Chapter 111 Terminator

Just two minutes before the pirates and Zuo Jing pointed their spearheads at Chen Ming.

The two fleets had already conducted an emergency communication and confirmed which road each was on.

Then they found that they really knew each other, just as Chen Ming guessed.

They even had a certain relationship with someone Chen Ming knew.

This person was Shen Yi, who was killed by Chen Ming before.

The captain of the pirate fleet's flagship had a relationship with Shen Yi, and it could even be said that they had a very close relationship.

In short, just like the pirate leader who was also killed by Chen Ming before, he relied on the intelligence sold by Shen Yi to attack some caravans.

He happened to meet the captain of the Zuo Jing fleet several times when he was looking for Shen Yi. Although he was not familiar with him, he had an impression of him.

The relationship between the captain of the Zuo Jing fleet and Shen Yi was that they both belonged to Zuo Jing's command. It was normal for them to know each other and it was normal for them to move around occasionally.

So the captain of Zuo Jing also had an impression of the pirate captain.

After both sides did not want to directly conflict with each other and took the initiative to exchange information in a relatively peaceful way.

They found that the situation was a bit special, so they checked their identities more freely.

In the end, they even started a video call directly.

The captain of the flagship of Lude Zuojing Fleet and the captain of the flagship of the pirate fleet appeared in each other's eyes.

Captain Zuojing said first: "It's really unexpected. Since Shen Yi died, we have lost contact with many people. Are you interested in coming back to work?"

The pirate captain laughed dryly and said: "No, it's too late. The 14th Legion suddenly came here. Something big must be happening. I plan to take a rest after finishing this job. There will be no action for the time being."

The pirate captain declined the invitation of Captain Zuojing.

He became a pirate to make money, not to die.

The previous mission that led to the death of Shen Yi, the Zuojing intelligence dealer, was obviously not a normal money-making mission.

And he also heard that Shen Yi seemed to have a rumor of cheating people.

As a result, he now has a completely respectful attitude towards other people from Zuojing, and it is best not to get involved if possible.

"Okay, I won't waste my words. The two ships next to us are still watching. I'll just ask you a question. What are you doing here?"

Captain Zuo Jing was very disrespectful to the pirate captain, but the pirate captain did not show any dissatisfaction, at least not on his face.

He had just observed Zuo Jing's fleet, and the number of Zuo Jing's fleet was larger than the number of fleets he brought out.

Although it was hard to say if a real fight would happen, Zuo Jing's reputation made him dare not take the initiative to provoke Zuo Jing's people.

So after thinking about it, the pirate captain chose to directly state their purpose.

"Did you see that Storm? We got the news and followed it all the way here. We originally planned to find an opportunity to attack the caravan directly on the way."

"But I didn't find an opportunity. I thought there was no way. As a result, this ship just came out as soon as it was delivered to the destination, and it was heading to a deserted place like the Dark Cemetery."

"And there was only one frigate and one engineering ship following, so we definitely can't miss it."

"But if you are also looking for Storm, we will leave now and give this ship to you directly."

After the pirate captain finished speaking, he directly ordered the fleet to turn around.

Seeing that the pirate fleet was really going to leave, Captain Zuo Jing hurriedly said, "Wait."

Captain Zuo Jing basically believed the pirate captain's words at this time, and was sure that their goals were not completely conflicting.

So some ideas gradually emerged in his mind.

He wanted to take this opportunity to pull the pirate captain and his fleet back to Zuo Jing's camp.

Not only because the pirate captain could be considered one of their men before.

It was also because their Lude Zuo Jing's power in this star field had indeed declined a lot.

Especially after the last plan to attack the space elevator in the star field capital.

Not only did the mission fail, but a large number of people were lost in the mission, and they were also hit hard by the star field government afterwards.

The government seemed to know exactly where their people were, and carried out an irresistible capture operation against them.

As a result, their overall power weakened a lot, and many places that had already started to build small branches were basically paralyzed.

So he has been doing things like recruiting people recently.

If you can pull back the old people from the past, especially the captain of this pirate fleet who is still capable, it will definitely be much more convenient than contacting new people again.

However, the pirate captain had clearly refused, so Captain Zuo Jing could not say it directly, but had to use other methods.

After stopping the pirate fleet from turning around and leaving, Captain Zuo Jing quickly organized his words and said, "Let me put it this way, we are not here for the Storm this time, and we have no conflict with you."

"We just heard that there was an engineering ship going out, and with the help of the internal personnel in the space station, we found out who rented the engineering ship."

"His name is Wu Ping'an."

