CHAPTER 40: CHAPTER 40 SETTING SAIL

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.

Today marks the twenty-eighth day since the spaceship landed.

The autumn season on Rimu Star is about to end.

Chen Ming harvested the second batch of berry oranges planted outside the spaceship before the temperature completely dropped.

He filled every last bit of space squeezed out of the cold storage room.

All the food in the entire cold storage room combined is enough to sustain for over ten months.

Plus, there are still those berry oranges being grown in the hydroponics bay of the planting chamber.

Even if the planting chamber of the spaceship explodes right now, Chen Ming can safely reach the Pirate Space Station.

Food reserves are sufficient; it’s time to leave here.

Chen Ming casually closed the storage chamber door.

In the field outside the spaceship where crops had just been harvested, he found Little Stone looking for something to eat.

Chen Ming didn’t directly take Little Stone away but crouched in front of it, saying, "Little Stone, I’m preparing to leave. Do you want to come with me?"

Little Stone tilted its head, not knowing if it understood Chen Ming’s words.

But it certainly saw the sprout Chen Ming had just plucked from the hydroponics bay and climbed onto Chen Ming’s shoulder.

Chen Ming patted Little Stone’s head and turned to look at the camp he’d built with his own hands.

Except for the surrounding fences, the entire temporary camp seemed a bit empty.

There’s nothing here worth lingering over.

Watching Little Stone contently gnawing on the sprout on his shoulder, Chen Ming smiled and boarded the spaceship.

A few minutes later, the spaceship’s engine started, Iron Ore No. adjusted its course and flew into space.

The spaceship did not directly head toward the designated Pirate Space Station but instead paused at a distance from it, as before.

Before officially departing, Chen Ming planned to visit the asteroid belt to fill the remaining space in the storage chamber with ores.

After all, places like Rimu Star’s star rings, which have such a high density of metal-rich asteroids, won’t be encountered for a long period afterward.

Chen Ming activated the asteroid detection scanner and found a high-density area in the asteroid belt.

High-intensity mining continued for four days.

The remaining racks in the storage chamber were filled with various metal materials.

To ensure a balanced proportion of stored materials and avoid future shortages of specific materials.

Chen Ming even threw out a lot of ordinary iron to make room.

The entire storage chamber of metals should be enough to last six months of travel, as long as Chen Ming doesn’t frequently need to repair the spaceship.

Everything was ready, Chen Ming set up the navigation route in the system, leaving the rest to the spaceship itself.

Watching the spaceship gradually begin to accelerate, Chen Ming sank into the captain’s chair and relaxed.

Space travel is like sailing on the ocean; there aren’t many operations required.

Only when unexpected events occur would Chen Ming need to handle them personally.

The rest is waiting—a long wait.

Waiting for six months, waiting for the spaceship to cover this half-light-year distance.

Chen Ming was long accustomed to the monotonous, day-after-day life, living solely for survival without interactions.

If anything, having Little Stone around makes life better than it used to be.

The books in the terminal are enough to keep him occupied for six months.

If he tires of them, he can personally try out everything learned from the books.

The ores mined before departure were specifically for engaging in these activities during the half-light-year journey.

Unless it’s a transformation that could result in fatal mistakes, Chen Ming can do without relying on the panel and do it himself.

Chen Ming opened the panel.

The panels of all the chambers, equipment, and objects were listed out.

Seeing the panels almost covering all his sight, Chen Ming knew there was still much to do.

But the transformations must be carried out gradually.

The most prioritized target for transformation, as per Chen Ming’s plan, should be the living chamber.

Since many transformations require some components, using the panel for modifications means Chen Ming only needs to prepare materials.

If done manually, Chen Ming must find ways to manufacture these components himself.

Therefore, Chen Ming plans to transform a workspace in the living chamber; having one makes many tasks easier.

Moreover, Iron Ore No.’s living chamber is originally designed for four to six people.

With only Chen Ming needing rest, minimal space is required in the living chamber.

Transforming the extra space into a workspace poses no issue.

Transforming the workspace, and subsequent modifications to the spaceship, will be a long process.

Chen Ming has patience, and time.

Three days later.

The prototype of the workspace appeared in the living chamber.

Using the precision tools in the maintenance kit, through continuous trials, validation, dismantling, and reconstruction, Chen Ming created a small lathe.

This allows many required molds and other equipment to be manufactured via the lathe.

Moreover, after the lathe was constructed, just like the other equipment in the spaceship’s chambers, it appeared on Chen Ming’s panel.

Chen Ming could even control the lathe directly through his consciousness, without manual operation.

But Chen Ming won’t do this for now, because during the lathe’s construction, he could feel those professional technical memories in his mind gradually becoming part of his ability.

Manufacturing things via the panel means his abilities will never grow.

Chen Ming needs hands-on practice to make his memories truly his own.

Moreover, while reading after work these days, Chen Ming could clearly feel that his speed of learning and mastering knowledge was much faster than before.

After all, many things can only be known after actually handling them.

Thus, on the last day of the first week after departure, Chen Ming transformed half of the living chamber into the workspace he envisioned.

The lathe, item racks, tool racks, work table, and tools from the maintenance kit that meet almost all repair and modification tasks were all ready in the workspace.

The next step is to modify the spaceship itself.

Modifying the whole spaceship is not as simple as transforming a living chamber.

Each step requires careful consideration to avoid damage and accidents.

Thus, by the weekend of the second week after departure.

Chen Ming had just mapped out the overall modification plan for the spaceship and manufactured some components that might be needed later.

Not until the fifteenth day after departure did Chen Ming completely prepare for the first transformation.

And the first thing Chen Ming wanted to transform was the spaceship’s temperature control system.