The hourglass on the table is slowly leaking sky-blue sand.
Even if the outpost has suffered such drastic changes, there are still many things that will not change. Now that the dormitory has been repaired, Lu Ning certainly does not need to continue living in the central control room. In addition to having to lie in the space suit, which is a bit uncomfortable... …That’s not bad, after all, the spacesuits in ancient times couldn’t even lie down on.
She stood up and picked up the hourglass on the table. This exquisite handicraft must be a souvenir brought by a member of the advance team. Just like many people who perform such tasks, they bring something with a sense of nostalgia, often these Things will also be returned to their families along with their suicide notes.
It seems that people were already doing this on the home star before distances were divided into light-year units.
This is one of the few histories of the home planet that Lu Ning in the interstellar era can know, most of which are about wars. When entering the interstellar battlefield, this has become even more normal, not only because of possible threats in the universe, but also because space has stretched time to a point that was previously unimaginable. It's not that the soldiers may die... it may also be that the people waiting for you can't wait for that day. When an old general who had been fighting on the star battlefield for more than fifty years finally returned home, he found that Has become his grandchild - long-term interstellar travel at sub-light speed has caused his time to be out of sync with his relatives.
And so far, has "Lu Ning" left any regrets? That should be of course.
She didn't even know how to fill the empty feeling in the heart of this army captain. Fortunately, Lu Ning took her place. She didn't have such a strong war syndrome, but occasionally recalled it through muscle memory and the like. Just remembering some things from the past.
Turn over the hourglass, and there are two surnames engraved on the bottom - Hu Meng. It was no longer possible to find the owner of such a surname from the list. Lu Ning put the hourglass into the insurance package at her waist, stood up and walked out of the room.
The moment she connected to the team channel, she received a message from Dragon Vein, which was the robot control authorization for the entire base. Lu Ning took one look and confirmed that this was only the part of Dragon Vein that had to be reported to the captain. Since he had been authorized, the entire outpost's robot organization should have been formed.
Immediately afterwards, after several prompts, Qiu Shu, Spider Silk, Yang Hao and Spades also sent her the results of the work they were responsible for. There are detailed maps of the entire mountainous area, biological illustrations that have been filed according to the latest alliance catalog template, sample analysis reports from the biological laboratory, and records of changes in surrounding environmental data.
Lu Ning had no choice but to open the call directly. "There are a lot of files. I need to spend some time to process them."
"It's okay, Captain, we just got up." Spade said and yawned, "Speaking of which, what is today's mission? Change the direction and continue hunting?"
"Before I decide, I have to check the communication channel, Dragon Vein, is there any update?"
"Well, from about last night to this morning, a total of thirteen teams have restored control of the outposts and issued certification codes. We can connect to their teams through these codes." Longmai replied.
"Okay, let's send out our code. By the way, roughly infer the hemisphere where these teams are located based on the time when the code was sent. After you have made the arrangements, let Qiu Shu and Bayonet take over your work. You can return to the spacecraft to prepare for the simple Satellite launcher.”
"Okay, do you want synchronized orbit or..."
"To quickly control the orbit, the first priority is to take a picture of the entire planet. It doesn't need to be very detailed, but I want a picture of the landforms."
"Captain, why are you so anxious to get pictures of the planet?" Tie Mei asked.
"Conduct another inspection to see if there are any suspicious targets such as large buildings or ruins. The danger of the Phantom Star is not suitable for long-distance marches on the ground. We have to think of other methods."
"Be cautious." Qiu Shu added.
Everyone echoed in the channel.
Lu Ning took the elevator back to the ninth floor, but just as she was about to walk to the central control room, Longmai suddenly spoke, "Captain, the sentry robot outside has discovered another team. The other team's number is bw-003. It seems that the outpost has not been sent. Station as the first goal. The other party did not explain the situation in detail and only asked to talk to people. Should we..."
"This number belongs to the Blue Wave Number." Lu Ning stretched out her hand to block the elevator door, "And the ranking is the same as mine. If this number is not random, it means that the opponent's strength is not bad."
