204: The Legacy of the Devil

The electrostatic storm in the Shattered Star Graveyard was still raging.

Blue-purple electric arcs, like countless crazed snakes, slithered and bit amidst the wreckage. Each discharge illuminated this graveyard of mixed steel and flesh.

An armored shuttle, escorted by several interceptors, slowly approached the half-destroyed “slaughterer”.

The airlock opened, and Chen Feng stepped out.

He wore a black protective suit without any markings, his magnetic boots making a squelching sound as they stepped onto the deck slick with oil and blood. Several fully armed personal guards immediately fanned out, their muzzles pointing alertly at the surrounding shadows.

A sickening stench filled the air—the smell of burnt insulation, leaking coolant, and blood evaporated by high temperatures.

“Boss, the air filtration system is overloaded,” the captain of the guards' voice came through the comms channel, carrying a hint of suppressed discomfort. “The radiation levels are within the safety range, but...”

“I smell it,” Chen Feng's voice came through his face mask, devoid of emotion.

He continued forward.

The scene in the corridor was more gruesome than hell itself.

No firefight had occurred here. There were almost no bullet holes on the walls, only countless shocking claw marks and dents left by impacts.

The corpse of an elite soldier in exoskeleton armor lay at the corner. His armor hadn't been pierced by heavy weaponry; it had been torn open by sheer brute force. The helmet's visor was shattered, revealing a hideously distorted face with a large chunk of flesh missing from the throat.

Beside him lay a dead miner.

The miner's hand tightly gripped a broken pair of hydraulic shears, and his mouth still held the piece of flesh torn from the soldier's throat. Even in death, his jaw remained locked tight, as if he intended to grind the enemy's soul to pieces along with it.

Chen Feng stopped and looked down at the scene.

This was the side effect of the “Fear Aura”.

This item provided by the system had indeed destroyed the enemy's sanity, but it had also unleashed the most primal animalistic nature within his own side. At that moment, these miners were no longer human, but beasts driven by revenge and fear.

Chen Feng knelt down and, with his gloved hand, gently closed the wide-open eyes of the miner.

“Record this,” Chen Feng stood up, his tone cold and hard. “Every brother who died here must be brought back.”

“Yes, sir.”

The group continued deeper, finally reaching the core command room.

The smell of blood here was so thick it was almost palpable. Xing Zhan's headless corpse had been cleared to the side, but the dark red pool of blood on the floor was still shocking.

Several Technicians were gathered around the command console, sweating profusely as they tried to crack Xing Zhan's private terminal.

“The firewall is too thick; it's a military-grade dynamic key,” one Technician wiped the fog from his goggles. “Brute-forcing it will take at least three days.”

“Move aside.”

Chen Feng walked to the console and plugged his personal terminal into the interface.

“Eve.”

“I'm here, Boss.”

The holographic projection flickered, and Eve's figure appeared in the blood-soaked command room. She didn't seem to care about her surroundings; her silver eyes flowed with waterfall-like streams of data.

“This old-fashioned military firewall... it's like a fence made of paper,” Eve tilted her head, her fingers tapping in the air. “Found it. Logic loophole. Backdoor injection.”

“Beep—”

The lock screen, which had been red, instantly turned a pleasant green.

“Done,” Eve snapped her fingers. “Giant Star Mining's encrypted ledger and all their secret star charts for this star sector are right here.”

Chen Feng watched the data scrolling on the screen, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

This was the loot he wanted.

With this ledger, he could seize Giant Star Mining's financial lifeblood; with the star charts, Hanhai Trade's fleet could weave through the enemy's heartland like ghosts.

“Well done.”

Chen Feng's fingers tapped rapidly on the virtual keyboard as he backed up the data. Suddenly, his movements stopped.

In the directory of Xing Zhan's private vault, there was an unmarked black folder.

There was no filename, only a string of gibberish-like numbers.

Chen Feng frowned and opened the folder.

There was no complex encryption; inside was only the data image of a single chip.

A design blueprint popped up on the screen.

It wasn't a ship, nor was it a mecha.

It was a person.

Or rather, a biological weapon modified beyond recognition. The skeleton had been replaced with high-strength alloy, nano-tubules were woven into the muscle fibers, and an inhibitor chip was implanted in the cerebral cortex.

In the bottom right corner of the blueprint, an emblem Chen Feng had never seen before was stamped: a giant black hand wrapped in chains.

Beside it was a line of small text: [Titan Project - Phase 3 Experimental Subject Data - Sample Source: Low-dimensional Primate].

“Eve, what is this?” Chen Feng's voice lowered.

Eve leaned in for a look, and her previously relaxed expression vanished instantly.

“This... this is forbidden technology,” her voice became somewhat dry. “Forced fusion of biological organisms and machinery, and it involves rewriting at the genetic level. This kind of technology is absolutely banned in the Alliance... How does Giant Star Mining dare?”

Chen Feng stared at the diagram, his eyes flickering.

Giant Star Mining wasn't just mining. In this remote, low-dimensional star sector, out of everyone's sight, they were engaged in some shady business.

“Copy it, then completely wipe the traces,” Chen Feng ordered decisively. “This thing is a hot potato, but also leverage. Until we have enough strength, we can't let anyone know we've seen it.”

“Understood.”

...Vast Sea Fleet medical ship, “Hope”.

The pungent smell of disinfectant replaced the gunpowder smoke of the battlefield.

Reno snapped his eyes open, his body instinctively springing up, his right hand clutching at the air as if trying to grasp his chainsword.

“Don't move! Commander, don't move!”

Two medical staff members quickly held down his shoulders.

