Soon, Zhao Chen saw Annie.

Annie was wearing a specially-made space jumpsuit. On her, it didn't look like a jumpsuit at all, but more like a toy.

The proportions of the helmet were clearly larger than those of a standard jumpsuit.

Through the transparent glass, one could clearly see Annie's small round face. She had a lollipop in her mouth and was using instruments to operate a mechanical arm countless times larger than herself, working continuously on the keel of a Starship under construction.

After finishing the task at hand, Annie pressed the return button on her jumpsuit to automatically return to the airlock, which were located at intervals along the rectangular corridor.

Craftsmen working outside first return to these small chambers. Once oxygen is pumped in and harmful cosmic elements are expelled, they can take off their jumpsuits and return to the rectangular corridor.

"Hehehe, twenty minutes until I'm off work. I'll go wait at the Starship Mess Hall first. Today they have Annie's favorite shredded beef!" Annie giggled to herself as she walked out, carrying her equipment.

As it happened, Annie's eyes fell upon a pair of military boots, a rare sight on an Interstellar Industrial Ship, and a men's style at that.

Annie's expression froze instantly, like an employee leaving early who just happened to bump into the boss in the elevator.

Annie didn't dare look up. She just slowly turned around and stammered, "Annie... Annie just came back to... get some tools... Annie will go back to work right away..."

"Annie didn't sneak away... Annie didn't leave work early... Annie doesn't want to go to the mess hall to eat shredded beef... Annie..."

But before she could take more than a few steps, Annie felt a large hand press down on her head.

Annie turned around immediately, her face showing a look of surprised delight. "Oh, Commander! What are you doing here?"

"Annie is working very hard right now! Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely not slacking off."

This girl was simply too cute. They said Dwarves were missing a few screws in their heads, and Zhao Chen now fully believed it.

Beside them, Lilith was having a very hard time holding back her laughter.

"It seems Annie likes working very much?" Zhao Chen squinted at Annie.

Annie stood up straight, her expression extremely sincere. "Annie loves working the most! Annie is even willing to work twenty-four hours a day!"

"Alright then. Since the schedule is quite tight, you can work three more hours of overtime," Zhao Chen said with satisfaction.

"Three hours!" Annie's eyes widened, and she instinctively said piteously, "Three hours... the limited-supply shredded beef will be sold out..."

"So, compared to working, Annie likes shredded beef more," Zhao Chen said, looking at her with a half-smile.

Annie lowered her head like a child who had done something wrong, staring at her toes.

"Alright, Annie. The Commander didn't come to punish you; he's here to talk about work," Lilith stepped in to rescue the little cutie.

"Still have to work?" Annie pouted her little mouth and rubbed her tummy.

Zhao Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "We'll talk about work at the mess hall. My treat today."

"Really!" Annie's sorrow instantly turned to joy. Her watery eyes stared straight at Zhao Chen, and drool even began to leak from the corner of her mouth.

"You don't believe me? Forget it then." Zhao Chen shrugged.

"I believe you! I believe you! Our Commander is the best, the very best!" Annie wiped the drool from her mouth and flattered him.

"Jenny, you lead the way. We'll go to the Starship Mess Hall first. We can talk while we eat," Zhao Chen said.

"Yes." Jenny led the way.

They soon arrived at the Starship Mess Hall of the T2 Iron Hammer-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ship No. 1.

Perhaps not expecting the Commander to appear here, the crew members all looked at Zhao Chen excitedly, as if they were seeing a big star.

"Is it really the Commander's treat?" Annie confirmed with Zhao Chen again with her watery eyes.

As if she was terrified Zhao Chen was tricking her.

Zhao Chen looked helplessly at the cook who was staring blankly at him. "Put the meals for these few on my account."

As he spoke, a small robot scanned Zhao Chen's face.

"I want this, this, and this! And this! Give me a whole basin of this one!"

Just as Zhao Chen finished paying, Annie completed her order with incredible speed.

Then she looked at Zhao Chen with a smile, her arms spread back as she bowed so deeply her head almost touched her knees. "Thank you for the treat, Commander!"

This girl is fast!

"Having the Commander treat us is not right. I should be the one treating!" Jenny scratched her head and said.

Annie, however, unceremoniously patted Jenny's waist. "Sister Niu, forget about your meager salary. It's barely enough for your own appetite.

If you treat us, are you planning to live on air for the rest of the month?

Don't be polite with the Commander. Do you want some shredded beef? Oh right, Sister Niu, you don't eat beef. Then order your favorite lamb chops."

Jenny looked a bit embarrassed in her simple way, seemingly still hesitant to let the Commander spend so much.

"fine，I said I'm treating, so I'm treating.."

"Can I not even afford a meal for a few people?"

After Zhao Chen said that, he regretted it a little.

It wasn't that he thought it was expensive, but he was worried his meal allowance wouldn't be enough...

After all, according to the rules he had set himself, even he, the Commander, had a corresponding meal allowance, though it was the highest one.

But now, looking at the meal that was easily enough for ten people.

Then looking at Jenny's simple face, Zhao Chen really didn't know what to say.

He could only silently check if his meal allowance was sufficient.

Fortunately, this meal was fine.

Zhao Chen looked at the seats in this Starship Mess Hall; they were clearly about twice as large as the tables on the T3 Blizzard.

Annie even led Zhao Chen and the others directly to a large round table five meters in diameter.

"There are only four of us. Do we need such a large round table?" Zhao Chen asked, surprised, looking at Annie sitting across from him.

"Commander, you'll know if we need it in a moment," Annie said mysteriously.

Half an hour later.

Zhao Chen looked at the stacks of plates in front of these two foodies, one big and one small, and finally understood why they needed such a large table.

Zhao Chen stared at Annie's stomach. He was very curious how such a tiny thing like Annie could eat a whole basin's worth of shredded beef.

Could her stomach even hold it?

Did she have a pocket dimension inside?

"*Burp*... Oh right, Commander, what did you ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) come to see me about?" After eating and drinking her fill, Annie finally remembered that the Commander was here to discuss something.

"I've drawn up a construction plan for the next few months and wanted you to take a look to see if there are any issues or if you have any suggestions." Zhao Chen raised his hand and opened an electronic file.

Several Starship names were written on it.

T3 Andromeda-class Interstellar Medical Ship... T3 Goddess Academy-class Starship... T3 Phantom Assassin-class Light Interstellar Stealth Bomber... T2 Snow Mastiff-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship... T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship