25: The Lives of Others

That low-frequency hum, which seemed capable of penetrating lead plates and drilling straight into the brain, rang out from outside the shelter without any warning!

Buzz— Buzz— Buzz—

The entire secret room was resonating violently along with this humming sound!

Chen Feng's expression changed instantly.

He had seen this description in that logbook.

This was the precursor to the 'Soul Howl'!

"What's going on? Is it an earthquake?!" Ma Liu's terror-stricken scream came from outside the door, followed by the 'thud thud' of him frantically pounding on the lead door.

Chen Feng ignored him; he just calmly pressed his ear against the cold lead plate, feeling the vibration grow stronger and stronger.

The Soul Howl erupted.

It wasn't a sound transmitted through the air, but a direct attack on the mental level. Countless sharp, malicious, and desperate roars seemed to surge from the chaos at the beginning of the universe, ignoring any physical barriers and crudely pouring into his mind.

"Ah! My head! My head is going to explode!" Ma Liu's screams became distorted through the lead door as he crashed around outside like a headless fly.

Chen Feng's brow furrowed tightly. This mental impact caused ripples to form in his newly recovered consciousness. However, he endured the discomfort, and a sharp glint flashed through his eyes instead.

Facing the void, he commanded with his consciousness: "System, analyze the signal interference intensity of the current environment."

[...Analyzing... The current area is covered by a high-intensity, wide-spectrum disordered information flow. Conventional communication channels have completely failed. Interference Level: 9 (Maximum 10).]

"Very good." A cold curve hooked at the corner of Chen Feng's mouth.

A natural, perfect signal barrier.

"This is the best opportunity," he muttered to himself.

"System, how many credit points do I have now?"

[Current Credit Rating: 25.]

"I need something that can accurately inject a small amount of energy into a specific coordinate from a distance. Not much, just enough to restart the communication module of a small device."

[Searching... The most cost-effective product has been filtered for you.]

[Product Name: Miniature Directional Energy Beacon]

[Category: Consumable Throwable]

[Description: A beacon containing a small amount of highly compressed energy and a simple navigation system. Once activated, it can release a one-time directional energy pulse at the set coordinates.]

[Price: 20 credit points.]

"The price isn't low," Chen Feng commented, "but it's worth it."

"Purchase."

[credit points -20. Item has been transferred to your storage space. Please set the projection coordinates.]

"pioneer-3 modified, power core interface."

A 3D structural diagram of the scrapped robot instantly appeared in Chen Feng's mind, accurately marking the coordinates of the power interface he had personally modified.

"Project."

[Directional Energy Beacon launched. Expected to hit the target in 3 seconds.]

Chen Feng closed his eyes and waited quietly.

Three seconds later, his consciousness seemed to penetrate the rock layers, hearing an almost imperceptible 'sizzle' in the distance.

It worked.

He immediately opened the simple terminal he carried, which he had salvaged from the robot. On the screen, the gray icon representing the robot's communication module flickered a few times before finally turning a faint green.

"Connect."

[Connecting to pioneer-3 modified... Connection successful. Remaining energy: 0.8%. Can only support minimum power operation for sensors and communication systems.]

"That's enough." Chen Feng's eyes were as cold as ice. "Activate long-range audio sensors, scan, and access the designated communication frequency."

He entered a string of emergency communication frequencies used specifically by Supervisors, which he had memorized from Bachm's fake map.

After a burst of ear-piercing static, a roar full of terror and despair suddenly exploded from the terminal's speaker!

"Help! Help! What the hell is that thing!"

"Ah—! My leg! My leg's been bitten off!"

"Where's the Chief? Call the Chief! We're trapped in Sector B! There are monsters here!"

Chen Feng calmly turned down the volume; the channel was in complete chaos.

Gunfire, screams, and a teeth-gritting 'creak' of claws scraping against metal were all mixed together. He could even hear the characteristic low growl of Rock Crystal Weasels, which sounded like crystals rubbing together.

Bachm's lackeys were being sandwiched between the 'Soul Howl' and the enraged native creatures of the mining area.

"Hold on! Suppressing fire! Suppress them!" the voice of someone who sounded like a Supervisor leader roared hoarsely. "That bastard Bachm! He'll definitely come to save us!"

"Bullshit! The signal won't go out at all!" another voice cried out in despair. "We were tricked! There's definitely something wrong with that No. 734! This isn't a rich ore vein at all!"

"What's the use of saying this now!" the Supervisor leader barked. "As long as we can survive... Holy shit! Behind us! They're coming from behind!"

A burst of even denser gunfire and a shrill scream came through the communication channel. Then, the Supervisor leader's voice rang out again, but it was now filled with the malice of death.

"Bachm... you miserable bastard... to prevent us from skimming off the top, you installed 'Life Signal Transmitters' on us... hahaha... you think you can get the treasure?"

His voice was intermittent, filled with the gasps of someone nearing death.

"I curse you... even if we die... don't you think you'll have it easy... 24 hours... once the alarm sounds... let's see how you explain it to the company... Ah!"

After a short scream, the communication was completely cut off, leaving only a deathly silence.

Chen Feng listened expressionlessly.

Life Signal Transmitters? An automatic alarm after 24 hours?

This really was... an unexpected pleasant surprise.

He could imagine that at this moment, in the monitoring center of Mining Area No. 7, Bachm was likely fuming as he watched the light dots representing his subordinates on the screen go out one by one.

But he would never suspect Chen Feng. He would only think that the dangers of Sector B exceeded his imagination and feel extremely lucky that he hadn't gone personally.

Chen Feng cut the connection with the robot.

His original plan was simply to let Bachm's team die in Sector B to create an alibi for himself.

But now, he had a better idea.

A more malicious, and more perfect plan.

He was no longer satisfied with letting them die silently. He wanted to use their corpses and the 24-hour alarm time difference to give the greedy Bachm an unforgettable 'gift'.

Chen Feng's gaze fell upon an old, dusty Geological Scanner in the corner.

He walked over, wiped away the dust, and pressed the start button.