Chapter 631 - 300: "Geek Pirate Group" (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

"Sir..."

The young man, shielding his sister behind him, took a few slow steps back, and in a hoarse voice, looked at the menacing group before him and said, "Are you the Train Captain?"

"Yeah."

Chen Mang nodded, took out a mirror from his chest pocket, and looked at his refined face, standing puzzled with a cane, and then looked at the young man, "I shouldn’t look fierce, right? Don’t I look quite amiable? Why do you look so scared?"

Quickly.

Following the young man’s gaze, he turned to look at the Zhang Brothers standing cold-faced behind him and sighed lightly, "You two, relax a bit, don’t frighten the kid."

Zhang Yi and Zhang Er, two hulking men over two meters tall.

Their builds were muscular.

Each shouldering a refrigerator.

Standing there, the intimidation factor was full, especially with their cold faces, they definitely didn’t look like good guys.

...

"Phew..."

The young man took a deep breath, looked at Chen Mang with a serious expression, and spoke word by word, "Are you trying to recruit me?"

"Huh?"

Chen Mang looked at the young man in surprise, then smiled with interest, "Maybe I’m just taking a walk around. Young man, don’t overestimate your worth."

"Let me guess."

Seeing the uninvited guest in front not interrupting, the young man continued to speak, his voice slowly echoing in the cramped space.

"The Train Captain, being of high status, wouldn’t come to such a dirty place, so you must have followed me here after seeing me being thrown out disgraced at the company gate."

"It means you need someone to help you research the Accessory Blueprint."

"But—"

"I’m neither famous nor established, and was even publicly humiliated and thrown out by the manager."

"Yet you still set your eyes on me."

"Indicating that your status might not be legitimate, possibly involved in smuggling, or piracy, unable to recruit through official channels, and someone like me, a drifter without civilization, suits your needs!"

"Researching ’Accessory Blueprint’ is an extremely resource-consuming project, and it’s completely normal to not develop a blueprint for decades; it’s something a civilization does, not an individual."

"For you to have such an idea, it seems your train’s strength isn’t weak."

"Sir, seeing your face glowing and spirit high, it shows you’re recently enjoying a prosperous period, without being weighed down by cumbersome matters."

"According to the news—"

"Recently, Peace-Seeking Civilization’s largest merchant guild was robbed during commerce by the Philia Pirate Group, ranked twenty-third on the Kasha Civilization Federation’s Wanted List, with extremely strong power."

"This ’Pirate Group’ isn’t originally from this galaxy; they migrated from other galaxies, purpose unknown, but they certainly made a name with their first attack."

"I presume you are the... Deputy Train Captain of the Philia Pirate Group?"

"Hmm..."

Chen Mang propped his chin with one hand, pondered for a moment, then said, "Do I not look legitimate?"

"The Train Captain of the Philia Pirate Group is a goblin; that’s widely known."

"Is that so?"

Chen Mang didn’t elaborate but looked at the data on the screen and said softly, "What if I temporarily don’t need you to develop a new Accessory Blueprint but to remanufacture an old one, like ’Refrigerator,’ which is a white-grade Accessory Blueprint in the train?"

"I need you to remanufacture a ’Refrigerator’ Accessory Blueprint, then review and select the best Supermodel Effect through multiple tests."

"Can you do it?"

"Yes, but it will require a lot of resources and Murphy Stones; each test is a significant upgrade."

"Without considering resources, how long would it take?"

"A few months’ work, but I would need a lot of experimental equipment; if you’re not planning to apply for R&D grants as ptt but really want to do the work, I would need a lot of high-precision experimental equipment, plenty of research chips, and hopefully an AI with high enough computing power to assist."

"Where can I buy such high-precision experimental equipment you mentioned?"

"Not available in the market, can’t be purchased through formal channels."

"What about informal channels?"

"There are many, like smuggling, robbery. ’Feiyang Technology Co., Ltd. in Sanshui City,’ where I used to work, as I know, recently the leadership is coming for an inspection, and the company head is urgently procuring a large batch of high-precision experimental equipment through formal channels. When exactly it will arrive on Peace-Seeking Star is unclear, but you likely have better ways to get that information than I do."

"Are you suggesting a robbery?"

"What else does a pirate do if not rob?"

"Good."

Chen Mang laughed, looking at the young man standing in the shadows with a beaming face, tossing a pack of cigarettes over, "Do you mind joining the pirates?"

"A bit, but I might find it hard to refuse."

"Indeed."

Then he turned and walked out, "Let’s go, buy some clothes for you and your sister."

"Ai should like you."

...

"Let’s go."

Old Pig, staying behind, patted the young man’s shoulder and asked puzzledly, "Why still standing there in a daze?"

"Huh?"

The young man was slightly stunned, pointing to the two hulking men not far away, who were stuffing all his and his sister’s daily necessities into the refrigerators one by one, and said a bit confusedly, "I thought, since you’re so powerful, you’d tell me to throw all this away and travel light."

"Oh, don’t mind those two, they have a bit of a hoarding habit."

"Big brother, your role in the group is..."