The pirate captain recalled and said, "This name sounds familiar."

"It should be familiar. Do you remember Shen Yi?"

"One of the two people who killed Shen Yi at that time was him."

The pirate captain nodded with some sudden realization and asked, "What about the other one?"

Captain Zuo Jing's mind quickly flashed through the figure wearing protective clothing that had walked out of the exhibition hall, and then was occupied by Chen Ming's face and the word psyker.

"You don't need to know this now. We just plan to dismantle the ship and kill Wu Ping'an on it."

"For revenge?"

"Absolutely, and Wu Ping'an has a bounty within us now. You don't know if you have been out recently."

The pirate captain's eyes brightened slightly and asked: "How much?"

"Ten million."

"Then what you just said, wait, is..."

"Yes, there is no conflict of interest between us and we can completely cooperate."

"Did you see those two ships? One is a heavy rain with the top technology of Tachyon technology, and the other is obviously a fighter modified by Tachyon technology. They are not much different."

"No matter whether you or I go up to such a spaceship alone, we may suffer losses, but if we work together, the results may be different."

"We don't have many people now, so we can only lose a few less."

Captain Zuo Jing hinted at the pirate captain in his words and continued: "Help us kill that engineering ship. All the loot will be yours, including the spaceship and Wu Ping'an's bounty."

Captain Zuo Jing could see the pirate captain's concerns.

He knew what Shen Yi had done before and also knew what the pirate captain was worried about.

So he added: "You don't have to worry about anything. You know our situation. We are short of people now."

However, the pirate captain still didn't respond, and Captain Zuo Jing had to bring out some useful information.

"I can sign an employment agreement directly for you. You can contact our upper-level people directly, not through an intermediary like Shen Yi."

"In addition to the regular maintenance fees every month, there are many other benefits. You should have heard about it from Shen Yi."

The pirate captain was also full of hesitation at this time.

Shen Yi's previous style was indeed not very good, but when he was messing around before, he had never heard that Zuo Jing himself would be harsh on his own people.

Even now that Shen Yi is dead, Zuo Jing will immediately come to take revenge on the person who killed Shen Yi. This obviously means that he values ​​his own people very much.

So after thinking about it for a moment, his greed for money finally outweighed his fear of danger.

The pirate captain chose to agree.

He actually knew the saying that people die for money and birds die for food, but if he really would give up many opportunities to make money just to risk his life, then he shouldn't be a pirate.

With the Heavy Rain in front of him and that special Fighter, even if he could only get one, it would be enough for him to make a lot of money.

Not to mention getting both ships and Wu Ping'an's bounty.

So after a quick exchange, the pirate and Zuo Jing let go of their guard against each other.

At the same time, in order to prevent each other from attacking each other due to command issues, they distanced themselves slightly and pointed the finger at Chen Ming together.

Although Captain Zuo Jing just said that he was worried that Chen Ming's ship's counterattack would cause unnecessary damage.

But obviously they didn't take the two frigates seriously.

After all, they have two fleets. Although they are both small fleets, they can completely crush Chen Ming in terms of numbers.

So in their opinion, even if it is a military frigate here today, it will definitely sink here.

The communication between the pirate and Zuo Jing was completed quickly as they approached Chen Ming.

Although Chen Ming did not move here, he was still ready to fight.

In fact, Chen Ming felt that during the two-minute stalemate between the pirates and Zuo Jing just now, he felt that he could directly let the two ships withdraw.

After all, the performance of the two ships, Fighter Kai and Heavy Rain, is not comparable to that of these pirates and Zuojia's spacecraft.

Not to mention that the direction they came from was the opposite direction that Chen Ming wanted to go.

Taking advantage of the time just now and leaving directly is not a problem at all.

If the pirates and Zuo Jing dare to chase, then Chen Ming will dare to fight back. Once the front line is stretched during the pursuit, Chen Ming's opportunity will suddenly come.

The space station's engineering ship may need to be handed over here.

However, this engineering ship actually only costs more than 10 million.

If Chen Ming accidentally sank it, he would be able to afford the compensation if he just made some money.

If he really wants to run, no one can stop him.

But Chen Ming didn't want to just leave.

Because now is the best time to give Heavy Rain a chance to fight.

By the way, Chen Ming also plans to take advantage of the opportunity to be extravagant.

Chen Ming had a total of 190 million on hand before, and 150 million was spent on heavy rain.

The account that was supposed to have 40 million left now had just over 10 million left.

The more than 20 million that was not lost were all used on supplies and materials, and these materials were now piled on the mule that Chen Ming had modified that he had not sold.

