Chapter 836: Chapter 246: Declining Colony (Part 2)

Next to him, Lou Wei’s hand subconsciously trembled when he saw the number of files displayed on the terminal.

Chen Ming immediately noticed this and suddenly said, "You aren’t going to renege, are you?"

Lou Wei’s expression turned even darker, but he managed to squeeze out two words: "No."

"Do you have the money to compensate?"

"Chen Advisor, even if he doesn’t have the money, we’ll do our best to gather the compensation for you."

When Chen Ming heard Major General Song’s term of address for him, he was slightly taken aback; he had nearly forgotten that his role was that of a temporary tactical adviser hired by the Fourteenth Legion.

The sincerity of Major General Song’s attitude and the momentary surprise caused by the way he addressed him made Chen Ming lose interest in continuing to press aggressively; he leaned back against his chair and closed his eyes to relax.

Of course, as he pretended to relax, in reality, Chen Ming focused on the situation with his true self on the other side.

Because it was about time to search for the third temporary base.

It’s been nearly a month since he arrived at the Fourteenth Legion, and Brilliant and the others were nearing the end of their exploration around the second temporary base’s star system.

Although the investigation around the first temporary base took roughly two months to complete back then.

That was mainly because everything started from scratch at the time, with no prior experience to rely on. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

With the experience of the first exploration, the efficiency of this investigation was evidently higher.

Moreover, Chen Ming believed that starting from the third base, the efficiency would be even greater.

Because the Supreme Point Chen Ming had been using, loaned to Shao Yang, was also about to be returned.

Two Supreme Points, more resources, more experience, more support; a significant increase in efficiency wouldn’t be a problem at all.

And once the third temporary base was established, the first one was already ready to be dismantled.

Although Chen Ming now had some basic resource assistance from Bai Quan, reducing the financial gap significantly.

And with the Superspace Teleportation Engine starting testing, advancements in Energy Crystal Technology testing, and the second batch of patent fees from Antimatter Technology received, Chen Ming wouldn’t be lacking money in the short term.

Nonetheless, there’s no need to support three temporary bases for no reason.

It’s mainly meaningless; exploring four hundred light-years around is enough, further out the costs are too high, and it’s way too close to the Empire’s borders.

Indeed, it’s time to dismantle it.

However, dismantling the first temporary base brings about a problem.

The problem of the Insect Race.

Because in the next half-year or one year, the Empire and the Mechanical Race are likely to start a war.

And the planet where Chen Ming initially discovered Mechanical Race cities and the Insect Queen isn’t too far from the Mechanical Race’s territory.

If war really starts, there’s a significant risk of discovery.

So with the dismantling of the first temporary base, it’s time for the Insect Race to move elsewhere.

But the problem is, a third of the entire habitable planet is already completely covered by the Insect Nest, and even the climate on the planet has changed due to the nest’s coverage.

Such a massive Insect Nest is a colossal project to relocate.

And this relocation process will inevitably cause unpredictable damage to the planet’s ecosystem.

Leaving a messy and difficult situation on the planet.

Although the mess can be ignored, Chen Ming has to think of a way to completely relocate the Mechanical Race city on this mess.

This city is currently Chen Ming’s most important site for producing new Mechanical Race units.

Thus, it’s best for these Mechanical Race units to relocate to a nearby planet with the Insect Race.

Convenient to become a future bridgehead near the Empire, for transporting resources, so he doesn’t have to continually use Spiritual Energy to send Energy Crystals back to the Empire.

As for the Insect Race, well, they need to move farther.

If possible, it would be best to move to the eventual site of Chen Ming’s colony, but that goal is still a bit far, and he has to follow Brilliant and the others gradually.

In the cosmic environment, for large-scale, long-distance movement, it’s either using the Star Gate or slowly flying with a spaceship; there are no other options.

Chen Ming has completely mastered no Star Gate technology, has not even come into contact, so the latter is his only choice.

In the latter case, the only option for the Insect Queen is to control the Insect Race to manufacture a large number of biological spaceships.

And in this regard, the gap between a Destroyer and a Cruiser is magnified endlessly.

So Chen Ming is still waiting.

Waiting for the Insect Queen to consume the Defender Level given to it and evolve into the Cruiser status one day.

This also counts as progress.

Just right for slowly progressing changes in the basic structure of the Insect Nest, to adapt to the emergence of effective biological buildings created by the Insect Queen, integrated into the hatching process of Insect Race units.

As Chen Ming closed his eyes to consider the upcoming tasks for his true self.

In the false self’s area, he suddenly heard Major General Song’s voice.

"I wonder what Chen Advisor has been doing recently? Haven’t seen you since the last meeting."

Chen Ming opened his eyes again.

Major General Song’s attitude made him feel that perhaps Major General Song had an idea.

He turned his head to look at Bai Quan, who slightly nodded, seeming to have thoughts about Major General Song as well.

Though Chen Ming didn’t quite understand why Bai Quan had an interest in a Major General nearing the end of his career, if Bai Quan had thoughts, he had thoughts; Chen Ming had only met Major General Song once before, nothing fundamentally conflicting, so it didn’t matter.