Space Odyssey from Abandoned Mining Space Station

Chapter 63: Chapter 56 Professional Maintenance Master_2

If anyone dares to take the ship controlled by Chen Ming out alone in the future, then this ship already effectively belongs to Chen Ming.

Everything on the ship is naturally included, and among them is the Superspace Navigation System that Chen Ming needs most now.

In fact, Chen Ming had thought about dismantling the Superspace Navigation System from other ships at the Space Station for his own use half a year ago.

But at that time, two reasons prevented Chen Ming from doing so.

Firstly, the severity of the damage to several ships docked in the shipyard was extremely high.

The Iron Ore No. that Chen Ming selected based on its appearance turned out to be missing the Superspace Navigation System, and the others were even less reliable.

So before he could gather enough food for the journey, he wasn’t much interested in those ships.

The second reason was the creatures in the Space Station.

On his first return to the Space Station, if Chen Ming had any spare time, he definitely wanted to check out the other two ships.

However, the sensing ability of the creatures was unbelievably exaggerated; as soon as Chen Ming killed a larva that hatched from an egg, all the creatures in the Space Station came to hunt him down.

If he were even a bit slow, he might become food for the creatures, and there was even less of a chance to get near the ships.

By the time Chen Ming returned for a second time, Bubble Insects with long-range attack abilities had already appeared among the Space Station’s creatures.

There was also a high probability that the damaged ships lacked the Superspace Navigation System too, so Chen Ming couldn’t take the enormous risk to confirm.

Yet, Chen Ming did think about using mining lasers to cut off part of the shipyard, separating it from the Space Station, which would allow him to confirm whether the ships had the Superspace Navigation System.

Even though the Space Station isn’t large, that’s only in comparison to other space stations.

Actually cutting the shipyard would consume a significant amount of fuel.

Moreover, the ships docked in those shipyards are visibly fragile, and any slight mistake during the cutting might result in the ships being completely destroyed.

Low return, high cost, difficult to achieve.

Chen Ming couldn’t undertake such a venture.

In hindsight, why not stably acquire others’ Superspace Navigation Systems using more straightforward methods like panels?

Even without the help of panels, as long as Chen Ming could join the maintenance factory, bringing back a damaged Superspace Navigation System shouldn’t be too difficult.

With a little repair and modification, it’d be a new Superspace Navigation System compatible with Iron Ore No.

If even that proves impossible, Chen Ming has two backup plans.

Buy materials to construct it himself, or directly purchase a finished product.

Which of these methods isn’t better than risking a search on a few abandoned ships?

In short, Chen Ming doesn’t regret his earlier decisions.

If he had managed to obtain the Superspace Navigation System back then, it would mean the time taken to reach the Pirate Space Station wouldn’t have taken more than half a year.

It would also mean he wouldn’t now possess the cargo worth over a million, and his repair skills wouldn’t have progressed to this current level.

Calculating the gains and losses helps understand what decisions are correct.

However, right now, obtaining the Superspace Navigation System by controlling a spaceship has to wait a little longer.

Chen Ming needs to await the right opportunity, which shouldn’t take too long.

He refocused on the work at hand.

Under the strange gaze of Bald, it didn’t take long for Chen Ming to assist in finishing the repairs on the second ship.

As they began working on the third ship needing repairs, Chen Ming suddenly asked, ”I heard that business at the repair factory is usually slow. How come there are so many ships to fix today?”

Bald, pleased to have someone to talk to while working, immediately replied, ”A fleet has pulled off a big raid, so all these ships that need repairs are their spoils.”

”Are they planning to use these ships themselves?”

”No way, once repaired they’ll definitely hand them over for others to use. Pirates never lack people willing to risk their lives.”

Chen Ming nodded, continuing to chat intermittently with Bald about pirate matters, attempting to gather more intelligence while completing the repair of the second ship.

However, as they were disembarking from the ship, Bald hesitated to say something to Chen Ming: ”You...”

