4: Chapter 4 Space Mining

Chen Yu stared incredulously at the yellow, viscous, poop-like substance in a basin on the table.

What the hell is this captain's meal? Is this your aliens' delicious food?

Chen Yu was completely speechless. He pointed at the smart brain robot and cursed.

"Smart brain, I think you're a dumb brain, haven't you studied what Earthlings' poop looks like? Can you even look at this thing and tell me it's edible?"

The smart brain robot swayed on the ceiling, clearly thrown off balance by the scolding.

"Captain, I am truly sorry, this is all my fault, but this is the best food on the Ship."

"I will immediately arrange to prepare a new meal suitable for Earth humans, which will contain all the nutrients you require."

A moment later, a basin of slightly lighter-colored "poop" was placed in front of Chen Yu.

Chen Yu finally realized that the aliens' so-called delicacies were all these poop-like substances.

Their technology was so advanced, yet their material life was so lacking that they could only eat such things. It was better to be an Earthling.

Chen Yu looked at the paste-like substance in the basin, picked up a spoon-like object next to it, scooped a spoonful, and put it into his mouth.

Chen Yu chewed with a frown, then his eyes suddenly lit up.

The texture was like red bean paste, but the taste was good, surprisingly having a flavor of papaya and banana.

Seeing Chen Yu's frown relax, the smart brain robot promptly emitted its mechanical voice.

"Captain, doesn't it taste good? Based on your Earthlings' preferred tastes, I simulated these foods into various fruit flavors by adjusting the elemental proportions."

Chen Yu suddenly understood; the taste of fruit was not an illusion.

"Hmm, not bad. Next time, simulate donkey meat fire buns, sweet and sour pork, and tomato beef brisket for me!"

"Captain, currently only a few fruit flavors can be simulated. Other complex flavors cannot be simulated for now, because human taste is too complex, and even our advanced civilization may not succeed in simulating them."

"Alright, fruit flavors are fine too, at least they can solve hunger in an emergency."

Chen Yu picked up the basin of elemental food and ate it spoon by spoon, like ice cream.

After finishing a basin of the elemental food made by the aliens, Chen Yu felt incredibly comfortable in his stomach.

"Hey, Smart brain, this stuff feels quite good in my stomach after eating it."

"That is natural. The special food I prepared for you contains all the nutrients you require and is very beneficial for your human absorption."

"Not bad, not bad. How much of this stuff is there?"

"Based on your appetite, Captain, it should last for several hundred years."

Chen Yu was speechless. Although this stuff was nutritious, the flavors were too limited. If it couldn't simulate more delicious tastes,

he would still prefer to eat the rich and colorful delicacies of Earth.

Chen Yu returned to the main control room, looking at the rapidly changing stars outside the glass, filled with deep emotion.

He never imagined that just a few hours ago, he was a failure who couldn't pay his mortgage and was crushed by life.

Now he had become the captain of an alien Ship, and was even going to mine gold near Mars.

Could you even imagine such a miraculous thing? Writing a novel would be no more than this.

After more than ten hours of flight, Chen Yu was already lying on his seat.

The adjustable seat had transformed into a flat, comfortable large bed.

"Captain, Captain, wake up!"

Chen Yu woke from his sleep.

"Smart brain, why are you calling? Have we reached our destination?"

"Master, we are about to reach the Asteroid Belt, but before that, we will pass by Mars. Would you like to observe it?"

Chen Yu immediately became interested. He controlled the bed under his backside to transform back into a seat and moved to the glass edge of the command room.

"Where is Mars? Quickly show me?"

He remembered that in 2021, China successfully landed a Mars probe, which caused a sensation at the time.

He never imagined that he would fly to Mars in less than a day now.

Coordinates appeared on the glass. Chen Yu looked at those coordinates and was instantly awestruck.

He saw a red planet under those coordinates, growing larger and larger.

He had only seen photos of Mars on television before, but now being able to see it from such a close distance, Chen Yu felt incredibly shocked.

Chen Yu took out his phone from his backpack, opened the camera, and started snapping pictures non-stop.

If those astronomers on Earth saw these photos, they would surely faint from shock.

These were countless times clearer than what they could achieve with astronomical telescopes costing billions.

This was close-up real-scene photography, fully utilizing the phone's tens of millions of pixels.

Chen Yu looked at the giant planet, feeling the wonder of the cosmic starry sky.

After a burst of excitement, Mars gradually became smaller and receded.

"Smart brain, how much longer until we reach the Asteroid Belt?"

"Approximately half an hour more."

"Good!"

Chen Yu was already eager to see what an Asteroid made of gold looked like.

Would it emit a dazzling golden glow? Just thinking about it made him excited.

Half an hour passed quickly, and Chen Yu could already see dense, meteor-like objects ahead through the glass.

"Captain, we have reached the Asteroid Belt. Initiating planetary element detection scan immediately."

"Good."

The Ship's detection system emitted a beam of light that could penetrate the Asteroid.

A moment later, the smart brain analyzed the composition of tens of thousands of Asteroids ahead.

"Captain, this area ahead has thirty thousand Asteroids. The one with the highest gold content is ten thousand kilometers from us. Shall we proceed?"

Chen Yu looked at the dense Asteroids ahead and asked with a frown:

"Smart brain, I heard that spaceships are most afraid of colliding with such Asteroids or meteorites in outer space. Will it be dangerous if we fly in rashly?"

"Captain, you don't need to worry about that. This Ship is a product of an advanced cosmic civilization and certainly accounts for meteorite impacts."

"The Ship will monitor meteorites ahead in real-time and automatically activate a protective shield. Even without the shield, these current meteorites are not enough to pose a threat to the Ship's hard outer shell."

Chen Yu breathed a sigh of relief. As expected of advanced civilization technology, it was awesome!

"Alright, let's go mine some gold!"

The smart brain controlled Ship 1 to fly towards the golden Asteroid.

The ten-thousand-kilometer distance was quickly covered.

Ship 1 stopped about a hundred kilometers away from the Asteroid.

Seeing the Asteroid up close, Chen Yu was stunned. This so-called Asteroid, when viewed from close range, was larger than a city.

Chen Yu had initially thought this Asteroid would emit golden light, but to his surprise, upon closer inspection, it was dark and looked like a super-giant rock.

"Smart brain, how are we going to do this? Are we going to tie a rope to this planet and drag it to Earth?"

"Captain, I can calculate at what angle to apply a force to this Asteroid so that it will impact Earth in a few months."

"Uh, forget it. Wouldn't doing that just cause trouble for my fellow Earthlings? You should quickly arrange the mining, and then return to Earth as soon as you're done."

Chen Yu sighed, thinking how close he came to destroying Earth.

"Alright, Captain, I will dispatch the mining robots and transport ships now."