205: Real War

The progress bar of the holographic projection reached its end.

[Upload complete.]

At this moment, countless silent data nodes in the interstellar network were lit up simultaneously. A video, unedited and even grainy, was like a drop of cold water falling into boiling oil, instantly exploding.

The footage had no prelude.

The camera shook violently, with the background being the broken hull of the "slaughterer" still spewing tongues of fire. The piercing sound of alarms and the crackling of burning metal formed the only background noise.

Next, a heavy magnetic boot stained with dark red plasma occupied the entire frame.

That foot came down heavily.

"Crack."

The clear sound of bone fracturing even drowned out the alarms.

The camera pulled back, and a ragged Reno, like a malevolent ghost crawling out of the abyss, stepped with one foot on Xing Zhan's already deformed head. In his single eye, there was no pity belonging to a "civilized person," only the most primitive and savage brutality.

He faced the camera, or rather, the entire high-and-mighty high-dimensional world behind the camera, and bared his blood-stained fangs.

"In your next life, don't mess with miners."

The video ended abruptly.

Only that last bloody title remained branded on the retina like a curse—"The Coronation of a Thug"... Low-Dimensional Star Sector, District 9, Abandoned Industrial Colonial Satellite.

In a narrow alleyway filled with acidic gases, a young boy codenamed "Mouse" was hiding behind a trash heap, holding a cracked screen he had picked up.

The light from the screen reflected off his grime-covered face.

He stared intently at Reno's overbearing figure in the frozen frame. It was the first time he had seen those "lords" who wore glamorous power armor and kicked them around at will being stepped on like dead dogs.

The boy's breathing became rapid, and a fire seemed to be burning in his chest.

With trembling fingers, he pressed the forward button.

It wasn't just him.

On tens of thousands of mining planets, waste disposal stations, high-risk chemical plants... countless hands struggling at the bottom of this universe were doing the same thing.

Fear?

No.

For the oppressed, this was a miracle.

And in the "Cloud Garden" space station thousands of light-years away.

A high-dimensional noble enjoying afternoon tea dropped his bone china teacup, which shattered with a "clatter."

The bloody scene on the holographic screen caused a spasm in his stomach.

"Barbarians... this is a provocation from barbarians!" His face was pale, and his finger pointing at the screen was trembling. "What is the Interstellar Patrol doing? Why can such violent and terrorist videos pass review? Ban it! Ban it immediately!"

Panic spread through the wealthy districts of the high-dimensional civilization like a virus.

They were used to economic plunder and legal sanctions, but they had never seen such naked, unreasonable displays of violence. That miner stepping on a head seemed to have torn away their carefully woven veil of civilization, telling them:

As long as the blade is sharp enough, your heads will shatter just the same... Giant Star Mining Headquarters, 108th Floor Boardroom.

This place had turned into a madhouse.

On the massive circular holographic screen, the curve representing Giant Star Mining's stock price was performing a breathtaking dive.

Red alarm lights flashed frantically.

"It's fallen below the IPO price! It's still falling!"

"These lunatics! That's Xing Zhan! That's our ace!" A director tore off his expensive tie, his face flushed as he roared, "Where's the PR Department? Tell the public it's a deepfake! It's fake!"

"It's no use!" The PR manager slumped in his chair, drenched in sweat. "Hanhai Trade has released Xing Zhan's genetic residue data and the ship's black box records. It's solid evidence... Now the whole network is laughing at us for not even being able to beat a bunch of beggars."

"Divestment! The third-largest shareholder just sold off all their holdings!"

"The bank sent a collection notice, demanding we add more margin, or they will force a liquidation!"

The once well-dressed elites were now like ants on a hot pan.

Their proud, vast assets—the commercial empire built on the bones of countless low-dimensional civilizations—were evaporating at a rate of hundreds of millions of credit points per second because of a few dozen seconds of video... Ashen Earth Star, Hanhai Trade Command Center.

Unlike the clamor outside, it was so quiet here that only the sound of keyboard tapping remained.

Su Li sat behind that large desk, the rimless glasses on her nose reflecting countless cascading data streams.

Her expression was as cold as ice.

The calmness tempered in the fires of revenge made her look less like a human and more like a precision financial harvester at this moment.

"Short accounts are in position."

Su Li's fingers flew across the virtual keyboard, so fast that only afterimages could be seen.

"The first wave of selling pressure is released. Eat up their buy orders."

"Max out the leverage. Since they like playing capital games, let them see what a real capital strangulation looks like."

With her operations, several large sums of capital that Giant Star Mining tried to use to protect the market were instantly swallowed up by the already lying-in-wait army of shorts, without even making a splash.

This was no longer a battle.

This was feeding.

Chen Feng stood behind her, arms crossed, watching the jumping account balance on the main screen.

The number of digits was increasing.

Every "0" added represented a piece of Giant Star Mining's flesh being torn off and turned into nutrients for Hanhai Trade.

That pleasure was stronger than any drug.

This was the power of capital.

On the battlefield, Reno used a chainsword to cut off the enemy's head; in the financial market, Su Li used data streams to drain the enemy's marrow.

"Owner, the public opinion field has been completely ignited."

Philip's voice came through the communication channel, with a hint of undisguised smugness and cunning.

