Abyss Solo-Chapter 35 - : 025 I, a sub-divine level life form, am very short of money

Chapter 35: 025 I, a sub-divine level life form, am very short of money

“This energy defense shield really drains the dark energy batteries.”

On the fully loaded medium transport ship.

Yang Ming fondled the light shield glove, light sword flashlight, and the set of dark gray advanced combat suits, constantly expressing his admiration.

Kolev sat in the pilot’s seat, humming a tune as he observed the various operation panels, feeling very pleased.

In the back seat, two middle-aged uncles stared at Yang Ming in the co-pilot’s seat with burning gazes.

In the back corner, Mimili with her swollen lips and corners of her eyes, was enjoying the photos projected on her watch and laughing loudly from time to time, completely lacking the ladylike demeanor she had when they first met.

...

“Oh, Hanton!”

One middle-aged uncle couldn’t stop his admiration, “How did you do it? They were more than a dozen people, and only a few hits landed on you!”

Yang Ming smiled without saying a word.

Because he couldn’t appear too shocking, he purposely used his back to take a few tickling attacks.

The two unremarkable uncles kept praising:

“Your combat skills are truly amazing! I can’t imagine how monstrous you’d be with a light sword!”

“I saw Mimili being surrounded and beaten by them, and you, Hanton, just grabbed a steel pipe and charged right in! Oh, right, Mimili, how are your injuries?”

Mimili covered her swollen half of her face and asked with an innocent face, “Was I injured?”

The three in the back laughed together.

Kolev scolded laughingly, “Enough, you guys, vulgar and crude, completely lacking the elegance and composure that professional pirates should have, what era is it to still fist fight on the street? That’s utterly irrational! Think about it, how many great captains have died on ordinary streets! Aren’t these lessons enough?”

Mimili’s eyes filled with fervor, looked at Yang Ming and asked, “Could you teach me your combat skills, Uncle Hanton?”

“This…”

Yang Ming looked at Kolev.

That’s another price.

“A good leader doesn’t need to charge into battle, but to oversee the bigger picture,” Kolev persuaded gently, “Remember, Mimili, indulging in momentary verbal triumph brings no substantial gain. When facing the enemy, you need to be calm, rational, and elegant; only then will your partners find you reliable.”

Mimili nodded thoughtfully.

Really, if it wasn’t for the scene below on their own pirate ship’s bridge half an hour later, Yang Ming almost believed the old man’s words.

Kolev rolled up his sleeves, a large wrench in hand, his old face red and his beard bristling, pointing at the projection screen and cursing loudly:

“Keep your lambs in line, Reorton! She started by insulting my daughter! I really want to stuff your big nose into your arsehole! I was raiding New Federation merchant ships while you were still a deckhand on my ship! To hell with you! Bring it on!”

The burly man in the projection screen was not to be outdone:

“Kolev, you old fart! You must be fond of the wide hips at Cole Port prisons! Hahaha! This isn’t your era anymore, Kolev! Kimo is ten times stronger than you! Ten times!”

“Charge the main cannon!”

“Charge all cannons!”

“Damn it! Let’s take them out!”

The toothless old sailor quickly activated the protective shield.

“Destroy these shameless bastards! They need to be taught a lesson! Let them know who the old lady is!”

The grandma in an apron lit up the fire control button.

Both bridges immediately buzzed with activity.

Yang Ming grabbed the light sword hanging at his side and said sternly, “Give me an assault craft, two sets of space breathing apparatuses, and route all energy to the protective shields!”

The bustling bridge fell silent for two seconds.

Then it became noisy again, filled with crude language.

Kolev cursed for a while, then cut off the communication with the opposing ship.

The two pirate ships, wrapped in protective shields, confronted each other for a moment, then gradually began to back away, their cannons aimed at each other, and then slowly accelerated out of the effective range of the opposing ion main cannons and hyper-speed missiles.

Yang Ming: …

Was he the only one seriously thinking about taking the opponents down?

“I’ve been a captain in the stars for decades, never lost an argument!”

Kolev boasted proudly, then looked at Yang Ming, who was expressionless, and spread his hands slightly embarrassedly, “This is the way pirates interact, you need to get used to it.”

Yang Ming turned and walked away: “I’ve requisitioned the gym on the ship. Please avoid it when I’m there, thank you.”

Kolev’s old face continued to be animated, starting to narrate those thrilling verbal battles over the years.

Mimili watched Yang Ming’s retreating figure, suppressing the urge to follow him.

She needed to think about how to make this powerful uncle grow closer to her.

…

“Didn’t expect that getting a ship in the real Milky Way civilization would be so expensive.”

Yang Ming continued to sigh.

He casually toyed with the weightlifting bar in his hand, the ends bending downward, loaded with metal plates, but his arms were completely dry.

He locked the door of the gym and covered the two cameras, or else he wouldn’t dare to play like this directly.

‘I must intensify my training.’

Valkyrie might appear in front of him with a sword at any time, and no matter how strong a force he could build behind him, personal strength was always the most solid guarantee.

Yang Ming continued to dwell on the expensive black market prices for those medium-sized pirate ships.

A new ship that could meet his needs would actually cost four million Federal Credit Coins.

Even if he bought a second-hand ship in good condition, it would still cost more than three million New Federation Credit Coins, and the black market didn’t accept loans or mortgages.

Moreover, the major cost of a ship lay in its use and maintenance.

