About two hours later, five peculiar, slender war chariots shaped like shuttles approached from a distance and halted on the open ground before the central hall. They had no wheels, traveling instead on an air cushion, granting them extreme speed and making them largely unaffected by terrain. These reliable Vulture-class hovercraft were primarily used for reconnaissance and patrol, capable of speeds reaching 200 miles per hour. With the addition of ion thrusters, this speed could be boosted by another 50 percent. The nose of the Vulture war chariot was equipped with a single-soldier grenade launcher, and newer models also carried a Spider Mine dispersal system, capable of deploying up to three intelligent Spider Mines for defensive setup.

However, the Vulture hovercraft parked in front of the central hall appeared to lack this armaments, focusing instead on passenger capacity. Fang Senyan stood at the window of a metal supply station, silently watching as Reef led the Contractors to board the vehicles in single file. Only after four Vulture hovercraft, filled to capacity with Contractors, had sped away into the distance did Fang Senyan sigh deeply:

“A shame. There were truly many talented individuals in that team.”

Mogansha materialized behind him like a ghost, a look of confusion on his face:

“I know this mission must carry significant risks, but for some reason, you seem quite pessimistic about this main mission? Remember, failure means the deduction of three points from the highest base attributes and a full 6 points of Merit Value.”

Fang Senyan mused:

“I feel the rewards and penalties assigned by the Space aren't simply hinting at the meaning of failure; rather, I sense a strong warning woven throughout! I believe you’ve experienced less difficult main missions before, most of which usually include language about erasure if certain conditions aren't met. But this mission, which is clearly higher in difficulty, lacks any mention of erasure. This is a remarkably unusual circumstance. Furthermore, the penalty for failure even specifies a ceiling of 6 Merit Points lost. This is effectively stating: there’s a high probability that more than six team members will die, and there might also be a situation where Johnny Ringo cannot save them, which is why they specifically set the maximum deduction at only 6 Merit Points. The sheer difficulty is evident!”

Mogansha dismissed this casually:

“But that’s normal. Greater risk means greater reward. I believe the subsequent compensation will certainly be richer as well.”

Fang Senyan sighed again:

“But you’re overlooking something far more crucial. That is the configuration of our team members—I can conceal my abilities derived from defensive talents from Reef and the others, but I absolutely cannot hide them from the Space! What kind of mission would compel the Space to place two Contractors possessing defensive talents, who are already relatively scarce, into the same team? And then add a member like Joel, who is immensely powerful in both offense and support? Or perhaps... the Space has always viewed me as merely a potential asset that has yet to reveal its brilliance?”

Mogansha froze immediately! Although he clearly knew that even figures like the Metal Mentor and Nu had fallen to Fang Senyan, he had never witnessed Fang Senyan’s true capabilities. Since Fang Senyan was an ally upon entering this world, and Fang Senyan’s low profile had allowed Joel and Reef to dominate the attention, Mogansha subconsciously perceived Fang Senyan as someone with deep potential but currently limited strength. After Fang Senyan’s words, cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead.

“Yes! What kind of abnormally perverse mission would require two Contractors with defensive talents... and then add Joel and me! Not to mention a few others whose strength is also deeply hidden! But the prerequisite for the Space setting the mission difficulty is that everyone cooperates wholeheartedly and selflessly! Yet this damned team has already descended into infighting over power. How could Sailor have such long-term foresight?”

Seeing Mogansha’s expression, Fang Senyan knew he must have grasped the implication. He patted his shoulder:

“You should also know that the Space would never assign a suicidal mission. Meaning, no matter how harsh the world, there is always a sliver of hope. That is, if we were among the team, we might not fail that main mission. But the more important reason I gave up on this main mission is that I found an option with lower risk and higher reward.”

A flash of realization struck Mogansha’s mind. He slapped his thigh:

“I understand! We’re going to search for the survivors on that transport ship! We already saved them once from the Predator Spore Wyverns; if we succeed again, they will naturally be even more grateful! And we can reap even greater benefits.”

Fang Senyan nodded:

“It’s more than that. The Space never does anything useless. Remember when we first entered the world, our transport ship was attacked by Acid Spore Cannons fired from the planet below? Since it was impossible for them to destroy our transport ship, why stage that attack in the first place? This is undoubtedly telling us that if there weren't large numbers of Acid Spore Cannons firing from the planet, the transport route would naturally be unimpeded! Then the dispatched transport planes wouldn't need to detour and could even arrive at the planet earlier to conduct the rescue. Perhaps this is even the key to completing the main mission!”

