Chapter 63 Starship Modification Workshop
The wind on Maze Star is strong.
Mingyu hurried out of the Star Harbor Lounge door, nearly being blown back by the oncoming gust of wind. Mu Baixing leaned against the door, looking sideways at him, and pulled him behind him.
The man was tall and long-legged, the hem of his black coat flying high in the wind. His short hair was ruffled by the strong wind, brushing against his forehead and causing him to squint slightly. The man walked in front of Mingyu. While the windbreak wasn't significant, it was better than nothing.
Mingyu followed Mu Baixing closely, looking at the surrounding scenery with some curiosity.
There are currently no starships entering the port, and there is no obstruction to the sky above the starport.
A not-so-bright sun hung directly above a pale, cloudless sky. There were no clouds in the sky, and the entire sky was bisected by a pale yellow ring of stars.
Mu Boxing's aircraft was parked in a parking area not far away. After the hatch was closed, the strong wind was locked outside the aircraft.
In less than a minute, Mingyu's nose was blown red.
Mu Baixing glanced at him, turned up the brightness of the temperature control system in the aircraft, and then sank into the high-speed channel.
"Are we going straight to the resource area?" Mingyu looked out the window, a little nervous. "Brother Mu, where's your mining ship? Or should we rent one?"
Labyrinth City was unlike most other space cities he had seen. The buildings here were only about ten stories high, their facades a matte gray that emphasized practicality over design. The central city was built when Labyrinth Star was still a free star system. The streets were tangled, the buildings old, and no matter which route one took, one could see the narrow, gray airport high in the sky. Sunlight was cut by the airport and other buildings, leaving only scattered patches when it reached the aircraft.
The outer city of Labyrinth Star was expanded in recent years after entering the central star field. The original single-lane route was expanded into a dual-lane route after entering the outer city. The starport gradually became distant and small, and large swathes of sunlight fell onto the wide streets.
"The mining ship has arrived. We'll enter the resource area tomorrow." Mu Baixing piloted the aircraft, ascended into a very noisy street on the edge of the outer city, and docked at a docking platform.
The street's noise isn't due to a large number of pedestrians. On the contrary, the suspended pedestrian areas on either side of the waterway are nearly empty.
The deafening roar of machines came from the gray buildings that lined the street, making people's eardrums buzz.
Mingyu: "Where is this?"
He followed Mu Baixing down from the aircraft and asked loudly, "A small starship factory?"
Mu Baixing looked inquiring, as if he hadn't heard clearly what he was saying.
Mingyu took a step to the side, his arm pressed against Mu Baixing's, and asked again, but the man still didn't hear clearly. With no other options, he leaned over again, leaning in close to the man's ear and shouting again, "A small starship factory—!"
Mu Baixing happened to turn his head towards Mingyu to hear his words clearly.
The two people were so close to each other in an instant that Mingyu's lips lightly brushed against Mu Baixing's earlobe.
Mingyu: “……!”
He felt the soft touch on his lips, and took a step back as if he had been electrocuted. It was almost as if he had jumped out. The expression on his face was dull for a moment, and he opened his eyes wide unconsciously, revealing an expression of disbelief and confusion.
Mu Baixing: “…”
Mu Baixing reached out and touched his earlobe, then looked at Mingyu.
Mingyu: “…”
"I... I didn't mean it..." Mingyu spoke incoherently. While trying to explain to him, he subconsciously recalled the touch and couldn't help blushing again.
Mu Baixing chuckled softly and shook his head.
He was the first to enter the automatic sensor door in front, took off the silent communication device on the wall, and put the noise-canceling headphones that blocked the rumbling sound into Mingyu's ears.
"This is the starship modification workshop." He also put on communication equipment and explained to Mingyu.
The camera inside the door flashed a green light, indicating it was working, and scanned the figures of Mingyu and Mu Baixing at the door.
"Mu Baixing?" The camera transmitted the data to the internal workshop, and a hoarse voice sounded from the headset.
"Your mining ship needs to be modified with so many parts, and the gun barrel lines need to be adjusted. I told you I can only come to pick it up tomorrow. Why are you here now? I'm busy!"
Mu Boxing: "Expedite the modification of a fully functional A+-class lightweight exoskeleton, equipped with a small arm-mounted cannon, and with automatic and manual assisted aiming systems."
He led Mingyu into the second door and said, "I made an appointment with you a long time ago."
Before him lay a long, narrow corridor. Barely a meter tall, it was windowless, illuminated by the overhead lights. Every meter on either side of the iron-gray walls stood a closed door. However, as Mingyu walked past, he saw that all the doors were secured with a large, circular mechanical lock.
The people on the call flipped through the screen, looking for their work plans, and after a moment they found the appointment project that Mu Baixing had mentioned before.
He then said "oh" and postponed the maintenance work originally scheduled for this afternoon to make some time. He complained, "Didn't we say last time that it would be two days later..."
But he and Mu Boxing have collaborated many times, and it is impossible to kick someone out once he is at the door.
"Workshop No. 13." He pressed the button twice, and a green guide line was projected into the void from the equipment above the passage, leading Mingyu and Mu Baixing through the passage, down the stairs, and into an unlocked door.
The originally cramped space suddenly widened several times. Six or seven meters high, a small mining ship was being lifted by a robotic arm. Its gun barrels, lift engines, and other components had been dismantled and set aside. The outer shell had been opened, half casually thrown to the ground, while the other half still clung to the hull's skeleton. A middle-aged man with gray hair was riding a lifting platform, operating a small robotic arm to re-solder the ship's wiring.
