CHAPTER 46: CHAPTER 46 NEWS

Chen Ming paralyzed the engine of the second Conquest Level ship and destroyed its weapons.

Only at this point did the Hellhound Level finally arrive, quite late.

Although only one merchant ship remained, Chen Ming’s expression turned serious.

The medium load point on the Hellhound Level made him feel that he must show it respect.

The White Cloud Steel mixed into the hull material could withstand the small weapons from two Conquest Levels, but the medium weapon was questionable.

Chen Ming tried to identify the medium weapon located at the right front of the Hellhound Level.

He suddenly realized the weapon seemed somewhat familiar.

It appeared to be a type of cannon known as the Tearer, which he had often seen on other Hellhound Levels.

In Chen Ming’s memory, whenever he awoke from the hibernation pod, aside from maintaining the Space Station, he would occasionally help his colleagues at the dock with ship repairs.

Repairing ships naturally involved fixing weapons, so Chen Ming had a good understanding of the common weapons used on ships.

According to Chen Ming’s previous colleagues, the pirates’ ships were usually ones they obtained in relatively good condition after their last raid, going into use after rough modifications and repairs.

Their armor and hull were rather weak, and certain types of weapons could easily target them.

Hence, Tearers, which fired high-explosive armor-piercing shells, were very popular among merchant fleets that often faced pirates.

The mining space station frequently stocked some, intended for those who had damaged weapons for various reasons.

Although this Tearer differed slightly in detail from the most common Type II Tearers in Chen Ming’s memory, it was possibly a more advanced model compared to thirty years ago.

But no matter how it is modified, the weapon’s purpose against the weak armor and hull of pirates will surely remain unchanged.

The Tearer’s projectiles would obviously not be as effective as pure armor-piercing shells against the composite armor of Iron Ore No., which incorporated White Cloud Steel.

However, Chen Ming still felt the need to exercise more caution.

So, before the Hellhound left the Asteroid Belt and entered open areas,

Chen Ming had already aimed the Electromagnetic Spear at the Tearer and fired only when he was sure of the hit.

Then.

There was nothing further.

The Electromagnetic Spear’s twenty-kilometer range left the Hellhound Level no time to counterattack.

The Tearer was destroyed before it could fire a single shot.

The spare Tearer brought up afterward didn’t last more than a few seconds.

And the weapons mounted on the other small load points of the Hellhound Level couldn’t break through the Iron Ore No.’s armor.

Furthermore, these weapons were all neutralized by Chen Ming just in case.

Without weapons, the Hellhound Level was just a heavy, living target.

In no time, its engine system was struck, and like the other two ships, was paralyzed in the Asteroid Belt.

Becoming a drifting iron coffin in space.

After confirming that the three ships no longer had any capability to resist, Chen Ming actively initiated a communication request with them.

The communication was soon connected.

Before the other side spoke, Chen Ming assertively said, "I’m going to ask you a few questions, and if you answer, I can leave you here to survive on your own."

Chen Ming didn’t mention what would happen if they didn’t answer, nor did he wait for them to agree, and directly asked, "I haven’t been here for a while, any news recently?"

The communication channel was silent for a moment before a voice that sounded middle-aged responded, "No."

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

There was no response in the communication channel.

Chen Ming didn’t hesitate and aimed the Electromagnetic Spear at the stern of the Hellhound Level, firing without warning.

Chaos erupted in the communication channel at once.

But these sounds soon disappeared because an electromagnetic spear shell happened to pierce through the Hellhound’s armor, hitting where they stored fusion fuel.

The leaking fuel, along with the ammunition on the ship, exploded in a chain reaction.

The entire Hellhound Level turned into a magnificent firework.

Chen Ming glanced at the ship’s control panel, confirmed that the communication channels of the other two Conquest Levels were still connected, and continued, "So..."

"Yes! Yes! There is news!"

Chen Ming hadn’t had a chance to repeat the question when someone in the communication channel already responded to him frantically.

"Speak."

"The troops at the military outpost seem to be preparing for something, gathering battle supplies and recruiting mercenaries, the space station over there is affected, prices of all kinds of weapons have risen significantly."

"It’s heard that it’s because the number of Dusk ships has increased recently, so the army is on guard against them."

Dusk.

Upon hearing this name, memories related to it appeared in Chen Ming’s mind.

Simply put, the Mechanical Race Chen Ming had encountered before were foreign mechanical life discovered by humans during their exploration of outer space.

But Dusk was human-made mechanical life, or rather electronic life, some self-conscious artificial intelligences.

Initially, Dusk was just the codename for the AI core that the Human Empire developed to control unmanned warships.

These cores were installed on various advanced unmanned ships still in the design phase, responsible for controlling the ships to engage in combat.

But later these AI cores suddenly awakened self-consciousness simultaneously, and proactively controlled all ships equipped with Dusk AI cores to attack humans, sparking the first AI war.

Eventually, all ships under Dusk’s control were expelled from the Human Empire’s territory, which led to the current humans strictly prohibiting the existence of any AI surpassing weak artificial intelligence.

At least, it is so recorded in the history books Chen Ming studied.

The military discovered signs of increasing Dusk ships, hence concentrating their living forces to prepare for battle.

This was good news for Chen Ming.

They went to confront Dusk, so no one would bother small players like him.

After digesting this information, Chen Ming continued to ask, "Is that it?"

The anxious voice of the person who had just spoken came from the communication channel.

"Also... also, recently there have been fewer Mechanical Race ships, so the prices of things related to the Mechanical Race have risen too."

"All related to money? What about other kinds of information?"

"No... probably nothing more."

"Then why are you staying here? For fun? Do you want to join your boss on the road?"

"No! Don’t fire, I’ll tell you!"

Panicked shouts came from the other end of the communication channel.

"We came because we heard there was a smuggled Hammerhead Level near Dark Graveyard."

"You know the Hammerhead Level, right, a destroyer, and it’s said to be equipped with military subsystems."

"The group that smuggled the Hammerhead supposedly crossed the wrong people and got killed, so we came to try our luck."

"But we only just got here, hadn’t started searching when we ran into you."

Chen Ming’s mouth moved, wanting to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.

After confirming several times that these pirates indeed had no other information, Chen Ming turned off the communication, activated the Electromagnetic Spear, and fired at the engines of the Conquest Level ships.

The two Conquest Levels quickly followed in the footsteps of the Hellhound Level.

Becoming part of the Dark Graveyard.