"Captain, they are probably a marching team." Qiu Shu reminded.
"Well, it just so happens that I can go up and ask the sentry to let them over, but don't lift the alert." Lu Ning turned back to the elevator and started to go up to the first floor.
A marching team is a team that does not look for strongholds and relies on the maneuverability of the spacecraft to conduct multiple reconnaissances across high-risk areas. Although it lacks a reliable base, it can well assume the responsibility of reconnaissance. It lasts more than two days. It was enough time for them to go to several places.
Lu Ning went up to the first floor and walked towards the door. At this time, Spades, Recorder and Iron Eyebrow were also outside. After hearing the news, they gathered here and planned to see what happened to the sudden arrival of the team.
Soon, a sentry robot arrived here with ten people wearing the same spacesuits. Except for the nameplates on the chest and some of the equipment, they were generally consistent with Lu Ning's team.
The person walking at the front stood about ten meters away and gave a military salute: "Captain of the bw-003 team, I am very happy to see my compatriots here."
"This is the du-003 team." Lu Ning also stood up and returned the greeting, "This outpost No. 48 has been repaired by us. If you want to rest here, we welcome you, but if you need resources, please Give something in exchange.”
"Of course." The other party's attitude was also good. "We came all the way from the eastern plains. Now the landing craft needs some fuel replenishment, and the weapons also need maintenance and ammunition replenishment. I can share the reconnaissance data along the way. Please don't mind. Most of it has been Sent to the fleet as a report.”
"No problem, then please come in." Lu Ning moved out of the way.
The opponent's team filed in, and it could be seen that they did not relax their vigilance. Everyone's movements were tense, and they did not relax their vigilance just because this was a friendly base. However, Lu Ning himself also asked Longmai and others to do a good job of vigilance and would not make any accusations about this.
Although it was a rest, the first thing was to go to a large reception room on the sixth floor. Qiu Shu also received the news. Lu Ning asked Tiemei and the others to stay here as well. After both parties sat down, they skipped. After the small talk stage, we directly talked about the main topic.
"Is your team a marching type? From your description, you did not consider the outpost as the first target." Lu Ning asked.
"We are indeed preparing to conduct extensive investigations for a period of time before confirming. Although the number of outposts here corresponding to more than a hundred teams is about the same, I always think that just investigating outposts is not enough." The captain clicked. Nodding, "I think there should be a part of the team to quickly carry out detection, and establishing a proper route network is also a necessary part. The Phantom Star has a special environment and cannot be directly commanded through the fleet's command center, so we have to improve our own order. "
"Not bad. Then can I ask what you have discovered along the way?"
The other party smiled. "Actually, there are not a few teams that have the same plan as us. At least we met two similar teams on the way, one is hj-013 and the other is al-002."
"Super Jazz and Astronomical Light, right?"
"Yes, we had a relatively friendly exchange. After all, we all have the same purpose. But the time is not very long. We must move forward while supplying supplies."
The landing craft itself has certain collection and supply functions, but it is certainly not as convenient as a base like the outpost, so they were actually in a state of shortage of fuel for two days.
Lu Ning looked at the equipment on everyone's body.
"Judging from the marks on your bodies, you must have fought."
"Yes, we obtained the emergency information released by the No. 1 team of each spacecraft through the mobile transmitting station, so we also have some understanding of that strange disease. But we are dealing with phantom beasts along the way, so we can be sure The thing is, there are B-level phantom beasts on this planet, and there are a lot of them. They live in places that are very difficult to detect, and we were lucky enough to detect one from a distance."
"how is it like?"
"Dragon-shaped, four arms, body with high temperature. We noticed it through some charred vegetation, but were not alarmed. It should be impossible for such a team to fight against B-level fantasy beasts." The captain opened his personal terminal , "I can first pass on to you the information on the phantom beasts we encountered. There are fifty-nine D-level species, seven C-level species, and one B-level species. Except for the B-level one, there are hunting records, okay Conduct vulnerability research.”
