Chapter 158
“Sizzle, sizzle—”
With a piercing sound, golden-red sparks burst out, and the silver-white metal quickly melted under the high temperature of more than 3,000 degrees, and then was twisted into various shapes by the changing magnetic field, filling the gaps layer by layer. Finally, a layer of gray-blue paint was sprayed on, and the wall became clean and new again.
Xi Zhenhai put away the spray gun and tool box, and the mechanical arm that stretched out from his waist automatically retracted. He opened the mask on his helmet and took a deep breath of the air that still smelled of burning and spray paint. He leaned against the wall to rest for a while, then turned on the communication and said, "Captain, area D-303 has been repaired. Please give instructions."
His voice was slightly hoarse, and even though the sound was somewhat distorted due to mechanical transmission, one could still hear the fatigue in it.
After a few seconds, he heard a steady voice saying, "Okay, your work for today is done. Your remuneration will be deposited into your account later. Go back and have a rest."
"No, Captain! I can still do it! I'm in good shape now!" Xi Zhenhai straightened his back and said loudly, as if he could prove his strong and healthy to the person on the other end of the communication through the photon waves.
"Zhenhai, you haven't slept for three days, right? Even if you drank the stimulant, listen to me and go back to rest! Get a good sleep and get enough energy before working. Otherwise, your body will collapse sooner or later." The person on the other end advised.
"I don't need it. I'm really fine." Xi Zhenhai begged, "Captain, please, give me another job! Just one! I'll go back and rest after I finish this one."
"You said the same thing last time, and the time before that." The captain said in a cold tone, "Even if you don't care about your body, your fatigue index is already marked red. I can't assign tasks to employees in this state. In short, I won't give you new work until you have a good rest. That's it!"
"drop--"
There was a slight sound, and the call was disconnected. Xi Zhenhai opened his mouth in disappointment, and his whole face became gloomy.
The bracelet rang with a "ding dong" notification sound, indicating that his salary for this work had arrived. Looking at the pitiful two-digit number on it and then at the total amount in the account, Xi Zhenhai squatted down dejectedly, pulling his hair with both hands, muttering curses: "Waste! Waste! Waste!"
Turbid tears fell drop by drop onto the floor, splashing into tiny droplets.
A cylindrical cleaning robot sang a cheerful children's song and circled around Xi Zhenhai. It grabbed a cleaning mop on its long mechanical claws and wiped the water stains on the floor. Then it turned around and left while singing again.
Xi Zhenhai sniffed, wiped his tears, and put away the equipment with a numb face. All the mechanical arms and instruments automatically retracted into the large backpack that was nearly one meter high on his back, and then he walked towards home.
It was only at this moment that overwhelming fatigue suddenly came over him, and he suddenly found that he seemed to have no strength to even stand. The tall and burly man was staggering at this time, and it seemed very difficult to take a step.
But in fact, there is a layer of micro exoskeleton armor in his gray uniform, which is enough to reduce most of the burden, allowing an ordinary carbon-based human like him to easily lift more than ten tons of building materials. But now, even the weight of a feather makes him feel overwhelmed.
Walking to the boundary of the maintenance area, Xi Zhenhai tapped on the wall a few times, retracted the words "Under Maintenance, Please Do Not Approach" on the ground and the holographic projection of the virtual fence, and walked out of this passage.
In an instant, a noisy world appeared!
"Happy fruit, happy fruit, delicious and cheap happy fruit..."
"This is a secret box from a mysterious space. The secrets inside will never be discovered by others - unless you allow it. It's a bloody sale. I'll give you a 10% discount... What? 70% off? Impossible! Do you think I'm doing charity? The maximum discount is 15%, no less..."
"Xinli, Xinli, come home and have dinner! Where have you been, you bastard? Come back and have dinner!"
"You lied to me! You lied to me again! Didn't you say you would never contact that woman again? You bastard!"
"The Heavenly Fire Longevity Pill, just one pill can extend your lifespan by 300 years! This is a real legendary item. I'm telling you in secret, if it weren't for my wife having a terminal illness, I would never have taken this thing out..."
"Milli Mouse, Milli Mouse, a mysterious cosmic creature captured from the outskirts of the Pillar of Creation Nebula. Don't be fooled by its ordinary appearance, it actually contains very terrifying power!"
"You profiteer, liar! Give me back my money!"
"Hey, big brother, this is where you're wrong. How can you call it a scam if it's a transaction between us? I just exaggerated the efficacy a little bit... Which advertisement doesn't do that? You suffered a loss because you didn't have good judgment, so why do you want to blame others?"
"You...you...you...you...make me so mad! I'll beat you to death!"
"Ouch! Why are you hitting people! Stop! Stop! Help, someone is trying to kill someone!"
Looking at the commotion over there, Xi Zhenhai was in no mood to get involved. He just took a glance and then walked away from it.
The place they were in was not a planet, but a spaceship called Thiokas Ao that hovered near the Anais . This was a spaceship as large as an ordinary solid planet, and it provided various entertainment methods popular in the Interstellar Alliance.
There are countless teams that come to explore the Eagle Nebula. They may accidentally pick up a seemingly insignificant stone and sell it for a huge price. It . However, there are also many more people who are swallowed up silently by the mysterious nebula, and in the end not even a bone is left.
