This is not mechanical ascension...

Chapter 71: The Frustrated Shen Songnan and the Sudden Beast Tide

Wang Zhiheng was a little slow to react, but he quickly added: "Although the theft is not a big case, after all, it was reported by Director Chen himself, so we can take it on."

The two men's singing of the same tune made Chen Songnan furious, but the nominal power of law enforcement was their greatest reliance.

Even though he had just killed six city guards, there was nothing he could do now.

"Director Chen, now can you tell me what you lost?" Li Ming added, and recorded it on the smart terminal in a serious manner.

"The exhibit in my office - silver-gray mother ore!" Chen Songnan stared at him closely.

"Well, when was it lost? Did the surveillance camera capture any useful clues?" Li Ming asked.

The muscles on both sides of Chen Songnan's teeth were faintly visible. He didn't want to waste time talking to this guy anymore. He suppressed his inner emotions and spoke in a calm voice:

"I can confirm that the items have not left the building. Please leave the room while I check."

Wang Zhiheng raised his eyebrows and said bluntly: "Director Chen, what do you mean? Are you suspicious of Li Ming?"

"I also want to ask you, why are my colleagues missing?"

Wang Zhiheng was a little confused at first, but his work as a city guard in the past few years was not in vain, and now he has vaguely realized something.

"They're gone, and you ask me?" Chen Songnan sneered, "I don't have the right to command them."

"As for suspecting him, that's even less the case. It's just a routine check."

Li Ming put away his smart terminal and said seriously, "Director Chen, are you filing charges against a city guard now?"

Seeing Li Ming's serious look, Chen Songnan felt an uncontrollable anger in his heart. On normal days, he would not get angry so easily.

But just now he had suppressed the person behind Li Ming, the boss of the City Guard Department - Qin Xiao, so that he could not move.

But when he turned around, he was choked speechless again and again by such a small character. This gap was the main reason for his dissatisfaction.

He frowned, "Don't make a fuss here. This is Xingchuang Company. I am conducting an inspection. It has nothing to do with you."

Due to the divergent characteristics of silver ash mother ore, if it is not properly stored in a special container, it will easily spread everywhere.

"Wrong..." Li Ming said seriously: "According to the Privacy Protection Ordinance, within the property rights under the name of others and within the clear period of use, privacy protection is also enjoyed."

"This room was arranged for me to live in by Xingchuang Company. You have no right to search it during the travel time."

This is the law of Blue Star. Li Ming has studied it very carefully. Nothing is more important than abiding by the law.

Chen Songnan's face twitched, but Li Ming changed his tone again: "Of course, according to the security regulations, Xingchuang's security department has special authorization laws, which can be used to conduct searches, detentions, and other methods that do not harm human rights."

Wang Zhiheng was stunned. Why did Li Ming speak for his opponent?

"However, you also need to take responsibility for your own actions." Li Ming looked at the confusion on everyone's faces and continued to explain:
"What I mean is that Director Chen has no problem asking the security department to search me or even to search my body, but if they can't find any supporting evidence to prove that I'm involved in this incident, then they will have to bear the loss of my reputation."

There was a look of surprise on Xu Wei's face. No way, big brother, we have gone through so much trouble and ended up talking about compensation?
Chen Songnan's sinister eyes fell on Li Ming. For a moment, he could not see through this young man.

He didn't have this feeling towards Qin Xiao. Although Qin Xiao was also an old fox and knew how to hide his emotions, he had pursuits and desires. But what on earth did this young man want to do?
Instead of getting the target item, he turned around and stole the silver-ash mother ore. What kind of operation is this?
Six city guards died in front of him, wasn't he afraid? Qin Xiao was defeated, didn't he know?

What is he doing now, bluffing? Where can he hide the thing?
Chen Songnan couldn't figure it out, and he didn't intend to think about it. He looked indifferent, "I will be responsible for all the compensation, search."

The security personnel behind him quickly stepped forward, searched the room, and even took out a metal detector to test Li Ming's body. Even though there was a constant beeping sound, they were all items he carried with him.

No suspicious items were found.

"Director, no..." the subordinate whispered in Chen Songnan's ear, feeling puzzled. The sensor clearly disappeared here, so how could nothing be found?

"No?" Chen Songnan glanced at him coldly.

"My StarNet account number is *****..." Li Ming reported a series of numbers, "Generally speaking, this kind of defamation case..."

