203: The coronation of thugs

Zzz—

The grating sound of metal being cut became the only melody within the bridge.

In the center of that half-meter-thick alloy blast door, a circle of crimson molten lines was slowly closing. High-temperature liquefied steel dripped like lava, scorching pungent black smoke onto the floor.

"Clang!"

The half-ton circular cut-out collapsed with a boom, kicking up a cloud of choking dust.

Before the smoke could dissipate, a large foot wearing heavy magnetic boots crushed the still-glowing iron block.

Reno walked in.

His spacesuit's original color was long gone, plastered with thick engine oil, dark red plasma, and unknown biological tissues. The armor on his left shoulder was completely shattered, revealing a wound with mangled flesh beneath, but he seemed to have no sensation of it.

The modified industrial chainsaw sword dragged on the floor, shredded meat and fabric stuck between its teeth, trailing a string of dazzling sparks across the steel floor with every step.

No roar.

No charge.

He simply carried the sword, walking toward the command platform step by step, as heavy as a moving mine.

The air in the bridge seemed to freeze.

The adjutant, who had been trying to destroy data, froze with his fingers in mid-air, his whole body shaking like a sieve. A guard attempting to raise his gun was swept by Reno's single eye; the gun dropped to the floor with a "clack," and the man slumped under the console, his crotch soaked.

That was a gaze that had crawled out of a pile of corpses.

That was a murderous aura brought back from the lowest depths of hell.

Xing Zhan sat in the Commander's chair, his hands gripping the armrests tightly, his knuckles white from the excessive force.

That sense of dread originating from the depths of his soul was like countless cold little hands frantically scratching at his heart. It was the "Fear Aura" planted by that damned merchant Chen Feng, being continuously amplified by the high concentration of "undead crystal" radiation within the bridge.

But he was Xing Zhan, after all.

He was Giant Star Mining's top Scavenger, an executioner who had slaughtered countless rebels.

"Playing God..."

Xing Zhan squeezed these words out through his teeth, his voice as raspy as if he were chewing glass.

He stood up abruptly and grabbed the heavy high-frequency battle-axe leaning against the back of the chair. The axe blade hummed, blue plasma arcs dancing on the edge—a lethal weapon capable of slicing through warship armor.

"I am Xing Zhan! I am the nightmare of this star sector!"

He roared, trying to use the volume to dispel the whispering ghosts in his mind.

"You're just a mining bedbug! You think you're worthy of killing me?!"

Before the roar faded, Xing Zhan moved.

The thrusters on the back of his power armor spewed blue flames, propelling him like a shell from a cannon, charging straight at the blood-covered figure with a tragic, unstoppable momentum.

He raised the battle-axe high, striking down with a mountain-splitting force.

This strike carried all of his dignity and fear.

Reno stopped, the red light in his single eye flaring. He didn't dodge; instead, he gripped the hilt of the chainsaw sword with both hands and swung it upward fiercely against that lethal blue light.

"Vrrr—!!!"

The chainsaw sword's engine let out a deathbed roar.

"Clang!!"

Sparks exploded like a miniature star detonating between the two.

A massive shockwave swept across the entire bridge; blast-resistant glass instantly cracked, and surrounding instrument screens burst one after another.

The two weapons were locked tightly together.

The blade of the high-frequency battle-axe sliced into the teeth of the chainsaw sword, producing a series of scalp-numbing metal-snapping sounds.

"Die! Die for me!"

Xing Zhan's face contorted, the muscles in his arms bulging as the power exoskeleton creaked under the strain, attempting to cleave the lowly miner before him in two.

Reno's knees bent slightly, the steel plate beneath his feet denting downward.

But he did not retreat.

Not even a single step.

"Is this the strength of you regular army types?" Reno's voice was terrifyingly calm, tinged with mockery. "If you can't even crack ore of this hardness, how do you get any work done?"

"Bastard!"

Furious, Xing Zhan yanked back the battle-axe, his body blurring as the axe became an afterimage, sweeping across Reno's waist and abdomen.

Reno sidestepped, but he was half a beat too slow.

"Rip!"

