused for a moment and continued, "I live in the Free Star Region, in the northern outer port."
He didn't like chatting with others, and he didn't like talking about himself. But when it came to Mingyu, he didn't mind explaining a few more words.
Mingyu: “…”
The Free Star Field, also known as the Exile Star Field, is adjacent to the Star Line and the Black Tide. It was once the intersection of the North Star Field and the Central Star Field.
After the Dawn War, humanity's safe star regions shrank, and the North Star Region was nearly swallowed by the Black Tide. As a result, the border lost its prosperity and became dangerous and chaotic.
It is outside the three major safe star fields of mankind. Although there are many resource-mining stars nearby, the population composition is complex. Most of them are fugitives who are being hunted down and wanted in the safe star fields, ordinary people who owe debts and cannot pay them back and have escaped, and survivors who lost their identity information after encountering a star navigation accident and can only be stranded outside the safe star field.
Of course, there are more descendants of these "original inhabitants" in the free star field.
This star field is not under the jurisdiction of the three major star field governments of the Central Star Field, the Southeast Star Field and the Southwest Star Field, and is not subject to legal constraints. Accordingly, there is no joint police station, no protection association, and no official medical station. The public security is chaotic and only the strong survive.
Residents of the Free Star Region were not allowed to freely enter the three major star regions. They could exchange contribution points for resources at designated offices, and use these points to purchase passes or residence permits to enter the three major star regions. As far as Mingyu knew, the number of contribution points required for a five-year residence permit was exorbitant.
The outer port is the outermost part of the free star field and is the most chaotic and dangerous place.
Ming Yu: "You are in the Free Star Region?" He hesitated, "Why?"
"A space accident," Mu Boxing said succinctly. "I was rescued by a starship in the outer harbor. I woke up in the escape pod's freezer with incomplete memories, no identity information, and nowhere to go."
Mingyu breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had not misjudged the person: Mu Baixing did not look like a vicious fugitive at all.
But because of a star navigation accident, he fell into the free star field... Mingyu wanted to comfort him, but didn't know how to say it.
It is considered lucky to be able to survive a space navigation accident.
But life in the free star domain is full of hardships and dangers.
Mu Baixing's voice was very indifferent. He only said, "The exploration team from the outer harbor often goes to the dangerous star sea."
Therefore, injuries are commonplace.
Without price subsidies from government medical institutions, anesthetics and other drugs would be expensive luxury goods in the chaotic environment of foreign ports.
The rules of the jungle prevail there, and only the strong ones can stay.
The owner of a barbecue restaurant must be a hidden retired mercenary who can knock down the store with one punch when fighting with the thugs who come to disrupt the business.
It is rare to find someone who does not bully others. The kindness of a stranger is more precious than the most expensive medicine.
Mu Baixing put down his hand.
His eyes were calm, and when he looked at Mingyu, a hint of softness, so light that it seemed non-existent, shone through the coldness and depth. "Alright."
The medical robot has cleaned the wound, the treatment light has been turned off, the bloody table has been cleaned up, and the wound on Mu Baixing's arm has been bandaged again.
There was no overly stimulating scene in front of him, but Mingyu did not feel any more comfortable than before.
Perhaps it's because he has a nice face that he has an advantage. Mingyu thought as he stared at Mu Baixing. It was hard to imagine the world he normally faced.
For a moment, Mingyu felt that his life was not so bad.
At least necessities and basic services in the safe star zone are not expensive.
The residents of the Free Star Domain not only lack basic resources in real life, but the prices of various consumption items required to enter the star network are also different from those of people in the three major star domains and are extremely expensive.
The prices for various services in StarNet are calculated based on contribution points, and the prices are ridiculously high.
Mingyu moved his lips and suddenly realized that if he hadn't insisted just now, Mu Baixing might not have come to the medical station, but would have gone offline and handled it himself.
He came here just to remind the team's designers not to have any doubts about their game tomorrow.
"Let's go." Mingyu didn't know what to say, but Mu Baixing had already stood up and said.
"If you're willing to help design the mining ship, I'll send you some photos of the current situation. After you've looked at it, you can make an offer and I'll see if I can afford it."
Mingyu hummed twice and followed him out of the medical room, hesitantly saying, "How about we go now? Let's see how your starship mining is going before we talk about the price. Maybe it's just adding two lines. My skills are limited, so I'll just treat it as practice."
"Prepare for the competition first." Mu Baixing said, "No rush."
Mingyu then logged off.
His way of preparing for the game is simple: sleep and recharge.
Nearly twenty hours later, Mingyu was woken up by the alarm clock.
At 11:30 am on Friday, the screens in schools, company cafeterias, major restaurants, convenience stores, bus stops... everywhere were playing the same message.
The five-yearly Star Navigation Competition qualifiers are about to begin!
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