Star Ocean: Starting from the Abandoned Mining Space Station.

Chapter 215 Invitation

Chen Ming could roughly guess the reason why Bai Quan turned into this decadent look.

So Chen Ming took the initiative to pick up the topic again and said, "What should we do with this person who helps the government in the future?"

"We can only investigate first."

"Still an investigation? Have the results of the last investigation come out?"

"Out."

Bai Quan nodded slightly and said: "Someone at the headquarters took kickbacks and provided a batch of inferior goods to replace the original batch of new goods. All the people involved and the suppliers have dealt with it."

"What about Director Wu's young apprentice? What is Director Wu's attitude?"

"This situation is a little more complicated."

"Director Wu's young apprentice has been studying with Director Wu at the headquarters. There seems to be no problem."

"That's not the case. The most they want is to keep you away from the Fourteenth Legion for a while, and then find you back after they get me away."

"Of course I know, as long as you understand what I mean."

"Why does he dare to take kickbacks in the presence of you, me and Director Wu?"

"There are also many people within the Fourteenth Legion who don't like me."

"But I was thinking, didn't the Fourteenth Legion ask me to join them before?"

"If it really doesn't work, let me ask you a question. Your fourteenth legion must not be of the same mind, right?"

Bai Quan replied without hesitation: "Every force cannot be of the same mind after it has passed its development period."

"Because the young apprentice's skills are not up to par in Director Wu's eyes."

"No harm to the family."

"It's better than letting him continue to ruin your reputation. Where is the young apprentice?"

"These two individuals, combined, contributed to the situation that preceded it."

Chen Ming guessed casually: "Privately, everyone wants me to get away as far away as possible, right?"

"Electromagnetic restraint devices and electromagnetic pulse bombs, the two most important personal safety devices when conducting research on the machine race, were deliberately not inspected. The supplier thinks that the nine races have too many people, right?"

Bai Quan said with helplessness written all over his face: "We were not interested in such things when we were still on earth."

Chen Ming shook his head and said, "Where's the back?"

There are indeed people in the Fourteenth Army who can't stand Bai Quan, and Chen Ming, who is suspected of having joined the Fourteenth Army via Baiquan's route, is naturally also on the list of people who can't stand it.

But Chen Ming wanted to hear more than that. He then asked: "Is this the end of the matter?"

"As a result, the young apprentice accepted a bribe from the supplier and actively asked to check the electromagnetic restraint device during the inspection. He just took a look at it and ignored it. There was no inspection at all."

"So someone doesn't want me to come to the Fourteenth Legion?"

"No way? Are you so disgusted? Doesn't that person have any relatives or descendants, or does he have a junior apprentice like Director Wu?"

"Unless there is an extremely complete chain of evidence, everything is empty talk. Even if someone knows the truth about this matter, no one will believe the empty talk without evidence. There is really no way."

"Tsk, you, Lieutenant General, are a bit frustrated. No one can help you?"

"Then this time, there is another person who is responsible for the electromagnetic pulse bomb installed on the machine race. It's the same."

Chen Ming felt a little headache when he heard that, and asked: "The person who did the work must be protected, otherwise who will do the work for him in the future? You always know who the protector is, right?"

The answer is not what the question was asked, but the idea is there.

Bai Quan still looked helpless and said: "...I know, but there is nothing I can do...it doesn't mean that others will admit it if you know it."

"Going to jail."

"If this happened normally, it could indeed be regarded as a pure accident, but in my case, it definitely couldn't be an accident."

"But now... in short, of course everyone welcomes you to join."

Chen Ming continued to ask: "People higher up are not affected at all? Don't you have any suspicion in your heart?"

"Director Wu specially brought the young apprentice here this time instead of other apprentices just to show that he is not partial."

Chen Ming understood the reason, and then asked the question he wanted to ask: "So why doesn't Director Wu give the young apprentice the same resources?"

"Director Wu is very sensible. After the suppliers and all the culprits in the headquarters were taken down, he directly severed ties with his young apprentice. He was quite decisive."

"Anyway, when the time comes, they can blame each other internally. Whether it is against you or me, the effect will be the same. In the end, I will be the one who takes responsibility."

"I see."

"It sounds a little bit ugly, but it's almost the same."

Bai Quan said: "It was in the past. At that time, you were still a pure free man. After joining the Fourteenth Legion, several factions within the legion may compete for you."

"It's over. This is the only way it's over. All the criminals have been picked out by the evidence I have. There are too many, and I can't do anything."

"It's difficult. To put it simply, a rookie who has not yet graduated feels that he should have a share of the resources of the senior brothers and sisters who have already graduated. If he can't get it, he will be sick, right?"

"But his research resources are not as good as those of his senior brothers and sisters who have already graduated, including samples of the machine race, various rare parts such as the Purgatory Core, and money. They are all incomparable. He has always complained in his heart."