He heard the sound of the door opening, stopped what he was doing, lifted his mask and turned around, his eyes sliding across Mu Baixing, and then locked onto Mingyu.
"You can call me Uncle Hua." The lift began to descend, and he threw the mask aside. "Go to the next room and take your measurements first."
He gestured to Mingyu to enter. Mingyu pushed open the half-open door and took a look, discovering a complex testing room. It was equipped with harmless optical monitors and numerous sensors. The moment Mingyu entered, the equipment automatically activated, measuring his height and weight. Using a virtual projection, it guided him through various stances and movements, recording his physical transformations.
There are also instruments in the house for indicators such as grip strength and thrust, and the testing items are one after another, extremely detailed.
"We need to take him in?" Uncle Hua said to Mu Baixing outside the house, "Is this the designer who modified your starship? He's quite capable, but I didn't expect him to be so young."
Mu Baixing leaned against the wall, hummed casually, and lowered his eyes to look at Mingyu's physical data that was being updated in real time.
"But I still say that you are really missing out if you don't chase the Firebird and Nightbird but go looking for the Hot Rock Ivy." Uncle Hua couldn't help but complain.
"Haven't you always wanted to add a combustion effect to the cannon barrels of your base's long-distance starships? You're not willing to use such excellent materials right in front of you? Your legal time in the free space is at least a month. Why not look for Hot Rock Ivy in a few days? If you're worried about the competition, it's more cost-effective to spend a lot of money on durability-enhancing drugs than to give up on finding the Firebird..."
The starship he owned was previously on Maze Planet, having taken on Mu Bohang's business several times, so he was quite familiar with him. After Maze Planet became part of the Free Star Domain, Uncle Hua used his connections to change his star domain registration. Although Mu Bohang could no longer enter Maze Planet, he had helped Mu Bohang modify his starships several times in the Outer Harbor, and their relationship was mutually beneficial.
Usually, Mu Boxing would be allowed to take away any leftover scraps of materials he had used to modify the starship.
Uncle Hua knew that the Firebird's crystal would need to be reprocessed before it could be inserted into the cannon's muzzle. If the crystal fell into Mu Boxing's hands, he could at least get a piece of it. This expensive and rare material could fetch a high price even for scraps.
But if he lets those people from the military take it away, he will get nothing.
"There aren't many people here yet, so only those from the Central Star Region Military are competing with you. You're experienced, and if you go to West Sixth District, you might be able to find it faster than them..."
Mu Baixing said in a cold tone: "No."
Although firebirds are rare, if you miss it this time, you may still see it next time.
If Mingyu couldn't improve his mental endurance, he would suffer losses sooner or later. He didn't want to wait even a day longer.
Uncle Hua knew he couldn't persuade him. He didn't dare to really provoke Mu Baixing, so he could only lower his head and mutter softly, "You don't even care about your own starship, but you're rushing around helping others... If you don't know, you'd think you were chasing your wife!"
Mu Baixing raised his eyelids and glanced at him.
Uncle Hua didn't dare to look up when he was glanced at by his cold gaze, so he didn't see the unusually calm expression on Mu Baixing's face when he heard this narration.
About an hour later, Mingyu walked out of the testing room with a thin layer of sweat on his body.
The tests here were truly varied, even testing his shooting skills, with various gun barrels being tested one after another. The testing room had special metal blocks simulating virtual counterweights. He hadn't encountered some of the gun barrels in the fight club before, and he'd just tried firing them out of curiosity, and now his right arm was hurting from the shock.
"This exoskeleton is designed with defense as its primary purpose. It doesn't come with many weapons, but you must find the one that suits you best." Uncle Hua explained to Mingyu, and took Mingyu to another room, where he began to look for areas that needed improvement in the experimental records of the corresponding exoskeleton model based on the data.
Mu Baixing didn't say much, just followed all the way, his eyes always on Mingyu.
The look was not offensive, but its presence was so strong that Mingyu kept turning his head to look at him.
The young man brushed his hair and touched his cheek in confusion, wondering if his hairstyle had been blown too funny by the strong wind, or if something was stuck on his face.
"We'll pick it up together with the mining ship tomorrow." More than an hour later, Uncle Hua completed the entire process and finalized the time with Mu Baixing and Mingyu.
"Why were you looking at me just now?" Mingyu couldn't help but ask Mu Baixing as they were walking out.
The two had already reached the exit of the workshop. Mu Baixing did not answer the question, but only gestured for him to take off the noise-canceling headphones.
Mingyu did as he was told while staring at him, waiting for his reply.
Mu Baixing also took off his communication device and looked at Mingyu with a smile in his eyes.
Mu Baixing: "It looks good."
Mingyu: “…”
Mingyu: “……?”
"...What?" Mingyu only saw his lips opening and closing, but couldn't hear what he said in the noisy noise.
"Brother Mu! Speak louder!" he complained. "Brother Mu! Hey! Speak clearly before you move forward!"
Mu Baixing stopped and turned his head again.
He looked at Mingyu, paused for a while in the designer's puzzled gaze, and finally turned around completely, holding Mingyu's shoulders and leaning forward.
"Because it looks good." This time the man's deep voice finally reached Mingyu's ears clearly.
"Can't look away."
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