Reno panted heavily, his pupils contracting sharply. It took several seconds before he could clearly see the white ceiling in front of him.

The feeling of exhaustion after the frenzied killing receded like a tide, followed immediately by a sharp pain from his left shoulder.

He instinctively turned his head.

The left sleeve was empty, the stump wrapped in thick bandages with faint traces of blood seeping through.

“The amputation was successful,” a doctor said, walking over carefully with a tablet. “Commander Reno, based on your injuries, we have prepared several standard mechanical prosthetic options for you. This is a ‘Hercules’ type industrial prosthetic seized from a Giant Star Mining warehouse. Although it's bulky...”

“Take it away.”

Reno's voice was hoarse, as if his throat were filled with grit.

“What?” The doctor was stunned.

“I don't want this mining junk,” Reno struggled to sit up, a fire burning in his single eye that made one dare not look directly at him.

He thought of Xing Zhan.

He remembered that figure in power armor, wielding a high-frequency battle-axe, crushing him like an ant. If not for that damn “Fear Aura”, if not for that suicidal fighting style at the end, he would have been dead long ago.

Strength.

He needed even greater strength.

“I want the kind that can kill,” Reno stared at the doctor, saying each word deliberately. “I want the kind that can crush power armor, the kind of arm that can tear those high-and-mighty bastards to pieces.”

“But... but for that kind of military-grade prosthetic, we need to apply to Miss Eve, and the surgical risks...”

“Then apply for it,” Reno leaned back on his pillow and closed his eyes. “Tell the Boss, if he wants me to continue being his sharpest blade, don't give me this pair of pipe-fixing pliers.”

...The cleanup of the Shattered Star Graveyard was nearing its end.

The once-arrogant Giant Star Mining fleet had now become piles of dismantled parts.

The miners of the Vast Sea Fleet displayed astonishing professionalism—or rather, greed.

They were like a pack of hungry piranhas, swarming over every wreck.

The lights of laser cutters flared up one after another.

Intact engines were hoisted away whole, pristine armor plates were cut off in large sections, and even the copper cables and control chips inside the ships were not spared.

A destroyer costing hundreds of millions was stripped down to a bare keel in just three hours, floating lonely in space.

“Easy! That reactor core is still usable! Don't damage it!”

“Found two crates of unopened energy blocks over here! We're rich!”

The comms channel was filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest. For these Mine Slaves who had been poor their whole lives, everything before them wasn't trash, but tickets to a new life.

Chen Feng returned to the command center.

On the massive holographic screen, the transport fleet was shown returning fully loaded.

[Ding!]

[Battle settlement complete.]

[Converted value of seized materials: 1.28 billion interstellar credit points.]

[credit rating increase determination in progress...]

The system's notification sound rang in Chen Feng's mind; it was the most beautiful music in the world.

This wasn't just a military victory; it was a capitalist carnival. The materials seized in this battle were enough for Hanhai Trade to complete its first round of comprehensive re-equipment.

But Chen Feng knew that material rewards were only the foundation.

What was more important was the people's hearts.

He turned on the fleet-wide broadcast.

The previously noisy comms channel fell silent instantly. Everyone stopped what they were doing, holding their breath, waiting for the voice of the man who had led them to create a miracle.

“This is Chen Feng.”

His voice was steady, penetrating the armor of every ship.

“For today's loot, everyone takes thirty percent.”

Before the cheers could erupt, Chen Feng's next sentence stunned everyone.

“The rest will be used to establish a pension fund.”

Chen Feng looked at the body bags floating on the screen, his gaze softening slightly.

“Bring all the fallen brothers back to Ashen Earth Star. I will establish a Hero's Monument in the Central Plaza and carve their names upon it.”

“They are not numbers. They are citizens of Hanhai, and they are heroes.”

“As long as Hanhai Trade exists, I, Chen Feng, will take care of their families.”

Dead silence.

After a brief silence, a sound of suppressed sobbing came through the comms channel.

For these Mine Slaves who were used to being treated as consumables and thrown directly into incinerators after death, the word “Hero” was too distant, too heavy, and too warm.

At that moment, the animalistic nature that had been restless due to the killing was completely calmed.

In its place was something more solid, more fanatical.

It was faith.

[System Notification: Subordinates' loyalty has increased significantly. Group status “Fanaticism” has been solidified.]

Chen Feng turned off the broadcast and let out a long sigh.

This hurdle was considered cleared.

“Boss.”

Su Li's voice came from behind him. She held a data pad, her gaze behind her lenses as sharp as a blade.

“That video, I've finished editing it.”

She handed the data pad to Chen Feng.

On the screen was the footage of Reno crushing Xing Zhan's head with his foot, set to stirring and tragic background music, with a blood-red title:

[The Slaves' Roar: The Atrocities and Downfall of Giant Star Mining].

“Philip's side is ready,” Su Li pushed up her glasses. “As soon as you press the send button, this video will ignite the entire interstellar network within ten minutes through ten thousand zombie nodes we bought on the black market.”

“Giant Star Mining's stock price will collapse like a kite with a broken string.”

Chen Feng took the data pad.

His finger hovered over that red “Send” button.

He knew that once this button was pressed, the nature of things would change.

If the previous battle was just a border skirmish, then this move was a harsh slap to the face of the Omni-Dimensional Trade Alliance.

This was an information war. A financial war.

A war more cruel than physical elimination.

But his hand did not tremble in the slightest.

“The physical war is over.”

Chen Feng looked out the window at the deep starry sky, as if seeing countless eyes peering from the darkness.

“Now, let the real storm descend.”

His finger pressed down.

Sent successfully.