Mogansha was finally completely convinced, nodding his head, and then traded all the Zerg Cores he had obtained to Fang Senyan in one go. Fang Senyan immediately called over Gold Mine, who had disappeared somewhere. Mogansha was quite surprised to see that Fang Senyan had managed to acquire a Goblin—a creature known only to care about money and not life—as a servant. After Fang Senyan demonstrated Gold Mine’s three shameless signature skills, cold sweat was already running down Mogansha’s back—Sailor’s single hidden servant alone exceeded his wildest expectations, let alone the strength Fang Senyan himself kept concealed?

At this thought, Mogansha felt his decision was increasingly wise, and he started silently mourning and writing off the prospects of Reef’s group.

The two tallied their gains; together they accumulated nearly thirty Zerg Cores. From the Zerg Void Keys they opened, they also gained close to 10 Zerg Cores. The rest were items like “Fractured Tentacles” and “Hardened Carapaces,” amounting to five or six pieces in total. According to Mogansha, these were very basic materials, usable only by Contractors with crafting abilities. Calculating the value, it would be better to sell them directly to the Space for Universal Points, as they were bulky and took up space.

Fang Senyan was not short of those seven or eight hundred Universal Points now. Since his promotion to Second Lieutenant, the storage space within his Nightmare Imprint had expanded significantly. He consolidated these items into one place, choosing not to sell them, and also purchased what Mogansha possessed. He then threw the total of forty Zerg Cores at Gold Mine, instructing him to haggle with Ms. Onz and promising him a 50 Universal Point 'hardship fee.'

The moment the word 'hardship fee' was mentioned, the Goblin Gold Mine seemed to be injected with a stimulant, becoming extremely agitated. He scurried ahead toward the exchange room, his butt wiggling, and since he had inherited Fang Senyan's +1 movement speed bonus, he unceremoniously kicked the door—only to be bounced back, as the base doors were made of sliding steel. Ms. Onz rushed out in a fury, her eyes immediately locking onto the snarling, teary-eyed, hopping Gold Mine. Having suffered greatly before, she immediately forced a smile onto her face with surprising speed:

“Why, it’s Mr. David, please come in, please come in.”

Then, her expression flipped like a book, and she pointed at Fang Senyan and Mogansha, barking orders:

“You two wait at the entrance. Don’t dirty my carpet!”

Fang Senyan and Mogansha watched speechlessly as Gold Mine swaggered into Ms. Onz’s boudoir—oh, wait, her workspace—and Ms. Onz, not satisfied, slammed the door shut with a thud. Fortunately, Fang Senyan’s slight gloom vanished quickly. His reputation began to soar at an astonishing rate, climbing past Friendly straight up to Revered, and continuing to surge until it reached Worship!

“Damn it!” Fang Senyan let out a long sigh. “It seems this turned out even better than I imagined. I thought I’d need to complete a few more missions around the base to reach Worship, but Gold Mine really delivered.”

Casually, he traded a 100 Universal Point 'hardship fee' to Gold Mine. Gold Mine grinned so widely his teeth showed, praising Fang Senyan as “the generous and profound Master, deep as the ocean and other similar things,” before scampering off to enjoy himself privately.

At this point, Fang Senyan entered Ms. Onz’s area, brought up the data for the two items he wished to purchase, and shared them with Mogansha:

“I have always advocated for careful planning before action. Since it's just the two of us operating now, we must tread with utmost caution. Therefore, I plan to prioritize purchasing these two items first. If there are no issues, then we'll need to find the Commander to receive the mission.”

Upon seeing the details, Mogansha’s pupils instantly contracted.

Name: nB Advanced Carbon Organic Armor Grade: Plot Special Equipment (Destroyed automatically upon buyer leaving this world) Origin: Ninth Production Star, Human Horse Galaxy, Star Alliance Material: Kevlar Advanced Carbon Organic Memory Fiber Cotton/Linen Description: A powerful combat suit that provides life support for the wearer. Equipment: U-238 Depleted Uranium Ammunition Reinforcement, granting the wearer a maximum range increase of 25%. Equipment: Advanced Life Support System, capable of restoring 5 Health Points per minute internally within the nB Advanced Carbon Organic Armor. Equipment: Adrenaline Booster, injecting a mixture of ephedrine and scopolamine into the body, instantly reducing current Health by 20%, increasing firing speed by 100%, providing a shooting accuracy modification of +15, and increasing movement speed by 50%, lasting for 30 seconds. After using the Adrenaline Booster once, a 15-minute cooldown is required before subsequent use. Equipment: Enhanced Defense Rating of 2–3 points. Purchase Requirement: Worship reputation at the Steel Outpost Base and payment of 2000 Universal Points. Purchasing this equipment will also cost 3000 Reputation Points. This armor vanishes upon leaving this world.