"Where's the biological sample data? Or samples, you should have obtained them too, right?"
"I want to use it as a bargaining chip."
Lu Ning nodded, "Okay. Let me discuss it."
She turned off the external sound, entered the team channel, and asked, "Yanghao, if I give you biological samples, how will the research speed be? What if we only have data?"
"Oh... Even the most delicate instruments may have problems. I still trust my brain, captain." Yang Hao said.
"If I want to have a sample for research, it doesn't have to be a whole body, but a tissue or organ is fine - that's better." Bug Bait also echoed, "Captain, what conditions do they have?"
"I think we need to use our base to produce some weapons and equipment."
"I think it's feasible." Longmai said with a smile, "If we use the production line here, then they will leave the weapon pattern anyway. It would be better if it is a weapon we don't know."
Although this group of people is relatively obedient, they still retain a lot of banditry...
Of course, there is no need to consider these things now. Lu Ning accepted the other party's conditions and began to discuss them in detail. The captain of bw-003 is not someone who cares about details, but he has a very clear bottom line. As long as the needs are met when negotiating a deal with this kind of person, the rest will not be too troublesome.
After the normal supplies, it’s finally the weapons part’s turn.
"As for weapons, should we supply conventional weapons or set up our own?" Lu Ning changed the line in the log.
"Self-set. I think you all should have discovered that many of our weapons and equipment are not so effective on this planet. It seems that the growth of the fantasy star creatures is also based on the methods used by the advance team to deal with them."
"Yes. Can I know the specific aspects? Obviously you have more combat experience."
"First of all, in terms of investigation, we need to strengthen electromagnetic shielding and particle detection. C-level and above creatures are very good at carrying out electromagnetic attacks on our electronic equipment, or blinding our various detections through strong shielding effects. Secondly, combat Weapons, ordinary ammunition and energy shocks are no longer effective. We cannot attack dangerous phantom beasts without killing them, so we must replace them with special operations ammunition. At the same time, large bludgeoning and slashing weapons They should be put into use, as their unique defenses are not very effective against the most primitive attacks. In addition, it would be better if some targeted toxins and anesthetics could be prepared."
"Okay, then I can allocate ten units of resources for you to make special weapons."
"Huh? We don't need that much..."
"We will leave behind the production drawings, which is unavoidable, and we will inevitably use them later. So I will pay this part of the value in advance, and if it is not enough, we can negotiate again."
"That's enough. There are only so many resources that the landing craft can carry."
The two captains stood up, walked to the middle of the room, saluted each other, then turned their helmets transparent, and shook hands with each other to signify that the transaction was completed. But at this point in time, Lu Ning happened to meet each other's eyes——
She smiled and ended the handshake without leaving a trace.
"Next, my deputy team will take you to the production line. This is my communication number. If you have any questions, you can discuss it with me."
After saying that, she restored her helmet. Qiu Shu stepped forward to take over the task of guiding and left with the other team's team. Lu Ning sat in the conference room and let the others leave. She looked through the information sent by the other party and counted silently in her mind. About a minute later, the communication rang.
"What a coincidence."
"I think there is some inevitability in it. Have you turned off the recording?"
"I don't normally open it. No matter how I look at this operation, I feel a little strange inside."
"Well... you have been a soldier, so you should know better than me. Having said that, I am very happy to see you, but will your sister also come to this scene?"
There was silence on the other side for a while.
"What's wrong?"
"She didn't come."
"That's good, I really don't want to see her."
"But she joined the doll party."
"What?"
"I tried to persuade her, but there was nothing I could do. The conditions the other party gave her were beyond anything I could do to make up for it. You know, when it comes to seducing people like my sister, the Doll Party can always hit the key points."
"Is he so important that he would abandon his own sister?" Lu Ning even felt a little angry.
"I'm also wondering how much weight I still have in her heart. Maybe... I think too highly of myself?" The tone in the voice was full of self-deprecation and regret, "Actually, I can't do anything except being good at fighting. .”
"You're still my friend, Mercy."
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