56: Blueprint for the uprising

Pump Station No. 3, this long-abandoned underground central hub, had now become the heart that would determine the future of the entire mining area.

A massive structural map of the mining area was spread across the oil-stained floor. Chen Feng, Reno, and A Yong, who had just changed into clean miner's clothes, sat around it. Under the dim yellow emergency lights, a sharp core command group was officially established.

"Speak up, Captain. What are our difficulties?" Chen Feng got straight to the point. He was responsible for strategy, but for the tactical execution details, he needed Reno, the "local expert," to fill in the gaps.

"Sir, there are three main problems." Reno's expression was incredibly serious. He pointed at the map and said in a low voice, "First, the source of weapons. We can't rely on those few experimental pieces of Lao Mo's; we need to arm at least a hundred men."

"Second, the modification and storage of the weapons. If a hundred standard-issue weapons appear out of thin air, Xing Zhan's Scavengers aren't blind; they'd be discovered within a day."

"Third, and most difficult, is the distribution of weapons and the screening of personnel. Hearts are complicated within the Guard Team. Once word leaks out, we're all dead."

Saying that, Reno pulled a heavily worn logbook from his jacket and handed it to Chen Feng. "This is a list of all the people under my command who can be trusted, a total of one hundred and twelve. I've classified them into three grades based on their loyalty and ability. Here..." He pointed to a few names at the end of the book, "are the spies I suspect Bachm planted."

Chen Feng took the book and scanned it quickly, satisfied with Reno's meticulousness.

"Very good." He nodded and said with a smile, "Of the three problems you mentioned, only the last two are issues. As for the first..."

His consciousness instantly sank into the Interstellar Exchange. A vast list of goods flowed through his mind like a waterfall. He quickly filtered for keywords like "camouflage," "civilian-grade," and "weapon."

A moment later, he looked up and smiled at Reno. "The source of weapons is not a problem."

He reached out and lightly swiped the air, using his personal terminal's micro-projection function to project several product images onto the empty space between them.

"Look at this," he pointed to an image that looked remarkably like a heavy industrial rotary hammer. "Product name: 'G-3 Geological Crushing Hammer,' produced by an industrial civilization called 'Grasso.' Its true identity is a short-range portable kinetic cannon."

He switched to the next one, which looked like an ordinary metal cutting torch.

"And this, the 'PX-7 High-Energy Cutting Torch.' Remove this cumbersome outer cooling shell, and it's a standard military energy rifle."

Reno and A Yong watched these unheard-of "tools," their eyes widening and their breathing growing heavy. They had never imagined that weapons could exist in such a form.

"Sir... these... these things..." Reno's voice trembled slightly.

"In some corners of the universe, they are just tools," Chen Feng said flatly. "But here, they are weapons that can overturn everything. This is the information gap."

However, Chen Feng's brow furrowed slightly.

The prices of these camouflaged weapons were generally 30% to 50% higher than standard-issue weapons of the same level. More troublesome was that they came from over a dozen different civilizations, with a hodgepodge of ammunition and power specifications—a logistical nightmare.

The pressure of the budget and the problem of technical incompatibility were placed before him simultaneously.

"The power interfaces and operating logic of these weapons are a mess," Chen Feng pointed out directly. "We can't use them as they are."

Reno's brow also furrowed; this was indeed a fatal problem.

"Sir, we..."

"We need a genius technician," Chen Feng interrupted him, the image of that taciturn figure appearing in his mind. "Someone who can unify these diverse 'toys' into killing machines that use standard power packs. Someone who can make them look more like the scrap metal produced in our own mining area."

He looked at Reno and said word for word, "I know a candidate. Lao Mo."

Reno's eyes instantly lit up, and he nodded heavily. "That's right! Only he can do it!"

"Good, the modification problem is solved." Chen Feng looked at Reno. "Now for the final question: how to distribute them?"

"Leave that to me." A sinister sneer appeared on Reno's face. "Bachm and Xing Zhan both think my spine has been broken and that I'm now a submissive dog. I will submit a report to Bachm under the guise of 'replacing old patrol equipment to save on maintenance costs.'"

"He now has nothing but the treasures in Area B and the pressure from Xing Zhan on his mind; he won't care about such a small matter at all. I can call people to the armory in small batches to replace their old equipment with these 'new tools.' No one will suspect a thing."

The blueprint for the plan had been finalized.

"Let's do it," Chen Feng decided.

He immediately entered the Interstellar Exchange and began purchasing. Watching the astronomical down payment in his account rapidly deplete until less than half remained, even Chen Feng couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.

Once the procurement was finished, he spent a small sum to buy the most accurate military-grade geological map of the entire Ashen Earth Star. This was to prepare the final "gift" for Bachm.

Returning to the temporary command center, he enlarged the map projection and locked his gaze on the trap zone he had preset for Bachm—deep within Area C.

Just as he was studying the geological structure of that area, the cold notification sound of the system suddenly rang in his mind.

[Warning: Scanning detected abnormal high-frequency energy harmonics in the coordinate area corresponding to the map.]

Chen Feng's heart stirred. He immediately cross-referenced the data of these harmonics with the "harmonic noise" data that Sequence Zero had occasionally mentioned, which interfered with undead crystal signals.

The result caused his pupils to shrink suddenly!

Match rate: 97.3%!

He knew exactly what this meant.

Right beneath the death trap he had meticulously prepared for Bachm—the one destined to collapse and bury him alive—there actually lay a companion vein of high-purity undead crystals that Giant Star Mining had never discovered!

An idea that would make the plan more perfect, more malicious, and maximize the profits instantly took shape in his mind.