Star Ocean: Starting from the Abandoned Mining Space Station

Just two minutes before the pirates and Zuo Jing pointed the finger at Chen Ming.

There has been a wave of emergency communications between the two fleets, confirming each other which road they are taking.

Then they discovered that they really knew each other just as Chen Ming guessed.

They even have a certain relationship with people Chen Ming knows.

This person is Shen Yi, who was killed by Chen Ming before.

The captain of the flagship of the pirate fleet once had a relationship with Shen Yi, and it could even be said to be a fairly close relationship.

To put it simply, just like the previous pirate leader who was also killed by Chen Ming, he relied on Shen Yimai's intelligence to attack some caravans.

He happened to meet the captain of the Zuojing fleet a few times when he was looking for Shen Yi. Although he was not familiar with him, he had an impression.

The relationship between the captain of the Zuo Jing fleet and Shen Yi is that they both belong to Zuo Jing's command. It is normal for them to know each other. It is normal for them to move around here occasionally.

So Captain Zuo Jing also had an impression of the pirate captain.

Neither party wanted to directly conflict with the other party, and took the initiative to exchange information in a relatively peaceful way.

They realized that the situation was a bit special, so they checked their identities more freely.

In the end, they even started a video call.

The flagship captain of Ludd's Left Path Fleet and the flagship captain of the pirate fleet each appeared in each other's eyes.

Captain Zuo Jing was the first to say: "What a surprise. Since Shen Yi's death, we have lost contact with many people. Are you interested in coming back to work?"

The pirate captain laughed dryly and said: "It still doesn't work. The limelight has been too tight recently. The 14th Legion suddenly came here. Something big must have happened. I plan to rest for a while after finishing this job. I won't do it for the time being." There will be action.”

The pirate captain declined Captain Zuo Jing's invitation.

He became a pirate to make money, not to die.

The previous mission that led to the death of Shen Yi, a left-path intelligence agent, was obviously not a normal money-making mission.

Moreover, he also heard rumors about Shen Yi that seemed to be deceiving people.

As a result, he now treats other Zuojie people at a respectful distance, and it is best not to have anything to do with them.

"Okay, I won't talk nonsense. The two ships next to you are still watching. Let me ask you a question. What are you doing here?"

Captain Zuo Jing was very disrespectful to the pirate captain, but the pirate captain didn't show any dissatisfaction, at least not on his face.

He had just observed Zuo Jing's fleet, and Zuo Jing's fleet was larger than the fleet he brought out.

Although it was hard to predict whether a fight would happen, Zuo Jing's own reputation prevented him from taking the initiative to provoke Zuo Jing's people.

So after thinking about it for a while, the pirate captain chose to state their purpose directly.

"Did you see the Heavy Rain? We got the news and followed it all the way. We originally planned to find opportunities on the way to attack the caravan directly."

"But I never found a chance. I originally thought there was nothing I could do, but as soon as the ship arrived at its destination, it sailed out directly, heading to a dark cemetery or a deserted place."

"And there's only one frigate and one engineering ship coming out, so we definitely can't miss it."

"But if you are also looking for a heavy rain, we will leave now and hand over this ship to you directly."

After the pirate captain finished speaking, he directly gave the order to turn around the fleet.

Seeing that the pirate fleet was really about to leave, Captain Zuo Jing said quickly: "Wait a minute."

Captain Zuo Jing basically believed the pirate captain's words at this time and determined that their purposes were not completely in conflict.

So some ideas gradually popped up in his mind.

He wanted to use this opportunity to pull the pirate captain and his fleet back into Zuojia's camp.

Not only because the pirate captain could be considered one of their subordinates before.

Also because their influence in this star field has indeed weakened a lot.

Especially after the last planned attack on the space elevator in the star capital.

Not only did the mission fail, but a large number of manpower were lost during the mission, and they were subsequently attacked on a large scale by the star domain government.

As if the government knew exactly where their people were, they carried out an irresistible arrest operation against them.

As a result, their overall power has weakened a lot, and many places that had begun to build small branches have basically been paralyzed.

So he has been doing this kind of thing recently.

If you can bring back the old man from the past, especially a relatively capable old man like the captain of this pirate fleet, it will definitely be much more convenient than contacting new people again.

However, the pirate captain has clearly refused, so Captain Zuo Jing must not say it directly, but use other methods.

After stopping the pirate fleet from turning around and leaving, Captain Zuo Jing quickly organized his words and said: "Let's put it this way, we are not here for the Heavy Rain, and we have no conflict with you."

"We just heard that there was an engineering ship out, and relying on internal personnel at the space station, we found the person who rented the engineering ship."