Chen Ming turned to look at him, but Bald, as if abandoning his own thoughts, said, ”Never mind... it’s nothing.”

Chen Ming knew the reason all too well.

After all, he was from Sinda Corporation, responsible for the long-term regular maintenance of a high-value Mining Space Station.

Even during cryogenic sleep, the company would pay him quite a substantial salary, at least compared to other positions.

If his skills couldn’t even surpass the maintenance master at a pirate space station in the Edge Star Realm, he might as well crash into the Space Station’s outer wall.

Even though those two sentences occupied his mind just now, his hands did not lack in skill one bit.

Many tasks that only required Bald maintenance master as an assistant were completed by Chen himself.

If Bald didn’t notice anything, that would indeed be strange.

During the third ship repair, Bald obviously focused more on Chen Ming, unconsciously allowing him to do even more work than himself.

Thus, when the internal repairs of the third ship ended, and Bald led Chen Ming to the hatch of the fourth ship in line for repairs.

He didn’t enter immediately but looked at Chen Ming next to him with a conflicted expression, tentatively asking, ”Why not let you have a go?”

”Sure.”

Chen Ming’s actions earlier were precisely in anticipation of this moment.

Just as he had considered everything that needed attention, he could now focus entirely on the repair work.

Chen Ming took charge, just as he remembered, directing Bald maintenance master as an assistant, beginning the remaining ship repairs.

A few hours later, nearing lunchtime.

The manager returned to the maintenance factory’s ship repair area with Old Wu.

He found Bald maintenance master, who was organizing tools, and asked, ”How much do you have left to do?”

Bald responded with a slightly bewildered look, ”Already done, all of it.”

”So fast? How long did it take? It’s not even lunchtime yet, right? Wait, all of it? What about what was supposed to be done tomorrow?”

Bald glanced at Chen Ming, who was examining the already repaired ships nearby, and said, ”All done, today’s efficiency was high.”

The manager followed Bald’s gaze, his eyes locking onto Chen Ming.

He knew very well the capabilities of his eight employees and none of them could complete all tasks in a single day.

And he also trusted that Bald wouldn’t lie about work matters.

Since he said the repair tasks were all complete, there could be only one possibility.

Chen Ming, with Bald’s help, completed work that should have taken two people two days, in less than half a day.

The manager, considering this possibility, initially found it hard to believe, but the facts seemed to be right in front of him.

Nonetheless, he decided to verify for himself.

”Give me the gear, I’m going up to inspect.”

Bald obediently stripped off the equipment he wore and handed it to the manager.

At this time, Old Wu also curiously suggested, ”I might as well go up and take a look too.”

He also perceived the problem from Bald and the manager’s looks.

Regarding Chen Ming, Old Wu was also deeply curious in his heart.

Soon, both entered the sixth ship, which was supposed to be inspected last according to the plan.

In fact, as they approached, the manager had to admit that the ship’s repairs were indeed completed within this half day.

Since the outer armor of the ships on the task list was all repaired to perfection.

Inspecting inside the ship didn’t require much time either.

Thus, after confirming that there were no issues inside the sixth ship, the manager directly accessed the recorder on the auxiliary movement equipment he wore.

He began viewing the entire repair process footage.

Although the perspective was Bald’s, throughout he was mostly watching Chen operate.

So the footage conveniently showed the manager Chen Ming’s extremely professional repair methods and his shockingly proficient operation techniques.

The manager even felt a notable gap between Chen Ming’s skills and those of all maintenance masters on the Space Station.

At this point, the manager couldn’t help but ask Old Wu beside him, ”This man is your friend, right? Where’s he from? Can we recruit him?”

”It seems he has a pretty good relationship with you since he even covered for your shift. You should be able to invite him, right?”

Old Wu appeared taken aback, instinctively touching his head and replying, ”Friends, indeed. But no recruiting needed, he just spoke to me yesterday about wanting to join our maintenance factory.”

”What?”