"Fifty thousand. I'll have the finance department transfer it to you. If you're not satisfied, find someone to sue me." Chen Songnan interrupted, not wanting to argue with Li Ming anymore. His voice was cold, "You should be thankful. Without this skin, you wouldn't even be qualified to see me."

Wang Zhiheng was stunned. Making money...is it that easy?

Chen Songnan suppressed his anger and left, closing the door.

In the elevator, his subordinate hesitated and asked, "Director, do you want to put pressure on Qin Xiao?"

Chen Songnan stood still, his face, which had been gloomy all the way, became even uglier. "What do you want me to say? Let Qin Xiao order this guy to return the silver-ash mother ore he stole to me?"

The men lowered their heads and stopped talking.

Chen Songnan had just shown off in front of Qin Xiao, but when he turned around, he was trapped by one of his subordinates.

He couldn't afford to lose face like this.

"It's just an F-class life form. We can deal with it when we get the chance."

The subordinate responded quickly: "Understood."

……

After Chen Songnan left, Wang Zhiheng looked hesitant. After a moment's hesitation, he asked Li Ming, "Did something happen?"

Xu Wei also looked over. The sharpness of the reporter made her realize that something was wrong. She frowned and said, "Not long after we left, the company building sounded a level 3 alarm, and the security system was inexplicably restarted."

"Where did Zhao Xiong and the others go?" Wang Zhiheng asked.

The two men's eyes fell on Li Ming at the same time. He thought for a moment and shook his head, "I'm not sure. I've been staying here the whole time."

Wang Zhiheng sighed, stopped asking questions, and said, "Tomorrow, we will go to another large mining site with Chen Songnan. You should come with us. Don't stay here."

"No problem." Li Ming nodded.

……

On a sand dune far from the building, the short man took down his telescope. The clearly visible Star Creation logo instantly turned into a small dot. He turned around and said:

"Captain, I see the transport ship is back. According to the itinerary we got, they will go to another mining site for inspection tomorrow."

The fierce wind howled, blowing up the sand. The hem of Black Hawk's windbreaker fluttered. He said in a deep voice, "Scorpion, are you ready?"

On the other side, on the sand, lying in disorder, were giant beasts as big as houses. Their skin was silver-gray with dots of light between the wrinkles, they had a single horn on their heads, and their limbs were thick but short.

There was a small makeshift experimental cabin in the center. A slim woman wearing a mask picked up a can of pink liquid and shook it. Then she uttered a filtered voice: "This gift will surely satisfy you."

……

Just like the day before, everyone boarded the transport ship early in the morning. The only difference was that Li Ming was there this time. "Director Chen, your people said our colleagues left the building, but they couldn't produce the surveillance video, only the records." Wang Zhiheng frowned. He was busy with this matter all night yesterday.

The disappearance of six city guards was no small matter, so he reported it to Qin Xiao personally. The other party was also surprised and asked him to investigate in detail.

But he always felt that Minister Qin's reaction was strange. Xingchuang Company said that they had left, but there was no surveillance record.

It was said that the security system was restarted during that time and all surveillance cameras were broken, so only a few people witnessed the incident.

"What do you mean? Are you doubting our Xingchuang company? I advise you to have evidence before speaking, otherwise you will have to compensate me for the loss of my reputation." Chen Songnan said casually.

Sandra didn't react at all, showed no interest in their dispute, and closed her eyes to rest.

Wang Zhiheng snorted coldly, but there was nothing he could do. Investigating the entire Xingchuang Company was far from something he could decide, and neither could his father.

The city guards all glared at him, while Chen Songnan glanced at Li Ming vaguely.

The boy is quite calm at the moment.

.........

Two or three hours later, the transport plane landed and everyone arrived at the mining site. In front of them was a huge deep pit. The mining machine mounted above was running non-stop, with the spiral drill head moving up and down alternately, making a piercing roar.

Chen Songnan's accompanying assistant distributed noise-canceling headphones and breathing masks, and everyone was in the same channel.

"This is one of the five largest mining sites on the Silver Gray Star. Our safety standards strictly comply with the legal requirements of the Blue Star..." Chen Songnan's voice continued to sound in the channel, leading the way in front, and everyone went down along the freight elevator.

It can be seen that such huge mining machines are mostly automated, but they still require a lot of manpower to monitor.

Especially those narrow mines, small mining machines that can only be operated by manpower.

"This kind of investigation is meaningless. They knew we were coming and must have made preparations long ago." Wang Zhiheng curled his lips and his voice sounded on the public channel.

