Space Odyssey from Abandoned Mining Space Station

Chapter 229: Chapter 101: Attitudes of Various Parties_4

The director in charge of military affairs said, ”Despite the torture, only the Star Zone Military Command is paralyzed at the moment; everything else remains the same.”

”When I was communicating with them before, they only replaced some of the personnel with clean ones, so the military officers who can liaise with the government are basically in the same situation.”

”If we can first bring Chen Ming back, the government can directly arrange a meeting with the military personnel there, meaning the government is on our side.”

However, the chairman spoke up at this moment: ”What about Chen Ming?”

The conference room fell into silence once again.

”Our company has never lost technical personnel before, nor have we lost the Dusk core. It’s surprising that the first case involves a Psychic.”

”What can we do? If it weren’t for the military’s interference, we would have brought him back a long time ago. We can’t be blamed for this.”

”Is there any other way to find Chen Ming?”

The director responsible for the Pirate Space Station suddenly said, ”Actually, I have an idea. The military is currently overwhelmed, and I think we can bypass all the twists and turns and directly try to enter RM-2.”

”Since Chen Ming managed to get out alive before, we can too. As long as we confirm there’s no danger, the opening of the Star System is certain, and the extraction rights can return to us.”

His proposal was immediately dismissed by the other directors: ”Doing so is too easy to give others leverage against us, and the military issue would give us no handle.”

”Chen Ming has been on the Space Station for thirty years, he can surely retrieve what we’ve lost over those thirty years. Without this leverage, what about our lost Sky Steel?”

The director of the Pirate Space Station countered, ”Do you think we can get back all that Sky Steel? A whole lot of interests are tied behind Sky Steel. We might retrieve one or two people’s interests, but with so many, it’s just wishful thinking.”

”But at least we can recover a portion; any reduction in loss is something.”

”With the information Chen Ming provided earlier and the data we surreptitiously verified, we can confirm there are about seventy Sky Fish in the Star System.”

”If Chen Ming returns, he can cover five years of Sky Steel production, right?”

”Five years, eighteen hundred days, seventy Sky Fish’s Sky Steel, what do you say?”

The director responsible for the Pirate Space Station fell silent.

The chairman then interjected, ”I think it’s better to proceed through Chen Ming. We mustn’t rashly enter RM-2, which is officially under military blockade.”

”This Star System might likely be taken over by the Fourteenth Legion, and the Fourteenth Legion is not so easy to deal with.”

”Moreover, their stance isn’t clear yet; they issued a warrant for Chen Ming but only within the Star Zone, possibly warning us to wait until they finish integrating the military.”

”We can’t even handle the Edge Star Realm United Battle Zone, let alone the Fourteenth Legion, so let’s not provoke them.”

A director who agreed with the Pirate Space Station’s director suddenly said, ”But we can’t even manage the Star Zone Military under the Battle Zone, how do we handle the flourishing Fourteenth Legion when they fully take over the Star System?”

The chairman responded, ”That’s not exactly true. The problem lies not with the Star Zone Military but with higher-level individuals.”

”Do you think they’ll abandon the Sky Steel? If we choose an obviously rule-breaking method to reclaim the Sky Steel, do you believe even the government might refuse to recognize it?”

”We can only achieve our goal in the most legitimate way through Chen Ming. We must bring him back before the military and government act; otherwise, we might not even get the Sky Steel.”

As soon as the chairman finished speaking, someone asked, ”How do we rescue him? Our current Dusk AI would rather be destroyed, put in cold storage than reveal specifics about the Dusk Star Realm.”

”Unless we can break the core of the Dusk AI and control them 100%, we can’t expect anything.”

”Chen Ming seems to be able to control it.”

”Then find another Chen Ming for us.”

The chairman knocked on the table to prevent an impending argument.

But one director suddenly interjected, ”Actually, if we pull out now, the losses aren’t too severe. Is what Chen Ming carries valuable enough for us to keep investing?”

The chairman frowned and said, ”Have you forgotten about the Sky Steel?”

”Plus, this situation is actually an opportunity for us.”

”Even if we bring back Chen Ming, we can announce his death, completely hiding him away.”

”We wouldn’t have to share Chen Ming’s value; we could exploit it fully.”

The earlier director voiced some disagreement: ”But if we fail, the losses will be greater.”

”Hasn’t the company ever failed in business? This loss at most scratches the surface, but if we bring back Chen Ming, the benefits from his abilities are limitless.”

The director who suggested using the company’s still-testing product yesterday hesitantly asked, ”Do you mean... use that thing?”

The chairman paused and slowly nodded, saying, ”Start by applying to the government. Their past behavior indicates they want to save resources and want us to resolve the issue of Chen Ming.”

”Then to take Chen Ming from us would be easier for them than going to Dusk to grab him.”

”So the government certainly won’t obstruct us, but in the end, if Chen Ming can indeed come back, he must not be handed over to the government.”

”Start preparing to launch an assault on Dusk.”

”By the way, let’s have a vote on whether to use this thing.”

”Chairman, didn’t you reject the deployment directly yesterday?”

”The timing is different; previously, Chen Ming might have intended to stay in Dusk, and we weren’t sure we could rescue him.”

”But now, whether we rescue him or not, the government and military absolutely won’t allow such a Psychic to fall into Dusk’s hands.”

”If we don’t go, they’ll go, and we’ll get nothing.”

”Moreover, deploying such an item isn’t up to me alone. None of you opposed or initiated a vote yesterday, so presumably, you felt the same as you did yesterday.”

No one refuted the chairman’s words.

A minute later, the chairman glanced at the projection in front of him.

”Seven votes in favor, four against, two abstained, passed.”

A director who voted in favor immediately said, ”Passed or not, how do we find Chen Ming?”

The chairman, already having a draft in mind, said, ”Yesterday, an employee from the Pirate Space Station familiar with Chen Ming boarded his civilian Sentinel.”

”The door opened automatically, and this scene deliberately didn’t avoid surveillance. Chen Ming is still alive, even living well there in Dusk.”

”But he hasn’t contacted us voluntarily.”

”Yet we can contact him proactively.”

”He must have specific motives for going to Dusk without contacting us. Whatever he needs, we’ll provide.”

”Unless what he needs exceeds the benefits of mining Sky Steel, Chen Ming has never seemed foolish, has he?”

”We’ve collected a lot from Dusk over the years. I don’t believe we don’t have what he needs.”

”Find a way to contact Chen Ming through the Space Station’s connections and determine his location.”

”Meanwhile, start the preparations.”

”Prepare to launch our main ship, Conqueror.”