Chapter 32: New Friends
Chapter 32: New Friends
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The bridge was a mess. The floor was scattered with random broken parts and fragments which made one to realize the intensity of Mu’s impact!
Once she understood that Ye Chong was uninterested in being a threat to the young master’s life, Number Two became cooperative. They were now all in this together, and if they did not help each other, the odds of survival were slim. In the face of Ye Chong’s overwhelming strength, Number Two could only keep a low profile.
Ever since seeing Mu, the young master seemed to be in a daze and constantly murmured under his breath. Number Two knew it was a helpless situation – the young master was a nice person, not one to put on airs and always affectionate, but once he gets involved in something related to his research, he changed mood quickly. The young master was indifferent to matters of the family, but was invested in mech research, and had shown remarkable talent in the area. His dream was to become a mech engineer, but the first young mistress strongly disapproved! As the legal heir of the family, he did not get involved in general affairs but only focused on his research. All this time, family matters were dealt by the first young mistress with great difficulty.
Even this trip was hidden from the first young mistress by the young master. It was to get away from the life that he had grown weary of, but who would have thought that they would meet such an incident, and get to know a formidable master. Number Two was in deep regret; if she knew this would happen she would have stopped the young master from running away from home!
Number Two realized that her thoughts were irrelevant to the current situation and would affect her morale, so she struggled to banish these thoughts.
Ye Chong was completely clueless about starships, and needed an expert’s advice.
“What do we do now?” Ye Chong asked
Number Two made a few adjustments to the controls and turned back to Ye Chong. “Our current condition is very critical, and the starship’s propulsion systems are completely shut down. Plus, the hull took heavy damage with an aftermath of multiple cracks. Most importantly, the pulse signal transmitter is broken, and we cannot send a distress signal to request for rescue from other starships! Our current distance from the S.S. Zuo Yu is about 118 thousand kilometers, about eight days away by usual travel, but regrettably the emergency escape pods of this starship are damaged! If not, we could have taken the escape pods and head straight for S.S. Zuo Yu! Also, to our great misfortune –” Number Two paused in amazement that both were listening attentively, and continued slowly, “– the S.S. Zuo Yu’s patrol would only search a five-day travelling radius from the space station. That is to say, our only hope now is that a passing starship would find us.” Number Two described the situation in a calm and organized manner. This made Ye Chong do a double take on the “exceedingly lousy” woman – she was not all that bad!
The young master was also alert once again, and began to inspect the bridge. As expected of a genius, it took him no time to begin restoration. His hands moved fluently like a magician while the parts and accessories danced to the unique melody of his tune. Number Two watched dreamily by the side as he worked.
Ye Chong could not help but be a little surprised at the young man – he did not expect that a fragile-looking fellow like him would be talented in mechanics. Ye Chong himself had some expertise in the field, but compared to the young man, Ye Chong thought himself to be far more inferior.
It seemed that there is always someone better out there, those elders were right. Ye Chong thought.
In reality, Ye Chong had only studied in Aurora for slightly more than a year, but the young master had begun his studies since young, with materials that were impossible to obtain on the desolate trash planets. It was inevitable that he was better than Ye Chong, and there was also the fact that the young master’s family was deeply involved with mechs.
Ye Chong observed the young man’s reconstruction, verifying much of what he had learnt, and got much out of the process. Ye Chong began to treat the duo more courteously without realizing it.
Regrettably, the starship’s damages were too serious. The propulsion system was hopeless, and the air revitalization and thermal systems could not be fully restored, but the trio could at least rejoice at the availability of necessities for survival– the vessel’s food and water supply were sufficient, and now the only thing they could do was wait.
They began chatting, but both sides were tactful enough to avoid asking about the other’s background. The young master’s name was Gu Shaoze, but his attendant’s name was even weirder – she was called Number Two! But Ye Chong was not very interested in trivial matters. He politely gave a brief introduction of himself.
Conversation with Gu Shaoze was undeniably pleasant. They shared the same interests, and grew more excited as they spoke. Number Two watched them both with a smile, but her gaze was mostly on Gu Shaoze.
By now, Ye Chong was thoroughly impressed by Gu Shaoze. The young man’s knowledge was far too advanced for his age, and Ye Chong believed that he must not be far behind the elders at Aurora, and could even be the forefront expert in certain areas.
On the other hand, Gu Shaoze was also looking at Ye Chong in a new light. He had thought the man before him to be a roughneck, but now it seemed that he was very knowledgeable in the mechanics of mechs. The man had original insights on matters, and could often identify the heart of the issue, as well as boasted a solid theoretical foundation. Compared to him, Ye Chong must fare quite well.
If only he knew that Ye Chong’s practical experience was near zero, what would he have thought then!
The pair spoke with increasing enthusiasm, and began to feel a sense of appreciation for each other. Gu Shaoze might behave humbly on a regular basis, but he still had a hint of arrogance in him. It was rare for him to approve of someone, and now that he had, how could he not be fond of him? As for Ye Chong, this was his first time interacting with someone around the same age as him, whose true strength Ye Chong respected. It was understandable that Ye Chong established a good impression of him.
Number Two sat at the side, smiling lightly as the duo’s conversation heated up. Who would have thought that, about an hour ago, both sides were like sworn enemies?
A commercial fleet formed by over thirty transport spaceships was flying steadily in space.
The chief, Jing Mo, sat on the commander’s seat in bridge, deep in thought. He was about eight to nine days out from reaching the S.S. Zuo Yu. If everything went smoothly, the payment this time would be lucrative, with an additional of official medals of recognition for his services. He might be able to elevate his commercial qualification a level higher, and then he would be able to trade in mechs. Nowadays, businesses with qualifications to trade in mechs were few and far in between. What he could earn from mechs would be multiple times more than from his current goods.
The goods he was shipping this time from Tian Luo galaxy to Fal galaxy had took five whole months, and they had encountered a few crews of space pirates along the way. Fortunately, the squad of mech pilots he hired was capable, and they managed to escape unscathed. He thought of how he had hired this infamous squad of mech pilots despite the high costs. If not for his wisdom, they would have lost the goods for sure, and even their lives.
Ten days left! Let there not be any mishaps in these ten days! Jing Mo shut his eyes and prayed inwardly.
Out of the blue, a blaring alarm disrupted his prayers. Mo Jing opened his eyes, and his chest tightened!