After Bai Quan finished speaking, he stopped talking, as if the matter was over.

When Bai Quan heard Chen Ming's question, his face relaxed slightly and he said, "Yes."

"I can come here to build a branch. I could also drive three battleships to rescue you before. Although the process was a little deviated due to things in the war zone, I still have two battleships in my hands. This is the biggest help."

"But these things can't help you now."

"..."

Bai Quan suddenly sighed, took off his coat with the emblem of the Fourteenth Legion, and lay back on the lounge chair.

"I need time. My old boss is retiring soon, and his children are no longer active in the military and political circles."

"So it's impossible for me to take the initiative to attack other people's families. That would be really embarrassing, and doing so would not gain the support of anyone, including those who are still supporting me."

Chen Ming heard from his boss that Bai Quan was an orphan like him and grew up in the army.

In the past few months, Bai Quan would occasionally mention this matter during his free time with Chen Ming.

Chen Ming knew that the old boss Bai Quan mentioned was no different from his father, and Bai Quan, his father's other children, would definitely not harm them.

"Then why don't you quickly find a way to take over the resources from your old boss and come here?"

Bai Quan slowly explained: "I was promoted too fast along the way, and my qualifications are not old enough. There are many things that I can't touch directly."

"My old boss was only a lieutenant general, but he could do many things that a general can do, and now I may not even be able to do many things that a lieutenant general of the same level can do."

Bai Quan suddenly pointed at his feet and said: "I came here because there are opportunities here, opportunities to obtain military merit. As long as the military merit is sufficient, the qualifications are nothing."

"Also, the Fourteenth Legion branch in the Gallo Star Territory is a fallback route for me and my old boss."

"A way out?"

Chen Ming suddenly sneered and said: "To tell you a joke, a thirty-four-year-old lieutenant general in the empire, the youngest in the past century, needs to avoid the frontline of the empire and find a way out."

The corner of Bai Quan's mouth twitched stiffly and he said: "I can fail, but I can't let the person who taught me and gave me life not even leave a way out."

Chen Ming was silent for a while and said, "Politics is really troublesome."

Bai Quan said in agreement: "I think so too, the battlefield is better."

"I estimate that the results of this investigation will be the same. There will be no results other than a batch of fines for the people below."

"You're within the rules now. You can't do much. That's the restriction you have to come here."

"Um……"

Chen Ming hummed meaningfully. In fact, he was still outside the rules, but his current situation gave people this illusion.

For Chen Ming, as long as no one touches his bottom line, he will continue to pretend that he is still within the rules.

But if someone exceeds his bottom line, he will also use some methods outside the rules.

For example, in the previous two times, Hu Yi's matter had already exceeded, so he would find a way to solve Hu Yi's problem.

It's just that he currently lacks the means to track and investigate psykers, so he needs time and Baiquan's help.

And the thing about the mechanical clan that followed was barely on the edge of his bottom line, but he could handle it or not.

Anyway, if something like this happens, the people who will lose will basically be the people within the 14th Army Corps, and the most anxious one should be the 14th Army Corps.

They were not in a hurry, internal matters had been handled according to the rules, and Chen Ming did not need to worry about them.

But this time, the third time, Chen Ming actually didn't care.

It's just an invitation after all.

The one who was really slapped in the face was Bai Quan.

But Bai Quan's relationship with Chen Ming is not just about mutual help and mutual benefit.

After several months of one-on-one teaching, Chen Ming and Bai Quan still have a very good relationship in private.

Thinking about the problem from a friend's perspective, Chen Ming's own anger grew unconsciously.

Although everything seemed to be directed at him, not Baiquan.

But Bai Quan is the boss of the branch here. Of course he has to take responsibility for what happens here, and of course he will feel aggrieved.

It's just Bai Quan's current attitude that makes it impossible for Chen Ming to directly cross the line and help him.

He could only mention his thoughts as much as he could, but there was nothing he could do to help.

He is just a newly developed psychic, and he will not participate in such political matters and does not want to participate.

It's better to let Bai Quan have a headache.

Unless someone really made him anxious and crossed his bottom line, then he would have reason to avoid Baiquan and cause trouble.

Bai Quan didn't worry about this kind of thing for too long.

It's useless to dwell on something you can't do. It's better to be prepared and wait until someone reaches out to cut off his hand next time, and then go back to find the person who has a broken hand.

This is the easiest and fastest way.

Bai Quan put on his coat again and said, "Let's not talk about the bad things."

"There is a small-scale combat meeting tomorrow. Do you want to go?"

"tomorrow?"

"Well, I check your learning progress with the instructor in the afternoon every day. As of today, I think you can almost understand the things in the meeting."

"When the time comes, just use holographic projection to go there. You have the equipment here."

