59: Deadly bait

"Reno, the candidate you recommended won't work."

Inside the secret mine training ground, Chen Feng's voice sounded calm, rejecting the Guard Team leader who had just sworn his loyalty.

Reno was stunned: "Why? The veteran Hagen is absolutely loyal. His family was all lost in the mining accident..."

"Loyalty isn't the only criteria for this mission," Chen Feng interrupted him, his gaze passing over Reno to land on a flickering-eyed young man standing at the back of the line. "Perfect fearlessness invites suspicion. To a paranoid idiot like Bachm, a veteran who views death as a homecoming looks more like a trap."

He lifted a finger slightly, pointing at the young man: "I want him, Cass. Your name is Cass, right?"

The young man's body stiffened as he was called out, and A Yong, standing nearby, also frowned: "Sir, Cass is still too young. His mental fortitude..."

"His fear is real, and that's enough." Chen Feng's gaze was like a scalpel, dissecting Cass. "I've seen his file. His sister and mother are both in the East District settlement, and every day's points are exchanged for nutrients and medicine. His concern for his family is real, and his desire to survive is real. A fugitive who breaks down after being caught because he fears his family will suffer retaliation... that is the script Bachm most wants to see."

Chen Feng turned to Cass, his voice softening a little: "The rest of you go out first. Cass, you stay."

Soon, only the two of them remained in the empty mine. Chen Feng did not give orders from a position of superiority; instead, he walked up to Cass and handed him a data terminal.

"Take a look."

Cass took it with trembling hands. Displayed on the screen was a preview of a resource voucher. The numbers on it were enough for his mother and sister to live out the rest of their lives comfortably on any Third-Class Administrative Planet.

"This is..." Cass's voice was hoarse.

"This is an advance payment," Chen Feng's tone was as if he were discussing the most ordinary business. "You should have heard the plan from Reno. It's very dangerous, a slim chance of survival. You will be hunted, you will be tortured, and you need to say every sentence I taught you while in the depths of pain and fear. Not a single word can be wrong."

He looked into Cass's eyes, which held longing but even more unmistakable fear.

"I won't give you an order, Cass," Chen Feng said calmly, taking back the terminal. "This is a deal. Use your courage to trade for your family's future. If you succeed, this voucher is yours. If you fail... the voucher will still be sent to them as a pension. Now, tell me your choice. You can refuse and walk out; no one will blame you."

Cass panted heavily. Scenes of Xing Zhan brutally killing A Yong flashed through his mind, followed by his mother's frail face on her sickbed and his sister's small, thin figure. The fear stemming from his very marrow and the sense of responsibility for his family tore at his heart frantically.

A few seconds later, he snapped his head up, the fear in his eyes replaced by a flame of determination.

"I... I'll do it!"

"Very good." Chen Feng nodded and transmitted a detailed set of testimony materials to him. "Remember, you aren't reciting lines; you are using your life to protect your family. Now, go."

Half an hour later, a carefully choreographed chase began at an abandoned outpost on the outskirts of Area C.

"Catch him! Don't let that rat escape!" a patrol captain loyal to Bachm roared frantically into his communicator.

Cass drove a dilapidated Exploration Vehicle, fleeing wildly through the rock piles. His face perfectly displayed the panic of a low-level Mine Slave being discovered. Finally, the vehicle 'lost control' and slammed into a giant rock, and Cass was dragged out of the cabin with his head covered in blood.

"Captain! Look at this!" A soldier searched Cass and pulled out a piece of ore from his chest.

Under the searchlights, the ore shimmered with an eerie and mesmerizing light, as if it contained the wealth of the entire universe.

In a private interrogation room in the deepest part of the mining area, cold salt water splashed onto the unconscious Cass, waking him.

"Speak! Where did you get this! Where were you trying to run!" Bachm's confidant shouted, brandishing an energy whip.

Cass gritted his teeth, his eyes darting around as he trembled all over: "I... I don't know... I just found it..."

"Still being stubborn!"

Crack! The energy whip lashed across his back, leaving a charred brand.

"Agh—!" Cass let out a shrill scream. The scream was incredibly real because the pain was real, and the fear was real.

He firmly remembered Chen Feng's words: "The more determined your conviction, the more real your performance will be."

For his family... for their future!

After nearly an hour of continuous torture, Cass's spirit seemed to break completely.

"I'll talk... I'll tell you everything..." He sobbed, intermittently revealing the 'secret' he had already memorized by heart. "It's... it's number 734... it's Chen Feng! He's in Area C... that abandoned mine marked as geologically unstable... he found... he found a super-rich deposit! He said... he said the crystals there are ten thousand times purer than in Area B!"

"He was planning to mine it secretly and keep it all for himself... I stole a piece and wanted to... wanted to run out and report it for a reward... don't kill me... please don't kill me..."

Every detail of the intelligence perfectly matched all of Chen Feng's recent abnormal behavior.

In Bachm's office, the mining area manager held the glowing ore sample, listening to his confidant's report. His fat face twisted with ecstasy.

"A super-rich deposit... keeping it all for himself... Hahahaha! Chen Feng, oh Chen Feng, in the end, you're just a lowly Mine Slave with a bit of cleverness!"

He imagined the approving looks from the company's top brass after he reported this massive achievement, and he imagined being transferred away from this hellhole to the prosperous Central Star Sector.

"But... that butcher Xing Zhan is still here..." A thought made him instantly calm down.

No, this credit must absolutely not be shared with that lunatic who only knows how to kill!

Monopolize it! I must keep it all for myself!

He stood up abruptly, a fawning yet sinister smile appearing on his face: "Prepare the car. I'm going to personally meet our respected General Xing Zhan."

Meanwhile, in the temporary command center in the rear, Chen Feng turned off the audio receiver for the bug. The entire interrogation had been transmitted without missing a single word.

He turned around and said calmly to the awe-struck Reno beside him: "The bait has been taken. Next, we'll see if that caged tiger cooperates."

His gaze turned toward the station of Xing Zhan's troops on the map.