Chapter 1 Speed of the Patrol Ship

No matter how much he resented the name, the speed of this "Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace" patrol ship was quite satisfactory. It was more than a notch faster than the transport ships of private companies. It only took an hour to fly back to the solar system from over eight hundred light-years away, and that was after stopping many times to take pictures, slow down for sightseeing, and detour for exploration. The speed of this ship was simply incredible, and it could not even be measured by mere "speed." After the faster-than-light engine was activated, it broke through the light-speed barrier of this universe. Hao Ren didn't know if the navigation process in the space bubble could still be considered "navigation," as it seemed more like teleportation to him.

This was just the cruising mode of the Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace. In fact, this spaceship had the ability to truly jump through space. It could jump between two worlds, and it could also jump within a single universe. However, this required a bit of charging time, and it was also an extra burden on the ship's power core. Therefore, Raven 12345 advised Hao Ren that unless necessary, it was better to fly the journeys that could be completed within a few hours. Keeping the spaceship in the best possible condition to cope with real emergencies was a basic quality that every captain must possess.

Hao Ren would probably need a long time before he could become a real captain, at least until he had finished reading the large pile of theoretical data in the data terminal. Right now, although he was the owner of this spaceship in name, he was actually just a nominal figurehead. He could only set a destination after boarding the ship, and leave the rest to the ship's main computer and his data terminal. This was far from being a "captain."

After passing through the masking layer that could block all detection methods, the guide lights of the Kuiper Station reappeared in Hao Ren's field of vision. The last time he left here, he was hitching a ride on someone else's ship. This time, he was returning on his own official ship. Only two days had passed, which gave him a strange sense of excitement, and he had a strong urge to show off to someone.

Fortunately, he couldn't find any acquaintances to show off to in this place.

"Docking request sent—docking request approved, this ship is about to enter a special port area." The soft, monotonous voice of the ship's main computer echoed in the control room. The bow of the Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace slowly turned towards an independent building on the flank of the Kuiper Station. The data terminal, stuck on the control panel, shouted excitedly, "Yay, yay! Perfect maiden voyage! This machine was born to be a ship's main computer! Someone quickly get a welding gun and weld this machine into this pit!"

Hao Ren brandished a bottle of 502 glue over the data terminal. "Say it again, say it again and see if I really pour it down?"

So the data terminal instantly shut up.

"Your spaceship will be docked here permanently from now on," Raven 12345 followed him with great interest, but she had actually been dozing off since the start of the voyage. She only woke up now, pointing to the flank of the Kuiper Station shown on the holographic projection. "This special port area is specially prepared for inspectors and other imperial official ships. Remember, your ship enjoys various privileges in mortal civilizations, including the right of way on any route, exemption from inspection for transit, the right to use stargates, and indefinite docking at any space station. But these privileges are not for you to bully people. You must act in accordance with the regulations, such as strictly using the prescribed berths, not wandering around on the main routes unless for official business, not requisitioning private ships and space station facilities for your own personal matters, and strictly prohibiting opening fire on neutral units. I don't want to hear anyone complaining about you. This goddess has keen eyes and saw from the start that you were a bit overexcited."

Hao Ren laughed when he heard this. He was even happier to hear Raven 12345 seriously emphasize these issues. "Don't worry, you can trust my character. But speaking of which, so many privileges?"

Hao Ren wasn't quite sure what the permissions like "priority passage on any route" and "exemption from inspection for transit" meant, but just hearing the names, he knew that these were quite special powers. He couldn't help but be a little curious.

"Because inspectors are the guarantee for the stable operation of this universe, and even the behind-the-scenes protectors of many civilizations' safe development. Don't be so surprised. You feel like you're doing trivial things, but my arrangements actually have deep meaning. Let's not talk about this for now. In short, you just need to know that responsibility follows power. Since you have privileges, you must have actions that match these privileges, and at least be worthy of the respect that others have for you. Look at this space station, those guide robots and port facilities in front, did you see them? The staff there are working for the empire's grassroots with a sense of honor. You should at least be worthy of their overtime today."