"Row."

Chen Ming has been looking forward to this before, and now that Bai Quan takes the initiative to say so, he can't miss it. Seeing that Bai Quan looked ready to leave at any moment after he finished speaking, Chen Ming quickly asked: "How is the progress of the investigation into Hu Yi's case?"

Bai Quan's movement to leave immediately stopped and said, "I almost forgot to tell you. We don't have any clues about his words yet."

"I specifically searched for psykers to check him, but I couldn't find any trace at all. This person's existence was blocked by psionic energy, and the specific location cannot be confirmed."

"Our ordinary investigators have investigated Hu Yi's social circle and the places where he has lived in the past. There are no clues in all of them. It's like he disappeared from the world."

Chen Ming nodded and did not insist that he must find something.

"Then just wait. Since he failed to kill me once, there will always be a second time."

In a blink of an eye, it was noon the next day.

After the morning's teaching, Bai Quan helped Chen Ming debug the equipment and left the dome.

After going hungry for about half an hour, Chen Ming got the signal from Baiquan and started the holographic projection device.

His projection then appeared in a conference room.

Baiquan himself is at the main seat in the conference room.

There were a total of twenty people in the conference room, most of whom were holographic projections. None of these people had a military rank lower than that of a colonel.

It seems that because the upcoming war between the Empire and the Machine Tribe is still in its earliest stages, the high-level officials who can participate in the meeting are still all over the Empire.

This should mean that the empire will not make any big moves for the time being, otherwise everyone in the army who can participate in the meeting will definitely have to gather here.

At the same time, this should also mean that Chen Ming’s idea is still a long way from being realized.

There are too few opportunities in small-scale conflicts.

Chen Ming's thoughts only appear in his own heart and are not known to anyone.

However, his projection appeared in the conference room and was visible to everyone in the conference room.

Bai Quan also extended his hand to gesture to Chen Ming and said: "Before the meeting, let me say one thing. Chen Ming will play an irreplaceable role in the war of the mechanical tribe in the future, so he will join us in the following meetings. Don’t do anything unpleasant.”

No one spoke in the conference room, and no one would speak.

Bai Quan didn't say much when he saw this and started the meeting normally.

Soon, a projection of a three-dimensional star map appeared in the center of the conference table.

Chen Ming could tell at a glance that this was the Gallo star field and the other two nearby star fields bordering the Machine Tribe and Afterglow.

The empire's area is marked with green, which symbolizes friendship, the afterglow area is marked with azure blue, and the machine clan's area is marked with gray and white.

The azure part was not the main content of the meeting, so the projection was mainly focused on the gray and white areas of the mechanical family.

A large portion of the edges of these off-white areas are tinted green.

Chen Ming can directly retrieve the data in these areas through the terminal on his seat.

If he had come here before, Chen Ming might not be able to understand it.

However, after a few days of intense tutoring, I was able to translate all the data on the terminal at first glance and understand what each string of data represents.

In addition to natural data such as galaxy data, planet data, route coordinates, etc.

The terminal also displays more detailed data such as the number of Mechanical Tribe colonies, the approximate number of Mechanical Tribe garrisons, the proportion of garrison ships, the distance to the nearest colony, and so on.

It seems that these are the results of the empire's investigation of the machine race in the early days of the war.

Those gray-white areas with some green are all areas where the empire has an understanding of the mechanical race.

Chen Ming quickly scanned the area and could see that most of the machine race's fleet was no longer in the galaxy bordering the empire. The other side of the empire was almost undefended and empty of troops.

Of course, it might also be the phase beast that caused this situation.

But no matter what the reason is, Chen Ming feels that the empire will be ready to take action in this direction next.

While Chen Ming was thinking, Bai Quan had already begun to speak: "Last month, a total of six destroyers and 72 escorts of our ships were destroyed."

"The loss of life reached five hundred and thirty-two, including missing and dead."

"The mechanical tribe is strengthening the defense of the border. They are somewhat aware of our actions, but there is no way to confirm it yet."

"However, we can confirm that the Machine Clan has sent a reconnaissance force to our border, and the number is yet to be investigated."

"We responded and acted as if we had just discovered that the mechanical tribe had strengthened border management."

A lieutenant general with holographic projection answered Baiquan's words as soon as he finished speaking: "Suspend the investigation of the border area of ​​​​the machine clan. We have already determined the galaxy data from the initial exploration survey. There is no need to continue. We should increase the investigation of the machine clan's rear area. We invested all our efforts in the investigation and went deep into the hinterland of the Machine Clan from behind.”

Bai Quan immediately operated on the terminal and said: "At present, we have a reconnaissance fleet passing through the Afterglow Star Field from multiple directions and will soon arrive behind the actual control area of ​​​​the Machinery Clan."

