In less than two minutes, all the looters scattered like birds and beasts. To Bellis's surprise, she was looking at Li Xiang in a new light. "I never figured you had some skills, kid."

At this moment, Li Xiang returned to his previous obsequious demeanor. "Hehe, where, where, the good performance of the mecha is all it takes, sweeping them down by dozens, we'll still have to rely heavily on you guys in the future."

Everyone was initially grateful to Li Xiang, but this guy played bullshit with his eyes wide open, speaking pleasant words without flushing or skipping a beat! The credit goes to Missy. This guy is a real talent.

But after all, Li Xiang made the suggestion to save everyone. No one would undermine him — they had to admit, even these perennial merchants did not expect Pandora's security to be so chaotic. This rotten kid had foresight.

The space shuttle soon soared again. The following journey was what Feng Yi was most worried about. Space pirates dared not hover in the Bermuda Star River war zone. They might take chaotic Pandora as a temporary base. If they're lucky, the pirates might let victims go after robbing them, as the principle of not exhausting fish stocks applies to all.

However, times of war are different. Due to the economic downturn in all countries today, the number of refugees is increasing day by day, like the rising tide lifting all boats. The bustling cities have turned into rows of ruins. More displaced people emigrate to the inner star areas with no end in sight. This will inevitably greatly reduce the oil and water available for space pirates to loot, causing disastrous retaliatory looting. Therefore, in Feng Yi's view, if they encounter space pirates, the people on the shuttle would be done for.

So just as the shuttle left the atmosphere, Feng Yi rushed into the captain's room. He proposed a surprising suggestion to everyone: to refit the shuttle immediately. As the master of traditional retrofitting, he even took out his professional certificate.

Bellis took a casual glance at the certificate and said, "Li Xiang, are you kidding everyone?"

"Exactly. After all, you guys started the joke with the idea of airdropping into Pandora. If we hadn't airdropped into Pandora, I wouldn't have been able to think of modifying the shuttle. We just made it up as we go."

"What's the connection between landing and modifying?! Don't think you can mess around just because you made the right judgment just now. This is space, and if something goes wrong, everyone will die. Get out!" Bellis was really a bit fed up with this psychopath. She didn't know what was inside his head.

Bell suddenly motioned to Bellis, who wanted to continue talking. He examined both Li Xiang and her for a few seconds, then asked in a serious voice, "Are you being serious?"

"Yes." Li Xiang nodded woodenly.

Bell said, "I admit that you are a good mecha modification expert. But a shuttle is different from a mecha. Any negligence could make the hundreds of people on the ship killed in space. I want to know why you want to modify the shuttle."

"Well... Hehe, where could we find fish in a dried-up river? Once the space pirates see us, wouldn't they chase us like thugs after women? Now, where could we run? What do you think?" Li Xiang muttered casually, his greedy gaze constantly sweeping across Bellis's smooth, jade-like thighs...

Feng Yi spoke very cunningly as if he was unintentionally sending a kind of hint to Bellis. He seemed to be suggesting that since he was also a master mechanic, he should seize the opportunity. He was also hinting at the terrible consequences if they were to run into space pirates, but without leaving any trace that this was his intention.

Bellis was furious with this clueless boy. This toad wanted to eat swan meat? "Get out!" she ordered.

What is said is often interpreted differently by the speaker and listener. Bell, as an old captain who had been fighting outside for many years, had much more experience and knowledge than Bellis. Just because Bellis didn't understand didn't mean Bell wouldn't think about it. He pondered for a while, took a sharp breath, and suddenly stood up. "Li Xiang, what did you just say?!"

"Huh? Just now?"

"Bellis, you go out first. I have something to discuss with our young friend here, and remember to keep a close mouth."

"Uncle..." Bellis obviously wanted to say something, but she was stared down by Bell's eyes. Finally, she glared at Li Xiang and stormed out of the room.

Now Bell started to wonder if Li Xiang was pretending to be stupid or simply stupid. Nevertheless, he didn't point it out. Indeed, they say seeing through but not pointing out is the basis for a lifelong friendship. If his last crazy idea was foresight, then this time, shaking his head, Bell wasn't sure about his guess.

After Bellis left, Bell seemed less anxious. This kid might be half-minded, but he gave a sense of reassurance for some reason. Maybe it's just a feeling. After all, the universe is so big that even if they come across space pirates, they won't be able to catch up right away. Instead, he poured a glass of red wine for himself and one for Li Xiang and took out some snacks from his storage capsule.

"Come on, we'll eat and chat."

"Sure thing." Li Xiang looked left and right, picked up a chicken leg without hesitation, and started eating. "Hmm, tasty..."

Bell gave a bitter smile. "Let me ask you, what part of the shuttle do you want to modify? How confident are you?"

"The engine power output, of course. I've never tried a civilian model, but it must be simpler than a military shuttle. I estimate there's a 70% chance of success."

Bell took a sip of wine and sighed, "The power of the engine is fixed. No matter how you modify it, it's always the same. What else could be done?"

"Hehe, there's an auxiliary propulsion device on the shuttle, right?"

"Yes, there is. You don't mean to connect them in series..."

"Correct, that's the only solution I can think of."

"By approximately how much could we speed up then?"

Feng Yi paused momentarily as he was picking up a peanut. Bell didn't interrupt him. After about ten seconds, he said his rough estimate: "A conservative estimate is a 20% increase in maximum speed, even up to military standard, but it will come with certain safety risks."

"Oh? What kind of risks?"

"The external crystals on the shuttle might get worn out due to excessive speed, and then there's the deceleration system."

Bell nodded. He understood this: putting all the deceleration devices onto acceleration would indeed increase the chances of a collision. But as long as they travel in a safe route, the chance of encountering meteor particles is extremely low.

As the two were talking, a crew member rushed into the captain's room: "Mr. Bell, it's not good. A picket boat has been spotted at the CK51K coordinate."

Aries, a first-class star at the CK51K coordinates? What was that place? The vast universe was too vast. Even he, a captain who had been sailing for dozens of years, could get lost occasionally. Bell quickly called up the star spectrometer to track the coordinates. It turned out to be nearly a hundred astronomical units away from the coordinates of the Aries.

"Have they found us yet?"

"They should not have. However, this picket boat is moving towards us at a fast speed."

"Li Xiang, quick! Let's go modify the shuttle now."

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