118: Double-Edged Sword Project

"I object."

Su Li's voice came through the remote communication, cold and resolute, like a scalpel cutting through the oppressive air in the wanderer's meeting room.

"I've just established a preliminary data model, integrating our funds, the estimated financial power of known competitors, and the uncertainty weight of third-party anonymous buyers."

Beside her holographic image, a complex data chart emerged, featuring a red curve plunging like a cliff toward the bottom.

"The conclusion is that the probability of us successfully bidding for the target is less than one percent."

"One percent?" Reno slammed the table and growled, "Then what are we waiting for? Once the auction is over, we'll just go and rob the bastard who bought it!"

"And then?" Lao Mo asked back hoarsely. "We'll be hunted to the ends of the universe by Port Master Hecate's fleet and the Alliance Agents together. Hecate will be furious because we broke her rules, while the Alliance will be delighted because we robbed the target they wanted to catch. We'll be torn to pieces."

"Then what do you suggest? Just watch helplessly?" Reno's eyes were bloodshot. "Can we do nothing at all?"

"I..." Lao Mo opened his mouth, but finally lowered his head dejectedly, speechless.

The meeting room fell into a vicious cycle of heated arguments and desperate silence.

"Enough."

Chen Feng's voice wasn't loud, yet it brought all the disputes to an abrupt halt.

He stood up, walked to the holographic screen, and reached out to wipe away Su Li's despairing data chart.

He wrote down three words.

Money.

People.

Eyes.

"All the problems revolve around these three words," Chen Feng said, his pace slow but exceptionally clear. "Money—we don't have it, so we're going to borrow it."

"People—our competitors—we're going to deceive them."

"Eyes—that 'hound' watching us—we're going to confuse them."

He turned to everyone and proposed a concept that left them all dumbfounded.

"Su Li, immediately check the Interstellar Exchange's underground financial section. I want to apply for a 'High-Leverage Mortgage Loan'."

"Boss, you're crazy!" Su Li blurted out. "The interest on that kind of loan is astronomical, and that's secondary! The key is the collateral! The lender requires the future revenue rights of 'high-value exclusive resources'! If we fail at the auction and can't repay on time, the foundation of Hanhai Trade—the mining rights for the undead crystal of the entire Ashen Earth Star—will be taken by them!"

"Then we'll bet on it." Chen Feng's reply was terrifyingly calm... Meanwhile, inside a mobile monitoring station disguised as a cargo barge in the Tartarus Free Port.

A slender man with a calm temperament was looking at the data screen in front of him; he was the Alliance Agent codenamed Shadow Chaser-J.

On the screen, information for over a dozen targets marked as "high priority suspects" was scrolling.

"Sir," an analyst reported, "we've captured a very interesting loan inquiry in the Interstellar Exchange's underground financial market."

"Oh?"

"The inquiry's subject is very vague, only stating it's for 'high-value conceptual resources.' The amount isn't large, and it's been split into over a dozen portions from different anonymous accounts. It looks like they're deliberately hiding something."

The corners of Shadow Chaser-J's mouth curled up slightly into the smile of a hunter discovering prey's tracks.

"Interesting. Mark all accounts interested in this subject," he ordered. "Don't alert them; let them think they haven't been discovered. I want to see which fish will eventually swallow all the smaller ones."

...Inside the wanderer, Chen Feng was completely unaware that he had entered the hunter's sights.

He continued to elaborate on that crazy plan.

"I won't attend the auction in person. Su Li, I'll anonymously hire three 'Agents' who don't know each other through the Interstellar Exchange to enter the venue. At that time, you'll be in the back, injecting small, high-frequency funds into them through at least twenty different accounts. We want to completely overload that 'hound's' data analysis system."

"Understood." Su Li took a deep breath. Although still worried, she had already begun thinking as the chief operating officer about how to minimize the risks of this crazy plan.

"Reno."

"Here!"

"Your mission is the most important. Once the auction begins, I want you at 'Bonebreaker Bar' on the other side of the port—a notorious mercenary gathering area—to deliberately provoke a moderate armed conflict. The commotion must be large enough to draw some attention from the Port Guard and Alliance Agents, but not so large that Hecate's fleet intervenes directly. You'll have to judge the scale yourself."

"Yes, sir!" Fire reignited in Reno's eyes; this was the field he was familiar with and excelled at.

With the plan finalized, everyone immediately sprang into action.

Chen Feng entered a private communication room and posted hiring information in the Interstellar Exchange's anonymous task area. He quickly screened out three unremarkable targets with diverse backgrounds.

One of them was an honest-looking four-armed clan craftsman.

"Sir, I... I really need this money." The other party's image flickered slightly, his voice pleading. "My child is very sick and needs an expensive Genetic Medicine..."

"The pay is far above the market rate," Chen Feng interrupted him. "But I need your absolute obedience to my instructions."

"Yes! Yes! I'll do whatever you say! Thank you, sir! You're truly a good person!" The other party accepted the task with a thousand thanks.

Chen Feng closed the communication expressionlessly.

He authorized Su Li to formally submit the loan application to the Interstellar Exchange that would determine the life or death of Hanhai Trade.

The application was approved instantly.

A final loan contract, bordered in blood-red, popped up in front of Chen Feng.

He scanned the clauses, which read like a devil's contract, his gaze finally resting on an additional clause at the very bottom.

The moment he saw that line, his pupils constricted into pinpoints.

[Special Risk Addendum: Due to the exclusivity and non-renewable nature of the collateral (high-concentration Soul Echoes production site), in the event of default, the lender will automatically obtain the precise cosmic coordinates of said resource production site as core asset compensation without the need for arbitration.]

Failure would mean exposing Ashen Earth Star—everyone's home—nakedly to the hyenas of the entire universe.