"His name is Wu Pingan."

The pirate captain recalled it and said, "This name sounds a bit familiar."

"It should indeed sound familiar. Do you remember Shen Yi's time?"

"One of the two people who killed Shen Yi was him."

The pirate captain nodded in realization and asked, "What about the other one?"

Captain Zuo Jing's mind quickly flashed through the figure wearing protective clothing that had walked out of the exhibition hall, and then was occupied by Chen Ming's face and the word psyker.

"You don't need to know this now. We just plan to dismantle the ship and kill Wu Ping'an on it."

"For revenge?"

"Absolutely, and Wu Ping'an has a bounty within us now. You don't know if you have been out recently."

The pirate captain's eyes brightened slightly and asked: "How much?"

"Ten million."

"Then what you just said, wait, is..."

"Yes, there is no conflict of interest between us and we can completely cooperate."

"Did you see those two ships? One is a heavy rain with the top technology of Tachyon technology, and the other is obviously a fighter modified by Tachyon technology. They are not much different."

"No matter whether you or I go up to such a spaceship alone, we may suffer losses, but if we work together, the results may be different."

"We don't have many people now, so we can only lose a few less."

Captain Zuo Jing hinted at the pirate captain in his words, and continued: "Help us kill that engineering ship. All the loot is yours, including the spaceship, including Wu Ping'an's bounty."

Captain Zuo Jing could see the pirate captain's concerns.

He knew what Shen Yi had done before, and he also knew what the pirate captain was worried about.

So he added: "You don't have to worry about anything. You know our situation. We are short of people now."

However, the pirate captain still didn't respond, and Captain Zuo Jing had to bring out some useful information.

"I can sign an employment agreement directly for you. You can contact our upper-level people directly, not through an intermediary like Shen Yi."

"In addition to the regular maintenance fees every month, there are many other benefits. You should have heard about it from Shen Yi."

The pirate captain was also full of hesitation at this time.

Shen Yi's previous style was indeed not very good, but when he was messing around before, he had never heard that Zuo Jing himself would be harsh on his own people.

Even now that Shen Yi is dead, Zuo Jing will immediately come to take revenge on the person who killed Shen Yi. This obviously means that he values ​​his own people very much.

So after thinking about it for a moment, his greed for money finally outweighed his fear of danger.

The pirate captain chose to agree.

He actually knew the saying that people die for money and birds die for food, but if he really would give up many opportunities to make money just to risk his life, then he shouldn't be a pirate.

With the Heavy Rain in front of him and that special Fighter, even if he could only get one, it would be enough for him to make a lot of money.

Not to mention getting both ships and Wu Ping'an's bounty.

So after a quick exchange, the pirate and Zuo Jing let go of their guard against each other.

At the same time, in order to prevent each other from attacking each other due to command issues, they distanced themselves slightly and pointed the finger at Chen Ming together.

Although Captain Zuo Jing just said that he was worried that Chen Ming's ship's counterattack would cause unnecessary damage.

But obviously they didn't take the two frigates seriously.

After all, they have two fleets. Although they are both small fleets, they can completely crush Chen Ming in terms of numbers.

So in their opinion, even if it is a military frigate here today, it will definitely sink here.

The communication between the pirate and Zuo Jing was completed quickly as they approached Chen Ming.

Although Chen Ming did not move here, he was still ready to fight.

In fact, during the two-minute stalemate between the pirates and Zuo Jing, Chen Ming felt that he could directly let the two ships withdraw.

After all, the performance of the two ships, Fighter Kai and Heavy Rain, is not comparable to that of these pirates and Zuojia's spacecraft.

Not to mention that the direction they came from was the opposite direction that Chen Ming wanted to go.

Taking advantage of the time just now and leaving directly is not a problem at all.

If the pirates and Zuo Jing dare to chase, then Chen Ming will dare to fight back. Once the front line is stretched during the pursuit, Chen Ming's opportunity will suddenly come.

The space station's engineering ship may need to be handed over here.

However, this engineering ship actually only costs more than 10 million.

If Chen Ming accidentally sank it, he would be able to afford the compensation if he just made some money.

If he really wants to run, no one can stop him.

But Chen Ming didn't want to just leave.

Because now is the best time to give Heavy Rain a chance to fight.

By the way, Chen Ming also plans to take advantage of the opportunity to be extravagant.

Chen Ming had a total of 190 million on hand before, and 150 million was spent on heavy rain.

The account that was supposed to have 40 million left now had just over 10 million left.

The more than 20 million that was not lost were all used on supplies and materials, and these materials were currently piled on the mule that Chen Ming had modified that he had not sold.

