Universe Infinite Canteen

Ma Lu went back to the front lobby to find Lao Hei and told him about his plan, asking if he was willing to sign an outsourcing contract with Universe Infinite Canteen.

Ma Lu had been worried that Lao Hei would refuse because he couldn't let go of the grudge towards the annihilation of the Pink Whale Smuggling Group, but to his surprise, Lao Hei didn't hesitate at all and agreed immediately.

According to Lao Hei, he wasn't actually very familiar with the people on the Pink Whale Ship. Not long after he joined the Smuggling Group, he was sent to Earth to be in charge of the business here and hardly ever stayed on the ship.

It essentially counted as half an outsourced job.

As for outsourcing, it didn't matter where he worked, what Lao Hei cared about most now was how to save his own life.

As a minor character like him, he had already gotten used to surviving among the cracks of major forces. Neither Sir M nor the Dimensional Pirates were entities he could afford to provoke.

Revenge and such was too heavy, he couldn't manage it as a mere bug.

He just wanted to handle some merchandise and scrape by with enough to eat.

So, the following matter became simple, Lao Hei found a shell company and signed an outsourcing contract with the Universe Infinite Canteen.

Ma Lu would regularly provide the food needed by the Dimensional Pirates to Lao Hei's outsourcing company, and in return, Lao Hei had to hand over all the goods used for payment by the Dimensional Pirates to the Universe Infinite Canteen.

And also help convert the goods that Universe Infinite Canteen didn't need into Star Currency or other equivalents.

Moreover, Universe Infinite Canteen would pay a 1% commission of the total price of the goods to Lao Hei as labor remuneration.

This contract was definitely a losing deal for Lao Hei since most of the profits were taken by Universe Infinite Canteen, and he had to bear the risks.

But Lao Hei didn't have a choice; on Earth, the only Cosmic Chef was Old Wang, whose skills had been acknowledged by the Dimensional Pirates.

Changing to someone else, even with excellent culinary skills but with a different style, may not achieve the same effect.

If Lao Hei didn't want to lose his life, he had to obtain the bread machine, and to convince those Dimensional Pirates to give up the bread machine, he needed to secure purchasing rights from Universe Infinite Canteen.

This was an offer he couldn't refuse.

For Ma Lu, the situation was already mostly handled at this point.

But for Lao Hei, the real work was just beginning, especially negotiating with those Dimensional Pirates, which was definitely not going to be easy.

Firstly, communication between the two sides was not easy; secondly, considering how much the Dimensional Pirates valued that bread machine, persuading them to give it up would be tough.

But no matter how difficult, Lao Hei had to grit his teeth and do it because failing to negotiate would mean a minor loss of income for Universe Infinite Canteen, but for him, it would mean his life.

Lao Hei was prepared to persevere indefinitely, and he hoped Old Wang would help prepare some dishes that the Dimensional Pirates liked to eat.

That way, he could have more confidence in the upcoming negotiations. Naturally, Ma Lu wouldn't refuse such a reasonable request and told him to go to the kitchen later to discuss it with Old Wang.

He then asked Lao Hei some questions related to the Pink Whale Ship.

According to Lao Hei, the Pink Whale Ship was a medium-small Plane Spaceship, its year of manufacture unknown; it had changed hands several times, finally ending up with the Smuggling Group.

Even so, it was still the most valuable asset of the Smuggling Group. Even though it couldn't be listed in The Grand Alliance because it lacked a license, it could be sold to underground organizations for hundreds of millions of Star Currency.

The only precondition being that it wasn't significantly damaged.

Hearing this number, Ma Lu's heart started beating faster. However, following Lao Hei's directions, he pressed the sea lion's head three times and the tail twice, but nothing happened.

Seeing this, Lao Hei said, "It looks like the ship's teleportation device is broken."

Ma Lu was not surprised by this result, but he was still somewhat disappointed and asked, "Is there any other way I can board the ship?" Your adventure continues at My Virtual Library Empire

"Yes, you can also manually open the hatch, but first, you need to get outside the spaceship."

"Where is the spaceship?"

"According to my last communication with the Smuggling Group, after their teleportation failed, they should have returned to the docking spot."

"And that docking spot is at..."

Lao Hei pulled Ma Lu to the door and pointed outside, "There, right there."

Ma Lu followed the direction of his finger, but all he saw was the night sky.

"Don't tell me... the Pink Whale is parked in the atmosphere?"

"A bit higher up."

"Low Earth orbit?"

"Higher still."

Ma Lu finally noticed an orange crescent in the night sky and couldn't help but gasp, "You don't mean the Moon, do you?"

"Yes, the Smuggling Group found a super deep crater on the Moon that could evade your satellites and detectors. They built a makeshift docking spot below it, and every time they come, they park the spaceship there."

"Then they use the ship's long-range teleportation device to directly teleport passengers and goods here, and I tag the packaged goods and passengers who have paid the ship fee to send them back, but now, the teleportation device on the ship is broken."

"So, if I want to board the ship, I need to find a way to get to the Moon myself?"

Up until now, of all the countries in the world, only the United States had achieved manned Moon landings, and that was more than thirty years ago.

Besides, the only other country with the capability and plans for manned Moon missions is China, but that's not scheduled until 2030, and it's unlikely either of them would give Ma Lu a lift on their Moon missions.

So hitching a ride is out of the question; he'll need to find another way.

Well, perhaps he could try catching a ride with one of those Dimensional Pirates' ships, though he'd probably need to prepare a spacesuit if he needed to leave the ship.

It's unclear if he could even buy one on the market.

What's more, Ma Lu wasn't sure about the current situation on board the Pink Whale Ship, or if it was even worth salvaging.

It would be a waste to go all that way only to find a heap of junk and have all that effort be for nothing.

Forget it, he'll worry about this later.

He has enough on his plate right now, having just become an advisor for the Red Ridge Project Team; Bug Egg also needed new trade routes established, so he couldn't concern himself with the Pink Whale Ship stranded on the Moon for the time being.

According to Lao Hei, that spot was very hidden, undetectable by China's Moon Rabbit or Third Brother's satellite no. 3, and Earth was a no-fly zone designated by The Grand Alliance.

Without other plane spaceships passing by, leaving it there for a while shouldn't cause any issues.

The next two days, Ma Lu was intensely involved with Red Ridge, at least familiarizing himself with the 1.0 version's basic functions, combat, and mission systems.

Next, he would start drafting his feedback.

But before that, Ma Lu planned to relax a bit, especially since the love&five concert was happening soon, and he had closed his shop early that day.

That evening, he didn't entertain any special customers; instead, he locked the door and went out for a team-building activity with He Xiaoqian, Ma Youyou, and Old Wang.