Fu Luo was still familiarizing herself with the remote communication station principles in the reader when she heard Yesi grumble in an unpleasant tone: "Damn it."

Yesi was skilled in all aspects except for patience, which was basically zero. If you ignored him, he could curse at himself for an entire day.

There was no artificial gravity system in the communication station. Fu Luo, wearing a spacesuit, could only float over like a fish: "What's wrong?"

Yesi had a cold expression as he removed the thick mechanical cover under the instrument panel: "See that?"

Fu Luo nodded without understanding.

Yesi: "Understand now?"

Fu Luo hesitated for a moment. Although she felt it made her seem unintelligent, there was no way to pretend she understood, so she could only honestly shake her head.

Sure enough, she was met with Yesi's scolding: "How can you be so dull? If I was as stupid as you, I would memorize every ship's accompanying reader and engrave it in my mind!"

Fu Luo didn't say anything and silently remembered this suggestion.

Fortunately, Yesi was an eccentric person whose anger came and went quickly. He fiddled with it for a while, then kicked Fu Luo with his toes: "Go, remove the spare power board from the small spacecraft. I'll see if I can restart this thing."

When Fu Luo returned with the power board, she specifically checked the production date of the abandoned communication station.

"Something from 200 years ago," she was a bit shocked, "and you understand this too?"

"It's just you regular army young masters and ladies who don't know the hardships of the common people. Anyway, there's plenty of fiscal revenue for you to squander," Yesi began skillfully disassembling and assembling the power board. This guy might really have been born on a warship, very accustomed to zero gravity. He said sarcastically, "We pirates are all from poor families. 'Scavenging' is one of the basic skills."

Even at this time, he hadn't forgotten his resentment of the rich. Fu Luo didn't know what this older man was thinking, but she was very magnanimous and didn't stoop to his level.

The two of them were like a master mechanic leading his young apprentice. Yesi worked silently while Fu Luo floated beside him in a strange posture, using the reader adjusted to "zero gravity mode" to take notes rapidly.

An hour later, Yesi gently moved a bit and let out a breath.

With a "beep--" sound, the lights in the entire communication station turned on. The station had successfully restarted, quickly sealing the cabin door and autonomously pressurizing with oxygen. It was actually still usable.

The quality of things made by the ancients was truly excellent.

Yesi pulled off his spacesuit hood, shaking his golden hair.

"This communication station is unusable," he said while operating the equipment. "The 87s old-style signal system will be 100% intercepted by the enemy. With your communication technology level, they could locate us within twelve hours. In the other star system... well, their communication technology may be good, but their speed is lacking. Even if we're immediately locked onto, we still have a six to eight hour time difference. What should we do in this time?"

Fu Luo thought for a moment: "To be safe, do you think we can adjust the equipment within three hours? Connect first, see the current situation on Earth, record it to report back-- are there any parts that can be removed to take with us?"

"The remote communication terminal outside the signal system should be able to be taken and utilized..." Yesi's words suddenly paused. He turned his head and gave Fu Luo a strange look, "I've discovered, when you're at headquarters, you're just a yes-man who only knows how to accept and complete missions. But every time you come out on your own, you actually have a bit of decisiveness."

"That's different." Fu Luo brushed him off and began mentally rehearsing the disassembly method for the remote communication terminal.

Yesi adjusted the frequency while casually asking: "How is it different?"

Fu Luo: "Headquarters has so many leaders, all more capable than me. I only have a superficial understanding of many things and my thinking is not comprehensive. Of course I do whatever they say-- when I come out to complete a mission, it's just me, so I have to be responsible."

Yesi suddenly fell silent. The entire communication station was filled with the rustling sound of static. The man's face was cast in a slight green by the system's fluorescent light, reflecting in his pale-colored pupils, looking eerie, like a wolf lurking in the jungle.

If a person knows when to take responsibility and when to shut up, their level of maturity is definitely higher than that of most people in the world.

At least Yesi felt he himself couldn't do it-- the former pirate leader suddenly began to reflect on his conduct. Halfway through his reflection, he couldn't help but laugh.

"If I had been a bit more humble and cautious back then, I wouldn't be here now doing cheap labor for you foolish Earthlings." Yesi thought.

Although this guy had reached this age and taken a lesson from others, his nature was still difficult to change. After less than two seconds of reflection, he smugly let it go: "Oh well, just consider it as no one's perfect."

"Kid." Yesi spoke.

Fu Luo: "Mm... ah? Calling me?"

"Do you want to truly learn a bit... about how to survive in this ghostly place called the universe?"

Fu Luo's pupils suddenly dilated. She was almost dumbfounded as she said: "I... Senior Yesi..."

Yesi grinned gloomily: "Then we'll have to abandon the previous playhouse-style teaching methods. Mommy's little baby, let's get a bit serious."

Fu Luo's eyelids twitched for no reason.

Just then, the signal connected, and human voices coming from the other end made Fu Luo perk up.

The other side seemed quite noisy, with occasional sounds of collisions and footsteps. Fu Luo listened for a moment and felt the footsteps were a bit heavy, as if the person was a bit lacking in strength.

At this time, the croaking voice of a boy in puberty came from inside: "Mom, who are you calling? Why is the phone lit up?"

A woman's voice came from a bit further away: "What, is there a signal?"

"What, is it civilian?" Fu Luo asked softly.

"Mm, most of the remote communication stations from that era were for civilian use." Yesi made fine adjustments to the frequency to make the voices inside a bit clearer, "Looks like I didn't misremember the Chinese region's call sign prefix. Not bad luck."

"Hello? Hello? Is anyone there? Can you hear me?" The woman on the other end of the line seemed to have picked up the phone. After some fine-tuning, her voice was very clear, almost as if she was speaking right next to one's ear.

Fu Luo whispered, "Is it two-way or one-way?"

Yesi: "It should be two-way. Try talking to her."

Fu Luo cleared her throat, trying to make her voice sound as gentle as possible: "Hello?"

"Ah! There really is someone!" The woman on the other end seemed to be talking to her son, "Um... wait, is the signal restored now? Who are you? Is this a crossed line?"

This person's voice sounded a bit like Fu Xiaoxin, but her tone was much gentler than Fu Xiaoxin's - perhaps this was how Fu Xiaoxin would politely speak to others?

In any case, Fu Luo had never heard it before.

The sudden sense of familiarity brought a sting to Fu Luo's eyes.

She was like a wanderer weathered by trials and hardships, and just catching a whiff of the scent of "home" nearly made her backbone, which had been holding her up, go limp.

"Sorry, the signal hasn't been restored," Fu Luo tried to use her most steady voice, with a hint of hoarseness, "I... I'm from the Earth Allied Forces, China Fortress Space Combat Second Department..."

The woman let out a short gasp.

"We... we..." Fu Luo suddenly couldn't find the right words.

How should she put it?

That we are on the run now? That we have let everyone down?

She choked up abruptly, realizing that there was no way to explain it.