Space Odyssey from Abandoned Mining Space Station

Chapter 642: Chapter 197 Intention to Cooperate

The next morning.

A new week began.

Chen Ming, as usual, read the report on the investigation of Dusk individuals arranged by Brilliant during his rest last night.

Although for the past two weeks his main focus had been on exploring the Mechanical Race he had discovered along the way and subsequently researching both the Mechanical Race and the Insect Race as well as making technological improvements.

He had never let go of the development around the temporary base’s star systems.

After all, this had always been Chen Ming’s goal.

All other actions he undertook along the way were to pave the way for this goal.

The daily report sent by Brilliant showed that it was a calm night with nothing happening.

Unfortunately, the investigation by the Dusks into the star systems near the previously discovered empty fish bones yielded no results, still unable to find traces of the empty fish shoals.

And the skeleton, after being bombarded by vast space radiation and various particles, had lost its original nature, and apart from the bones being identifiable as an empty fish, it no longer held value for feeding an Insect Queen.

However, most of the Dusk individuals, who were still investigating outside last night, returned safely, with only a few damaged, let alone lost.

So failing to find the empty fish isn’t that much of an issue, there will be opportunities to search later.

And this morning, Brilliant also listed the material consumption summary for last week, up until last night.

One can only say that the amount of resources consumed was as shocking as in the previous week, if not even more.

There are currently more than fifty thousand Dusk individuals in the temporary base.

About twenty thousand are actively operating outside, with a little over two thousand doing logistical work at the temporary base.

The rest are all in dormancy.

As a reserve during crucial moments.

And additionally, they will be the main force for expanding the second temporary base during the second jump.

So when constructing the Star Port of the temporary base, it wasn’t aimed to accommodate all over fifty thousand Dusks.

Building such a Star Port would not take mere weeks to complete.

But even so, the fuel consumption by these over twenty thousand Dusks, at most moving out on Destroyers, isn’t a small number.

If the quantity of materials were converted into money according to market price, it would be even more substantial.

When adding the consumption during the skirmish Chen Ming had with the Mechanical Race...

It truly pains Chen Ming every time he sees the data.

Fortunately, Chen Ming has the support of his boss behind him, allowing for bulk purchasing of supplies at very low prices.

Otherwise, he would have already begun reducing the number of Dusk individuals operating outside.

The bold words spoken before leaving the Empire still have to bow before the harsh realities of financial and material consumption.

However, continuing indefinitely like this is not viable, a colony with nothing but input and no visible output is disheartening to Chen Ming.

Although the boss seems unconcerned, silently preparing new resources for Chen Ming based on the weekly material consumption reports sent back.

Chen Ming feels he can’t accept this support as a matter of course.

Thus, he was compelled to seek technological improvements on his previous research with potential to earn money.

He also began attempting to enhance Antimatter Technology and commissioned Extraordinary to study the Antimatter Engine.

Although this investment is equally enormous, surpassing the weekly material consumption of over twenty thousand Dusks in the short term.

Chen Ming is confident that his current investments will ultimately pay off, and he will earn more.

After all, this is the Antimatter Engine, equipped with specifically tailored Antimatter fuel.

Covering the same journey, it offers higher output power, faster speed, and less fuel mass consumption.

And the improved Antimatter Engine will only be more cost-effective.

Furthermore, the Antimatter Engine itself can also use normal fuel, though with a slightly lower conversion efficiency.

However, it’s still higher compared to the conversion efficiency of normal engines with regular fuel.

Simultaneously with researching the Antimatter Engine, Chen Ming’s intention to expand the Insect Nest of the Insect Race and the cities of the Mechanical Race was also a decision made for the enhancement of his Spiritual Power and Thought Speed.

After all, all aspects of Dusk, the Mechanical Race, the Insect Race, and the entire development process currently revolve around him.

He can, in addition to through training, get stronger with the reciprocal feedback from the hive networks of the Mechanical Race and the Insect Race.

Thus, developing the Insect Race and Mechanical Race to grow oneself during the exploration is a normal choice.

Also, developing the Insect Race holds an additional benefit.

After consuming the Energy Crystal Crab, the Insect Race can produce Insect Race Energy Crystals.

A product with yield, production stability, and production difficulty superior to Energy Crystal Crab.

Moreover, the Energy Crystal is essentially a pure Energy Aggregator, just with some substances mixed in from the crystallized portion representing the producing species.

As long as Chen Ming makes some simple modifications to the specific insect producing the Insect Race Energy Crystals, any traces can be removed.

Fabricating Insect Race Energy Crystals as a result from Energy Crystal Crab production.

Once these Insect Race Energy Crystals, which surpass normal Energy Crystal Crab production in every aspect, are recognized, in conjunction with the current Antimatter Engine which can dramatically enhance spacecraft performance,

they will definitely be welcomed by the Empire and gain widespread distribution.

Very soon, Chen Ming will see new funds credited to his account.

As long as the production of Energy Crystals remains under Chen Ming’s control, this inflow of funds to him is sure to continue for a long time.