Abyss Solo-Chapter 46 - : 033 Silence

Chapter 46: 033 Silence

“Oh, Hanton, your plan…” Kolev looked at the projection screen filled with Imperial Language by Yang Ming, his brows gently furrowed, then slowly relaxed.

“It seems very feasible,” the old man said.

Yang Ming squinted and smiled.

Kolev quickly frowned and said, “But I will need to pay a bill of at least several million for this.”

“Are you short on money?” Yang Ming hooked his arm around Kolev’s neck.

“Not short.”

...

“Then can you live forever?” Yang Ming asked again.

Kolev hummed, “How could I! I could live maybe another ten or twenty years at most, no way I could reach those noblemen’s feverishly pursued average lifespan of 120 years. I’ve too many hidden injuries, had to let cells divide faster a few times for healing, the telomere erosion is too severe.”

“What use is keeping the money then? Can you feel happiness after death?” Pity filled Yang Ming’s eyes.

Kolev, still conflicted, was taken aback by the question.

Yang Ming said earnestly, “Kolev, your money is just accompanying you in another form, as part of your assets. Besides, when you reclaim those six pirate ships, you can sell one or two. After all, by then, you definitely won’t have enough crew to pilot them.”

“Oh, that…”

Kolev fell into thought in front of the projection screen.

Yes, Yang Ming’s idea was great; although this plan had its risks, it indeed seemed more reliable and executable than his previous ones.

“Hanton,” Kolev made a decision.

“Hmm?”

“After meeting you, my wealth has been dwindling continuously, not sure if that’s lucky or not.”

Kolev shook his head and sighed,

“Give me some time to prepare. The key things—a stealth boat with strong stealth capabilities and an expensive bionic robot—are not easy to come by.”

“Do you want to bring Mimili in on this?” Yang Ming tentatively suggested.

“This is a man’s war,” Kolev said, “let the women and children hide first.”

“You will be criticized for that, Kolev.”

“I’m a pirate! A pirate!”

Kolev stormed off toward his rest area:

“Before some feminist gets a chance to question me, the space cops would take me out with one shot! I haven’t reclaimed my pirate group yet, and I’m already bleeding heavily! Oh, my God! I haven’t spent so many credit coins in the past ten years!”

Yang Ming leaned against the Star Chart, gazing at his perfect plan, slightly arching an eyebrow.

With the old man’s stinginess.

His fortune must be substantial!

…

After tedious, covert procurement and preparation, Captain Yang Ming and his first officer began to formally implement their plan.

A deep blue Stealth Boat silently slid into the tranquil asteroid belt.

Yang Ming piloted the ship, with Molly No. 2 assisting the driving through the Stealth Boat’s operating system; Kolev was intently staring at the comprehensive detection device, ready to abandon the mission and turn tail at the first sign of data anomalies.

The tortoise-shell-like Feinan was docked behind a small asteroid, in a state of complete silence.

“Hanton, Mimili seems to have been upset to tears, Molly told me… Mimili is very unhappy with me for banning her from operating that pirate ship, what do you think we should do?”

An old man attempted to start a casual conversation.

But Yang Ming wasn’t in the mood to entertain him.

He was focused on the auxiliary lines appearing on the glass ahead, calculating the erratic trajectory to come, his hands on the square helm steady as a rock.

When they reached a more relaxed section of the route, Yang Ming couldn’t resist complaining, “Why did you choose an asteroid belt for your pirate base!”

Kolev chuckled, “There’s a channel that I created in another direction; this place is the best barrier. Even if we’re being chased by patrol warships, we can easily find a place to hide.”

“So, we’re the ones breaking in now?” Yang Ming said.

Kolev was a bit lost for words.

The slow journey lasted for over an hour, with Kolev’s guidance, the Stealth Boat easily bypassed the lax security line, the forward and reverse engines both operating at minimum power, maintaining a relative standstill with an asteroid ahead.

Behind that asteroid lay a small Space Port with metallic structures, protected by a protective shield that guarded the brightly lit buildings.

Two pirate ships of two hundred meters, and one of three hundred meters, were docked in the dockyard, outside the protective shield.

Across the near-vacuum environment, Yang Ming could almost hear the lively voices inside the shield.

“Release the spores,” Yang Ming ordered quietly.

Molly No. 2’s synthesized voice sounded, “Repeat, release the spores.”

Kolev’s hands flew across the projection screen, “Okay, releasing the spores.”

The sleek Stealth Boat opened its tail fins, and electronic devices like mosquitoes floated out, quickly dispersing.

The Stealth Boat hovered motionless.

Kolev nervously watched the screen in front of him; tiny dots began to appear, slowly approaching the three target ships.

Minutes later, the three ships were enveloped by the dots.

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Yet these tiny particles didn’t attract the slightest attention from the pirate patrol team.

“We can go now,” Kolev whispered.

Yang Ming adeptly pulled the helm, slowly retreating the way they came.

Getting away from their patrol zone.

Getting away from their radar detection zone.

As they left the ‘starry rock field’, Yang Ming’s forehead broke out in a slight sweat, complaining, “This is way more tiring than teaching Mimili swordsmanship.”

“Don’t accelerate too fast, a steady acceleration is needed to maximize the ship’s stealth capabilities,” Kolev reminded, “There’s a big shark swimming quickly in this airspace; we must be extremely cautious.”

