Space Odyssey from Abandoned Mining Space Station

Chapter 68: Chapter 59 Inquiries and Honesty

Old Wu brought Chen Ming to a seemingly ordinary bar in the core city of the Space Station.

To Chen Ming, the vibe here felt similar to bars from his past life.

Chen Ming had visited before with colleagues during work, but he never liked it, and it was still the same now.

However, Chen Ming didn’t show any of this on the surface and continued to follow Old Wu into the bar, approaching the counter.

Old Wu, very familiar, chatted with the bartender for a bit, ordered a drink, and handed the menu to Chen Ming, saying, ”It’s on me, drink whatever you want.”

”So generous? But I’m not interested in alcohol, you go ahead.”

Chen Ming didn’t accept Old Wu’s kindness; he planned not to remove his helmet for the time being.

After all, Iron Ore No. hasn’t even installed the Superspace Navigation System yet; if his identity was discovered, he might not be able to escape even if he wanted to.

Old Wu shrugged, without forcing Chen Ming to drink; meanwhile, he quickly downed several glasses, his face gradually turning red.

Seizing the opportunity before Old Wu got completely drunk, Chen Ming directly asked, ”Old Wu, do you know how to handle the ship’s identification code?”

”Identification code? It’s simple. Anyone at the maintenance plant can help you change it, just spend a little money, quite cheap.”

Chen Ming frowned a bit at Old Wu’s casual response and asked, ”Wouldn’t it be detected?”

”No, we cooperate with a shipyard; they provide us with a batch of usable identification codes in advance, we just stick them according to the model and then import the owner’s identity. As long as no trouble is caused, no one will check thoroughly.”

”Is it that simple?”

”It’s just that simple, how complicated do you want it to be?”

”Fine then.”

Chen Ming thought identification codes associated with significant identities and the ship identification function would be as challenging as getting official identity codes, but it turned out to be quite casual in reality.

He silently noted the process Old Wu mentioned and continued, ”There’s one more thing, do you know what this is for?”

Saying that, Chen Ming took out a terminal and pulled up a photo on it.

A photo of a Mechanical Race chip.

Previously, Chen Ming didn’t mention this thing while selling goods twice, keeping it on him primarily to check if there was related information.

If he could extract data from the chip, it would certainly be more beneficial to him than just selling it off.

But unfortunately, in the past two days, Chen Ming hadn’t found any useful information, so he simply decided to ask Old Wu now.

After glancing at it, recognizing what it was, Old Wu said, ”I remember this thing doesn’t seem to have much use.”

”Mechanical life forms have different thinking logic compared to humans; their chips haven’t been deciphered yet, having the chip won’t mean much, maybe only Dusk might want it.”

Old Wu suddenly smiled and said, ”Just joking, but the material itself is quite nice; dismantling and selling it might fetch you some money.”

Chen Ming shook his head in slight regret, put away the terminal, and said, ”Alright, so be it.”

After all, it was impossible to sell the chip; he wasn’t short of chip materials or the money from selling materials at the moment.

For now, he’d keep it; perhaps it might come in handy one day.

Actually, Chen Ming initially wanted to ask about the price of depreciated ships.

But the maintenance plant had everything on that, Chen Ming checked it over in the afternoon, so there was no need to ask now.

Thus, Chen Ming stood up directly and said, ”How much for your drinks? I’ll cover it.”

Old Wu said a bit surprised, ”So generous?”

”Think of it as like before, asking people to do things always costs, or if you also want to ask me questions, we could call it even.”

Chen Ming paused the action of paying and looked at Old Wu.

He knew for sure Old Wu must have something to discuss with him.

He hadn’t known Old Wu for long, and he had just taken advantage of him a bit, then suddenly claimed to treat, totally not in his manner.

Chen Ming was certain that it wasn’t from Old Wu’s conscience feeling guilty, but that he had other purposes.

Connecting slightly the verbal agreement he just had with the director, Old Wu’s current behavior was undoubtedly related to the director.

Old Wu finished the remaining drink in his glass, wiped his mouth, and said, ”Hey, indeed I do, let’s talk outside.”

Old Wu paid for the drinks himself and led Chen Ming to a narrow alley outside the bar.

It was rare how he found this dim corner in a place like the Space Station that stays illuminated 24 hours.

Old Wu looked around the alley to ensure no one was there, then said to Chen Ming, ”The director needs me to verify your situation and find out what you’re doing at the Space Station.”

”?”

Chen Ming was completely surprised by Old Wu’s directness, countering, ”You just ask like this, aren’t you afraid I might lie?”

Old Wu smiled, showing a grin Chen Ming had seen several times before, saying, ”Isn’t this a mutually willing transaction?”

”You ask me, I ask you, we all tell the truth and everyone is happy, and we may have chances to cooperate in the future, isn’t that great?”

Chen Ming was silent for a short while and then said, ”Indeed.”

Speaking the truth was beneficial for everyone; the director could be reassured, and Chen Ming could earn preliminary trust from Old Wu and the director.

Moreover, for Chen Ming, as long as they didn’t concern themselves with his origin and only focus on his purposes, there wasn’t much reason to conceal anything.

Organizing his words, Chen Ming said, ”What I’m doing now is earning money for a new ship and then heading to the Prosperous Star Realm.”

Old Wu waited for a while, realizing Chen Ming had no intention of continuing, asked, ”Is that all?”

”That’s it, haven’t thought about what’s next, planning to stay at the Space Station for one or two years, and leave once I’ve made enough money.”

Old Wu, not entirely convinced, looked at Chen Ming saying, ”Earning money for a ship in a year or two? Even if you already have one, it’s not easy.”

”That’s my business, I already have thoughts on how to make money, just need to go experiment.”

Old Wu could hear the undertone in Chen Ming’s words, raising his brows slightly.

Chen Ming quickly said, ”I just need to collect some retired weapons from the maintenance plant, there should be an internal price for employees, right?”

”There is, but what are you doing with materials that can only be melted down?”

”Refurbishing.”

Old Wu looked at Chen Ming in confusion.

He knew Chen Ming’s skills and knew someone with such skills surely understands the weapon condition.

Being aware of the visible differences between refurbished second-hand goods and original factory products, how could he make money from unsellable items?

Of course, Chen Ming wasn’t going to bother explaining further; he knew exactly the condition of weapons after maintenance.

Whether it was second-hand could not be seen at all.

That was where the profit lay.

Anyway, he was just dropping a hint for Old Wu to keep in mind, when it was truly time to earn money, he’d still have to discuss with the director about this.

Old Wu also discerned that Chen Ming didn’t wish to say more, what he knew now was enough to report back.

He suddenly chuckled again and said, ”Alright, so be it, I gotta go report.”

”And here’s some insider news for you, Dusk might attack the Space Station in the next few days; if possible, it’s better to stay in the city.”

”Also, tomorrow’s onboarding matters will precisely need to be handled in the city, just come here directly tomorrow morning, and I’ll take you there.”

”Alright.”

Chen Ming agreed and quickly left the alley.

Meanwhile, Old Wu still leaned against the alley wall.

Once Chen Ming’s figure completely vanished from sight, he took out his terminal and contacted the director.