It can definitely support a battle regardless of consumption.

The pirates and Zuojiao fleet currently opposite the two afterglows have a total of five destroyers and eighteen escorts.

The pirates had two destroyers and seven escorts, and the left path had three destroyers and eleven escorts.

And these destroyers are all mule-class, easy-to-use, sturdy, and "cheap" armed merchant ships.

After all, the Mule-class is a very versatile ship and is very popular among many caravans.

So for pirates, it is undisputed that it is cheap.

Although the combat effectiveness is not as good as other destroyers, the destroyer is still quite capable against ordinary frigates.

The frigates below the destroyer are a mixed bag.

In addition to the two self-destruction ships transformed from the iconic Dram-class fuel transport ships on the left.

The fleet is basically composed of ships like the Sentinel Expedition Cerberus, plus at most two Farstrider-class ships that are also common among escort-class armed merchant ships.

Although the overall numbers of these two fleets are okay, these ships have all been crudely modified, and the quality cannot be guaranteed at all.

It can only be said that no matter how valuable a spaceship is, its value will be greatly reduced if it falls into the hands of pirates, and the situation with Zuojia is similar.

So although the current situation is two versus twenty-three.

But Chen Ming still wants to say that the advantage lies with me.

"Prepare to fight, no matter the cost."

"yes."

"yes."

Gamma B immediately responded to Chen Ming. He knew Chen Ming's ability and what Chen Ming meant by saying "no matter the cost."

Gamma Z might be a little unaccustomed to it, or its computing power might be limited. In short, it took a little longer to reply to Chen Ming.

Chen Ming didn't pay attention, and said smoothly to Gamma Z, who was unclear about his situation: "Gamma Z, activate the Terminator core directly."

"I have experience driving in heavy rain, now I should..."

Chen Ming interrupted it directly and said: "I know, but you have to listen to me now. This is an order."

"……yes."

Chen Ming's mandatory request was something Gamma Z could not refuse.

Soon, two fighter planes with dark red tail flames flew out from the Heavy Rain class that was approaching the pirates and the Zuojie Combined Fleet, heading straight towards the enemy faster than the Heavy Rain.

And after approaching a suitable distance, the fighter plane suddenly lit up with a red light that was extremely dazzling in the dark space environment.

The engines of the two Terminator fighters were overloaded to the extreme, and their top-level maneuverability allowed them to stagger and dodge like dexterous butterflies and swifts to avoid the point defense fire coverage in front of the fleet.

After getting close to a certain distance.

Anti-fighter swarm missiles were densely launched from the two mule-class ships in the pirate fleet.

The infrared guidance device on the missile can easily lock on the Terminator fighter, which is now extremely dazzling to the naked eye.

However, these swarm missiles are meaningless in front of Terminator fighters.

All the swarm missiles that could directly hit were destroyed by the PD point defense laser that was also overloaded to the extreme.

All the swarm missiles that passed by the Terminator fighter jets had no chance of catching up with the fighter jets.

In the blink of an eye, the two fighter planes had passed through the blockade of swarm missiles and were almost stuck in the face of the pirate fleet.

The two small weapons with relatively poor performance can even cause ripples on the shield under the increased overload.

One of the fighter planes was like a red meteor. The moment it was about to hit the pirate mule's shield head-on, it drew an arc close to a right angle outside the shield.

It bypassed the shield and hit the side of the ship.

The fighter plane, which was only a few meters long, smashed into the 120-meter-long mule, but erupted into a red fire that was difficult for the mule itself to create.

The entire energy system, which had been overloaded with radiant energy, exploded with power when it actively self-destructed, directly blasting through the Mule-class hull from left to right.

Even the aftermath of the explosion instantly destroyed the mule's shield that failed to stop it.

But this is no longer important.

Because at the moment the Mule-class hull was penetrated, flames had already emerged throughout the hull.

The spacecraft instantly fell into a sea of ​​flames and was reduced to ashes in a devastating explosion in the blink of an eye.

Another Terminator fighter also bypassed the Mule-class shield and rushed directly into the fleet.

However, it did not choose another mule to ram. Instead, it rushed out of the pirate fleet along the gap and rushed into the left path fleet, which was not far away from the pirate fleet.

It accurately hit the only two Dram-class fuel transport ships behind the Zuo Jing Fleet.

Zuojia's fleet maintained a relatively tight formation.

This formation became their talisman at this time.

The explosion of a Dram class can cause damage hundreds of meters in diameter.

Within the range that the explosion of the Dram-class ship hit by the Terminator fighter plane could reach was a mule and three escort ships of the Left Path Fleet.