Chen Songnan seemed not to hear it.

The group descended deeper and deeper, with only lighting equipment to provide light.

Boom!

At the bottom of the freight elevator, it looked like there was a layer of cement underneath.

However, everyone knows that this is impossible.

"This is the silver-ash ore." Chen Songnan stamped his feet with emotion. "I often marvel at the wonders of the universe. The feces of wild animals, after precipitation over time, can form such a special material."

Li Ming leaned over and touched it, his eyes brightening slightly. He could absorb metal energy from it, but the metal energy contained in the absorbable area was too little, and the balance on the panel did not even jump.

We still need high-purity refined metal ore, as the purity of this raw ore is too low.

"Wild animal feces?" Wang Zhiheng was surprised.

"You don't know?" Zuo Ling glanced at him, "How did you get your education?"

"Silver-ash ore is formed from the feces of silver-ash beasts after countless years of accumulation."

Chen Songnan clapped his hands and said with a smile: "I often hear people say that we are mining silver ash here and destroying the environment here, blah blah blah..."

"But didn't the immigrants from Blue Star also destroy the homes of the Silver-Gray Beasts?"

"You're changing the subject!" Xu Wei refuted, "Silver-gray beasts mostly move underground. If the development of the surface is restrained, they can coexist harmoniously."

Chen Songnan smiled faintly without explaining, and continued to move forward with everyone, entering a narrow passage. "These passages were formed by the drilling of silver-gray beasts, and they lead in all directions."

After walking with him for a while, it seemed like we were going downhill, and suddenly the view opened up. This was another large space. The hanging fluorescent stone pillars brought some faint light, which was quite magnificent.

"Here..." Chen Songnan pointed at the ground below him, then pointed upward, "There... silver-ash ore is everywhere!"

"However, we are not mining here, so how can it be considered destructive mining?"

"You don't define destructive mining." The green-skinned short Sandra finally spoke, "This planet is no longer alive. I'm afraid it will take thousands of years, or even longer, to repair it."

"If it is confirmed that there is insider trading, you can expect sanctions."

Chen Songnan's face darkened, and he reluctantly said, "This is cooperation and free trade, which the Blue Star Civilization agrees to."

"It is explicitly not allowed to induce a developing civilization to undermine its own interests in exchange for support." Sandra's voice was sonorous and halting.

Chen Songnan looked unhappy, but suddenly shook his head: "Sir Sandra, you are too serious. Aren't these things still under investigation?"

Data review and field exploration are only part of the interstellar review team that came to Silver-Gray Star. More teams stayed on the capital star of Blue Star to conduct deeper investigations.

Chen Songnan led everyone deeper.

Half an hour later, the smart terminal of an accompanying assistant suddenly vibrated wildly. He looked down and his face suddenly became ugly, with panic and haste: "Director, a large number of silver-gray beasts have been detected, and they are coming here."

"Hmm?" Chen Songnan's expression changed slightly, "What's going on? How many?"

Silver-gray beast riot?
Li Ming's eyes flickered, and he subconsciously thought whether it was Chen Songnan's action.

“I… I don’t know…” The assistant swiped his hands on the virtual screen, his expression becoming more and more panicked: “Director… Director, the system predicts that there will be at least 30,000!”

"What!?" Chen Songnan's face suddenly changed. He snatched the smart terminal, looked down, and said in a deep voice: "How could this happen? Isn't there a repellent nearby?"

"I don't understand. They seem to have gone crazy all of a sudden."

Li Ming felt something was wrong. Was it not Chen Songnan's doing? This was his territory. Who dared to mess with him?
Or is it because he acted too well?

Wang Zhiheng immediately asked, "Chen Songnan, what's going on!?"

"Go, go, retreat quickly!" Chen Songnan shouted harshly. A small pit exploded under his feet and his figure shot out like an arrow, so fast that it was invisible to the naked eye.

An uncompromising D-class life form!

"Chen Songnan! F**k!" Wang Zhiheng yelled, but he still issued an order, "Li Ming, Zuo Ling, the five of us will lead the way, and the rest of you will cover the rear!"

With a backbone, the others quickly calmed down and returned the same way.

But less than three minutes after he left, a figure came back. It was Chen Songnan. His face looked extremely ugly. The ground was rumbling, stones were rolling, and the sound of galloping came from far away.

"There's no way back, follow me!"

(End of this chapter)