It can definitely support a battle regardless of consumption.

The pirates and Zuojiao fleet currently opposite the two afterglows have a total of five destroyers and eighteen escorts.

The pirates had two destroyers and seven escorts, and the left path had three destroyers and eleven escorts.

And these destroyers are all mule-class, easy-to-use, sturdy, and "cheap" armed merchant ships.

After all, the Mule-class is a very versatile ship and is very popular among many caravans.

So for pirates, it is undisputed that it is cheap.

Although the combat effectiveness is not as good as other destroyers, the destroyer is still quite capable against ordinary frigates.

The frigates below the destroyer are a mixed bag.

In addition to the two self-destruction ships transformed from the iconic Dram-class fuel transport ships on the left.

The fleet is basically composed of ships like the Sentinel Expedition Cerberus, plus at most two Farstrider-class ships that are also common among escort-class armed merchant ships.

Although the overall numbers of these two fleets are okay, these ships have all been crudely modified, and the quality cannot be guaranteed at all.

It can only be said that no matter how valuable a spaceship is, its value will be greatly reduced if it falls into the hands of pirates, and the situation with Zuojia is similar.

So although the current situation is two versus twenty-three.

But Chen Ming still wants to say that the advantage lies with me.

"Prepare to fight, no matter the cost."

"yes."

"yes."

Gamma B immediately responded to Chen Ming. He knew Chen Ming's ability and what Chen Ming meant by saying "no matter the cost."

Gamma Z might be a little unaccustomed to it, or its computing power might be limited. In short, it took a little longer to reply to Chen Ming.

Chen Ming didn't pay attention, and said smoothly to Gamma Z, who was unclear about his situation: "Gamma Z, activate the Terminator core directly."

"I have experience driving in heavy rain, now I should..."

Chen Ming interrupted it directly and said: "I know, but you have to listen to me now. This is an order."

"……yes."

Chen Ming's mandatory request was something Gamma Z could not refuse.

Soon, two fighter planes with dark red tail flames flew out from the Heavy Rain class that was approaching the pirates and the Zuojie Combined Fleet, heading straight towards the enemy faster than the Heavy Rain.

And after approaching a suitable distance, the fighter plane suddenly lit up with a red light that was extremely dazzling in the dark space environment.

The engines of the two Terminator fighters were overloaded to the extreme, and their top-level maneuverability allowed them to stagger and dodge like dexterous butterflies and swifts to avoid the point defense fire coverage in front of the fleet.

After getting close to a certain distance.

Anti-fighter swarm missiles were densely launched from the two mule-class ships in the pirate fleet.

The infrared guidance device on the missile can easily lock on the Terminator fighter, which is now extremely dazzling to the naked eye.

However, these swarm missiles are meaningless in front of Terminator fighters.

All the swarm missiles that could directly hit were destroyed by the PD point defense laser that was also overloaded to the extreme.

All the swarm missiles that passed by the Terminator fighter jets had no chance of catching up with the fighter jets.

In the blink of an eye, the two fighter planes had passed through the blockade of swarm missiles and were almost stuck in the face of the pirate fleet.

The two small weapons with relatively poor performance can even cause ripples on the shield under the increased overload.

One of the fighter planes was like a red meteor. The moment it was about to hit the pirate mule's shield head-on, it drew an arc close to a right angle outside the shield.

It bypassed the shield and hit the side of the ship.

The fighter plane, which was only a few meters long, smashed into the 120-meter-long mule, but erupted into a red fire that was difficult for the mule itself to create.

The entire energy system, which had been overloaded with radiant energy, exploded with power when it actively self-destructed, directly blasting through the Mule-class hull from left to right.

Even the aftermath of the explosion instantly destroyed the mule's shield that failed to stop it.

But this is no longer important.

Because at the moment the Mule-class hull was penetrated, flames had already emerged throughout the hull.

The spacecraft instantly fell into a sea of ​​flames and was reduced to ashes in a devastating explosion in the blink of an eye.

Another Terminator fighter also bypassed the Mule-class shield and rushed directly into the fleet.

However, it did not choose another mule to ram. Instead, it rushed out of the pirate fleet along the gap and rushed into the left path fleet, which was not far away from the pirate fleet.

It accurately hit the only two Dram-class fuel transport ships behind the Zuo Jing Fleet.

Zuojia's fleet maintained a relatively tight formation.

This formation became their talisman at this time.

The explosion of a Dram class can cause damage hundreds of meters in diameter.

Within the range that the explosion of the Dram-class ship hit by the Terminator fighter plane could reach was a mule and three escort ships of the Left Path Fleet.

