Ziye immediately thought of Chen Yin. Chen Yin was a gentle girl who would surely be willing to help her.

She pinged Chen Yin on the hypercom. After a moment, the connection opened, and Chen Yin’s voice held a note of surprised delight. “Ziye, are you alright? I heard your legion’s space station was bombed; many innocent people were hurt.”

The feeling Ziye had managed to restore within herself was once again slashed open, raw and bleeding. She forced a smile. “I’m fine. I was just about to head back, but I don’t have a ship. Do you have a shuttle? Could I borrow one?”

As soon as she asked, she regretted it. Shuttles weren't prohibitively expensive, but they certainly weren't cheap, and since Chen Yin rarely used one, she probably wouldn't have one handy.

Chen Yin murmured softly, “I... I don’t have a shuttle, only a mining freighter.”

Ziye rubbed her forehead. “You must need your mining freighter, though.”

Chen Yin replied, “Yeah, I’m still at the mining site. Since your space station is gone, rebuilding it will require a massive amount of ore and metal. Our mining guild has decided to offer a goodwill donation of one million cubic meters of ore to help get the station back up.”

Her voice was so soft and delicate that Ziye could perfectly picture the slightly shy expression on her face as she spoke.

But Ziye was genuinely moved.

After the incident, her friends had all sincerely looked out for her and offered help. How many such friends could a person have in a lifetime? What was there left to complain about?

Besides them, she knew there were countless others sending hypercom messages and emails checking on her safety. She hadn't even had time to reply to them all, but she truly felt their concern!

She fought back the urge to let tears fall again. “Thank you, but you don’t need to rush. Head back and rest first, and we can continue tomorrow.”

Chen Yin smiled. “It’s no trouble at all. Oh, right, I don't have a shuttle, but Ike does! I’ll ask if they can lend you one. Hold on a second, okay?”

Ziye didn’t want to refuse her kindness, so she nodded. “Okay.”

The twins had contacted her much earlier, but she had been busy fighting and fleeing and hadn't had time to respond, only sending word through Little Bean Sprout that she was safe.

Now, hearing Chen Yin mention them, the twins immediately split up. Ike spoke with Chen Yin, while Spence instantly pinged Ziye’s hypercom. “Little Yezi, where are you? We’re coming to find you now and accompany you home.”

Ziye shook her head. “It’s fine, I can manage.”

Ike started to say something else, but Ziye absolutely refused to let them interfere. In the end, Chen Yin accompanied Ziye to retrieve the shuttle, and Ziye flew toward the Wolf’s Den Legion alone.

It was late into the night when she returned. Ziye sent a secure message to Red Hair to let her know she was safe.

Red Hair finally relaxed. “Don’t worry about me. I’m tracking down the people who blew up our space station. I swear I’ll make them pay in blood!”

Ziye worried, “You’re handling this alone. Are you sure you can manage?”

Red Hair smiled slightly, the expression cold and filled with hatred. “I have a hundred thousand pirates in the Tama Star System! Anyone who hurt our people will pay tenfold!”

The Tama Star System was once the most prosperous hub for pirates. After Pirate Queen Xue Ji departed, it had fragmented into disarray, with some pirates relocating to the Tem System to form a new pirate circle.

Even so, the Tama System was still a giant, even when weakened. Under Red Hair’s command, it was regaining its imposing momentum.

However, every time Ziye thought of her brutal battle, and then considered that Red Hair was fighting a battle ten times more savage than hers, her heart lurched with fear.

Dogfights in space were far crueler than close-quarters combat.

Heads could roll at any second.

She was worried for Red Hair!

Meanwhile, Old Dog was chairing a legion-wide meeting at the Headquarters. Big Head was desperately managing the aftermath; the PR team was liaising with the media, while the support teams, military personnel, firefighting units, space station police, space police, and robots were all engaged in rescue operations at the blasted space station.

Several kilometers away from the station, Ziye could already see the massive fire illuminating the entire expanse of space.

The space station was so enormous that extinguishing the blaze was proving impossible in the short term.

Because the station possessed its own oxygen generation system, as long as a continuous supply of oxygen fed the fire, it would never go out.

Rescue teams from various interstellar legions had formed a perimeter spanning three hundred kilometers around the site, but no one dared approach the immediate vicinity.

She realized she couldn't help in any tangible way.

Ziye covered her face, slowly sinking into a chair. When she looked up again, her eyes were clear: a vast number of people were waiting for her; she could not collapse!

Her expression hardened. To Little Bean Sprout, she commanded, “Let’s go. We’re heading to Wolf’s Den Research Institute Number One.”

Research Institute Number One was essentially the domain of the technical staff—where robots, mechs, and vessels were designed and built.

It was also where Ziye had her own space.

Ziye disembarked from the shuttle, grabbing Little Bean Sprout and running toward the laboratory. Bean Kid squeaked frantically behind her. A robot considerately scooped up Bean Kid and followed Ziye’s hurried pace.

Humans couldn't get close to the salvage yard; only robots constructed from metals with extremely high melting points could approach the fire zone.

Ziye’s skill in robotics was quite mature. Fueled by urgency, she mobilized every usable robot in the lab to assist, coupling that power with Little Bean Sprout’s unmatched artifact capabilities. In just half an hour, Ziye managed to fabricate a batch of robots suitable for the fire zone and dispatched them to the station. She then immediately moved on to her next project: the Marauder Ship!

She had mechs, and her escorts were primarily for reconnaissance. Simple stealth bombers were inexpensive and readily available on the market; researching a battleship was beyond her immediate capacity.

The only vessel that could achieve combat readiness in such a short timeframe was the Marauder Ship.

Having spent nearly a year alongside Tang Wen, she had absorbed a significant amount of knowledge regarding Marauder Ships. Combined with the Marauder Ship she had piloted back, the blueprint in Ziye's mind was essentially finalized.

She explained her concept to Little Bean Sprout, who pondered for a long moment before stating, “You should go sleep first.”

Ziye shook her head. “I can’t sleep. I have to do something right now, or I’ll go mad.” She couldn't bear watching everyone helpless, nor could she tolerate seeing the anxious, panicked looks on the faces of the Wolf’s Den members.

She hated her own lack of power.

But she was just a technician; she wasn't a god.

The only thing she could do right now was build the best possible weapon in the shortest amount of time, arming Red Hair for her campaign and equipping the Wolf’s Den so they could stand even firmer in the interstellar community!

The necessary robotic equipment for the Marauder Ships had already been prepared by Wolf’s Den, and construction for the Dreadnought’s components was underway. She had to make full use of these resources.

Little Bean Sprout flapped its wings and projected the blueprints for the 'Phantom Shadow' class Marauder Ship onto the surface in front of Ziye. Ziye gazed at it, and it seemed to gaze back.

Their minds were in perfect accord: Modify according to this design.

Little Bean Sprout inherently understood Marauder Ships; it had previously guided Tang Wen in constructing his Dreadnought. Marauder Ships were child's play. The human and the optical computer began modifications starting from the most critical components, according to their shared vision.

Time flew by swiftly. As dawn neared, a message arrived from the Space Station Police: The great fire has been extinguished!

Hearing this, Ziye’s entire body went slack. She instantly closed her eyes, startling the station police who rushed to her side, checking for breath and heart rate.

Little Bean Sprout remarked, “Sigh, she’s just utterly exhausted and fell asleep.”