CHAPTER 33: CHAPTER 33 RESPONSE METHODS

However, the recent probing wasn’t without its silver lining for Chen Ming.

First of all, Chen Ming could determine that the Mind Pulse generated by the Mind Pulse Generator wasn’t directional; otherwise, he would have experienced its influence throughout the process.

Secondly, through the spacecraft’s camera recordings, Chen Ming could see.

That he had immediately chosen to fire in retaliation upon discovering the hostile behavior of the Mechanical Race, with nearly half of the machine gun’s bullets hitting the target.

Although the bullets that hit the two combat Mechanical Races were almost entirely deflected by their seemingly worn armor, having no effect.

But the bullets that hit the Mind Pulse device behind did indeed damage part of its outer shell.

Even though the damage looked like it would be repaired soon by the four-handed maintenance Mechanical Race.

As long as damage could be inflicted, it meant Chen Ming didn’t necessarily have to kill the Mechanical Race first before dealing with the Mind Pulse device.

Moreover, Chen Ming’s initial objective wasn’t to kill the Mechanical Race but to destroy the Mind Pulse device, so he could continue his hunting.

Even though Chen Ming’s target wasn’t the Mechanical Race, reducing the difficulty.

Chen Ming still needed to at least thicken the spacecraft’s armor to the extent that a shot from that large electromagnetic weapon couldn’t penetrate it, ensuring the spacecraft could withstand until the device was destroyed, under the Mechanical Race’s attacks.

Chen Ming opened the spacecraft armor’s panel.

Opened the transformation interface.

The transformation options displayed there totaled four.

[Heavy Armor], [Explosive Reactive Armor], [Multi-layered Buffer Armor], and [Armor Material Replacement].

To cope with the Mechanical Race’s weapons, which had an extremely exaggerated penetrating ability, [Heavy Armor] or [Armor Material Replacement] was obviously very suitable.

However, Chen Ming couldn’t obtain materials stronger than the aluminum-steel composite at that moment.

So, among these choices, he could only choose [Heavy Armor].

This involved the simplest and most straightforward thickening and weighing down of the spacecraft’s armor.

At the cost of some spacecraft maneuverability, in exchange for stronger defensive capabilities.

But after deciding on the transformation options, another problem appeared before Chen Ming.

The amount of materials needed for spacecraft armor modification was substantial, vastly different from what was needed for previous handgun modifications.

Since Chen Ming landed on the planet from space half a month ago, most of the metal resources he initially collected were consumed in transformations and repairs.

The storage chamber didn’t have enough materials, and even if he went back into space to gather from the asteroid belt, it would take some time.

However, Chen Ming immediately thought of a compromise.

It was to take advantage of his spacecraft’s superiority.

The three Mechanical Races he observed didn’t have wings or jetpacks, meaning they were confined to the ground.

While his spacecraft could fly, he only needed to adjust its orientation so the bottom faced those Mechanical Races directly.

Then Chen Ming only needed to reinforce the bottom armor.

Saving a lot of time needed to gather materials for transformation.

This way, the time cost in mining was something Chen Ming could accept.

But another issue arose in front of Chen Ming afterwards.

Should he go to space to gather all necessary transformation materials at once before descending?

Or choose to go into space during work breaks, such as at night, to gather minerals from the asteroid ring.

Chen Ming was pondering.

What he needed to do was prioritize achieving his goals.

And his highest priority goal had always been to acquire enough food.

Going into space to gather the minerals at once would indeed expedite the spacecraft armor refit and Mind Pulse device destruction.

But it also meant Chen Ming couldn’t hunt these days, and the second batch of crops he just planted would wither without care.

He wouldn’t even have the minimum food supply.

After careful consideration, Chen Ming still felt it was best to continue hunting during the day.

Even if the presence of the Mind Pulse made hunting extremely difficult, difficult didn’t mean it was undoable.

Frankly, if the coming hunts could succeed once or twice, Chen Ming could neglect the farmland, the campsite, the Mechanical Race, and their Mind Pulse device, and just take off.

Hence, continuing to hunt during the day and heading to space at night to collect minerals using the spacecraft’s automatic mining function was the most suitable mining strategy for Chen Ming.

Previously, the spacecraft stayed on the ground at night mainly to rely on the spacecraft’s cameras for nighttime farmland protection.

Now, half a month later, Chen Ming had already thoroughly reinforced the fences and placed many traps outside the fences.

It was unlikely for the farmland to be sabotaged by animals in the middle of the night.

Thus, having the spacecraft ascend at night was indeed a choice to let it fully exert its capabilities.

The only drawback of this approach was the significantly increased fuel demands due to the spacecraft’s repeated entry and exit from the atmosphere.

At times like this, Chen Ming didn’t want to worry about the fuel problem, thinking he could just take fuel from the Space Station when needed; the Space Station had plenty of it.

With almost all considerations taken into account, Chen Ming refocused from his thoughts to the present scenario.

Actually, his first tentative attempt earlier should be considered a success.

He had learned about the status of the Mechanical Race and their equipment, and realized that the spacecraft’s armor couldn’t withstand a single shot from the Mechanical Race’s large electromagnetic weapon.

Should he finish the spacecraft transformation before his next encounter, and still end up in such a predicament,

Then Chen Ming would decisively abandon the idea of challenging the Mechanical Race at this time.

Opting for a safer but slower method to secure food and plan further actions.

The spacecraft soon returned to the temporary camp.

After repairing the spacecraft’s damage, Chen Ming resumed his daily activities, farming and hunting.

Anyhow, Chen Ming had personally experienced the Mind Pulse and was quite aware that its impact wasn’t overly exaggerated.

The Mind Pulse Generator, which couldn’t be dealt with for the time being, shouldn’t pose any critical threat to him in the short term.

Moreover, after experiencing the Mind Pulse once, Xiao Shi seemed to recover from the agitation much faster.

As long as they endured the next few days, they wouldn’t have to contend with the Mind Pulse anymore.

The day passed quickly.

Before the night arrived, Chen Ming piloted the spacecraft back into space.

Near the still dilapidated, abandoned Mining Space Station, he set the mining’s highest priority to the most common iron ore.

Then Chen Ming activated the spacecraft’s automatic gathering function.