Moreover, one of the escorts happened to be another Dram class.

The chain reaction caused by the explosion caused another Dram-class ship to immediately follow in the footsteps of its companions.

The two escort ships and a mule that happened to be within the joint explosion range of the two Dram-class ships also directly exploded.

The formation on the left side was in chaos.

As for Chen Ming, only at the cost of two fighters, two Mule-class ships, two Drams and two other frigates were destroyed.

In addition, there were other spacecrafts affected by the explosion fragments nearby.

This directly reduced the combat effectiveness of the pirates and Zuo Jing Fleet by more than a quarter.

Such a result gradually reduced the tension and excitement in Chen Ming's heart to only excitement.

After all, this is a fighter jet that he spent more than 100 million to buy. If the effect is not satisfactory, it will be equivalent to a loss.

Fortunately, when Chen Ming saw the results, he knew that the 150 million spent was worth it.

However, the next moment Chen Ming realized a problem.

My heart felt cold.

Suddenly I felt regretful.

Because two Mule-class ships were blown up in the blink of an eye, which can be equivalent to Chen Ming's own loss of 200 million.

These garbage mules that were roughly modified by pirates and Zuo Jing himself may only be worth 20 to 30 million yuan to them.

But for Chen Ming, he only needs to spend a few million yuan on materials to repair it, and then he can sell the ship for nearly 100 million yuan.

It is almost comparable to an ordinary hammerhead.

Chen Ming has noticed that the prices of some spaceships are outrageous, such as mules.

He has checked the market prices of some spaceships before. The general price of a mule is 100 million yuan or more, and the second-hand ones are generally around 70 million yuan.

And the mule-class with a militarized system installed, even if it is second-hand, only the escort-level militarized system is installed, is worth about 100 million yuan.

Just like the one Chen Ming sold before.

And the militarized system installed with a destroyer will only be more expensive, even more expensive than the hammerhead Chen Ming has seen.

The reason is actually simple.

When Chen Ming checked the prices of various spaceships before, he also checked the prices of other civilian models of combat ships.

Although there are not many civilian models of combat ships, just these castrated ones make Chen Ming unable to bear it.

Let's talk about the Hammerhead.

The military Hammerhead has four medium-sized load-bearing points, six small load-bearing points, and four missile mounting points, two of which can mount medium-sized missiles.

Although the Hammerhead is for mass production and sacrifices a lot of performance, it also has what a military destroyer should have.

However, the castrated version of the Hammerhead only has two medium-sized load-bearing points and two small load-bearing points plus a small missile mounting point.

The armor is almost cut in half, and the engine uses a castrated version of the destroyer engine, which is even as effective as the escort-class engine.

There are fools who buy this.

But the Mule is different.

Although it is a civilian spacecraft, the Mule is a Mule-class armed merchant ship.

All the designs are based on the level of destroyers, and they also meet certain combat requirements.

Although it is not as good as a real military combat ship, at least there will not be such a big difference between a military combat ship and a civilian castrated combat ship.

It only needs to be modified to a certain extent, and the effect will definitely be much better than spending money to buy a castrated combat ship.

The price of such a ship that can be legally purchased, legally used, and relatively legally modified will naturally rise.

So the price of the Mule class is more exaggerated than the Hammerhead not because the Hammerhead is cheap, but because the Mule is too expensive.

No one dares to touch the normal military Hammerhead, but the cost-effectiveness of the castrated civilian Hammerhead or other combat ships can be said to be a mess.

The Mule class naturally rises.

Of course, the premise of all this is that the Mule is a normal Mule.

Instead of the Mules that pirates get, which are extremely crude and unreliable in order to quickly convert into combat power, they can't be sold at any price.

Because without Chen Ming's ability, the maintenance cost may be more expensive than the price that can be sold.

Only when Chen Ming is able to repair the Mule as before and preserve the militarized subsystem, is it worth acquiring and repairing them.

So now that two ships have been blown up directly, it is all a loss of Chen Ming's own money.

Of course, it hurts.

Chen Ming will definitely not show mercy when he really needs to take action.

Otherwise, if Gamma B and Gamma Z were lost, Chen Ming would be truly heartbroken.

Of course, in the current situation where the crushing situation has almost appeared in an instant, he will definitely choose some methods that can better preserve the spoils.

Chen Ming asked Gamma Z to postpone the release of the Terminator drone.

Let it keep a distance from the pirates and Zuo Jing's fleet.

Wait for Chen Ming to re-select a suitable target.

And Chen Ming's new target is naturally to start with the cheapest few ships in the enemy fleet.