Seldi Stock had never met the "Mr. Trent" the other man mentioned, but he'd heard from his old colleagues at Red Maple Works that the first Engineers' Guild on Lumina had been established under Mr. Trent's direction. The factory's expansion over the past two years had gone so smoothly thanks in no small part to that old engineer, who was highly skilled in materials and metallurgy. He certainly deserved a title like "an old friend of the people of Red Maple Works."
The old Ebo engineer had also been recommended by Mr. Trent. That was why Seldi Stock was willing to trust him—and had managed to convince Mr. Qi to trust him, too.
Seldi Stock knew that this so-called Engineers' Guild was a little odd... For instance, its leading members had to be cyborgs. For another, their cybernetic modifications always seemed a little... criminal. And then there was the fact that their identities were somewhat questionable. But in this newly developing Shenzhou, as long as they could get the job done, all of that was acceptable.
The two continued eating and drinking as they naturally moved on to discuss the next steps in their work.
"The orbital satellite's mirrors will need to be replaced little by little in three years. If we want to keep the lighting and temperature stable, we'd be better off getting a Sun Herald back here."
"The Empire won't sell one to us. We might as well consider designing one ourselves. Mr. Blackhoof, what do you think..."
"What do you take me for, the reincarnation of some god of wisdom?" The old Ebo man sighed. "Brother Seldi, I'm just an ordinary engineer. Put plainly, I'm a well-trained craftsman."
Seldi also realized he'd been getting ahead of himself. He hurriedly smiled and poured the other man some