"I hired three thousand bot nodes to frame this war as a 'holy war against oppression.' Now the netizens of those low-dimensional civilizations have gone crazy; they are spontaneously attacking all of Giant Star Mining's partners. Several radical organizations have even announced suicide attacks on Giant Star Mining's transport ships."

"Well done," Chen Feng said flatly. "Don't let them stop. I want the name Giant Star Mining to become a street rat."

"Understood. By the way, Giant Star Mining just released a statement condemning our atrocities and calling for the Interstellar Human Rights Organization to intervene." Philip sneered. "But I spliced together photos of them massacring Sector 7 miners ten years ago with today's statement. The comment section now is a total train wreck."

A cold smile curled at the corner of Chen Feng's mouth.

Human rights?

They talk about survival of the fittest when they raise the slaughtering knife, and talk about human rights when the knife is at their throat.

This double standard is played quite smoothly.

"Su Li, close the net." Chen Feng looked at the curve on the screen that had already hit rock bottom. "Don't let them go into bankruptcy liquidation; that would be too easy on them. I want to acquire their core assets at a low price—especially those navigation rights and mining licenses."

"Understood."

Su Li pushed her glasses and pressed the final Enter key.

"Transaction complete."

"Hanhai Trade's current liquid capital has exceeded the total output value of the entire Ashen Earth Star for the past hundred years."

A long-suppressed cheer erupted in the command center.

Technicians hugged each other, and some even threw their hats into the air.

They won.

Not only did they survive, but they stepped on the giant's corpse and truly stood at the table.

Eve turned around, her silver eyes flashing with excitement: "Owner, with this money, we can buy those 'Galaxy-class' Shield Generator blueprints we've been longing for! And..."

"Beep—!!!"

A sharp, piercing buzz instantly cut off all the cheering.

That wasn't an ordinary communication request.

It was a forced intervention signal that directly took over the underlying protocols of the entire command center.

All the screens that were showing stock curves and celebratory images turned into a dead black in an instant.

Only on the central main screen did a golden emblem slowly emerge.

It was a complex geometric figure composed of countless lines, symbolizing absolute order and circulation—the Omni-Dimensional Trade Alliance.

The air froze instantly.

The people who were just immersed in the joy of victory felt as if an invisible hand had gripped their throats.

Su Li's expression changed suddenly, her fingers hovering over the keyboard because she found that all operational permissions were locked.

"Encryption level: Black Domain." Eve's voice trembled slightly. "This is... the direct line of the Alliance High Council."

Chen Feng narrowed his eyes, and his finger, which had been tapping his arm, stopped.

He knew this moment would come sooner or later.

But he didn't expect it to come so quickly and so directly.

This was a case of hitting the dog, and the master finally couldn't help but show his face.

"Connect it." Chen Feng's voice broke the dead silence.

The screen flickered.

No image.

Only a processed, gender-neutral cold voice echoed in the empty command center.

"You've crossed the line, Chen Feng."

The voice carried no anger, yet it held a high-and-mighty sense of judgment, as if a god were looking down at an ant that didn't know the height of the heavens.

"Giant Star Mining may be foolish, but it is part of the Alliance's order."

"You not only destroyed its body but also tried to shake its foundational value."

Chen Feng looked at the golden emblem, standing tall without the slightest retreat.

"Business is business." Chen Feng responded coldly. "They were inferior, and bankruptcy is a market law. Is the Alliance's order such that only the officials are allowed to set fires?"

"Market law?"

The voice seemed to chuckle slightly, with a hint of mockery.

"You think you've won? You think that with a bit of cleverness and savage violence, you can sit at the table?"

"Young man, those chips you just got are worth less than waste paper in the face of true power."

"This call is not a negotiation. It is a notification."

The voice paused, and every word was like a heavy hammer striking everyone's heart.

"Enjoy your final revelry."

"The Inquisition's fleet is already on its way."

Zzt—

The communication ended abruptly.

The screen returned to normal, still showing that exciting stock price plunge curve and the astronomical balance in the account.

But at this moment, there was a dead silence in the command center.

No one cheered anymore.

That icy chill climbed up everyone's scalp along their spine.

The extreme revelry turned into extreme oppression in an instant.

Su Li turned to look at Chen Feng, her face pale: "Owner, if the Alliance personally enters the fray..."

She didn't finish, but everyone understood what she meant.

Giant Star Mining was just a second-rate thug.

But the Omni-Dimensional Trade Alliance was a behemoth of this universe, the maker of the rules.

Chen Feng was silent for a moment.

He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked at the gray sky of Ashen Earth Star outside.

Fear?

Of course.

But he could feel that under that fear, the speed of his blood flow was increasing.

It was excitement.

He had finally flushed out the real boss.

"What are you afraid of?"

Chen Feng turned around, his gaze even colder and harder than the voice from before.

"Since they want to come, let's flip the table."

"Eve, lift all restrictions on the 'trojan' virus."

"Su Li, take every penny we just made and turn it all into arms and energy."

Chen Feng looked around at the pale-faced crowd, a crazy arc curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Tell Reno to stop lying there playing dead."

"Get his new arm installed."

"The real war has only just begun."