Shadows of the Deep Space
Chapter 351 - 312: Interstellar Pirates (Five-in-One)_5

Chapter 351: Chapter 312: Interstellar Pirates (Five-in-One)_5

"No problem," Rhein and the others immediately agreed.

"Right this way, please."

Mifel led Su Ming and the trio out of the hangar with great courtesy.

Soon after, Su Ming and his group followed Mifel to a simple and shabby cafeteria.

Su Ming looked around and noticed that despite being a level 4 cargo ship, the internal facilities were really quite outdated.

The metal tables and chairs in the cafeteria were all designs from decades ago.

"I’m afraid the conditions are a bit humble, Mr. Su Ming, I hope you’ll forgive us," Mifel said apologetically.

"It doesn’t matter," Su Ming didn’t mind these things.

Before long, the four of them sat at a spacious table, where several middle-aged women in work clothes served up five dishes, three with meat and two with vegetables.

As some crew members walked by, they couldn’t help but swallow hard at the sight of the food on the table.

Su Ming picked up on this detail with sharp sensitivity, his expression pensive.

"Wow, this is quite a feast!" Ankaga and his companion happily said upon seeing the spread of dishes. Since yesterday, they had been relegated to nibbling on synthetic compressed biscuits.

"The ship’s facilities are limited, as long as you don’t mind," Mifel asked politely.

"How could we?"

Ankaga and Sun Lu quickly replied.

"Then help yourselves to more!" Mifel invited warmly.

Ankaga and Sun Lu looked at Su Ming, who nodded slightly.

"We won’t be shy then, it tastes good!"

Ankaga and Sun Lu picked up their chopsticks and started eating the braised meat and leafy greens with gusto.

Meanwhile, Su Ming just quietly watched the two.

Seeing Su Ming not moving his chopsticks, Mifel asked in confusion, "Mr. Su Ming, aren’t you eating?"

"I’m not very hungry, I’ll eat later!" Su Ming shook his head in response.

Hearing this, Ankaga and Sun Lu paused and looked at Su Ming with puzzled eyes.

Seeing that Su Ming had no intention of eating, they suddenly grew anxious. Could there be something wrong with the food?

Su Ming, noticing their astonished looks, laughed.

"What are you looking at me for? Keep eating, it’s fine!"

"Phew!"

Ankaga and the others let out a sigh of relief.

In fact, Su Ming was just teasing them. Judging by Miss Mifel’s behavior, he felt she was probably not a problem, and the likelihood she would harm them was low.

Besides, only the three of them had come to the meeting, with all of Rhein’s people in the hangar; it would be unthinkable for them to choose this moment for an attack—not without a decade’s worth of brain damage.

"Mr. Su Ming, would you like something to drink?" Mifel asked upon seeing he wasn’t eating.

"Beer, please," Su Ming replied simply.

"Okay."

Mifel got up and brought back a few bottles of beer, opening one to pour a glass each for Su Ming, herself, and the others.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this drink is to you."

Mifel raised her glass in a very polite manner.

Su Ming and the others lifted their glasses and clinked them with Mifel’s, all drinking down their beers.

At this point, Su Ming, driven by curiosity, inquired, "Miss Mifel, based on your dress and appearance, it seems you’re not from the Federation, are you?"

"That’s right, we are from the Neutral Tasji Country, and my family has been running shipping trades for generations. Mr. Fein wasn’t exaggerating—my grandfather really has been sailing for 200 years."

"In that case, why not spend some money on a better transport ship or at least refurbish this one?"

"We don’t have that much money. Business has been especially tough. We used to just barely scrape by, but ever since the Imperial Army attacked the Neutral Zone, everything has become very unstable, and business has plummeted. Despite this, the ship has over fifty thousand people relying on its operations, and if we don’t do business for a while, we can’t afford to eat."

"With tensions rising, shouldn’t your business be better?" Su Ming looked at Mifel, puzzled.

"It’s not what you think. After the instability, the Federation raised safety levels, and ships from Neutral countries are not allowed to dock at Black Flame Star without a permit. It effectively put our routes with the Federation in a half-paralyzed state. Furthermore, all shipping routes we have, only the Federation one is the safest and the most profitable; the others are barely viable. The reason we were able to bring goods to Black Flame Star this time is that we asked a lot of favors to get this business with a temporary permit. But the price was pressed so low, we hardly made a profit, so we thought about taking on another job, never expecting to actually secure one."

Mifel explained to Su Ming.

"I see."

"Five hundred million Federation Coins is enough to pay a portion of our crew’s wages. You can’t imagine how happy my grandfather and I were."

"Wait, how much?"

"Five hundred million, Mr. Fei Nan said, considering our hardship, he wouldn’t take a cut from us this time. Is there a problem?"

"No, how are things in your country now?"

Su Ming took a deep breath to quell the anger within him.

He had underestimated these unscrupulous middlemen.

"Not good. You should know that running a ship, we’re already struggling for food and heating. And since the invasion by the Imperial Army, Tasji Country has also increased taxes by a significant percentage, funneling all the money into military expenses. The situation below is a mess, and there’s no telling when these turbulent times will end."

Mifel said with a sigh.

Su Ming, observing Mifel’s troubled expression, could see the truth of the matter.

Most people from the Neutral Countries truly despised war from the bottom of their hearts.

But some things weren’t for them to decide. In this era, simply surviving was already fortunate.

"Sorry, I got a bit carried away just now and complained too much."