The spacesuit was torn open, and blood splattered.

A deep, bone-revealing gash was sliced into Reno's left waist, but he didn't even flinch. Instead, using the moment of imbalance, he thrust the chainsaw sword in his right hand like a venomous snake toward Xing Zhan's throat.

Xing Zhan tilted his head back to avoid it, bringing his battle-axe back to defend, hacking fiercely into Reno's left arm.

"Crack!"

The sound of bone snapping was clearly audible.

Reno's left arm hung limply, and the chainsaw sword nearly slipped from his hand.

"Hahahaha!" Xing Zhan laughed maniacally, the fear in his eyes finally dissipating a bit. "See that? This is the difference! I am a warrior! You are trash!"

He raised the battle-axe again, preparing to deliver the final blow to this wounded beast.

However, he saw Reno's face.

On that blood-stained face, there was no pain, only a heart-palpitating, cruel grin.

"Got you."

Reno let out a low growl, and that broken-boned left arm actually rose, defying physiological common sense, to tightly jam the descending axe handle.

Broken bone pierced through flesh, and blood flowed down Xing Zhan's battle-axe.

Xing Zhan's pupils constricted.

Madman!

This wasn't combat technique at all; this was a mutual destruction tactic!

Before Xing Zhan could pull back his weapon, Reno had already slammed into his chest.

No fancy moves.

Reno snapped his head back, veins bulging in his neck like coiled earthworms.

Then, he slammed it down.

"Bang!"

This headbutt slammed heavily into Xing Zhan's face.

That was the brute force honed from years of fighting hard rock with the most primitive tools in mines thousands of meters deep.

Xing Zhan's high-strength tactical mask shattered instantly.

His nose collapsed, and blood sprayed wildly.

Xing Zhan's mind went blank, and he was sent flying backward, slamming heavily into the Commander's chair before rolling to the floor.

The battle-axe slipped from his hand and slid into the distance.

The bridge was deathly silent.

In the corner, the slumped guard covered his mouth, forgetting even to breathe.

Reno panted heavily, his chest heaving. He shook his groggy head; blood flowed from his forehead into his eyes, turning the world a bloody red.

Dragging his broken arm and carrying the chainsaw sword, he walked up to the still-twitching Xing Zhan.

A large foot stepped heavily onto Xing Zhan's chest.

The sound of ribs snapping was crisp and pleasant.

"Cough... cough cough..."

Blood foam welled up in Xing Zhan's mouth; he struggled to open his swollen eyes, looking up at the figure above him that resembled a demon god.

Fear.

This time, it was pure, unadulterated fear.

Not because of some aura, but because of the man before him.

"Don't... don't kill me..." Xing Zhan's voice was as faint as a mosquito's. "I have money... Giant Star Mining has a lot of money... I can..."

"Vrrr—"

The chainsaw sword's engine began to whirl again.

The high-speed spinning teeth hovered three inches above Xing Zhan's neck.

Splattering engine oil landed on Xing Zhan's face, scalding him and making him tremble all over.

Reno leaned down, his single eye staring into Xing Zhan's eyes, which were filled with the desire to survive.

"Money?"

Reno smiled, revealing a set of blood-stained white teeth.

"How much money would you pay for my brothers' lives?"

Xing Zhan opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound.

"In your next life," Reno's voice was as cold as the night wind on Ashen Earth Star, "don't mess with miners."

He pressed his wrist down.

"Zzz—!!!"

A fountain of blood shot into the air.

A head rolled to the side, its eyes still wide open, as if unable to believe until death that he would die at the hands of a miner.

The roar of the chainsaw sword ceased.

Reno remained in that killing posture, motionless for a long time.

Until Chen Feng's voice came through the communicator.

"Reno."

The voice was still calm, but if one listened closely, a faint, imperceptible sense of relief could be heard.

"The battle is over."

Reno's body shuddered violently.

As if his spine had been removed, the murderous aura that had sustained him through the entire ship's slaughter vanished instantly.

The chainsaw sword in his hand dropped to the floor with a "clang."

His legs gave way, and he knelt on the blood-stained deck.

