74: Blood-Red Ledger

Twelve hours, as long as a century.

In the command room, the ashtray was already overflowing with cigarette butts. Reno and Lao Mo had taken turns resting for a few hours, but only Chen Feng, his eyes bloodshot, stared unblinkingly at the slowly rotating virtual nebula.

Finally, as the first light of dawn filtered through the gaps in the portholes, the nebula's rotation abruptly stopped.

In the center of the screen, two cold green characters popped up: [Decryption Complete].

"...It's done." Chen Feng's voice was raspy. He took a deep breath, feeling every muscle in his body aching from the prolonged tension.

He reached out and clicked on the file package named "Legacy."

Reno and Lao Mo were startled awake almost simultaneously and rushed to stand behind him.

"Boss, what is it? High-dimensional technical blueprints? Or Giant Star Mining's military deployments?" Reno's voice was filled with anticipation.

"Neither," Chen Feng said softly.

The file opened, and what appeared on the screen was nothing like what they had imagined.

It was an encrypted commercial ledger.

On the title page, a line of elegant Galactic Common script carried a certain pride and warmth from a bygone era.

"Stardust Logistics — Su Clan."

"Su Clan?" Lao Mo muttered in confusion. "Never heard of them... Are they a family from this star sector?"

"They were." Chen Feng didn't look back, his gaze locked onto the screen as he began flipping through page by page.

The first half of the ledger recorded the daily life of a prosperous interstellar logistics family. They had cooperated closely with the previous administrators of Mining Area No. 7, transporting ore and providing supplies. Every transaction was clear and filled with commercial vitality. Between the lines, one could even feel the recorder's pride in the family business.

Reno watched in confusion. "Boss, this... isn't this just some ordinary business ledger?"

"Keep reading," Chen Feng said, his voice devoid of emotion.

When he turned to a certain page, the tone of the ledger shifted without warning, plunging from a sunlit commercial path into a bloody abyss.

The normal business records vanished. In their place were series of shocking secret accounts.

"Fourth Era, Year 7381, March 7th. The Omni-Dimensional Trade Alliance launched a malicious short-sell against 'Stardust Logistics,' and the stock price evaporated by 70% in a single day."

"April 11th. The Alliance bribed the station masters of our three main routes. The 'Stardust' fleet was detained indefinitely under the guise of 'quarantine,' resulting in a broken capital chain."

"May 19th. Our 'pioneer-7' cargo ship encountered 'pirates' on its way back to the home planet; the ship was destroyed and all hands were lost. Evidence points to the Alliance-affiliated Black Water Conglomerate."

"June 2nd. The Chief Financial Officer defected, taking all core customer data..."

Entry by entry, case by case, the cold text detailed how the behemoth known as the "Omni-Dimensional Trade Alliance" used finance, violence, bribery, framing, and other bloodless means to strangle a commercial family that spanned an entire star system into fragments within just three short months, leaving nothing behind.

A deathly silence filled the command room. Reno and Lao Mo's breathing grew heavy. They didn't understand the complex financial jargon, but they understood "ship destroyed and all hands lost" and "defection."

This sent a chill deeper into their souls than any war fought with real blades and guns.

Chen Feng's finger stopped on the final page.

This page had no numbers, no records.

Only a long list of names, each followed by a status marked in bright red—[Executed].

And at the very end of the list was a completely different name.

Su Li.

Status: [Missing].

Below the list was a line of last words, written with the recorder's final strength, filled with blood, tears, and bitterness:

"They took everything, but the truth will remain."

"...Animals." Reno's fists clenched until they cracked, his hideous scars twitching. "These... these are just a bunch of goddamn man-eating animals!"

Lao Mo was trembling all over, his lips quivering so much he couldn't speak. For the first time, they truly felt what kind of terrifying and cold behemoth existed above Giant Star Mining. It was a higher-dimensional world beyond their imagination.

"Revenge! Boss!" Reno's eyes were bloodshot. He grabbed Chen Feng's shoulder. "We have to avenge the Su family! We have to find this bullshit 'Omni-Dimensional Trade Alliance' and tear them to pieces!"

Chen Feng, however, was exceptionally calm. He raised his hand and slowly closed the projected file.

The command room fell into darkness once more, illuminated only by the faint glow of the instruments.

"Revenge?" Chen Feng's voice rang out in the darkness, tinged with mockery. "Reno, we can't even fly off a single planet right now. How are we supposed to take revenge?"

He turned around, his gaze like lightning as it swept over the agitated Reno and the terrified Lao Mo.

"This ledger tells us three things."

"First, our enemies are ten thousand times more powerful than we imagined."

"Second, business is a meat grinder even more brutal than war."

He paused, but a faint flame ignited in his eyes—a light where ambition and opportunity intertwined.

"Third, if this woman named Su Li is still alive..."

Chen Feng's gaze drifted to the star map outside the window. His voice wasn't loud, yet it resonated powerfully in the empty command room.

"She will be our most perfect ally."

"A top-tier business genius, a revenger carrying a blood feud..."

"She... is the 'key' for us to fly out of this cage."