177: Survival in the Rusty Sea

"Interesting."

When Reinhard von Lopez's blood-flavored reply echoed in the office via the messenger's cold synthetic voice, Chen Feng's pupils contracted imperceptibly.

He cut off the communication.

"Destroy it independently."

"Do that, and we can sit down and discuss the future."

"Fail, and this communication never happened."

The messenger's words seemed to carry the residual warmth of metal, echoing in the dead silence.

Chen Feng walked to the window, looking at the grey-yellow sky outside the base, stained by industrial exhaust.

Three days.

Destroying a fleet belonging to the private assets of the Alliance Director.

A blood-stained oath of allegiance.

A crazy invitation.

He was silent for a moment, then brought up another anonymous encrypted channel and sent an extremely brief reply.

"Value needs time to brew, not instantaneous explosion."

After sending it, he turned and pulled open the office door. Su Li and Reno were waiting anxiously outside, like two fierce beasts trapped in a cage.

"Chen Feng!" Reno's voice was hoarse, his bloodshot eyes fixed on him. "What exactly are you waiting for?!"

"Waiting for an answer." Chen Feng's gaze swept past them to the young faces in the command center, which were filled with panic and unease. "Now, the answer is here."

He strode into the command center and cleared his throat.

"Everyone."

Everyone's eyes instantly focused on him.

"Starting one hour ago, the Iron Hook Merchant Guild, in conjunction with twelve transport teams, initiated a full blockade against us."

A wave of suppressed gasps rose from the crowd.

Chen Feng paused, then continued, "At the same time, one of our 'potential investors' is conducting a very stringent stress test on us."

He did not mention Reinhardt's name, nor did he mention the death mission.

"What does that mean?" Su Li's voice was cold as ice. "What test? We have less than thirty-six hours left to live, Chen Feng!"

"Therefore, I announce," Chen Feng surveyed the room, his voice soft yet clearly heard by everyone, "that Hanhai Trade is now entering the highest level of emergency status."

"Give me a fleet!" Reno stepped forward, like a raging lion. "Boss, I'll go smash those 'Iron Hook' ships to pieces!"

"Smash them, and then what?" Su Li immediately retorted. "If our capital chain breaks, even if the route is clear, what will we use to transport goods? What will we use to pay salaries? Your fists?"

"That's still better than waiting here to die!"

"This isn't waiting to die, this is waiting for the optimal solution!"

Seeing that the two were about to argue again, Chen Feng raised his hand to stop them.

"Su Li is right, Reno, direct conflict is the least efficient method." He turned to Reno, then looked at the Technical Supervisor next to him. "Lao Mo, come with me."

In Hanhai Trade's technical workshop, a smell of mixed oil and metal dust rushed forward.

Chen Feng ignored the busy Technicians around him and directly brought up a star map on the central operating console.

It was an ancient star map he had bought a long time ago from a forgotten corner of the Interstellar Exchange for less than one credit point.

"Boss, this is..." Lao Mo leaned closer, his face full of confusion.

Chen Feng's finger pointed to an area on the star map marked dark red, resembling a cosmic scar.

"Asteroid Graveyard." Reno immediately recognized it, his brow furrowed. "A route abandoned for hundreds of years. They say the gravitational environment inside is more chaotic than the wildest storm, and no navigation system can function normally there. Not a single ship that enters has ever returned, so it's also called the 'Ghost Route'."

"Exactly right." Chen Feng nodded.

"Boss, you don't mean to..." Lao Mo's expression changed.

"Since the main road everyone takes is blocked," Chen Feng's gaze swept over Reno and Lao Mo, his voice calm and firm, "we will take the dead end that no one dares to walk, and no one will Guard."

"But that's suicide!" Reno roared.

"Suicide is slightly more dignified than being hanged, isn't it?" Chen Feng countered. "Lao Mo, I need you to perform extreme modifications on a 'Scavenger-class' engineering ship, reinforcing every structure you can. Most importantly, modify the navigation system. I don't care how you do it, just make sure it can at least point us in a general direction within that graveyard."

"Reno," he then turned to the Security Supervisor, "I want you to personally lead the team and select the most fearless pilots and Guards. We don't have much time."

"...Yes!" Reno looked at the undeniable madness in Chen Feng's eyes, finally gritting his teeth and accepting the order.