For example, during the supernova explosion about ninety years ago, although Suocasao and many outer habitable planets received the news in advance and basically evacuated, the adventure groups lingering near the nebula and some habitable planets that were too close did not escape in time, and the number of people killed in that disaster reached billions.
Since then, no one on the planets near the Eagle Nebula has been willing to migrate here. In addition to some countries building highly mobile observation stations and military bases on nearby asteroids, the largest and most convenient supply station is the Suocasao. Therefore, the disaster became an opportunity for the spacecraft. After that incident, Suocasao developed rapidly. The spacecraft has been expanded ten times, from the original seven floors to the current eighteen floors, and the area has increased a lot.
Such a huge spacecraft is already larger than many countries on land. It also requires countless manpower and resources to maintain its normal operation. Xi Zhenhai is an ordinary maintenance staff member on the third floor. Although most of the problems on the spacecraft are handled by artificial intelligence and automatic maintenance systems, there are always some places that cannot be touched by machines, or some work will cost more if it is done by machines . At this time, traditional human maintenance becomes the best choice.
The entire spacecraft is under the monitoring of the central intelligent computer Aoqi. Once a problem occurs somewhere and the maintenance department needs to intervene to repair it, Aoqi will assign the task to the appropriate maintenance team, and then the team leader will assign the work to the team members. Although their work is assisted by exoskeleton armor and intelligent systems, it requires a lot of energy, and each maintenance must be evaluated above A level in Aoqi's monitoring to be considered passed, and finally the remuneration will be issued according to the number of maintenance.
Although the remuneration each time is not much, it is enough to maintain a normal life together with the monthly basic salary. As staff members of Liukasao, they also enjoy some small privileges, such as free use of most public facilities, monthly distribution of certain daily necessities, and occasional extra income. Little by little, Xi Zhenhai's life was actually much better than most of the grassroots staff here. Occasionally, he could work two extra shifts, take his family to a big hotel for a splurge, buy his wife a piece of jewelry as a birthday gift, or take his children to the children's park on the eleventh floor to play for a day during holidays.
Although life was ordinary at that time, when I think back on it now, it makes me cry with happiness.
However, all this came to an abrupt end half a year ago!
His daughter was seriously ill, not terminally ill, but the cost of treatment was sky-high. Xi Zhenhai's savings over the years were not enough, and selling all the valuables at home was not enough. He worked overtime and worked hard, but it was still a long way from saving enough for medical expenses. He could only buy some expensive injections and pills with incomprehensible instructions to barely maintain his daughter's life. However, the life of trying his best but still not seeing any hope almost completely overwhelmed this man.
Xi Zhenhai walked numbly, and suddenly, his arm was grabbed by a hand.
"Xiao Hai, Xiao Hai, our Ah Zhe has gone to school and hasn't come back yet. I went to the school to pick him up but couldn't find him. Have you seen him?"
When Xi Zhenhai heard the voice, he knew who had caught him. He turned around and saw that it was indeed the case.
This is an old woman, with gray hair tied into a bun at the back of her head. Her clothes are very old, but they are still washed and neatly made, and she even has a wilted flower pinned on her collar. Although her face is full of wrinkles, you can still tell that she was good-looking when she was young, but it's a pity that a scar on her face that has not healed for a long time has destroyed her beauty.
Her name is Muter, also a carbon-based human, who used to have a good relationship with Xi Zhenhai's parents. When she was young, she worked as a waitress on the seventeenth floor, which was almost the most luxurious and extravagant place on the spaceship. The richest and most powerful people enjoyed themselves there, and Muter, who had outstanding appearance, was also one of the props for the rich people to enjoy themselves. Later, no one knew what happened, and Muter, whose appearance was destroyed, was driven out, and she came to live on the third floor with a big belly.
Later, she gave birth to a child, a smart and beautiful boy. Muter never married, and she wanted to raise the child wholeheartedly, giving all her love to the child. But the child named Muzhe was not sensible, always thinking about making a name for himself and wanting to make his way in a more grand world. A few years ago, Muzhe, who had just turned 20, graduated from a technical school. Without saying hello to anyone, he only left a note for his mother and followed an adventure team that came from nowhere.
Mu Teer was almost going crazy looking for his son but there was no trace of him. Mu Zhe kept his thoughts very secret. They didn't even know the name of the adventure team that the boy joined. Xi Zhenhai secretly speculated that maybe the boy had died a long time ago.
After searching for several years without any results, Muter's mental state became worse and worse. Sometimes she was very clear that her son had left, and sometimes she thought that Muzhe was still a child attending school. She often lingered at the entrance of the elementary school and even kindergarten that Muzhe had attended, perhaps expecting to see her son running towards her with his arms open like he did when he was a child.
Xi Zhenhai knew that it was difficult to explain it to her at this time, so he just smiled tiredly and said, "I'm sorry, Aunt Mu, I didn't see him."
"Oh, so that's the case..." Muter let go of Xi Zhenhai in disappointment and continued to search aimlessly on the street.
Looking at her aging back, Xi Zhenhai sighed deeply and continued walking forward.
Home is just ahead.
Pain is also ahead.
