Long Fei contacted Captain Bailieba through his headset. "Captain Bailieba, did you find any solar panels while investigating this spacecraft?"
"We did. After investigating them, we found that the solar energy absorbed by the panels can only power some of the spacecraft's equipment. The lights inside the spacecraft are supplied by the energy absorbed from solar power."
"Then do you know where the captain's quarters are?"
"Based on the ship's internal map, we know where they are."
"Good. Arrange a few subordinates and bring me to the captain's quarters. There might be survivors." Just as Long Fei finished speaking, a burst of noisy commotion suddenly came through his headset.
"What happened? Why is there so much noise?"
"It's nothing, Boss. I was just startled and accidentally bumped into something. Speaking of which, Boss, how did you know there were survivors?"
"I found out from the video files in the recording device."
Not long afterward, Captain Bailieba brought two men and led Long Fei to the captain's quarters.
Inside the captain's quarters, Long Fei followed what Bickley's recorded image had said. He removed the framed oil painting from the wall, then pressed a button.
The bookshelf in the captain's quarters suddenly opened, revealing a hidden room inside.
Captain Bailieba and the other two were stunned. They had not expected this room to contain a secret chamber.
Long Fei led the three of them into the hidden chamber.
There was another door inside the chamber, with a keypad beside it. Long Fei entered the password yzj00, and the door opened—only to reveal yet another door beyond it.
Long Fei continued leading the three inside. Once they had passed through the door, it suddenly shut behind them, and Bailieba and the others immediately went to inspect it.
They discovered that the door had been sealed shut.
Then a sudden gravitational force slammed everyone who had been floating in midair onto the ground.
"What's going on?" Bailieba and the others were utterly shocked.
Several openings suddenly appeared around them, spraying out white gas.
Their helmet scanners analyzed it and discovered that the white gas was oxygen.
Then the second door opened, and dim light appeared within. Long Fei made a gesture, and Bailieba and the other two removed the rifles hanging on their backs. Holding their rifles, they cautiously entered the room.
Sure enough, two cryogenic hibernation pods inside the secret chamber were still operating.
"Boss, there really are survivors."
Long Fei entered the chamber to inspect them. Sure enough, one person slept in each cryogenic hibernation pod. Just as in the video Long Fei had watched, they were the pair of blond sisters, their bodies covered in countless layers of frost.
"Captain Bailieba, if we open the cryogenic hibernation pods directly, will it harm these sisters?"
"First of all, the cryogenic hibernation pods these two sisters are sleeping in are extremely old. If we open them rashly without taking proper measures, their lives could be in danger. The longer they have been asleep, the higher the chance of a crisis or accident."
"Then what measures do we need to take?"
"First, we need SSYS60 thawing agents and inject them into the subjects. Then we place the subjects in warming pods. As for when they wake up, that depends not only on how long they have been asleep, but also on their own condition."
"Hm. Captain Bailieba, from the sound of it, you seem quite experienced?"
"I once worked in a related field. Later, after I could no longer afford the enormous breathing tax and various other taxes, I was thrown onto an artificial slum satellite. I did hard labor with many others until I happened to encounter the Skywing Mercenary Group recruiting soldiers. That was how everything that followed came about."
"All right, Captain. I'll leave this matter to you. Make the arrangements."
"Yes."
Long Fei walked to Taoxiang's cryogenic hibernation pod and reached out to touch the glass in front of her. Suddenly, it felt as though his entire consciousness had been dragged into another space.
Within that space, Long Fei saw many images. They were all memory images from Taoxiang's perspective.
After viewing some of those memories, Long Fei suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, and his consciousness was forcibly expelled from the space.
"Ah!" Long Fei screamed and dropped hard onto the ground.
Bailieba and the others hurriedly helped Long Fei up. The three were deeply surprised. Their boss had merely touched the glass of a cryogenic hibernation pod, yet he had screamed and fallen onto the ground.
"Boss, are you all right?"
Long Fei raised a hand. "I'm fine." His head still hurt somewhat, and his vision was even a little blurry. After shaking his head for a while, his vision finally returned to normal.
Long Fei looked at Taoxiang and discovered that she was actually a Newtype.
"All right, let go of me. I'm fine. Go get back to work."
"Yes, Boss."
After the three left the secret chamber, Long Fei walked to Lixiang's cryogenic hibernation pod and similarly reached out to touch the glass in front of her.
This time, he did not feel his consciousness being drawn into her memory space. Instead, he felt his consciousness resonate with hers. Long Fei sensed an indescribable fear deep within Lixiang's heart.
Long Fei withdrew his hand from the glass and shook his head. The only thing he could do was wait for Captain Bailieba to arrange everything, then bring the two sisters back to the main base.
Long Fei then returned to the previous room and continued reading the documents.
As Long Fei read through the files, a contact request from President Sakchi came through his headset.
"Boss, King of Thrace has asked whether we can sell them Specialized GM Mobile Suits."
Long Fei thought for a moment before saying, "Tell King of Thrace that we can sell them Specialized GMs two months from now."
"Yes, Boss."
"Is there anything else you need to report?"
"Recently, our company caught several spies. Some came from corporations, while others belonged to intelligence organizations from certain countries. Their purpose was to steal our technology."
"Did they steal any technology?"
"At present, they have stolen some drone software technology, technical verification reports on certain individual weapons, and partial design blueprints for the Escort Ships and destroyers that the Skywing Mercenary Group has already retired."
"Hm." Long Fei was somewhat displeased by the stolen technology, but such matters were impossible to guard against completely. Still, the military technologies he had given President Sakchi were not advanced technologies—at least, not from Long Fei's perspective, though that was not the case by this world's technological standards.
"What measures have you taken regarding the stolen technology?"
"Whether the technology has been stolen or not, as long as it originated from civilian sources and belongs to one of our group's private software subsidiaries, its patents are protected by relevant laws in both the Earth Sphere and the Colony Sphere. If the perpetrators are corporate spies, we can still deal with them through legal means. As long as we have sufficient evidence, we can sue them in the international court and make the stealing party compensate us and return the technology. However, spies from certain countries are more troublesome. For countries that are not particularly strong, we can still file international lawsuits demanding compensation and the return of the technology. But if they are powerful countries, things become very troublesome. Even if we win in the international court, those major powers may refuse to comply with the court's ruling."
Long Fei snorted and said, "There's nothing we can do about that. Laws and rules can only restrain the weak and forces that are not strong enough. If you're strong enough, laws and rules are nothing but clouds."
Long Fei actually agreed deeply in his heart. Strength allowed one to ignore rules, and strength could make the weaker side submit.
Sakchi continued reporting, "Also, whether they are corporations or national powers, what they truly want most is Gundam technology. Among them, there is one force that concerns me greatly."
"Which force?"
"Feichi Military Science Company."
Long Fei narrowed his eyes and ordered, "Sue them wherever we can, and make sure they pay the heaviest price."
"Yes, Boss."
Before you continue