13: A play where lives are at stake

Just as dawn broke, a strange silence hung over the excavation site of Mining Area No. 7.

All the Mine Slaves who woke up early for work detoured far away from a certain direction, as if they had seen a ghost.

Their eyes were focused on the massive steel body of the "pioneer-3 model".

Ma Liu, who was insufferably arrogant yesterday, was now like the humblest servant, holding a dirty rag and standing on his tiptoes to meticulously wipe the dirt from the robot's ankles. His left hand hung at an unnatural angle, and his face was masked with unconcealable fear; every time the slender figure behind him moved a step, his body would tremble uncontrollably.

Chen Feng stood behind him, hands in his pockets, his expression calm as if everything before him had nothing to do with him.

But every Mine Slave who met his gaze felt a bone-chilling coldness and lowered their heads, quickening their pace.

Overnight, this mire filled with violence and jealousy seemed to have a new king.

"The track interface over there has dust," Chen Feng spoke indifferently. His voice wasn't loud, but it made Ma Liu jump as if he had been lashed by a whip.

"Yes, yes! Master! I'll wipe it clean right away!" Ma Liu scrambled to the other side and wiped desperately with his sleeve.

"I am not your master," Chen Feng corrected.

Ma Liu's movements froze, his face showing confusion and deeper fear.

"Call me Boss."

"Yes! Boss! I understand, Boss!" Ma Liu's voice carried a sob, yet it was filled with the ecstasy of finding a sense of belonging.

Chen Feng ignored him, turned to climb the ramp, and entered the cockpit.

Power—this was the taste of power. Simple, direct, and effective. He calmly summarized last night's actions in his heart. On this planet where human life was worth less than a dog's, any fancy tricks were less reliable than a cold, iron fist.

He slowly closed the cockpit door, cutting off all outside views.

In the next second, a familiar sharp pain exploded from deep within his spinal cord without warning!

"Ugh!"

Chen Feng let out a muffled groan, cold sweat instantly breaking out on his forehead. The pain was like countless red-hot steel needles piercing frantically through his nerve bundles. Although the intensity was much weaker than the first outbreak, the constant torment still ground down his will.

He forced himself to turn on the robot's wide-angle lens and looked into the distance.

On the tallest watchtower, a black dot remained motionless. Through optical magnification, he could clearly see a Supervisor under Bachm holding high-powered binoculars, the lens fixed firmly on the cockpit where he was.

Attacked from both inside and out.

The physical pain was a death-summoning curse, while Bachm's surveillance was the guillotine hanging over his head.

Chen Feng endured the pain, closed his eyes, and rapidly reviewed the current dead end.

The "risk exploration" mission for the C-13 Mining Area that Bachm had thrown out was a blatant open trap. Not going would be equivalent to telling him he had a guilty conscience, and the previous "rich ore" lie would collapse; going would mean a slim chance of survival, which was exactly what Bachm wanted—to kill with a borrowed knife.

Yet, coincidentally, the only place that produced the antidote he needed, "tranquility grass", was C-13.

He had no choice.

He had to step into this trap.

Wait... In Chen Feng's mind, a stream of information flashed like lightning.

He suddenly remembered the conversation from his first trade with Sequence Zero of the Mechanical Divine Court. When analyzing the "undead crystal", that rational AI had mentioned a type of "harmonic noise" classified as useless data, and noted that this noise seemed to resonate with a specific metallic ore on Ashen Earth Star.

harmonic noise... special minerals... Another piece of information came from the old Mine Slave, Old Fourth Tu—tranquility grass only grows in the depths of the most dangerous mining areas, near certain "unclean" minerals.

Two seemingly unrelated clues instantly collided and connected in Chen Feng's mind, forming a complete and bold closed loop!

The so-called "harmonic noise" wasn't noise at all!

It was a "sonar" for finding tranquility grass! It was a treasure map!

"Heh..."

The corners of Chen Feng's mouth curled up uncontrollably, revealing a cold smile.

The so-called trap had, at this moment, turned into a godsend opportunity!

Bachm's open trap provided him with the perfect "pass" to enter the C-13 Mining Area legitimately. He didn't even need to bother finding an excuse; he just needed to go with the flow and play the part of a gambler pulled between greed and fear.

At noon, Ma Liu ran over panting, carrying a metal tray with a "premium single meal" far more abundant than what ordinary Mine Slaves received.

"Boss, your... your lunch."

Perhaps because he was too nervous, when he handed the tray to Chen Feng, his hand shook violently, and some of the meat soup in the bowl spilled out.

Ma Liu's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

He fell to his knees with a "thud," and regardless of the dirty ground, he began to kowtow loudly.

"Boss, spare my life! Boss, spare my life! It wasn't on purpose! I deserve to die! I deserve to die!"

This sudden scene caused the surrounding Mine Slaves and the distant monitoring Guards to cast startled glances.

"Get up."

He looked at Ma Liu, who was kneeling and shaking like a sieve; he didn't get angry but instead took half the bread and a piece of meat from the tray and placed them in front of Ma Liu.

"Eat it."

Ma Liu was stunned and looked up in disbelief.

"Then, go do something for me." Chen Feng squatted down, his voice extremely low. "Go to those old-timers and dig out all the information about the C-13 Mining Area. Whether it's true or false, ghost stories or rumors, I want it all. Especially the patrol shift times, and those Supervisors under Bachm—find out who is greedy, who is lustful, and who is cowardly."

Ma Liu looked at the food, then at Chen Feng's bottomless eyes. The massive impact left him speechless. He just nodded heavily, grabbed the bread and meat, and wolfed them down as if they weren't food, but his proof of rebirth.

Chen Feng stood up and looked at the tearfully grateful Ma Liu, his eyes showing no ripple of emotion.

He knew that to make that old fox Bachm completely believe he had taken the bait, a submissive servant wasn't enough.

He had to personally perform a good play. A play with his life at stake.