101: Black Feather and Mask

"I do."

Facing Reno's eyes, which were filled with a mix of worry and expectation, Chen Feng gave only a two-word answer.

His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a stabilizing anchor dropped into the boiling air of anxiety within the office.

He didn't say what the backup plan was, but his gaze explained everything—he, Chen Feng, was the only plan.

Reno looked at him, his tense shoulders seemingly relaxing a fraction. He nodded heavily and didn't ask further.

However, this anchor couldn't truly smooth out the ripples of time.

One week later.

Hanhai Trade Headquarters, Conference Room.

The atmosphere was as oppressive as solidified lead.

That massive sum of capital, enough to decide the company's life or death, along with that desperate request for contact, seemed to have been swallowed by a cosmic black hole without causing even the slightest ripple.

"According to the latest financial model simulations," Su Li's voice was as cold as a scalpel, cutting through everyone's last shred of hope, "all non-core projects have been suspended, and the production lines are operating at minimum capacity."

She pushed up her rimless glasses, the lenses reflecting the harsh red deficits on the holographic projection screen.

"The conclusion is that if the capital we invested cannot be recovered or converted into effective assets in any form within twenty-three days, Hanhai Trade will face structural bankruptcy."

"Can you put that in layman's terms?" a newly promoted mining district supervisor asked with a raspy voice.

"In layman's terms," Su Li's gaze swept across the room, devoid of any warmth, "within a month, we will revert to being a group of Mine Slaves with nothing to our names. No, it's worse than that; we will be burdened with massive debt and become the biggest laughingstock of the entire sector."

Dead silence.

It felt as if everyone's breath had been cut off. They had fought their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, thinking they had welcomed a new life. Was the final ending really just a brilliant burst of fireworks?

"Boss."

Reno's voice broke the silence. He stood up from his seat, his tall frame exuding a sense of pressure as he looked directly at Chen Feng, who had remained silent throughout.

"Did we lose the gamble?"

He asked directly and cruelly, as if passing judgment, yet also as if pleading.

"Tell me, do we have a Plan B?"

Everyone's eyes—be they questioning, hopeful, or despairing—all focused on Chen Feng. This was the severest test his authority had faced since the founding of Hanhai Trade.

Chen Feng's fingertips stopped tapping on the table.

He looked up, scanning the faces both familiar and unfamiliar, and spoke slowly, his voice clear and calm.

"There is no Plan B."

The air in the conference room instantly dropped to freezing point.

"Because I believe in my judgment," Chen Feng said, enunciating every word. "The only promise I make to you is victory. The price is your trust—unconditional trust."

His composure was like an invisible shield that influenced the crowd, but it still couldn't dispel the cloud named 'bankruptcy' hanging over everyone's hearts.

Su Li looked at Chen Feng, a flash of extremely complex light in her eyes. She had never seen someone like this, who could still use their will to fight gravity while standing on the edge of a cliff.

"Since that's the case..." Su Li took a deep breath, preparing to announce the 'Comprehensive Budget Cut and Layoff Plan' she had spent all night preparing.

Suddenly—

Sizzle!

All the holographic screens in the conference room, including the main screen in the command center, flickered violently at the same moment. Then, they plunged into a heart-stopping darkness.

"What's going on?!"

"Where's the backup power?"

"Technical department! Lao Mo!!"

Exclamations and roars erupted instantly.

Before the technical staff could make any response, a unique encrypted signal source that no firewall could recognize forcibly took over the entire base's system with a near-godlike posture.

In the center of the dark screen, a blurry shadow slowly emerged.

It was a holographic projection.

A person draped in a heavy black cloak, wearing an ancient Plague Doctor Mask. He didn't seem to be made of light, but rather condensed from darkness itself.

An indescribable, icy pressure accompanied the appearance of the projection, enveloping the entire conference room.

The next second, a raspy, weary, and cynical voice sounded directly in the depths of everyone's minds, rather than through the speakers.

"What an expensive doorbell."

"Tell me, King of the Junkyard, did you spend so much money to find me just to buy a decent burial plot?"

Mockery. Blatant mockery.

Reno's fists clenched instantly, veins popping. He felt a pressure even more terrifying than when facing Xing Zhan's fleet.

Su Li's back was instantly drenched in cold sweat. The way the other party broke through the system exceeded her range of understanding.

Only Chen Feng remained.

Facing this insult sufficient to enrage any monarch, there wasn't a ripple of emotion on his face.

He just calmly gazed at the mask, as if looking at an old friend he hadn't seen in a long time.

"I'm looking for you," Chen Feng spoke slowly. His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly suppressed the noise in everyone's minds, "to buy a map."

"A map... that leads out of the junkyard."

The projection wearing the Plague Doctor Mask seemed to stiffen for a moment.

A soft chuckle, sounding as if it came from a rusty mechanical throat, echoed in everyone's minds.

"Heh..."

"Interesting."

The outline of the projection seemed to become a bit clearer. The eyes hidden in the shadows of the mask seemed to pierce through the endless void and land on Chen Feng.

"Three days from now, at exactly 13:00 GMT, come to anonymous channel 777 in the 'Abyss'."

"Bring your 'sincerity' and let me see how much this map of yours is worth."

As soon as the words fell, the projection vanished instantly.

All the screens in the conference room lit up again with a 'pop'. The data flow returned to normal, as if everything that just happened was a collective hallucination.

A deathly silence lasted for three seconds.

"Ohhhhhh—!!"

"Connection made! We've made contact!!"

Uncontrollable cheers erupted like a volcano. A few young supervisors even jumped onto the tables in excitement. Reno punched the metal wall, venting his post-crisis ecstasy.

Su Li leaned back against her chair and let out a long breath, feeling drained for the first time.

They had won the gamble.

But everyone knew that the cold mention of 'sincerity' meant that a true, life-or-death trial had only just begun.