Moreover, one of the escorts happened to be another Dram class.

The chain reaction caused by the explosion caused another Dram-class ship to immediately follow in the footsteps of its companions.

The two escort ships and a mule that happened to be within the joint explosion range of the two Dram-class ships were also directly killed.

The formation on the left side was in chaos.

As for Chen Ming, only at the cost of two fighters, two Mule-class ships, two Drams and two other frigates were destroyed.

In addition, there were other spacecrafts affected by the explosion fragments nearby.

This directly reduced the combat effectiveness of the pirates and Zuo Jing Fleet by more than a quarter.

Such a result gradually reduced the tension and excitement in Chen Ming's heart to only excitement.

After all, this is a fighter jet that he spent more than 100 million to buy. If the effect is not satisfactory, it will be equivalent to a loss.

Fortunately, when Chen Ming saw the results, he knew that the 150 million spent was worth it.

However, the next moment Chen Ming realized a problem.

My heart felt cold.

Suddenly I felt regretful.

Because two Mule-class ships were blown up in the blink of an eye, which can be equivalent to Chen Ming's own loss of 200 million.

These garbage mules, which had been crudely modified by the pirates and Zuo Jing himself, might only be worth 20 to 30 million to them.

But for Chen Ming, he only needs to spend a few million in materials to repair it, and then he can sell the boat for nearly 100 million.

Almost comparable to an ordinary Hammerhead.

Chen Ming had noticed before that the prices of some spaceships were outrageous, such as the Mule.

He had checked the market prices of some spaceships before. The average first-hand price of a mule was upwards of 100 million, and a second-hand one was generally around 70 million.

And the Mule-class equipped with militarized systems, even if it is second-hand, only equipped with guard-level militarized systems, is still worth about 100 million.

Just like the one Chen Ming sold before.

The one with the expulsion-level militarized system installed would only be more expensive, even more expensive than the Hammerhead that Chen Ming had seen.

The reason is actually quite simple.

When Chen Ming checked the prices of various spaceships before, he also checked the prices of civilian models of other combat ships.

Although there are not many combat ships with civilian models, Chen Ming can't stand seeing these castrated ones.

If nothing else, let’s talk about Hammerhead.

The military hammerhead has a total of four medium-sized load-bearing points, six small-sized load-bearing points, and four missile mounting points, two of which can mount medium-sized missiles.

Although the Hammerhead sacrificed a lot of performance for mass production, it still has what a military destroyer should have.

However, the castrated version of the Hammerhead only has two medium-sized load-bearing points and two small-sized load-bearing points plus a small missile mounting point.

The armor is almost cut in half, and the engine uses a castrated destroyer engine that is almost as effective as a guard-class engine.

There is something wrong with this if a fool buys it.

But mules are different.

Although it is a civilian spaceship, the Mule is a Mule-class armed merchant ship.

All designs are at the level of destroyers and meet certain combat requirements.

Although it is not comparable to a real military combat ship, at least it will not be as big a difference between a military combat ship and a civilian castrated combat ship.

It only needs a certain degree of modification, and the effect will definitely be much better than spending money to buy a castrated version of the battleship.

The price of such a spaceship that can be purchased legally, used legally, and modified relatively legally will naturally rise.

Therefore, the price of the mule class is even more exaggerated than that of the hammer, not because the hammer is cheap, but because the mule is too expensive.

No one dares to touch a normal military hammer, but the cost-effectiveness of the castrated civilian hammer or other combat ships can be said to be poor.

The mule class naturally takes the lead.

Of course, this all assumes that the mule is a normal mule.

Unlike those obtained by pirates, mules that were extremely crude and unreliable modified in order to quickly convert them into combat effectiveness could not be sold at a high price.

Because there is no Chen Ming ability, the maintenance fee may be more expensive than the selling price.

Only if Chen Ming, like Chen Ming, has the ability to restore the mules to their original state and preserve the militarized subsystems, can there be value in acquiring and repairing them.

So now that two ships have been blown up, Chen Ming is losing his own money.

Of course the heartache is heartache.

Chen Ming would definitely not show mercy when it was time to take action.

Otherwise, if Gamma B and Gamma Z were lost, Chen Ming would be truly heartbroken.

Of course, in this situation where the crushing situation appeared almost instantly, he would definitely choose some method that could better preserve the loot.

Chen Ming asked Gamma Z to postpone the release of Terminator drones.

Let it keep its distance from the pirates and Zuojia's fleet first.

Wait for Chen Ming to re-select a suitable target.

As for Chen Ming's new target, naturally he would start with the cheapest ships in the enemy's fleet.