Before Wang Dong, Lao Shi was the boss of this group of interstellar miners.
Because he was skilled and lucky. Even though his character was not good, it didn't affect his status.
After Wang Dong arrived, with his rapid progress, he directly affected Lao Shi's status among the miners.
So, Lao Shi began to target Wang Dong.
“Yo, isn't this our star miner, Dong Ge? Dong Ge, Dong Ge, my mining skills are not good, can you give me some pointers on how I should move?”
Speak of the devil.
Suddenly, a slick voice popped into the local network communication.
In Wang Dong's mind, a greasy middle-aged image appeared.
A receding hairline, thick lips, and a pair of dull little eyes.
Ugh.
Wang Dong suddenly felt a little resentment towards his own good memory.
Why did he remember such low-quality information so firmly?
As a mature brain, shouldn't you be more self-aware and do some regular cleaning?
After a moment of contemplation, Wang Dong did not reply with a sharp tongue.
Neither before transmigrating to this interstellar era, nor in his previous life before being reborn, was Wang Dong the kind of person who could prevail with his tongue.
Therefore, in the face of this provocation, he would only choose his usual way of responding.
“C'mon, let's fight.”
If you want to fight, then fight, it's that simple.
“Yo ho, there's another good show to watch!”
“Come, come, I'll open a stall, Lao Shi wins 1.5 to 1, Dong Ge wins 1.1 to 1!”
“You gambling fiend, you're not afraid of death again, the enjoyable scene of Dong Ge beating Lao Shi, you dare open a stall, aren't you afraid of losing your shirt?”
“No fear, no fear, I'll just work for free this time down in the mine. If by chance Dong Ge throws the fight and lets Lao Shi win, hehehe, you know what I mean.”
“I know, I know, Lishui Mountain Villa, right?”
“Hey, why does Dong Ge always have to say 'C'mon' first?”
“Nonsense, if I knew, I'd be Dong Ge too, ha.”
“Hahaha!”
A cheerful atmosphere instantly filled the communication channel.
Many miners gathered around the forward base, waiting for the asteroid belt's air window period.
Seeing Wang Dong give his most direct response as always, they all became cheerful.
In the cold and dead cosmic space, the monotonous mining life, if you don't have this optimistic attitude of seizing any opportunity for something interesting, it would indeed be too hard to bear.
Between men, the most direct collisions naturally ignite passion more easily.
Wang Dong's declaration of battle was made, and Lao Shi, having achieved his goal, still did not quiet down.
He continued to mumble endlessly.
It wasn't that he was being verbose, he wanted to use verbal attacks to provoke Wang Dong's emotions.
Wang Dong directly set his speech to text display in the communication channel, relieving his ears.
The competition between miners doesn't rely on the puny self-defense laser guns on their mining ships.
These self-defense laser guns can't even penetrate the G1-level aerospace steel, which is the lowest threshold for entering space, and can basically only be used against ultra-small space debris.
Miners compete in their professional skills.
Such as ship control, or mining operations.
Wang Dong and Lao Shi were going to compete in who could control their ships to reach the deeper parts of the mine area.
The asteroid belt mine area is already known for its complex airspace conditions.
The deeper you go, the more variables there are, and the more complex the airspace conditions become.
Mining ships that venture deep into the mine area are at risk of destruction if they are not careful.
Of course, there is reward for effort.
The deeper the mine area, the richer the mineral veins.
The more remote the area, the better the mineral veins are preserved.
As long as you can get there safely, the rewards will be far greater than those on the edges of the mine area.
The ability to reach the deeper parts of the mine area is one of the important factors in measuring the level of interstellar miners.
This method of competition is also the most capable of reflecting the courage and skills of miners.
Naturally, it would spark a frenzy among the miners.
This wasn't the first time Lao Shi provoked Wang Dong and challenged him to a competition.
Wang Dong knew his intentions very well.
Lao Shi always believed that the reason Wang Dong was able to obtain a harvest that surpassed other miners every time was because he had some unknown information about the mine area.
Not simply a matter of skills.
In terms of ship control skills and mining skills, Lao Shi didn't believe he was any worse than Wang Dong.
Perhaps, Wang Dong discovered a mineral vein enrichment zone of a larger scale?
Or perhaps he figured out some kind of operating law for the asteroid belt mine area?
Or perhaps some other unknown secret?
Lao Shi would often intentionally follow Wang Dong while he was mining, trying to find out his secret in this way.
He also provoked Wang Dong from time to time.
Wang Dong was annoyed by this annoying guy like a piece of chewing gum.
Relying on his good skills and control of the ship's performance, it wasn't difficult to shake off Lao Shi with a little effort.
But even if he shook him off ten times, twenty times.
Next time, Lao Shi would use his greasy middle-aged voice to provoke him again.
Or he would silently follow behind Wang Dong.
Like a fly that's been buzzing around you all the time.
It makes you want to pull out its intestines, wrap them around its neck a few dozen times, and then pull hard!
Wow, the world is quiet.
In fact, in his previous life, Wang Dong did just that.
It was after this competition that Lao Shi permanently disappeared from Wang Dong's life.
The world was indeed quiet, but unfortunately, it was only quiet for a while.
The aftereffects, however, followed closely behind.
“Same rules as always, we'll set out as soon as the air window period arrives, and the winner will be determined based on the final route map upon return.”
Still that greasy middle-aged voice, Lao Shi restated the rules of the competition.
“Okay.”
Wang Dong readily agreed.
The asteroid belt is constantly in a dynamic state.
Because of the different sizes and masses, and their different turbulent trajectory positions, the celestial bodies in the asteroid belt also have different speeds.
And on the outermost edge of the asteroid belt, there is often a turbulent belt made up of small and micro-celestial bodies.
These small and micro-celestial bodies move at higher speeds, orbiting the outer edge of the asteroid belt.
They are enough to pose a fatal threat to lightly armored, thin-skinned near-space mining ships.
Once they are hit by these high-speed celestial bodies, the mining ships can't withstand a few hits.
If the vital parts are damaged, then often even the escape pods cannot guarantee the safety of the miners.
Therefore, before the official mining operation, the mining company will organize special work ships to try to clear this outermost turbulent belt.
They don't expect to completely cut off this turbulent belt.
It would cost too much under the influence of celestial motion.
But it is necessary to “slim down” this turbulent belt.
After cleaning, the turbulent belt on the outermost edge of the asteroid belt will become much thinner, so that in a period of time, there will often be short periods of “air clearance”.
This is what miners call the air window period.
With the help of the air window period, Wang Dong and other miners' near-space mining ships can safely enter the asteroid belt mine area to work.
Observing and forecasting the air window period is also one of the main purposes of the forward base's existence.