Space Odyssey from Abandoned Mining Space Station

Brilliant suddenly fell silent.

Chen Ming also knew that this question definitely wouldn't be answered, so he went with the flow and said what he really wanted to say.

"This Experiment Zone makes me a bit uncomfortable, let's go next door to talk."

"Alright."

Chen Ming left the Experiment Zone without any obstruction.

He saw that the Industrial Area diagonally opposite the Experiment Zone was gone, with many robots cleaning up the debris of the buildings, apparently preparing to rebuild.

If not for Iron Ore No., it should be the entire research institute and Chen Ming himself that are gone now.

Through the former workspace, Chen Ming could still see the dome outside that had been broken by Iron Ore No. and penetrated by the Gauss Cannon, which had already been repaired.

Continuing to maintain an environment suitable for human survival under the dome.

But now Chen Ming was no longer influenced by these seemingly considerate small favors.

After all, what Dusk did was like someone treating you to breakfast every day, only for you to realize they want to take your kidney.

No matter how much breakfast they treat you to, compared to a kidney... no, compared to life, it's incomparable.

After looking at the robots in the workspace for a bit longer, Chen Ming returned to the living area's canteen.

Then he suddenly saw a group of robots rushing to the cold storage room behind the canteen.

"What's going on?"

Brilliant immediately responded, "Your... pet, it just damaged the wall in the dining area behind the canteen and is currently eating."

"Hmm..."

Little Stone took the opportunity to escape when Chen Ming was captured by Dusk earlier.

It is a product of the Fan Chao Laboratory, with strong survival and excavation capabilities and the ability to enter false death dormancy in emergencies.

This allows it to wander freely within the research institute without any safety concerns.

So Chen Ming never intentionally searched for it, knowing that when he was ready to leave, Little Stone would surely pop out from some corner.

But now Chen Ming went directly to the storage room behind the canteen.

There he found a fist-sized hole in the wall of the previously entirely sealed and inaccessible storage room.

As Chen Ming arrived, the now-rotund Little Stone darted out of the hole.

In the midst of the robots' blockade, with agility unbefitting its size, it leapt onto Chen Ming's shoulder.

It swallowed the last piece of Immortal Spirit Leaf, exuding a Spiritual Energy Fluctuation, and began baring its teeth at the robots.

But Little Stone's appearance made its bared teeth look like a playful act.

And the robots there, under the control of Brilliant or other Dusk entities, stopped their actions, allowing Chen Ming to take Little Stone away.

Chen Ming returned to the front of the canteen and took a meal.

Upon seeing the absence of a cup of Immortal Spirit Tree Tea from his meal, Chen Ming grabbed the foolishly trying to escape Little Stone and squeezed it a bit.

However, Chen Ming didn't care much, as his Spiritual Energy growth from drinking the Immortal Spirit Tree Tea was less than from regular training; it was just a bonus.

Compared to the Spiritual Power increase after merging and absorbing the Enlightenment Nerve, it was insignificant.

Moreover, because of the Enlightenment Nerve, Chen Ming could now see the name of the meal in front of him through the panel.

So it was just a bonus tea, gone it was gone.

This newfound ability, which only required touch instead of needing to get to the spaceship, to identify items was the most valuable gain.

Even simply put, this ability ensured he'd never have to worry about consuming anything suspicious in his food again.

Not to mention Chen Ming was unsure how long it would take for Dusk to prepare the second Enlightenment Nerve. It would take at most half a month to a month, during which Chen Ming would at most get over a hundred pieces of tea leaves.

Yet the number of Immortal Spirit Leaves, making Little Stone round and exuding Spiritual Energy like this, was definitely more than those hundred pieces.

After getting the meal, Chen Ming casually found a seat in the canteen.

Little Stone, placed on the table, suddenly gingerly spat out a few tea leaves from its cheek pouch onto the table, pushed them to Chen Ming, and then ate them back, leaving Chen Ming staring at it like it was a fool.

He wasn't going to snatch food from a hamster.

At this time, Chen Ming didn't plan to continue talking with Brilliant.

Instead, he focused on having his first meal after hours of unconsciousness.

Because he needed time to think.

Currently, Chen Ming had learned from Brilliant's words that it was still working on the planet he stayed on before, meaning it could access the mining fields on the planet at any time.

This was something Brilliant had been implying in its words.

But despite all this, Chen Ming absolutely would not voluntarily let those Dusks from the mining fields contact Brilliant.

So it still depended on whether Brilliant could give Chen Ming a convincing answer.

Chen Ming quickly finished his lunch and continued the earlier conversation with Brilliant, asking, "So, how do you plan on convincing me to trust you? Surely you don't really expect me to be persuaded by you alone?"

Chen Ming's question already contained some implied meanings he wished to subtly express.

Since Brilliant had hinted so much before, how should it convince Chen Ming that its hints were intended for a more special interaction between them, rather than a trap?