Jump Technology included four steps—determine coordinates, coat to enter Subspace, open the jump passage, and perform the spatial jump. Coating and opening the jump passage required an enormous amount of energy and had strict requirements for energy density.

This meant that a spaceship equipped with jump capabilities had to be at least sixty-five meters in length.

(The classification of ships by length is just for convenience and intuition. In reality, the function and value of ships involve many factors.)

The energy issue was an easy one to solve. The busy star routes in the Milky Way were dotted with many “Dyson Cloud” charging stations, where the cost of a normal commercial voyage would be about one percent of the overall price of the ship.

But Yang Ming’s purpose in acquiring a ship was to search for Intelligent Mechanic Dusk, which was located in a remote area off the busy trade routes. This required Yang Ming’s spacecraft to have sufficient capacity to load more and better dark energy reaction batteries, as well as ultra-high-speed engines suitable for direct navigation.

Ideally, Yang Ming wanted to pilot the spaceship himself, which would require an expensive auxiliary piloting system and a certain number of ship maintenance robots.

Also, due to the restrictions of the various agreements regarding Intelligent Machines in the Milky Way, ordinary on-board robots had their capabilities limited, and a systematic set of on-board maintenance robots had a considerably high markup.

Yang Ming was beginning to understand why, in the “Abyss” game, the difficulty of operations and acquisition was simplified, and why battleships and legions could only be managed by big capitals and conglomerates.

A spaceship was a money shredding machine!

Yang Ming needed to prepare at least ten million New Federation Credit Coins!

“I, the Subordinate Ancient God Life Form, am really short on money.”

Of course, Yang Ming could totally recruit a bunch of cheap crew members and slaughter them after finding Intelligent Mechanic Dusk; but Yang Ming felt such actions were not within his level of acceptance.

A man must have his principles.

“Let’s find a way to get some money.”

Yang Ming handed the “dumbbell” to his other hand and continued to ponder the major issue of making money.

He actually had many beneficial conditions:

He was helping out in a broken-down pirate group, and the old leader Kolev was of considerable value;

He had an existing team to utilize, though half of the members were well into their seventies.

“Am I going to become a pirate and rob others next?”

Yang Ming furrowed his brow and kept thinking.

Kolev had helped him buy two cases of Genetic Stabilization Liquid on this trip to the black market, and he had also acquired three pieces of individual equipment, which gave him a certain combat capability.

Kolev had previously discussed a collaborative intent with him, where Kolev would set up a plan and Yang Ming’s assistance would earn him a significant reward afterward.

Moreover, Yang Ming had already set his sights on a fat sheep, and chopping down this fat sheep wouldn’t cause him any guilt.

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“Hanton, may I come in?”

Kolev’s voice came through the speaker in the corner.

“Just a moment!”

Yang Ming glanced at the large barbell in his hand, quickly set it down gently, unscrewed most of the weight plates, and then calmly replied,

“Come in, my wise first mate!”

“What are you tinkering with here?”

Kolev appeared at the door with Mimili, scanning around with a suspicious gaze, and immediately got down to business:

“According to my intelligence, Kimo is on his way here. He’s brought two ships, one is a three-hundred-meter class main gunship, which is my proud creation transformed from a retired warship, Black Dragon. There’s also a multi-natured one-hundred-meter class combat ship.”

“Oh,” Yang Ming said with a smile, “Then we should start running.”

“Yes,” Kolev said, “Kimo is a complete pirate, and I really admire this brutal thug. Since he’s bringing only two ships this time, those must be filled with his trusted men.”

Mimili’s pretty face, still bruised, was full of gloom.

Yang Ming chuckled: “Four years can indeed change a lot.”

Kolev spoke earnestly: “No, pirates are inherently like this, obeying the strong and fearing the strong. Others are probably waiting for me and Kimo to decide the victor, like the replacement of old and new kings in a pride of lions.”

“What are you planning to do? Don’t worry, my elderly first mate, for the sake of those two cases of Genetic Stabilization Liquid, I’ll help you take care of some troubles.”

“I just had a plan in mind,” Kolev said, “I have an excellent hiding place, which I’ve prepared as an escape route for many years. I must get some parts to upgrade this ship to be able to face them head-on, but that will take some time.”

Yang Ming pondered for a few seconds: “Is there a way to drag them into a ground battle?”

“That’s not a good idea,” Kolev said, “A main gunship hovering in near-planet orbit has tremendous dominance. Ion cannons will suffer attenuation in the atmosphere, but as long as the atmosphere is softened first, they can still be quite effective. We can only run for now.”

Yang Ming crossed his arms and asked with a frown: “So what’s the problem now?”

“Before making the jump, I need to have a conversation with Kimo.”

Kolev said:

“They all once followed me, and the ships they are piloting were transformed by my own hands. I must declare this point to gain the moral high ground. Many old-fashioned pirates care about this, and that is how we can pry apart their not-so-solid relationships.

“Can you pretend to be a new face for me? Hanton’s temporary first mate.

“Just need you to wear a metal mask, let them know that I am fostering fresh blood, that should be enough.”

Yang Ming rubbed his nose and pointed to the side at the fitness equipment-shaped metal block.

“Do you need me to hold up these things behind you? How about a bit of visual intimidation?”

Kolev’s forehead immediately wrinkled with black lines.

Oh, these foolishly tall, muscular men!

“Don’t dress too strikingly, a first mate who always steals the captain’s thunder is not qualified!”