37: plague

A rotten, sweet, and bloody stench flooded the mine slave dormitory area like an invisible tide.

It wasn't engine oil, nor was it the smell of sweat; it was the scent of life decaying.

"Cough... cough cough!"

Suppressed, heart-wrenching coughs rose and fell, forming a symphony of despair.

"The water... there's something wrong with the water..." A mine slave slumped in a corner struggled, his lips cracked and his eye sockets sunken.

In just twelve hours, an acute infection originating from the water supply system swept through the entire mining area like a plague.

The credit system Chen Feng had established was as fragile as thin paper in the face of this sudden disaster.

"Brother Feng... credits can't buy back a life!"

"What do we do? If we can't work, we don't get food. Is there a difference between dying of illness or starving to death?"

"Did he... did he do this on purpose? Does he want us to fend for ourselves?"

Panic-stricken whispers bred among the crowd like maggots, gnawing at the fragile prestige Chen Feng had worked so hard to build.

Chen Feng stood behind the window of his "luxurious" dormitory, watching it all expressionlessly. On his personal terminal, the intelligence sent by Ma Liu carried a terrified tremor.

"Brother Feng, I... I heard it, Bachm that pig's exact words!" Ma Liu's voice sounded as if his throat were being squeezed. "He said... he said this is perfect for screening out all those useless weaklings!"

"Screening them out for what?" Chen Feng's voice was as cold as ice.

"To drag... drag them to the abandoned mine pits to fend for themselves! He said... he said this must not affect the 'healthy labor force' for the Area B Conquest Plan!"

Chen Feng's pupils constricted sharply.

What a ruthless move to let them fend for themselves.

Just then, there was an urgent knock at the door.

"Brother Feng!" A small leader he had just promoted rushed in, his face covered in sweat and fear. "It's no good, more and more people are falling! If we don't get medicine, the people... the people's hearts will scatter!"

Beset by troubles both internally and externally.

His foundation was being dismantled by a small plague.

Amidst this near-suffocating pressure, Chen Feng's personal terminal suddenly lit up with a piercing red light, issuing a highest-priority communication request.

It was from the Interstellar Exchange.

He waved his hand for his subordinate to step back, closed his eyes, and his consciousness instantly sank into that world composed of information.

Light and shadow shifted, and a geometric figure made of pure blue light-code floated before him.

It was Sequence Zero.

"A large-scale decay of vital signs has been detected in your jurisdiction." Sequence Zero's electronic voice carried no emotion, yet it exploded like thunder in Chen Feng's sea of consciousness. "This will affect the production efficiency of 'Entropy Sequence Information'."

"I am handling it," Chen Feng replied calmly.

"We can provide a solution. But in exchange, we need to issue an emergency strategic procurement order."

"Go ahead."

"Within one standard month," Sequence Zero's voice seemed to turn into a command defining the laws of the universe, "the Mechanical Divine Court needs to acquire all extractable undead crystals on Ashen Earth Star, including the 'High-Purity Conceptual Bodies' you discovered previously."

Chen Feng's heart skipped a beat.

"All of them?"

"The compensation," Sequence Zero continued, seemingly unaware of his shock, "can be paid in resources and technical blueprints sufficient to arm a small interstellar fleet, as well as an equivalent amount of interstellar credit points."

"What is the deadline?" Chen Feng's voice was somewhat dry.

"One standard month. Thirty days."

Thirty days!

Chen Feng's brain worked frantically.

In thirty days, following a step-by-step infiltration and development was a complete fantasy!

To complete this order, he had to gain complete control over the mining rights of the entire Ashen Earth Star.

This meant that within thirty days, he had to launch an uprising and overthrow Giant Star Mining's rule here!

His steady layout was completely disrupted, replaced by a high-stakes gamble where everything was on the line.

Either reach the heavens in one step,

Or be smashed to pieces.

"You seem to be engaged in high-intensity logical game theory." Sequence Zero's blue light-body flickered. "Your decision time remaining: ten seconds."

Before Chen Feng's eyes flashed the images of the Mine Slaves struggling in pain, Bachm's fat and cruel face, and Reno's numb eyes that hid a secret fire.

Risk and reward jumped frantically on the two ends of the scale.

"I accept."

Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Feng gave his answer.

"Protocol generated. Transaction established." Sequence Zero's voice remained steady. "To show our sincerity and ensure the smooth execution of the order, 30% of the advance payment has been paid instantly. Please check."

The next second, on Chen Feng's personal terminal, the number representing wealth began to skyrocket in an unprecedentedly frantic manner.

A string of zeros, so many that they caused him a momentary dizziness.

An astronomical figure.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Sequence Zero's light gradually faded.

"Pleasure doing business with you."

Chen Feng opened his eyes and returned to reality. He didn't let the string of numbers go to his head; the first thing he did wasn't to rush into the weapons section of the exchange, but to precisely click on the medical section.

"Broad-Spectrum Gene-Targeted Antiviral Medicine, emergency procurement, ten thousand doses."

"Portable Life-Cycle Maintenance Systems, five hundred sets."

"..."

Late that night, in the darkness of the mining area, dozens of dark figures wearing simple masks moved through every corner like ghosts.

They injected shimmering doses of medicine into the bodies of every dying mine slave.

"What is... this?"

"Brother Feng... it's the 'divine medicine' Brother Feng gave us!"

"He said... not a single one of us should die in a place like this!"

The next day at dawn, as the sunlight pierced the horizon, a miracle occurred.

Those Mine Slaves who were supposed to be dragged to the pits to die stood up one by one from the ground. Though weak, their breathing was steady and their high fevers had subsided.

The joy of surviving a disaster quickly fermented into a near-fanatical worship.

Chen Feng did not show his face, but at this moment, his name was completely deified.

However, such a large-scale distribution of supplies and movement of personnel finally acted like a needle, piercing Bachm's nerves as he was immersed in his Area B dreams.

"Where did all this medicine in the mining area come from?"

Inside the mining area manager's office, Bachm's fat body leaned back in his chair, his eyes dark and gloomy as he watched the footage of the revitalized Mine Slaves on the surveillance screen.

"Reno!" he roared.

The figure of Guard Team Captain Reno appeared at the door.

"Investigate it for me!" Bachm's voice was full of unquestionable violence. "Dig out the source of these medicines and all the accomplices of that bastard 734!"

He paused, staring at Reno with a gaze like a venomous snake.

"I authorize you to use all necessary means."

Reno's body stiffened for a moment before he bowed to receive the order.

"Yes, Manager."