"Boss..."

Reno's voice was raspy, with a hint of a sob.

"I won..."

He looked down at his blood-covered hands. These hands used to only hold pickaxes, struggling to survive in the darkness for a few pieces of energy stones.

And now, these hands had ended a high-and-mighty Commander.

But he didn't feel happy.

Through the shattered porthole, he saw the starry sky outside.

The originally dark Shattered Star Graveyard was now floating with the wreckage of countless warships. Some belonged to the enemy, others to the Vast Sea Fleet.

An assault ship blown in two floated by slowly; the crooked "Hanhai 09" livery on the hull was still clearly visible.

That was Old Smoker's ship.

That old miner who was just bragging to him yesterday about going back home to marry a wife once he got his bounty.

Now, he and his ship had become cold trash in this graveyard.

"Ugh..."

Reno covered his face, his shoulders shaking violently.

Men do not shed tears easily.

But at this moment, amidst this devastated victory, the newly crowned fleet Commander wailed like a child.

The crying echoed in the empty bridge, desolate yet heroic.

This wasn't weakness.

This was a farewell.

A farewell to the slaughtered Mine Slave number 734, a farewell to the fallen brothers, and a farewell to the old era where just being alive was enough.

From today on, he was no longer the rogue leader Reno.

He was the iron wall of Hanhai Trade, the sharpest spear in Chen Feng's hand.

The communication channel was silent.

No one disturbed him.

Whether it was Su Li in the Ashen Earth Star command center or the other captains cleaning up the battlefield, all listened silently to this heart-wrenching crying.

After a long time.

Reno looked up and used his intact right hand to messily wipe the mixture of blood and tears from his face.

He stood up unsteadily, picked up the chainsaw sword from the floor, and hung it back on his waist.

He walked to the communication console and pressed the all-channel broadcast button.

Though his voice was raspy, it carried an unprecedented steadiness and majesty.

"All ships, hear my command."

"Clean up the battlefield. Bring our brothers... home."

...Ashen Earth Star, Command Center.

Chen Feng cut the communication, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long breath of turbid air.

On the large screen, the red dot representing the enemy flagship had completely extinguished.

"Boss, heart rate monitoring shows Reno's adrenaline levels are dropping, and his vital signs are stable," Eve said softly, looking at the data. "It's just that his left arm has a comminuted fracture; he needs... he needs a mechanical arm replacement."

"Get him the best one."

Chen Feng closed his eyes, his fingers lightly tapping the table.

"Su Li."

"Present." Su Li adjusted her glasses; though she tried hard to hide it, her trembling fingers betrayed her inner excitement.

They won.

They had actually won.

A group of miners had taken down a regular fleet.

"Take this combat footage, especially the scene of the final kill of Xing Zhan, and edit it," Chen Feng's voice returned to a cold, businesslike tone. "Send it to 'Echoer' Philip."

Su Li was stunned. "You're going to make it public?"

"Of course."

Chen Feng opened his eyes, a cold light flickering in his pupils.

"Giant Star Mining is just a dog. If you hit the dog, the master will come out."

"We want the entire star sector to know that Hanhai Trade doesn't just know how to do business."

He pointed to the burning wreckage on the screen.

"Our accounts are calculated very clearly. Those who owe debts must pay with their lives."

Looking at Chen Feng's profile, Su Li felt a chill in her heart, but even more so, an unspeakable feverish excitement.

She knew this was only the beginning.

This victory was like a giant boulder thrown into a calm lake.

The ripples had only just begun to spread.

And at the end of those ripples, the massive shadow of the Omni-Dimensional Trade Alliance was slowly turning around, gazing at this reckless challenger.

"Understood." Su Li took a deep breath, the flames of revenge igniting in her eyes. "I will make this video the death knell for Giant Star Mining's stock price collapse."

Chen Feng stood up and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the brightly lit city below.

That was his city.

And his battlefield.

"Eve, prepare for the next stage of the transaction."

"What are we buying?"

"Buying time." Chen Feng looked into the depths of the starry sky. "And, buying a bigger war."