55: Oath of the Shield

Inside the Secret Cold Storage, time seemed to have frozen into ice.

Several hours had passed, and the cold air was thick with a mixture of disinfectant and metal. Reno stood like a sculpture, never leaving the side of the metal table where A Yong lay. His bloodshot eyes were fixed on the strong, powerful heartbeat curve on the monitor, as if this miracle would vanish if he so much as blinked.

Chen Feng leaned against a nearby shelf with his eyes closed to rest. He appeared to be sleeping, but his consciousness had already sunk into the system space of the Interstellar Exchange, replaying that gamble against the God of Death over and over again.

Solemnity and oppression were the only themes of this small room.

"Drip... drip..." Melted ice water dripped from the pipes, hitting the floor and drumming against Reno's taut nerves.

Just then, on the metal table, A Yong's finger suddenly twitched ever so slightly.

Reno's breath hitched instantly!

The next second, A Yong snapped his eyes open!

Those eyes were clear but filled with extreme confusion. He sat up somewhat sluggishly, looking down at his bare chest and the light-colored patterns on it that looked like precision circuits—something he had never seen before—and then surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings.

"Reno..." His voice was dry and raspy, filled with a sense of unreality. "Wasn't I already... dead?"

"A Yong! You're awake!" Reno's burly frame shook violently. Ecstasy erupted like a volcano, making him want to roar. He took an excited step forward, and the entire floor seemed to vibrate with it.

"You're not dead! Brother! You've come back to life!"

Just as Reno was about to rush forward to explain, a maintenance toolbox on a high shelf nearby, which was already unstable, lost its balance due to the vibration.

"Clang!"

A heavy metal wrench slid out of the box and traced an arc through the air, heading straight for the top of A Yong's head with unerring accuracy!

"Watch out!" Reno roared in horror, trying to stop it, but he was too far away; it was too late!

In that split second, a sudden change occurred!

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, A Yong didn't even turn around. His left hand shot up like lightning at a speed almost invisible to the naked eye!

"Snap!"

A crisp, muffled sound rang out.

The heavy wrench, capable of crushing a human skull, was caught precisely and steadily in his hand.

The entire cold storage instantly fell into a dead silence.

Reno's roar was still stuck in his throat, his expression frozen in extreme horror and disbelief. The other trusted subordinates of Reno guarding the door were even more shocked, their mouths agape as if they had seen a ghost.

This movement, this reaction... it had completely exceeded the limits of humanity!

A Yong himself was stunned. He looked down at the cold metal wrench in his hand, his face full of bewilderment and confusion. He could clearly feel that his body was filled with unprecedented power, and his five senses had become exceptionally sharp; he could even hear the suppressed breathing of another Guard Team member at the end of the corridor outside.

"Welcome back, soldier."

A calm voice broke the silence. Chen Feng had opened his eyes at some point. He stepped forward slowly, his gaze falling on A Yong and the wrench in his hand, his tone as indifferent as if he were stating a commodity transaction.

"Your life is now my trophy."

"In return, I have given you a new body."

Reno suppressed the massive waves in his heart and stepped forward quickly, using the most concise and excited words to explain the sequence of events to A Yong.

From Xing Zhan's brutal killing to Chen Feng's deal, and then to that heart-stopping surgery.

A Yong listened quietly. He looked at Chen Feng, the confusion in his eyes fading bit by bit, replaced by shock, then gratitude, and finally transforming into a reverence as if he were looking up at a deity.

He struggled to get down from the metal table.

"A Yong, you just woke up..." Reno hurriedly tried to support him.

But A Yong pushed his hand away and stood firmly on the ground himself. He walked up to Chen Feng and, without any hesitation, exchanged a glance with Reno beside him; both of them knelt on one knee together.

This action was not the fear of a Mine Slave for a Supervisor, but the submission of a warrior to a Commander.

"Sir!" Reno's voice was raspy but full of power. He took off the Captain's badge that represented the highest authority of the Guard Team from his chest, held it in both hands, raised it high above his head, and offered it to Chen Feng.

"I... don't understand any grand principles."

"I only know that it was you who gave A Yong a second life!"

"It was you who gave us, people destined to be disposed of like trash, a chance for revenge and the hope to live on!"

His voice grew louder, every word sounding as if he were roaring with all his strength.

"From now on, I, Reno, and all the trustworthy brothers behind me, will be the sharpest spear and the strongest shield in your hand!"

"Your will is our direction!"

"Your enemies are our mortal foes!"

Chen Feng looked at them quietly and did not immediately take the badge. He reached out and helped both Reno and A Yong up.

Then, he took the cold metal badge and, under Reno's surprised gaze, solemnly pinned it back onto his chest.

"I don't need slaves; what I need are partners who can fight side by side." Chen Feng's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached the ears of everyone present.

"Rise, Captain Reno."

His gaze swept over Reno, then A Yong, and finally settled on the darkness in the distance, as if he could already see their enemies.

"Our enemies are still out there gloating, thinking we have been completely crushed."

"It's time to let them hear our voices."

"The first step," a cold curve hooked at the corner of Chen Feng's mouth, "we need a detailed Armament Plan."