“Don’t worry, first officer.”

Yang Ming smiled and said, “My luck has always been good.”

Suddenly, Molly No. 2 spoke up, “Detection frequency felt, a small Detection Ship appears to be emerging, predicting a course that will intersect with our ship.”

Yang Ming’s smile immediately stiffened on his face.

Damn, I jinxed it!

A pulsing signal marker appeared on the radar screen.

“Retreat,” Kolev immediately said, “we must retreat! This is very likely a Guel Alliance Detection Ship!”

“No, not right Kolev, retreating is too far, they must be watching this asteroid belt! The fact that we found them means we are also within their detection range, it’s just that our stealth capabilities are at work.”

Yang Ming spoke in a low voice, raising his hand to swiftly press a row of buttons in front of him.

“Molly, first keep the ship stationary relative to the asteroid belt, then shut down the engines.”

Kolev immediately understood what Yang Ming was planning to do; he turned to look at the asteroid belt still in his line of sight, hastily shut down several instruments beside him, and fastened his seatbelt tightly.

After a dozen seconds, the Stealth Boat remained in sync with the asteroid belt.

“Engines off, residual heat cooling,” reported Molly No. 2, her voice becoming gentle.

Yang Ming whispered, “Turn off the active radar.”

“We’ll be blind!” Kolev whispered back.

Molly No. 2 repeated Yang Ming’s words, “Turn off the active radar.”

A tiny point of light appeared in the depths of distant space.

Inside their own cockpit, it was completely dark.

Yang Ming leaned forward, hunched over the square mechanical helm, his eyes fixated on the light point that was growing closer.

The other ship’s speed was not slow.

“No. 2, cut off our encrypted communication, keep the same frequency noise.”

“Okay, cutting off encryption…”

Molly No. 2’s voice stopped abruptly, leaving only two breathing sounds, one light and one heavy.

Kolev’s breathing became a bit rapid.

“Kolev,” Yang Ming asked quietly, “do the spores we scattered have antennas? How do they communicate with us?”

“They’re components, like electronic viruses that invade software systems. They infiltrate the gaps in the ship’s hull when the outer bay is opened, looking for opportunities to connect to the circuit systems, then use the ship’s own antenna to communicate with us.”

Kolev, staring out the porthole, spoke quickly,

“The next drop-off point will be simpler; this is now the most difficult part of the entire plan’s early stages, and your little lover isn’t nearby to keep watch.”

Yang Ming laughed, “Cut it out, Lina is a great white shark; I just want to thoroughly clean—wash her out of my memory.”

The light appeared forty-five degrees to the front right.

Yang Ming calculated the speed of the approaching ship, his fingers hovering over a somewhat concealed button on his left, flipped open the safety cover above it, and counted down three numbers in his heart.

The main power cell shut down.

The life support system shut down.

Yang Ming held his breath, his finger resting on the power cell button, leaving the remaining oxygen in the cabin for Kolev.

The light point moved to thirty degrees to the front right.

Twenty degrees.

Fifteen degrees.

Five degrees.

Directly ahead.

Five degrees to the front left.

Fifteen degrees to the front left.

“I’m having difficulty… breathing…”

Kolev’s face began to redden, the temperature at the hatch was slowly dropping.

Still had to wait.

Kolev raised his hand to his neck.

Yang Ming hesitated.

Although restoring power to the ship now was a bit risky, he could only take a gamble, after all, it would take some time for the oxygen level to return to normal, and the old man’s brain couldn’t afford to be oxygen-deprived.

Yang Ming pressed the main power battery switch; the life support system started up, and the oxygen level in the cabin quickly rose.

Kolev slumped in the seat, already in a state of inhaling less and exhaling more.

Yang Ming turned his head to look at him, then asked quite sincerely, “Do you want me to give you mouth-to-mouth resuscitation? First Officer? We should prepare a couple of emergency oxygen tanks or portable space suits in advance.”

Kolev waved his hand, coughed violently twice, and his lungs began working vigorously.

The light point appeared sixty-five degrees to the front left.

Yang Ming resumed normal breathing and collapsed in the chair, raising an eyebrow at Kolev, smiling, “What do you think, First Officer, what did that ship look like just now?”

“How do you manage it, Hanton… to still be so energetic…”

Kolev wiped the sweat from his forehead, his eyes somewhat blurry, he spoke slowly,

“Probably a boat-shaped Detection Ship, a clunky big thing, they need that to fit in more instruments. But what I can be sure of is that the technicians from the Alliance on it are probably drinking coffee and chatting about some crew member’s motor butt… they didn’t notice us at all.”

“Let’s get moving, they should be on a scheduled patrol.”

Yang Ming quickly opened a series of buttons in front of him, and the virtual image of Molly No. 2 appeared between the two men, silently hovering.

“Captain, based on the current situation, you have not been exposed.”

“Molly No. 2, you take the helm,” Yang Ming said, “return to the mother ship.”

“Okay, proceeding with the return to the mother ship operation.”

The projection screen in front of Kolev gradually restored, and he watched the real-time feed of three pirate ships’ data, a relaxed smile slowly spreading across his lips.

“The show’s about to start, Hanton. From here on, no one can stop us! No one!”