Space Odyssey from Abandoned Mining Space Station

Chapter 70: Chapter 60 Dusk Strikes_2

Just as Chen Ming was hesitating, Old Wu, who knew Chen Ming must have ties with Sinda Corporation, was all smiles, clearly enjoying the show.

The factory director seemed to realize something was off and subtly turned to send a message to Old Wu questioning the situation through his terminal.

Only then did Old Wu relay to the director what the boss had said when arranging Chen Ming’s identity.

Faced with the director’s questioning of why he hadn’t spoken up earlier, Old Wu’s answer was simple: he forgot.

The atmosphere in the office gradually became awkward.

However, after careful consideration, Chen Ming decided to sign the contract.

Because all identity data on the contract was already filled in, having been directly imported from the identity card.

This meant Chen Ming would be working in the maintenance crew under the identity of Mu Shuikong, not as Chen Ming.

Besides, he was still wearing his protective suit, and no one had seen his face. As long as he didn’t remove his helmet outside the ship or his accommodation, it wasn’t a big deal.

Furthermore, the contract was actually quite favorable for Chen Ming.

While the identity of Mu Shuikong wasn’t real, the backing of Sinda Corporation was certainly genuine.

Although Chen Ming was reluctant to associate with Sinda Corporation, since he was already here, he might as well give it a try.

After all, the entire Space Station was likely funded by Sinda, so even if Chen Ming didn’t want to work here, he had to stay on Sinda’s Space Station, making no real difference.

After making up his mind, Chen Ming picked up the pen and signed the name Mu Shuikong on the contract.

Once the contract was verified, someone quickly came to take Chen Ming to his future workplace.

His workplace wasn’t the maintenance plant but rather an office within the Space Station Administration, newly prepared for the maintenance crew.

This was likely the factory director’s arrangement, intending to protect talent.

After escorting Chen Ming, nobody assigned him any tasks; he only needed to sit in the office.

Probably they had to wait until this situation passed before starting official work.

At least for now, this seemed to be a very leisurely position.

Chen Ming waited for half a day without anyone acknowledging him, so he simply started reading new maintenance books he had downloaded after getting online.

At noon, someone came to give Chen Ming a meal card and told him the location of the cafeteria.

Chen Ming accepted it but didn’t plan to go there; he intended to go back to the inn he found and make do.

But just as Chen Ming was about to leave.

A piercing alarm suddenly rang in Chen Ming’s ears.

The alarm echoing throughout the entire station immediately made Chen Ming aware of the underlying issue.

If he guessed right, the Dusk had arrived.

Chen Ming hadn’t expected Dusk to arrive so quickly; Old Wu had only mentioned yesterday afternoon that Dusk might come, and now it was noon the next day.

Wait, something seemed off.

Chen Ming calculated. If there were signs of Dusk, it should have been when that ship collided with the dock two days ago.

It had already been two days; Dusk should indeed have arrived by now.

Within ten seconds of the alarm sounding, Chen Ming’s terminal received a message from the administration.

”Dusk Fleet is about to attack the Space Station, please take shelter.”

That message was already a bit late, for as soon as the alarm sounded, Chen Ming heard the dense sound of footsteps outside the office.

Through the window, Chen Ming could see many people hurrying on the street outside, each with something to do.

Naturally, Chen Ming couldn’t just stay in the office.

Once the sound of footsteps outside had mostly faded, Chen Ming exited the office, following the stairs all the way down to the basement level of the Space Station Administration Building, to a workshop belonging to the maintenance crew.

This should now be one of the safest places in the entire Space Station.

When Chen Ming entered, the workshop was empty; everyone likely scared off by the alarm and message.

Chen Ming locked the door behind him and grabbed a chair to sit down. He then projected the footage captured by Iron Ore No.’s camera in front of him.

Last night, Chen Ming had already switched back control to Iron Ore No.

After all, any other controllable ships and superspace navigation engines could be found later; losing Iron Ore No. would be a disastrous loss for Chen Ming.

It turned out that his precautionary measures proved useful within just one day.

Through Iron Ore No.’s camera and recording equipment, Chen Ming could hear the dock internally repeating the emergency notification that came with the alarm.

Only at the end, an additional sentence was added.

”The dock will close in five minutes.”

This was the last chance for anyone to leave the Space Station before the battle with Dusk broke out.

Chen Ming certainly wouldn’t leave, and it was too late anyway.

But Iron Ore No. was different; it had to get out.

If Chen Ming were Dusk, apart from destroying the Space Station’s defensive weapons at the first opportunity during the attack, the highest priority target would undoubtedly be the dock with the most ships.

This way, any potential ship power could be maximally destroyed, and people’s chances of escaping the Space Station significantly limited.

Therefore, if Iron Ore No. stayed in the dock, it would be a sitting duck.

Staying outside was actually much safer than staying inside the Space Station.