Chapter 499: Changes VII (1/2)

Chapter 499: Changes VII

Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Yang Ming woke up with a grumbling stomach. He was positively famished. Then he noticed the food and water left beside him. He paused in surprise before devouring them all.

He also noticed the blanket on him after that. His heart warmed at the gesture, and he tried to guess who had done it for him. In the end, he could not reach a satisfying conclusion, so he left it at that.

Father Bach was no longer there. The fortifying work for this starship was done.

Finishing his food gave new energy to Yang Ming. He activated his comms and reported to his superior, ”Id W47236 maintenance staff Yang Ming is done resting. Seastar maintenance is done. I'm now on Seastar, awaiting further instructions.”

His superior responded swiftly, ”W47236, on top of the points for your working attitude and results, we will be awarding an extra five points as incentive. Now, please assist with starship Virienko. The transport vessel is already in position for you at Passage 5. Godspeed.”

Yang Ming saluted, ”Thank you. I'll head for Virienko immediately.” Points were important in the fleet for various purposes such as promotions and benefits. Each job that Yang Ming took would be rewarded with points. If a job was done with extra diligence, more points would be awarded. Everyone working in the fleet would obtain points. Details of this point system could be found in the Points Manual introduced by Sir Jay.

The Points Manual was painstakingly detailed. Each job would be associated with a certain number of points. If a staff died in battle or due to their work, their points would be converted to monetary or other relevant forms of compensation for their heirs as per their will.

However, most staff members did not treat the point system seriously. Usage of the fleet's resources were monitored strictly. They were not paid with money for their work, and even if they were, there was nothing to spend it on. Hence, the workers did not mind how many points they earned, Yang Ming included. He now had 820 points, the highest amongst his peers.

Of course, none of them realized how this neglected point system would later benefit them tremendously.

Yang Ming entered Passage 5 and found the vessel waiting for him.

After verifying his ID, the vessel brought Yang Ming to Virienko. The vessel was a very small flying ship with a maximum capacity of 10 crew members. It was about five meters long, like a space car, used mainly for transportation between ships in the fleet.

Soon, they reached Virienko.

It looked like he was the only maintenance staff on Virienko. There was no sign of any fortification work on the ship yet.

He began to inspect the ship's main structure to determine which places to fortify.

Suddenly, he heard the loud whirring of a laser welder. Was there another maintenance staff around? He quickly traced the source of the sound. Communication between maintenance staff would help speed up progress and reduce the chances of making mistakes.

He made a turn and, as expected, saw a maintenance staff member crouched on the floor, hard at work.

Since the man had his back to him, he could not make out the staff's face. However, this particular staff was welding with good precision, and Yang Ming admired that.

He approached the man and greeted him, ”Hey, bro, where you at now?”

The man turned over, ”I've only just begun.”

When he took in the man's face, Yang Ming froze on the spot like he was hit by lightning. It was a good 30 seconds before he responded with disbelief, ”Sir - Sir Jay!”

Ye Chong's expression was inert. He nodded and said plainly, ”Right, let's get to work.”

”Yes sir.” Yang Ming quickly took out his gear.

It had been a while since Ye Chong had to do maintenance work himself. It was necessary now. Time was precious, and every bit of manpower counted. Ye Chong was experienced in maintenance work. After all, he had done all kinds of maintenance work looking back. Fortification work, like this one now, did not require any specialized technical expertise. Compared to the upgrades he did on Coxcomb before, this was a walk in the park.