44: Inspection

The next morning, the sunlight was pale, unable to shine into people's hearts.

Xing Zhan began his "inspection."

"You," he said, pointing the muzzle of his gun at Reno, who stood to the side like a statue, "be my guide."

"Yes, sir." Reno's voice was hoarse, and he didn't dare look into Xing Zhan's eyes. He knew this wasn't an honor, but a public humiliation. Xing Zhan wanted to use the eyes of this former Guard Team leader to find every "abscess" in this mining area in front of everyone.

"Let's go," Xing Zhan said succinctly.

Behind the two of them followed a squad of fully armed Scavenger members and an adjutant holding a data tablet, ready to record at any time. They were like a group of butchers inspecting their own slaughterhouse, silent and professional.

They walked casually into a Mineral Refinery.

"This," Xing Zhan stopped and kicked a pile of unprocessed slag in the corner with the toe of his boot, "why is it piled here?"

"Reporting, sir," a foreman plucked up the courage to run over and explain, "production quotas have been heavy lately, and manpower—"

"I didn't ask for the reason." Xing Zhan interrupted him and turned to his adjutant. His voice wasn't loud, but it caused the temperature in the entire factory to drop several degrees. "Record this. Poor equipment maintenance, non-compliant waste accumulation. Disorganized management is a breeding ground for laziness and rebellion."

"Yes, sir!"

"No, sir! We..." The foreman still wanted to defend himself.

Thump!

A Scavenger member stepped forward and slammed his gun butt hard into the man's abdomen. The foreman let out a muffled groan and collapsed to the ground, curled up like a shrimp.

"Contradicting an officer," the member stated the reason coldly.

Reno's fists clenched tightly at his sides. All he could do was turn his head away, not looking at the foreman's pained face.

The inspection team continued forward, heading exactly toward the secret workshop where Chen Feng and Lao Mo were located.

Inside the underground workshop, the atmosphere had frozen to the extreme.

Chen Feng stared intently at the line of moving black dots through a modified periscope disguised as a ventilation duct.

"They're coming over..." Lao Mo's voice was trembling.

"Don't make a sound." Chen Feng's voice remained terrifyingly calm.

On the surface, Reno's heart was racing. He looked at the familiar, unremarkable warehouse ahead, knowing Chen Feng and the others were hidden beneath it.

"Sir," Reno suddenly spoke just as Xing Zhan's gaze was about to fall on that warehouse, pointing toward another even more dilapidated building nearby, "that's the old C-District Material Transfer Station. It's been abandoned for a long time due to structural aging. It's one of the biggest safety hazards in this mining area."

He deliberately emphasized the words "biggest" and "safety hazard."

Sure enough, Xing Zhan's attention was drawn away. He glanced at the crumbling building, then back at Reno with a hint of amusement in his eyes, as if saying, "Nice try with your little tricks." But he didn't expose him.

"Mm," he grunted indifferently, leading the team past the top of the workshop.

Underground, Chen Feng let out a long breath. Through Reno's small but deliberate action, he had confirmed one thing—Reno was still on their side.

At that moment, a fat figure came panting after them.

"Commander Xing Zhan! Lord Commander!" It was Bachm. His face was plastered with a fawning smile as he pointed to the nearby entrance of Area B. "Let me introduce you—there! That is the future hope of our mining area. According to my surveys, inside there are..."

Xing Zhan stopped in his tracks and finally looked Bachm directly in the eye once.

He glanced at the rickety Area B entrance, barely held up by a few metal pillars, and then said to the adjutant behind him, "Record."

"What?" Bachm was stunned.

"Former administrator Bachm, obsessed with vanity, disregarded mining safety regulations by attempting to develop high-risk areas without structural reinforcement, nearly causing a major safety accident. His management ability and professional ethics are seriously flawed. Recommend submitting a report for investigation of dereliction of duty."

Bachm's smile froze completely on his face before he turned deathly pale. He stood there as if struck by lightning.

The inspection ended, and Xing Zhan returned to the main plaza.

He said to Reno, who stood by with hands down, "Your defense zone is like a sieve, full of holes everywhere."

Reno remained silent.

"But it doesn't matter," a cruel arc curled at the corner of Xing Zhan's mouth, "I will help you plug all the holes."

He turned and ordered all the Scavenger members standing by, "Publish the IDs of all the 'problem personnel' and 'problem areas' we just recorded."

On the giant electronic screen, rows of miner IDs and area codes were coldly displayed, including the foreman who had been beaten.

"These people," Xing Zhan's voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly, "will be the first batch of 'students' at tomorrow's 'Disciplinary Rectification' assembly."

A suppressed gasp rippled through the crowd, followed by dead silence.

Those whose names were called looked ashen. Those who weren't called felt the same, everyone fearing for themselves.

Chen Feng, hidden in the crowd, could clearly feel that the cohesion he had worked so hard to build with food and medicine was beginning to shake violently in the face of such absolute, indiscriminate terror. Some people had already begun to eye their companions with suspicion and fear.

That night, the mining area broadcast rang out again.

"Supplementary regulations," the adjutant's cold voice announced.

"During tomorrow's assembly, if anyone makes any suspicious move, their entire squad will be held jointly responsible."

"And will be... 'educated' together."