“Well, I understand. Could you please replace it with the spare set for me first?”

Su Mo helplessly said to Obic.

Obic was a bit disappointed that Su Mo wasn't going to buy the paid version. However, that wasn't important. He solemnly instructed Su Mo, "Mr. Su Mo, it's no problem for me to replace the spare set of nuclear fuel rods for you. But you must remember, don't mess around again. This is your last set. If you exhaust it again, it will be troublesome."

"I understand."

Su Mo nodded repeatedly.

"Alright then, I'll arrange the replacement work for you. You can go and rest first. The entire replacement process will take about five hours."

Obic's expression softened a lot as he spoke.

"Okay, thank you."

Su Mo nodded in response.

Afterward, Su Mo walked towards the resting area with a headache. This time, it was a big problem. How was he going to scout in the future?

Obviously, continuing to pilot the IV-generation mech for reconnaissance would cost him everything he had.

Switching to a lower-level mech?

It didn't seem reliable. Even switching to a III-generation mech wouldn't provide enough endurance, lasting at most ten days. Not to mention the II-generation mech, which almost got him killed last time, running out of energy in two days.

Moreover, these low-level mechs weren't easy to use. If he encountered monsters, he would only be able to run. It wasn't as satisfying as piloting the Gluttony mech, where he could directly confront troubles and enemies.

Just as Su Mo was pondering, a few returning crew members walked past him, complaining.

"Ugh, this exploration trip was a total loss."

"More than a loss, it's practically bankruptcy. We wandered around for twenty days and couldn't even find a Level 1 mineral star. It's just unbelievably poor."

"I heard that many people suffered heavy losses."

"Ugh..."

.....

Su Mo was slightly stunned, but then he was relieved. This starfield was originally scarce in resources, so returning empty-handed was normal.

He didn't pay too much attention to it.

Grumble!

At this moment, his stomach protested.

Su Mo felt a bit hungry. He had been in a hurry to return and replace the nuclear fuel rods and hadn't eaten for several days. He sighed and muttered to himself.

"Oh well, I guess I'll eat first."

A moment later, Su Mo arrived at the cafeteria in the resting area.

It was super lively here, with at least a thousand people gathered to eat.

Fortunately, the cafeteria's dining area was spacious enough, not only easily accommodating everyone, but also featuring simple partitions at intervals on both sides, preventing people from feeling too crowded.

Su Mo bought a hearty chicken leg meal and then searched for a seat while carrying his tray.

Soon, he found a corner partition and sat down, burying himself in his food.

At this time, Su Mo heard the people eating on his right side complaining bitterly.

"Ugh, this trip was a waste. I was hoping to make a fortune, but I didn't find anything."

"Don't even mention it, we're even worse off. Not only did our small transport ship not find any resources, but it also malfunctioned, and we have to pay for the repairs out of our own pockets."

"This starfield is too poor, right? Has anyone actually made money?"

"Made money? I ask on the public channel every day, and it's all just wailing."

"Then how are we supposed to survive?"

"I don't think there's much hope in finding resources. If we really want to turn things around, we still have to rely on the reward order issued by Lord Sperd."

....

Hearing the words "reward order," Su Mo's eyes narrowed, and he listened more carefully.

"Lord Sperd's reward order is also unlikely to be successful. Finding an anomalous zone isn't that easy. Have you found any clues?"

"You're asking me? Isn't that a stupid question? If I had found anything, would I be here eating this communal slop? I would have gotten rich long ago."

"Yeah, come to think of it, Lord Sperd is really generous, giving such high rewards."

....

Su Mo picked up his phone and checked the latest administrative orders.

Soon, he found a piece of information that he had overlooked a long time ago. It was issued by Sperd.

It basically stated that anyone who could find a peculiar anomalous zone during exploration operations would be given a high reward based on the information provided, with no upper limit.

Su Mo pondered for a moment and suddenly had a strong feeling that Sperd seemed to be using all the crew members to help him find anomalous zones.

Lord Sperd's methods were indeed very clever and remarkable.

Just as Su Mo was lost in thought, he suddenly heard a few angry complaints from the partition behind him.

"Damn it, this is such a cursed place. We sent out so many people and searched for so long, but we found nothing."

"I suspect we've been scammed."

"We're really screwed this time. The Ye family's situation wasn't optimistic to begin with, and this has made it even worse."

....

Su Mo narrowed his eyes. The Ye family had also returned?

And judging from their tone, their situation seemed very dire.

"Alright, stop complaining. As far as I know, most of the exploration teams that came out this time suffered heavy losses. There's nothing to complain about."

A somewhat familiar voice rang out.

Su Mo thought carefully for a moment and remembered that the voice belonged to Ye Jing.

Speaking of the Ye family's descendants, Su Mo had a good impression of this Ye Jing. Although he was a playboy, he was very smart and knew his limits.

"Ye Jing, you're just comforting yourself, right? Who said everyone suffered heavy losses? There are also people who made a killing."

A Ye family scion said unhappily.

"Who?"

"Who else could it be but Su Mo and his team?"

"Really?"

"Why would I lie to you? I'm telling you, it's spreading around privately. As soon as the exploration mission started, Su Mo led General Zhao Wushuang and the others straight to a mining site and started digging like crazy. They're still digging now, and I heard the profits are extremely good."

"That's too much. They didn't even bring us along when they had such a good spot. We used to be in the same guild."

Ye Jing said rationally, "Don't say that. We were the ones who asked them to bring us along. They had no obligation to take us to dig."

"That's right, we asked him to bring us here, but who knew it would be so difficult to mine here? He didn't even think about taking care of us. After all, taking care of anyone is the same as taking care of anyone, and anyone digging is the same as anyone digging. Besides, we wouldn't have taken his share even if we had dug."

"Just pig-headed."

"Alright, don't say that. His status is different from ours. He doesn't care about those benefits. Everyone, please say a few less words."

Ye Jing said.

"What different status? Ye Jing, you think too highly of him. I admit that he's very lucky to be in a high position with great power right now. But to put it bluntly, he's really stupid."

"Why?"

Someone asked, puzzled.

"He's just lucky this time to have temporarily replaced Lord Wang Hai. He doesn't even take advantage of this opportunity. If I were him, I would definitely bring all the Five Dragon Heads families and everyone from Zone Z who wants to participate in the exploration team, and use this opportunity to make them all owe me favors. Don't look at how glorious he is now. It's all temporary. The higher he stands, the harder he'll fall later."

"Isn't that a bit much?"