12: Lesson 1

Late at night, the robot parking area was deathly silent.

Chen Feng was not asleep; like a ghost, he hid silently in the shadows of the cold pioneer-3 model cockpit.

He connected his consciousness to the system, quietly observing everything outside through the robot's external optical sensors.

He was like a patient hunter, waiting for the prey to walk into the trap themselves.

Sure enough.

"Hurry up, stay sharp!"

Three sneaky shadows slipped out from a corner by the moonlight. Leading them was Ma Liu, holding a bottle of liquid that emitted a pungent odor, while the other two held heavy crowbars.

"Boss, are we really doing this?" one accomplice asked fearfully, his voice trembling. "If we get caught..."

"Fear my ass!" Ma Liu spat. "Once he loses this iron lump, I'll see how he acts tough in front of the Steward! By then, he might even be worse off than us!"

"If we break this big guy, won't the Steward blame us?"

"Idiot!" Ma Liu cursed under his breath. "We're here to 'catch thieves'! We'll say thieves from another mining area tried to steal stuff and we caught them, and it accidentally got broken in the fight! Who can prove we did it?"

As the three spoke, they had already crept to the robot's feet.

"I'll do it!"

Ma Liu unscrewed the bottle cap, preparing to splash the corrosive liquid onto the robot's hydraulic joints.

At that very instant—

Swish!

The searchlight atop the robot suddenly flared to life, a brilliant beam of light descending like a sharp sword, pinning the three firmly within it!

"Ah!"

The sudden intense light caused the three to cry out in alarm, instinctively shielding their eyes with their hands.

Creeeeeak—

The cockpit door slowly opened, and a cold voice came from above, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

"What are you looking for?"

Seeing Chen Feng step out of the cockpit, the two accomplices were scared out of their wits. With a strange cry, they dropped their crowbars and scrambled away, disappearing into the darkness in an instant.

Only Ma Liu remained, pinned in the center of the light beam, his face pale.

"You... you weren't sleeping?" he shouted, masking his fear with bravado.

"Why should I sleep?" Chen Feng slowly walked down the ramp, approaching him step by step.

"I... I'll kill you!"

Fear fermented into a final madness in Ma Liu's heart. He roared, swinging the crowbar in his hand as he lunged at Chen Feng.

Chen Feng stood his ground, neither dodging nor avoiding.

Just as the crowbar whistled through the air, about to strike his head, he simply tilted his body slightly.

He was incredibly fast.

He accurately reached out and grabbed the front end of the crowbar. No matter how hard Ma Liu pulled, the steel rod remained motionless.

"You..." Ma Liu's eyes were filled with horror.

Chen Feng twisted his hand.

Crack!

The crisp sound of a bone dislocating rang out.

"Ah—!"

Ma Liu let out a shrill scream, the crowbar clattering to the ground. He collapsed uncontrollably to his knees, clutching his deformed wrist and rolling on the ground in agony.

Chen Feng did not continue to beat him, nor did he even look at him again. He simply walked over and stepped on Ma Liu's face, pressing his wails firmly into the dirt.

"Shh."

Chen Feng's tone was eerily calm.

"Stop screaming, you'll wake the others."

Ma Liu's entire body trembled violently. The fear of death poured over him like ice water, making him stop struggling instantly. He could feel that the foot on his face could crush his throat with just a little more pressure.

"I'll give you two choices." Chen Feng's voice was soft, yet it pierced Ma Liu's eardrums like an ice pick.

"One, I'll snap your neck right now. Tomorrow, I'll tell Steward Bachmu that you tried to sabotage his private property and I killed you on the spot. Do you think he would hold me accountable for a piece of trash like you?"

Ma Liu's body shook like a sieve. He had no doubt that Chen Feng would do exactly what he said. He could see no human emotion in those eyes, only a cold, abyss-like indifference.

"Two," Chen Feng paused, "from now on, your life is mine. You will do whatever I tell you to do. If I tell you to die, you must die immediately."

"I... I choose... I choose two! I choose the second one!" Ma Liu broke down completely, tears and snot smearing his face as he cried out incoherently, "I choose two! Spare me! Please spare me!"

"Swear it." Chen Feng's foot still hadn't moved.

"I swear! My life is yours, Ma Liu's life is yours! I'll be your slave! Please spare me..."

"What about your family?" Chen Feng suddenly asked.

Ma Liu froze.

"Remember," Chen Feng said slowly, "your life is mine, and your family is the collateral. If you dare to have a change of heart, I won't mind telling Bachm that your family knows some secrets they 'shouldn't know'."

These words completely destroyed the last sliver of hope in Ma Liu's heart. He understood that from inside out, he had become this demon's slave.

"Yes... yes..."

Only then did Chen Feng move his foot, looking down at him from above.

"Get up."

He crouched down and searched Ma Liu. Soon, he pulled out a strangely shaped, old-looking metal tool from Ma Liu's bosom.

"What is this?"

"It... it was passed down from my grandfather... a lock-picking thing..." Ma Liu replied, trembling.

"Very good." Chen Feng put the multi-functional lockpick into his pocket. "Until you prove your loyalty, this belongs to me."

...In the distance, atop a towering patrol tower.

Guard Captain Reno lowered his high-powered binoculars, his eyes filled with an unspeakable shock.

He had seen everything that had just happened.

What he saw was not a slave venting his anger in revenge.

What he saw was a man using the most direct and cold-blooded method to establish his own rules and order. That kind of gaze, those kinds of methods, were definitely not something an ordinary Mine Slaves could possess.

Reno stood silently in the darkness, his long-numb heart beating violently for the first time... The next morning.

All the Mine Slaves saw a bizarre scene.

Ma Liu, who had been full of resentment toward Chen Feng yesterday, was now following behind him like the most submissive dog, holding a rag and meticulously cleaning the massive robot, his face filled with unconcealable fear.

Everyone who had harbored ill will toward Chen Feng yesterday felt a bone-chilling cold when they met his calm gaze; they all lowered their heads and stayed far away.

Overnight, the king of this area had changed.