As Bai Quan spoke, there were more than a dozen green lines on the star map projection in front of him, starting from the location of the Fourteenth Army Corps and some surrounding military outposts.

In the three-dimensional space, it circled close to the edge of the mechanical race, and the target was near the galaxy where the phase beast was once discovered.

"The fleet performing the detection mission cannot use high-power communication devices. It will take some time for the signal to return. It is expected that the news will be available in three days."

Starting from this sentence, Chen Ming became a little incomprehensible in the following content.

The various professional terms within the military seem to be talking about the fleet numbers and the requirements for the specific reconnaissance missions they perform, as well as what should be done in case of emergencies, etc.

Chen Ming could only hear a general outline, but could not understand the details at all.

It seems like he still has a lot to learn.

Unable to understand what was being said, Chen Ming returned his attention to the terminal in front of him.

After Baiquan finished talking about the situation outside, he then changed the topic to the inside of the empire.

He talked about the logistics resource scheduling of the army, which Chen Ming had not been exposed to at all in the past few days.

When Chen Ming had a headache from guessing, the meeting finally ended.

Chen Ming breathed a sigh of relief and was in no hurry to leave.

Bai Quan seemed to have something else to say to him.

When only Chen Ming's projection and Bai Quan were left in the conference room, Bai Quan forced a smile on Chen Ming and said, "Don't you understand?"

"This was just a simple, small-scale summary meeting to discuss the next policy, but the planned policy has not changed, so it ended quickly."

"If a large-scale war breaks out in the future, there is no need to stop our meeting. There will be more professional terms waiting for you to understand."

Chen Ming's expression was slightly numb. Command technology was a completely new field for him, and it was much more difficult to learn than spacecraft technology.

But as long as he wants to progress, this kind of thing will definitely not be avoided.

Seeing Chen Ming's expression, Bai Quan changed the subject and said, "By the way, are you interested in participating in the investigation mission?"

Chen Ming quickly adjusted his attitude and asked: "How to participate?"

"I will give you a destroyer at the beginning of each mission. You don't need your destroyer to fight. You just need to follow the reconnaissance fleet to help transmit information every day."

"You just heard what I said. There are no super-light communication base stations outside the empire. Signal transmission can only rely on the communication device of the spacecraft itself. Instantaneous communication transmission can easily expose itself. We need a method that can communicate quickly."

"So just let me do it?"

To be honest, this matter is not difficult or troublesome. As long as Chen Ming packs up the database on the spacecraft and brings it back every day, it is very simple.

And every mission has a ship to expel, which is also a good reward.

Although Chen Ming is not short of a ship to expel now, he can still earn a little bit.

He never wants too much money.

"Can it be discounted?"

"can."

"Then I have no problem."

"Thanks, I will tell you about the next mission."

Bai Quan nodded and said: "Yes, and I am applying for the next relic of another civilization. It will be sent to you in a few days. I still need your help in researching it as before."

"Do you have a name?"

"Yes, synchrotron core."

Half an hour after the meeting ended, Chen Ming disconnected the holographic projection and returned his attention to the dome.

He now has some free time. At least he can do something of his own in the evenings during the few days before the next relic is delivered.

However, Chen Ming didn't have time to think about what he could do.

The phone call came right away.

Chen Ming picked up the terminal and took a look. It belonged to Cheng Xinghai.

After the call was connected, Cheng Xinghai greeted Chen Ming as before: "Hey, is Chen Ming here?"

"I answered your call and you asked me if I was there?"

"Hey, just kidding, I have a battle here, do you want to come?"

"Is there a battle?"

"Yes, there is a large-scale battle involving multiple people. Do you want to come?"

Chen Ming thought for a moment and said, "I have no experience in this area."

"It doesn't matter. There are several people on both sides of the large-scale battle. Everyone is responsible for their own tasks."

"Not everyone specializes in battlefield command. There are people who specialize in large-scale battlefield dispatching and logistics. When working with them, you don't need to worry about anything else. You only need to be responsible for fighting."

Chen Ming asked again: "It's just a team battle? But doesn't it matter if I don't know anyone?"

"Don't worry, I've found teammates for you, all you have to do is come."

"The referee is still Uncle Bai. I told him in advance."

"Also, this kind of long-term, large-scale battle requires a deep penetration of consciousness, which is convenient for speeding up thinking and not wasting too much time in reality."

"I heard that you seemed to have been to the branch recently? You should be able to lie down directly in the equipment, right?"

Cheng Xinghai seemed to have arranged everything in the days before she disappeared, and was just waiting for him to finally pass.

But Chen Ming still had to confirm: "How long will it take?"

"It may take more than ten hours, and everyone can pause for fifteen minutes in the middle."

"When does it begin?"

"Anything from tonight until the next week."

Chen Ming looked at the schedule and said, "Well, I can go."

(End of this chapter)