"Holy crap!"
Chen Ming instinctively swore and raised the handgun he had picked up.
After the slight recoil feedback, the insect egg exploded directly.
The corpse of an unformed bug, shattered and scattered, filled the seemingly empty cold storage room.
Chen Ming wiped the stain off his protective suit's helmet, turned around, and left, closing the compartment door behind him.
He forced himself not to recall the disgusting scene just now and quickly walked to the adjacent planting chamber.
However, it was just as empty as the cold storage room.
Chen Ming continued to push himself to think about where to find food.
If he couldn't obtain food quickly, starving to death would be his final fate.
Or perhaps...
Chen Ming's gaze drifted to the captain's cabin, where a hibernation pod stood in the corner.
But it was actually an emergency escape pod.
Chen Ming could abandon ship, descend onto the planet below, and seek survival there.
"Only a fool would do that."
Until the last moment, Chen Ming didn't want to leave his life to fate.
He took out his personal terminal with little remaining power and found a power cord in the living quarters, connecting it to the ship's electrical system.
While charging, Chen Ming searched for something on the Space Station map.
Soon, what he was looking for appeared before his eyes.
If the Mining Space Station was to run for a long time, certain places were indispensable.
A refrigerated storage holding a large amount of frozen food, and a warehouse storing fusion fuel to keep the Space Station operational.
If Chen Ming wanted to survive, he had to go to the cold storage room to find food.
To live longer, he had to leave this dangerous Space Station, and fuel became a necessity.
But leaving on a damaged ship was not a wise decision.
It would be best if Chen Ming could make one more trip to the office the voice broadcast had tipped him off to, to get the maintenance kit designated for him as a Maintenance Master.
At the same time, gather enough materials following the ship repair guide.
Even if much equipment on the ship was faulty, he might be able to fix everything.
Chen Ming planned what he needed to survive and mapped out his route on the Space Station's map.
The first destination had to be the No. 125 maintenance personnel office in the closest office area to obtain the maintenance kit.
Then head to the power zone to get fuel.
After all, the ship only had 19% fuel remaining; who knew how long that would last.
The power zone was beneath the living quarters where Chen Ming first woke up.
Because the power equipment generated heat, providing some warmth for the living area, it was arranged there.
The power zone should be safer than the cold storage located on the layer between the public and mining areas.
Chen Ming planned to address the cold storage issue after acquiring fuel and tools.
With the route determined, Chen Ming didn't hesitate, confirmed the approximate location, and jogged over.
In the maintenance office, Chen Ming found his name on a cabinet.
The cabinet was unlocked, and Chen Ming easily retrieved a suitcase-sized maintenance kit and his brand-new personal terminal.
Without lingering, Chen Ming headed towards the power area with the suitcase in hand.
Along the way, he carefully avoided the public areas full of disgusting growths and insect eggs and also smoothly found fuel and a small cart.
After three trips to replenish the ship's fuel, with plenty of spare fuel left over,
Chen Ming noticed the oxygen and power in his protective suit were running low.
So, after the last fuel run, he pushed the cart he found in the power area into the public area, approaching the passageway between the upper and lower levels.
Chen Ming gripped his gun tightly, ready to respond to any changes at the first sign.
The passage in the public area between the upper and lower levels wasn't blocked by growths and insect eggs, and Chen Ming descended to the cold storage level, feeling a little nervous.
Using his Maintenance Master's terminal access, he opened the cold storage door, revealing an empty warehouse before him.
Nothing was left in the cold storage.
However, there was an emergency supply room in the corner of the cold storage; it was Chen Ming's last hope.
Chen Ming pushed the cart and opened the emergency supply room door.
Noticing that upon entering the emergency supply room, his protective suit's oxygen meter started to restore, Chen Ming casually closed the door.
Inside, only bags that looked like military rations were stored.
They were labeled with the words "Packaged Survival Food."
No brand, no expiration date, only an ingredient list.
Chen Ming tore open the package, revealing a block that looked like luncheon meat.
Having confirmed again that there was oxygen in the emergency supply room, Chen Ming removed his helmet and sniffed the luncheon meat, detecting no particular odor.
He broke off a small piece, chewed it, but didn't swallow.
After chewing for about three or four minutes, Chen Ming seemed to taste a hint of meat flavor.
So he spat out the contents from his mouth.
All he needed to do was wait for a while; if there were no adverse reactions, these decades-old packaged survival foods should be edible.
Moreover, Chen Ming estimated that the Space Station probably had no other food left.
So he loaded all of the packaged survival foods from the emergency supply room onto the cart, planning to leave just like that.
Just as he returned to the level above the public area,
Chen Ming suddenly noticed the insect eggs around him seemed to start moving.
"What's happening?"
Chen Ming's heart rate instantly sped up, and his steps quickened.
The insect eggs around him were shaking more and more violently.
And under the light from the lower level Chen Ming had just passed, it seemed there were many shadowy figures moving in the passage between the upper and lower levels.
The insect eggs on the lower level had hatched.
Chen Ming's forehead was immediately covered in cold sweat.
Could it be because the cold storage had remained sealed all along, and when Chen Ming opened it, the cold air, or relative warmth compared to space, triggered the insect eggs?
Chen Ming wasn't sure what the exact cause was, but he knew what he should do now.
He no longer worried about whether his movements were too big, just ran in the direction of the spaceship.
Sprinted all the way to the vicinity of the Iron Ore No. spaceship.
Though sound couldn't be heard in the vacuum, Chen Ming could easily sense the increasing and approaching tremors underfoot.
When a sense of danger was about to descend, Chen Ming gave a shove to the food-laden cart and lunged forward onto the ground.
In that instant, the camera footage connected to the spaceship's machine gun appeared in Chen Ming's eyes.
Before the swarm of newly-hatched bugs could pounce on him,
The 22mm caliber machine gun fired.
There was no gunfire sound in the vacuum, but the continually flashing firelight and the occasional hit to his back by debris made Chen Ming acutely aware of the ongoing situation.
And the situation was deteriorating.
Chen Ming could see a few insectoids, taller than humans, not just newly hatched, emerging in the nearby office area.
He immediately climbed to his feet, and in the next moment, a lucky surviving larva clung to his shoulder.
The sharp mouthparts could pierce Chen Ming's protective suit in the next second, causing him to perish in the vacuum.
In that instant, Chen Ming's hair stood on end, and he raised his handgun at a speed he had never achieved in his life, shooting the alien larva-like creature on his shoulder to pieces.
Without any superfluous actions, Chen Ming swiftly picked up the scattered packaged food near the cart he had pushed earlier and rushed onto the Iron Ore No. with the cart.
The hatch rapidly sealed, and the Iron Ore No.'s engine, fueled to capacity, was quickly fired up.
The exhaust flame from the back of the spaceship propelled the Iron Ore No. out of the dock.
Chen Ming casually placed the cart aside and rushed into the captain's cabin.
Watching the abandoned Mining Space Station gradually recede from the porthole, and the insects, with their gaping mouthparts, seemingly roaring yet impotent,
The tension in Chen Ming's mind finally eased.
At least for now, he was safe.