Raven 12345's words were always rough but reasonable. Her words immediately made Hao Ren's sense of responsibility heavy. He felt that his ordinary and lazy personality was even a bit unworthy of the Kuiper Station's staff, unworthy of the 883 who gave him a free ride. So, a passion to rush out and perish together with some evil forces immediately arose. This passion burned for five or six seconds, and then he heard Raven 12345 continue, "Actually, the people working overtime here are mainly because the Kuiper Station pays relatively high wages. One of the shareholders of this station is the Fiya Li Void Consortium, those nouveau riche. I mainly wanted to enhance your sense of responsibility just now, I learned it from a corporate management secret book..."

Hao Ren: "...Can't you let my sense of responsibility burn for a while longer?"

Raven 12345 chuckled. "Anyway, just do your job well. If you cause trouble, I'll strike you with lightning."

As they spoke, the spaceship had already docked in a port within the special port area. This was a large facility with a structure similar to the Fourth Connecting Port, and the interior space was so spacious that it made people wonder if they were planning to squeeze four or five more spaceships in there. Hao Ren left the "Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace" with an unfinished feeling. On the platform of the port, he saw several staff members of the space station, one of whom was an acquaintance: the guide girl from before.

"Inspector, congratulations on your safe return." The guide girl bowed to Hao Ren with a smile. The staff members standing behind her also greeted him, which made Hao Ren feel a little overwhelmed. He felt that he hadn't done anything big at all, just picked up an egg from an alien planet, and this egg was more significant than him...

"Hey, why aren't you greeting me?" Raven 12345 jumped up, putting a halo made of lightning behind her head, and shouting as she jumped, "I'm a goddess, I'm your goddess!"

"Yes, yes, Goddess, we saw you just now," the guide girl said with a smile, looking at Raven 12345. "But we didn't know if you were still playing the incognito game this time, so we didn't dare to say anything. Come on, everyone, let's say it together: Goddess, boundless magic, great power, divine..."

Raven 12345 quickly dodged to the side. "Forget it, forget it, I'll just go incognito. Pretend you don't know me."

Hao Ren felt quite surprised to see this scene. This goddess sister, who was full of bad ideas, actually had this side to her? It seemed that she was quite familiar with the people at the Kuiper Station. Hao Ren was increasingly curious about what Raven 12345's usual life was like.

At this time, an old man with white hair and beard came to Hao Ren. He looked very old, but his energy was very strong. He wore a neat blue uniform. He shook hands with Hao Ren. "Inspector, I'm the stationmaster of this space station, you can call me Danmos. I was busy with official duties before and didn't have time to say hello."

Then, the old man pointed to the guide girl next to him. "This is my granddaughter, Lulu. You've already met."

"Nice to meet you, nice to meet you." Hao Ren shook the old man's hand vigorously, feeling a very strange aura on the other party. Before he could ask, Raven 12345 introduced, "Danmos used to be a commander of the Imperial Auxiliary Forces, from the Pan-Galactic Civilization Community. He died in a fierce battle, and after being resurrected, he left the army to become the stationmaster here. Get to know him, you might be able to use him in future missions."

Hao Ren felt a little dazed listening to Raven's natural introduction. "Died? Resurrected?"

"I died four times, the fourth time was barely saved," the old stationmaster didn't seem to care about this issue at all. "Fighting with the Xiling Apostles, dying a few times is normal. But they said that if I died again, I probably wouldn't be able to be saved, so they forced me to retire. Don't worry, I'm very familiar with imperial affairs, just ask if you need any help."

Hao Ren was already stunned at this time, and could only nod while mechanically repeating the two words: "Nice to meet you, nice to meet you..."

An old man who had died four times, can you believe it?!