In the dockyard, ear-piercing cutting sounds and welding sparks intertwined.

"Forget the blueprints you have in your hands!" Lao Mo roared at a group of young Technicians. "Weld this armor plate to the bow! Yes! Just like that, simple and brutal! We aren't building a starship; we are building a hammer to smash open rock crevices!"

On the other side, Reno stood in front of a “Scavenger-class” engineering ship whose exterior was deliberately aged and fitted with a large amount of extra equipment, making it look bloated and ugly. Standing before him were ten of the most elite warriors he had personally selected.

"This mission is a near-certain death." Reno's voice was hard as permafrost. "If anyone is scared, you can leave now. I won't hold it against you."

No one answered.

"Very good." Reno nodded. "Remember, we are the blades of Hanhai Trade. Now, board the ship!"

The modified engineering ship, named "Pioneer One," roared dully like a clumsy steel beast and plunged into the Asteroid Graveyard, which seemed capable of swallowing all light.

"Warning! Warning! High-density asteroid belt ahead!"

"Starboard gravity anomaly! The hull is being ripped apart!"

"Navigation system signal interrupted by thirty percent! Lao Mo's modifications are still active, but who knows how long they will last!"

Inside the bridge, piercing alarm sounds and the hurried reports of the crew blended together.

"Everyone shut up!" Reno gripped the control stick tightly, veins bulging on his arms. "Stabilize your posture! Trust Lao Mo's system! Pass through the gap between those two rocks!"

Just then, the spaceship shook violently, as if struck hard by an invisible giant hand.

"Gravitational slingshot effect! We hit a gravitational singularity!"

"Gravity system failure!"

A scream came through the internal communication.

"Ahhh! Help! I'm flying!"

"Boss! The locking mechanism in Cargo Bay Three is broken! The boxes and those new kids are all flying!"

Veins bulged in a cross pattern on Reno's forehead. He roared into the communicator: "Everyone use your magnetic boots to stabilize yourselves! If anyone screams again, you'll be cleaning toilets for a month when we get back!"

Amidst the chaos, no one noticed a faint signal flash across the long-range sensor of a reconnaissance vessel painted with the Iron Hook logo, situated at the edge of the Asteroid Graveyard.

"Commander, an abnormal engine plume has been detected. The energy reading is very low; it might be some rare mineral resonating under high pressure."

"Oh?" The reconnaissance vessel's Commander became interested. "Follow it and take a look. Be careful not to get hit by an asteroid."

Under Reno's miraculous piloting, "Pioneer One" successfully broke through the Asteroid Graveyard's final barrier without major incident.

"We're out!"

"We succeeded!"

Just as the crew's cheers erupted, an alarm, sharper than any before, instantly pierced everyone's eardrums.

"Warning! Weapon lock!"

A reconnaissance vessel belonging to the Iron Hook Merchant Guild appeared from the shadows behind them like a long-lurking vulture, its muzzle flashing with deadly light.

"Damn it!" Reno cursed, sharply pulling the ship behind a massive asteroid nearby.

Aboard an engineering ship with almost no weapons, they were like a turtle stripped of its shell... Hanhai Trade, Command Center.

When Reno landed the battered "Pioneer One" in the dockyard, the entire base erupted in thunderous cheers.

"Chen Feng!" Reno laughed loudly as he rushed into the command center and slapped Chen Feng on the shoulder. "We succeeded! That damned Ghost Route is viable! We have a way out!"

Everyone's face was beaming with the ecstasy of surviving a disaster; the gloom that had oppressed them for days seemed to vanish.

However, Su Li walked up without a word, holding a data pad. The light from the screen made her complexion even paler.

"Congratulations, Captain Reno." Her voice was completely flat, like a cold calculator. "You have completed a great feat."

She turned the data pad toward the crowd.

"This is the cost report for your great feat."

"Fuel consumption was three times that of normal shipping. Hull damage repair costs are preliminarily estimated at no less than eighty thousand credit points. Crew hazard pay, emotional distress compensation... The total cost is five times that of normal shipping."

Su Li's gaze finally settled on Chen Feng's face.

"Once again, we have successfully lost a large sum of money."

She took a deep breath, and every word she spoke was like a cold knife stabbing into the hearts of everyone present.

"Now, we only have twenty-four hours left to live."