51: Proof of Betrayal

"It's me."

Chen Feng's reply was as calm as if he were stating a fact, without a hint of smugness from taking credit or a trace of provocative arrogance.

The distant firelight cast flickering shadows across his profile, and not a single ripple stirred in those bottomless eyes.

Reno's chest heaved violently, his heavy breaths turning into white mist in the cold air. He stared intently at Chen Feng, as if trying to dig out all his secrets from that excessively young face.

"Follow me," Reno said hoarsely, turning and leading the way into the shadows of Pump Station No. 3.

Deep within the pump station was an abandoned control room.

Condensation clung to the rusted metal walls, and the air was thick with a musty smell of rust mixed with engine oil.

Reno quickly scanned the surroundings with a portable device. After confirming there were no listening bugs, he slammed a heavy energy pistol onto the dusty console with a thud.

"I need a reason," Reno's voice suppressed a brewing storm. "A reason for me to betray the oath I've kept for twenty years. A Yong's death is a matter of hatred, yes, but that's not enough!"

His fists were clenched tight, his knuckles white from the strain. Twenty years of loyalty was like an iron chain; even if it was rusted through, the pain of it breaking was still enough to tear a soul apart.

"Is your oath to Giant Star Mining, or to the brothers behind you?" Chen Feng didn't answer directly. His counter-question was like a precise scalpel, cutting into the most vulnerable part of Reno's heart.

Ignoring the fleeting pain in Reno's eyes, he pulled a matchbox-sized black device from his pocket and activated it. An invisible shielding field instantly enveloped the cramped control room.

"What a coincidence," Chen Feng's voice was calm to the point of cruelty. "I happen to have a 'Medal of Honor' that Giant Star Mining is preparing to award you."

The miniature data terminal started up, projecting a light screen onto the mottled wall.

The title on the screen was—'Mining Area No. 7 Asset Liquidation and Personnel Optimization Plan - Preliminary Draft'.

Reno's pupils contracted sharply.

He didn't need Chen Feng to explain; he understood every cold word. He stared fixedly at the document, his gaze scanning through the icy clauses.

"...In the late stages of mining, to maximize savings on severance costs and avoid potential labor disputes, it is recommended that all low-value human assets on the roster (including but not limited to: miners below Grade D and all locally recruited Guard Team members) be subjected to centralized environmental disposal in the form of a 'large-scale accidental mining disaster' or an 'armed riot'..."

"...After disposal, according to Regulation Version V7.3, a pension of 300 interstellar credit points will be issued to the families of each 'deceased' individual..."

The document's attachment was a detailed list.

Reno's name was prominently on the list.

A Yong's name was there too.

Along with over a hundred of his brothers—men whose names he knew, whose families he was familiar with, and whom he had even shared drinks and stories with.

Behind every name, that insulting number was marked: 300.

"Heh... heh..."

A beast-like low growl escaped Reno's throat. His entire body trembled uncontrollably—not from fear, but from a rage born of being fooled and betrayed to the extreme.

Bang!

He slammed his fist hard against the console beside him. The thick steel plate actually dented under the impact, and rust flaked off.

Twenty years of loyalty.

Twenty years of risking his life.

It turned out to be nothing more than a joke worth three hundred credits.

Chen Feng remained silent throughout. He gave Reno enough time to let the knife called truth slowly cut through his heart, inch by inch.

Any words of persuasion would have been pale and powerless at this moment.

After a long time, Reno finally looked up. His eyes were bloodshot, looking as if they might bleed.

"Why... why should I believe you?" His voice was as raspy as two pieces of metal grinding together. "This document... could be a forgery!"

This was his final struggle, the last straw grasped by a drowning man.

Chen Feng smiled.

He closed the document, and the light screen switched, a completely new set of data appearing on the wall.

It was a graphic report so detailed it made one's skin crawl.

"I don't need you to believe me," Chen Feng said flatly. "I just need you to tell me if this detailed report on Xing Zhan's Scavenger unit—from the flagship 'slaughterer' down to the weapon configurations of every squad, ammunition types, energy resupply cycles, and even the brands of combat stimulants each of them prefers... is also something I forged?"

Reno's breathing stopped completely.

He stared fixedly at the top-secret data on the screen—information he should have only been able to see in the highest-clearance armory. His mind went blank.

He finally realized that the man in front of him was no Mine Slave at all.

He was a... devil, possessing a terrifying power that he could not understand or even imagine.

"I..." Reno opened his mouth, but no sound came out. The dam of loyalty in his heart collapsed completely before the irrefutable facts.

He looked at Chen Feng, and only after a long time did he squeeze a sentence through his teeth.

"I have one more condition."