Wei Jun finished speaking, his scorching gaze piercing straight through, making Zhou Tianming avert his eyes guiltily.
"N-not a bad idea, but you alone..."
Wei Jun clenched his fist and struck his chest hard. The impact made his whole body tremble, his face twitching as he forced out a few words after a long pause: "I'm fine."
Zhou Tianming still felt somewhat uneasy about the plan, but Wei Jun's proposal was indeed a brilliant move to break the deadlock.
Strike when the enemy least expects it—when they assume we'd be hiding like rats.
"If the Black Tortoise's AI has been tampered with, can it still be activated?" Zhou Tianming asked Li Chi.
Li Chi closed his eyes, brows furrowed tightly, then opened them after a moment: "If the server storing the AI data has been removed, it likely won't pass self-diagnostics. Wei Jun, you should remember this from our spaceship activation training."
Wei Jun now frowned as well: "That would be troublesome. Even at fastest, the entire procedure would take half an hour."
"That complicated?" Zhou Tianming wondered. "Aren't spaceships supposed to fly as soon as you turn them on?"
Wei Jun and Li Chi exchanged glances before bursting into laughter simultaneously.
Li Chi's laughter agitated his wounds, making him cough repeatedly in pain, his face contorted.
Wei Jun finally composed himself and began counting on his fingers: "Power system, body balance system, radar detection system..."
He listed hundreds of items while reminiscing: "Back then, we had to memorize all these and pass practical exams just to board a spaceship—all so we could manually perform checks if systems failed."
"After all, this ship goes to space. Any malfunction could be fatal."
Li Chi then explained: "Normally, the Black Tortoise relies on its AI to simplify necessary procedures. The spaceship's systems are also stored in its server. If removed, we'd have to manually reboot each system one by one. Without passing self-diagnostics, the ship can't start at all."
"Is there no way to bypass diagnostics for initial startup?"
"There is, but without knowing the Black Tortoise's current condition, we must prepare for the worst."
Zhou Tianming thought for a moment: "How long would reinstalling the system take?"
"The Black Tortoise's equipment is somewhat outdated—about an hour."
Still too slow. Then an idea struck him: "What about phased installation? First install the Black Tortoise's bulkhead system to buy time for Uncle Wei, then use that time to install subsequent systems."
"Well..." Li Chi said uncertainly, "Theoretically possible, but..."
At that moment, Wei Jun clapped his hands with a sharp smack, drawing their attention and halting the discussion.
"Leave the rest to me."
Li Chi looked worried. "But where can we get such a system?"
Wei Jun grinned and slapped Zhou Tianming on the back.
In a flash, Tian Ming dodged and slapped Wei Jun's hand away, shooting him a sidelong glance.
Unfazed, Wei Jun withdrew his hand with a laugh. "Don't underestimate Tian Ming. He's got skills."
"Leave it to me," Tian Ming said. "No need to build from scratch. We can modify another spaceship's system."
Li Chi gazed at Tian Ming with admiration. "Truly remarkable for someone so young."
Time was of the essence. Tian Ming needed a computer—this level of programming was too difficult on a phone.
An hour later, an unmanned car that had been darting around the city delivered the computer and other necessary items. Tian Ming began searching the Junk Guild's Underground Black Market for spaceship systems.
Meanwhile, Li Chi helped by filtering out operating versions similar to the Black Tortoise's system to minimize compatibility issues.
Wei Jun wasn't idle either. With his phone and drone controller in hand, he piloted drones across the city, searching for traces of the Black Tortoise.
...
Inside the Spaceport, a 100-meter-long spaceship with a towering bridge and a slender hull hovered in the air, freed from its docking clamps.
Its bow pointed toward the interior of the Junk Guild, its thrusters emitting a faint glow.
On the bridge of the Ohmus.
Gregg's eyes were bloodshot, fixed unblinkingly on the display before him as his fingers hammered the keyboard with loud, rapid clicks.
Nearby, the CIC officer turned to him. "Sir Gregg, many in the Junk Guild are demanding an explanation for why the ship was activated."
"Tell them this: either hand over Wei Jun and his accomplices, or I'll flatten the Junk Guild."
Gregg's tone was calm, but the CIC officer shrank back, hesitating. "R-really, that's the response?"
"Do I sound like I'm joking?"
"N-no, sir," the officer stammered, bowing his head. "But what if they unite and resist?"
Gregg let out a dark chuckle, his face lighting up with perverse delight. "If they resist, I'll thank them for it."
"I admit I underestimated things to reach this point, but if they dare act, the blame won't be on me. Understood?"
The CIC officer's eyes widened in realization before he turned to relay the message.
Just then, the rear hatch opened, and a man floated in. "Sir Gregg, the Junk Guild's administrators reported erratic behavior in unmanned cars recently. Many couldn't hail one, with wait times stretching weeks or even a month."
The man approached Gregg and tapped the screen, pulling up a map of the Junk Guild. "Investigations revealed someone ordered supplies to be loaded onto unmanned cars and sent away."
Red dots appeared on the map, moving erratically through the city.
"We can confirm Wei Jun's group is using unmanned cars to gather supplies."
Gregg studied the mapped routes. "No final destination?"
"Apologies, sir. There are too many unmanned cars, all identical models. It'll take time to narrow it down."
Gregg narrowed his eyes, then smirked. "Which company owns these cars? Find out. Buy all their route data."
"Yes, sir." The man hurried off.
Ten minutes later...
"Sir!" The CIC spoke again, "Our surveillance of the unmanned cars detected a crudely assembled, seemingly handmade drone taking off from one of the vehicles."
Gregg's shadowed face flushed with excitement as he slapped the armrest. "Good! Don't interfere with it. Track its destination. I was afraid they'd stay hidden like rats. Let's not scare them off now."
As time passed, Gregg tapped his foot impatiently, his expression growing restless.
"Based on the drone's flight path, our analysts believe they're searching for traces of the Black Tortoise."
Gregg paused, deep in thought. "Has Mr. Mokelberg's team left yet?"
"They've already departed."
With a wave of his hand, he ordered, "Leak the Black Tortoise's location. Let's lure them out."
Just then, a file appeared on the screen before him.
Opening it, he saw a map of the Junk Guild's city, densely covered with the movement routes of unmanned cars. Amid the tangled web of routes, a sharp, conspicuous angle caught his eye.
"Finally, I've found you rats."
Turning to the CIC, he commanded, "Split the team in two. One group will ambush the Black Tortoise's location, the other will raid their hideout. I want no survivors."
"Understood."
...
Inside the secret base, Wei Jun operated the drone in search of the Black Tortoise.
At first, there were no leads—several locations had been checked with no trace of the ship. But soon, he noticed enemy personnel movements. Following them, he discovered the Black Tortoise in a factory building on the outskirts at the opposite end of the city.
Wei Jun stared at the Black Tortoise on his phone screen, then turned his gaze to the group that had unwittingly led him there. "Seems we've been spotted," he muttered under his breath.
Glancing back at Zhou Tianming and Li Chi, who were busy with their tasks, he remained silent. His eyes hardened with resolve as he whispered, "Come on, bring it all..."