Before Wang Dong arrived, Old Shi had been the top dog among the interstellar miners.
Thanks to his solid skills and decent luck, his bad personality didn't stop him from holding that position.
But once Wang Dong showed up and rapidly rose in skill, it directly challenged Old Shi's standing among the miners.
And so, Old Shi began targeting Wang Dong.
"Well, if it isn't our superstar miner, Brother Dong. Brother Dong, Brother Dong, your mining skills are so amazing. Could you maybe show me how to move my little ship?"
Speak of the devil.
Suddenly, a slick, greasy voice cut into the local comms.
A matching image popped into Wang Dong's mind—a greasy middle-aged man with a balding head, bloated lips, and dull, squinty eyes.
Ugh.
Wang Dong briefly cursed his excellent memory.
Why must such low-quality memories be stored so well?
For a fully developed brain, shouldn't there be some automatic garbage cleanup function?
After a brief pause, Wang Dong didn't bother with a sarcastic comeback.
Whether it was before he transmigrated or during his previous life in this interstellar era, he had never been the type to win battles with his tongue.
So, in the face of this provocation, he chose his usual response.
"Tsk. Come and fight."
If you want a fight, you get a fight. Simple as that.
"Oh-ho, looks like it's showtime again!"
"Alright, alright, I'm the bookie! Old Shi to win is 1.5-to-1, Brother Dong to win is 1.1-to-1!"
"Gambler, are you tired of living? Brother Dong beating Old Shi is everyone's favorite entertainment. You're not afraid of losing everything?"
"Not afraid at all! Worst case, I mine for free today. But hey, what if Brother Dong throws the match and lets Old Shi win, eh? You know what I mean."
"We get it, we get it. Classic Lishui Villa scenario~"
"Hey, why does Brother Dong always start with that 'tsk' before a fight?"
"Pfft, if I knew that, I'd be Brother Dong too!"
"Hahaha!"
Laughter filled the comms channel.
There were quite a few miners gathered near the Forward Base, all waiting for the Mining Window in the asteroid belt.
Seeing Wang Dong respond with his signature direct challenge, everyone cheered up.
In the cold, lifeless vacuum of space, in the boring, repetitive life of a miner, it was these small amusements that made things bearable.
Between men, direct confrontation always sparked the most excitement.
Even though Old Shi had gotten the challenge he wanted, he still didn't shut up.
He kept chattering away, trying to provoke Wang Dong emotionally.
Wang Dong simply set Old Shi's messages to text-only. Peace returned to his ears.
When miners compete, it's not with those pathetic low-powered self-defense laser guns mounted on their Mining Vessels.
Those lasers couldn't even pierce G1-grade aerospace steel, the bare minimum material used in space structures—they were only good for swatting space debris.
No, miner duels rely on real skills—like piloting and mining.
This time, Wang Dong and Old Shi were going to compete on who could pilot their ship deeper into the mining zone.
The Asteroid Belt Mining Zone was famous for its complex spatial conditions.
The deeper one went, the more unpredictable the variables, and the more dangerous the navigation.
Any misstep in the inner zone could result in the complete destruction of the vessel—and death.
But high risks came with high rewards.
The deeper parts of the belt held far richer mineral veins.
And since few dared venture that far, those veins remained better preserved.
Reaching the deeper zones of an asteroid field was one of the key measures of a miner's skill.
That's why this type of competition stirred so much excitement among miners.
It wasn't Old Shi's first time provoking Wang Dong for a contest.
Wang Dong knew exactly what he was thinking.
Old Shi firmly believed Wang Dong's consistently high yields couldn't just be because of superior technique.
He suspected Wang Dong had some kind of inside information about the mining zone.
Maybe Wang Dong had discovered a rich mineral cluster?
Or figured out some pattern in the asteroid belt's movement?
Or perhaps something else—some unknown secret?
Old Shi would often shadow Wang Dong during mining runs, hoping to uncover his secret.
And he'd use provocations like this to bait him into revealing something.
Wang Dong found this guy utterly exhausting.
Still, with his precise control over his ship's status and his good piloting skills, shaking off Old Shi didn't require too much effort.
But even if he lost him ten, twenty times—
Old Shi would just come crawling back with that greasy middle-aged voice, challenging him again.
Or worse, silently tailing him through space.
Like a buzzing fly circling constantly around your ear.
Wang Dong often fantasized about pulling out his intestines and wrapping them around his neck a few dozen times—then yanking hard.
Ah… peace and quiet at last.
In fact, in his previous life, Wang Dong had actually done just that.
After one of these duels, Old Shi disappeared from his life forever.
Peace returned… but only briefly.
Because the consequences had followed close behind.
"Same rules as always. Once the Mining Window opens, we enter. Whoever brings back the best route data wins."
Still using that greasy voice, Old Shi reiterated the rules of the match.
"Agreed."
Wang Dong replied without hesitation.
The asteroid belt was constantly in flux.
Due to differing masses and chaotic trajectories, celestial bodies within the belt moved at varying speeds.
On the belt's outermost layer, there was often a ring of small and micro bodies known as the Turbulence Belt.
These small objects orbit at high velocity, forming a dangerous perimeter.
For fragile Low-Altitude Mining Vessels, a single hit from one of these could be fatal.
If a critical section was struck, even escape pods couldn't guarantee survival.
That's why, before any mining operation began, the mining company would dispatch specialized ships to thin out this turbulent layer.
They didn't aim to eliminate it entirely—that would be far too costly due to celestial mechanics.
But trimming it down was necessary.
After a cleanup operation, the turbulence layer would thin out, creating a short-lived safe window.
Miners called this the Mining Window.
Thanks to the Mining Window, Wang Dong and the other miners could safely navigate their Low-Altitude Mining Vessels into the Asteroid Belt Mining Zone.
Forecasting and monitoring these Mining Windows was one of the Forward Base's core functions.
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