43: Butcher's Landing Boots

Dawn.

A sliver of pale light tore across the horizon of Ashen Earth Star.

Chen Feng stood alone on the observation tower at the highest point of the mining area.

In the distance, a hideous warship with a hull as black as ink tore through the clouds, descending slowly with an unparalleled sense of oppression.

Xing Zhan had arrived.

He knew that all the chess pieces were in place.

Chen Feng opened his personal terminal and looked at the names of Reno and Ma Liu on the screen. His finger lightly pressed the signal button representing "Plan Start."

A storm he had personally ignited, wagering everything, was about to officially unfold in Mining Area No. 7 on Ashen Earth Star.

However, in the next second, Chen Feng's pupils suddenly constricted.

The black warship named the slaughterer did not follow any mining area protocols to dock at the designated starport. Like an ancient beast defying all rules, it hovered at a low altitude directly above the main plaza of the mining area.

The massive airflow from the anti-gravity engines slammed down like a hurricane, kicking up dust that filled the sky and blinding everyone in the plaza.

Before the piercing alarms could even sound, the ventral hatch of the slaughterer swung open.

"What's going on?!" Reno's terrified voice came through Chen Feng's personal terminal.

"They're... this is a wartime drop! They're treating this place like a battlefield!"

Chen Feng did not answer.

He saw dozens of dark figures dropping from the hatch. They didn't use conventional elevators but slid down high-speed magnetic cables like agile spiders, landing precisely and swiftly across the plaza. Their movements were lightning-fast; from landing to forming battle ranks, the entire process was suffocatingly silent.

It was the Scavenger Unit.

"Reno, Ma Liu!" Chen Feng's voice was as cold as the slaughterer's armor. "Hear my command!"

"Plan aborted! Repeat, plan aborted! Total silence! Hide all supplies and personnel! From this moment on, we do not exist!"

"But..." Reno's voice was full of resentment. "We've already..."

"No buts!" Chen Feng interrupted him sharply. "This is an order!"

He unilaterally cut the communication. Looking down at the soldiers standing as still as black reapers, he felt for the first time that his carefully woven scheme to lure the wolf and the tiger into a fight was as fragile as a joke in the face of absolute, overwhelming professional violence.

On the main plaza, Steward Bachmu, accompanied by Reno and a group of Guards, approached with a face full of smiles.

"Commander Xing Zhan! Welcome! Welcome to your..."

He wasn't able to finish his sentence.

A lean man with eyes as sharp as an eagle's stepped down from the warship's force field ramp. Dressed in a form-fitting black combat suit, he ignored Bachmu's outstretched, greasy hand and walked straight past him.

"Thud."

A soft sound.

He lifted his military boot and casually crushed a piece of ore on the ground. Only then did he look up, his gaze sweeping contemptuously over the entire mining area like he was inspecting a junkyard.

"You must be Commander Xing Zhan? I am the steward of this district, Bachm..." Bachmu's smile froze on his face as he awkwardly withdrew his hand.

Xing Zhan still didn't look at him, as if he were nothing more than a mass of talking air.

The Adjutant behind him stepped forward and announced in a flat voice, "Steward Bachmu, according to Giant Star Mining's wartime regulations, Mining Area No. 7 is placed under Level 1 combat readiness effective immediately. All defense, personnel deployment, and resource management are now under the full control of the Scavenger Unit."

"This... Of course! Naturally!" Bachmu bowed and scraped, cold sweat already soaking his back.

The Adjutant turned to Reno, his voice growing even colder. "Are you the Guard Captain here?"

"Yes," Reno answered through gritted teeth.

"Order your unit to disarm completely, stand by where you are, and await inspection."

"What?!" a Guard behind Reno couldn't help but cry out.

Instantly, more than thirty dark muzzles were aimed at them. These weren't the energy pistols used by the Guard Team, but genuine military Gauss rifles, their barrels radiating the chill of death.

Humiliation and anger intertwined on the faces of the Guard Team members.

"Captain..."

Reno clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white from the exertion. He could feel Xing Zhan's playful gaze on him, as if the man were admiring a beast about to have its claws and teeth removed.

"...Execute the order," Reno squeezed the words through his teeth. "Disarm."

Weapons were thrown to the ground one by one, making crisp, jarring sounds that echoed their shattered dignity.

"Very good." The Adjutant nodded and signaled to the members behind him. "Take them to be 'disinfected'."

In the shadows of the observation tower, Chen Feng received the last encrypted message from Ma Liu via a physical line backdoor: "Boss, the communications have been cut! All external private channels are down! We've become blind and deaf!"

Chen Feng shut down the terminal.

An isolated island. That was their current situation.

Meanwhile, the door to Reno's dormitory was kicked open.

Several Scavenger members burst in, roughly ransacking everything he owned. Reno was ordered to stand in the corner without moving.

He watched as a silver badge he had cherished for years—the symbol of the Guard Team's highest honor—was pulled from a cabinet by a member, tossed carelessly onto the floor, and then stomped on by a dust-covered military boot.

"Report, no contraband found."

"Hmph, just a pauper."

The members left, cursing and swearing, leaving Reno alone in the trashed room. He bent down, trembling as he picked up the deformed badge, which now bore a filthy footprint.

Extreme humiliation and despair for the future gripped his heart like two invisible hands, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

Night fell.

The entire mining area fell into a deathly, terrifying atmosphere.

Patrols from the Scavenger Unit and automatic sentry turrets were everywhere, their cold red scanning beams sweeping over everything like the eyes of a demon.

Just when everyone thought they would spend the night in fear, the mining area's broadcast suddenly crackled to life.

It wasn't Bachmu's greasy voice, but the metallic, grating voice of Xing Zhan's Adjutant.

"Attention, all personnel."

"His Excellency Commander Xing Zhan has issued Order No. 2."

"At exactly six o'clock tomorrow morning, all personnel, including the Guard Team and miners, are to assemble at the main plaza. No absences allowed."

The broadcast paused, as if savoring the fear the command instilled.

"We will be conducting... a 'disciplinary rectification'."