63: Claws and Wings

'Birds Nest' occupied. Repeat, 'Birds Nest' occupied.

"Excellent." Chen Feng's calm voice came through. "Now, dismantle the 'claws' and 'wings' of Birds Nest as well. According to the plan, proceed with separate actions."

"Understood." Reno cut the communication and turned to face the hundred-man squad behind him. His eyes were cold as he swept over faces mixed with excitement and tension.

"A Yong!"

"Here!"

"You take thirty brothers to the spaceport. That's our 'wings'; not a single bird can be allowed to fly out. Understand?"

"Understood!" A Yong grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, his eyes glinting with a beast-like ferocity. He selected thirty of the most capable warriors, and without any delay, turned and rushed into another fork in the path.

"The rest of you, follow me!" Reno waved his hand, leading the main force directly to the core vital point of the base — the armory.

That was their 'claws'.

Unexpectedly, outside the thick alloy door of the armory, there was a deathly silence. No alarms, no gunshots, not even a shadow of a guard was seen.

An insurgent soldier cautiously approached the door, peered through the crack of the observation window, and then his expression became extremely strange.

He pulled his head back and mouthed to Reno, "Captain... they're... gambling."

Reno frowned and stepped forward to see for himself.

Inside the door, five or six guards who should have been fully armed and vigilant, were gathered around a makeshift table, intently staring at a few data cards under a dim emergency light, cursing and arguing.

"Play your card! What are you waiting for!"

"Damn it, my luck is absolutely terrible!"

"Nonsense! It's clearly your bad skill! I'm betting everything on this round!"

Reno's eyes instantly turned cold. This was the rule of Giant Star Mining, these were Bachm's trusted subordinates. Corruption, it had rotted to the bone.

He wasted no more time, stepped back, and gestured to the squad members behind him.

"Breach the door."

"Yes!"

With a loud bang, the alloy door was forcibly opened.

"Who's there!"

The guards at the gambling table jumped up like startled birds, instinctively reaching for the energy rifles leaning against the wall.

But what they saw were dozens of dark muzzles and cold, ruthless faces.

Reno stepped into the armory, surveying the rows of brand-new, gleaming standard equipment, still smelling of machine oil, his voice devoid of any warmth.

"Now, this place is under our control."

"Don't... don't shoot! We..." A guard tried to say something.

"Drop your weapons and kneel. Or die." Reno's words were simple, direct, leaving no room for negotiation.

The guards' faces turned ashen. After exchanging glances, they dejectedly threw down their weapons, clasped their hands behind their heads, and knelt on the ground.

The rebel soldiers looked at the rows of energy rifles, heavy blasters, and even two single-person power exoskeletons, their eyes bursting with uncontrollable ecstasy.

"We're rich! We're rich!"

"Quick! Change equipment!" Reno hissed. "Throw away all these useless sticks! Arm ourselves with the enemy's weapons!"

Meanwhile, at Spaceport Hangar One.

A Yong's team encountered real trouble.

"Boss! The engine of that 'Messenger-class' shuttle is warming up! Someone's trying to escape!" a sharp-eyed soldier shouted.

"Suppress them with fire! Pin him inside!" A Yong roared.

Before his words finished, the shuttle's gangway began to slowly retract. In the cockpit, a man with an arrogant face was frantically operating the control panel; he was Giant Star Mining's ace pilot, Drake.

"You scumbags! Do you think you've won?" Drake's roar came through the external broadcast. "When I deliver the message to Lord Xing Zhan, you'll all be crushed to powder!"

The shuttle's engine hummed louder and louder, seemingly about to enter takeoff procedures.

"Damn it, there's no time!" a soldier anxiously shouted.

"Who said there's no time?" A Yong sneered.

"Everyone, cover me!"

He left a command, and his entire being, like a cheetah flying close to the ground, pulled out blurry afterimages in the crisscrossing firepower, moving at an incredible speed.

Drake saw the charging figure in the cockpit, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

"Madman!"

He immediately swung the ship's mounted machine gun, but A Yong's speed was faster than his gun's rotation!

In the last few seconds before the engine reached critical power, A Yong had already rushed beneath the ship. He aimed at a maintenance hatch, his arm muscles instantly bulging. The power erupting from his physique was completely disproportionate to his lean build!

"Open up!"

Accompanied by a harsh, metallic screech, he forcibly tore open a gap in the alloy plate.

Without looking, A Yong pulled a high-pressure electromagnetic pulse grenade from his waist, pulled the pin, and threw it directly into the exposed energy conduits.

"Farewell, 'wings'."

He rolled back sharply.

The next second, the shuttle let out a painful wail. Its engines and lights, which had just reached maximum brightness, instantly went dark, like a chicken with its neck wrung.

The entire spaceship became a pile of scrap metal.

"No—!"

Drake let out a desperate and unwilling roar in the cockpit, ultimately being captured alive by the rebel army who had blocked off the bridge.

Almost simultaneously, two calm reports sounded one after another in Chen Feng's ear comm.

"Sir, the 'claws' have been secured."

"Sir, the 'wings' have been broken."

Chen Feng looked at the monitoring screen, where the icons for the command center, armory, and spaceport—the three core areas—had all turned green, indicating their control. A cold arc formed on his lips.

He pressed the final master control command.

"Excellent. Activate the 'Iron Dome' protocol. Turn the entire base into a fortress. Not a single fly shall escape before dawn."