171: Chapter 171 Chaotic Battle and Encirclement - Extreme Cold Lurking

5 PM, it was already getting dark.

Li Xin left the hotel and walked south along the main street. There weren't many people on the street, and the streetlights were dim. After walking for a quarter of an hour, he saw a restaurant with a crescent moon sign hanging over the door.

He pushed the door open and went in. The shop was warm, and the stove was burning brightly. Half of the tables were occupied. The air was filled with the smell of roasted meat, mixed with the scent of black tea and spices.

He sat down in a corner, and a middle-aged woman wearing an apron walked over with an order pad in her hand.

"Handsome, what would you like to eat?"

"Roast horse meat, black tea, thanks," Li Xin replied indifferently.

The woman nodded and turned to leave.

Li Xin leaned back in his chair, looking out the window. There was an Old Lady selling flowers on the street, wrapped in a headscarf, standing under a streetlight. There weren't many flowers, just a few bunches of carnations wrapped in plastic. No one was buying, so she just stood there.

The horse meat was served quickly. The meat sizzled on the iron plate, cut into thick slices, with the edges of fat roasted to a golden brown. Beside it was a small dish of pickled onions and a few pieces of black bread.

He picked up his knife and fork and cut a piece. The meat was tender, juicy, and not gamey; the pickled onions and garlic cut through the greasiness.

The black tea was in a glass, dark brown and hot. He picked it up, blew on it, and took a sip. It was sweet, with a lot of sugar added.

He ate slowly. No rush.

After eating, he paid the bill. He went out and walked across the street.

Across the street was an outdoor supply store, open 24 hours. The storefront was small, and the display window featured tents, sleeping bags, and hiking boots.

He pushed the door open and went inside. The heating in the shop was on full blast, making it toasty. The shelves were packed with various gear, from thermal underwear to snow tents, from ice axes to compasses.

A young clerk was sitting behind the cash register, head down, playing on his phone. Seeing Li Xin enter, he looked up for a moment, then lowered his head again.

Li Xin walked around the shelves and picked up three pairs of thick wool socks. He touched them; they were thick and lined with fleece. He also grabbed a windproof mask, black, with only openings for his eyes and mouth. On the bottom shelf were energy bars in various flavors, and he grabbed a few packs.

He walked to the cash register and put the items down. The clerk scanned the codes, quoted the price, and he paid and packed them.

He left the store and walked toward where he parked.

It was already dark, and the streetlights stretched his shadow long.

Li Xin got into the car, checked the condition, and everything was normal. The necessary tools were well-prepared.

He then sat in the driver's seat and took out his pistol from his pocket. He ejected the magazine, checked the bullets, and pushed it back in. He pulled the slide to confirm it was loaded. He engaged the safety and put it back into the space.

He also took out the folding knife, opened it, and closed it. The lock was secure and didn't wobble.

He took a deep breath.

At 23:00, he started the car.

He didn't turn on the headlights. The light from the dashboard shone on his face, a dark red. Relying on night vision and GPS, he drove north along the dirt road.

The road was bumpy. The car swayed from side to side, and the steering wheel shook in his hands. He didn't drive fast, 20 mph.

After driving for almost an hour, he arrived near the designated location. He parked the car behind a birch forest and turned off the engine.

He got out of the car. Cold air rushed at him, and the white mist from his breath dissipated before his eyes.

He put on his backpack and walked into the depths of the forest.

After walking for a dozen minutes, through the gaps in the tree trunks, he saw firelight in the direction of the mining area clearing.

It wasn't just one light; it was several. Flashlights, headlamps, and car lights were flashing wildly in the clearing. There were also silhouettes, many of them, swaying in the firelight.

He squatted down and took the binoculars out of his backpack.

A group of people in the clearing were divided into two factions, confronting each other from over a dozen meters away. The group on the left had over twenty people, wearing all sorts of clothes, holding shotguns, machetes, and clubs. The group on the right had fewer people, over a dozen, but they were well-equipped, all in dark tactical gear, holding short guns and crossbows.

Someone was shouting, the voice loud, but from the distance, it was unclear what was being said. The atmosphere was tense, and both sides were pressing forward.

Li Xin retreated a few steps. He squatted behind a large pine tree and put down his backpack.

"AI System, confirm Extraction location."

[Location locked. Approximately 8.5 kilometers from current position. Both Olimpiada Gold Mine and Blagodatnoye Gold Mine are within the Extraction range. Extractable amount: 480 tons. Extraction rate: 50 tons/hour. Estimated time: 9.6 hours.]

"Start, extract Olimpiada Gold Mine first."

[Extraction started, Olimpiada Gold Mine area. 192 tons. Estimated time: approximately 4 hours.]

The progress bar started jumping.

He leaned against the tree, staring at the panel.

Over at the clearing, the standoff continued. Someone walked forward a few steps, pointing a stick at the other side, cursing. Someone from the other side also came up to meet them.

The atmosphere grew tighter and tighter.

A gunshot rang out.

It wasn't the muffled sound of a shotgun; it was a short gun, crisp and ear-splitting.

The clearing went silent for a moment. Then it exploded.

Both sides opened fire simultaneously. Gunshots, shouts, and screams mixed together. Some people dove to the ground, some hid behind cars, and some ran into the forest.

Bullets flew wildly in the night sky. Some hit the tree trunks with a thwack-thwack sound. Some flew overhead with a whiz.

Li Xin lay flat on the ground, his face buried in the snow.

A stray bullet hit a piece of ore three meters in front of him. Stone chips exploded, and fragments flew everywhere. A fragment grazed his cheek, burning with pain.

He reached up and touched it; there was blood on his fingers. Not deep, just a surface wound.

He took the thermal blanket out of the space and wrapped his whole body in it. The blanket was silver and reflective. It could reduce the heat signal.

He lay on the ground, motionless.

The gunfire grew denser. Mixed with explosions, muffled thuds. Someone was throwing homemade bombs.

A rock flew over and smashed into the iron plate in front of him—he didn't know where the iron plate came from, maybe discarded equipment from the mining area. With a loud clang, it made his ears ring.

He gritted his teeth, enduring the tinnitus.

His face was buried in the snow and mining slag; the snow was cold, and the slag was abrasive. When he breathed, dust and snow particles were sucked into his nasal cavity, making him choke.

He closed his eyes. His ears were perked up.

Through the direction and density of the gunfire, he judged the battlefield situation.

The gunfire gradually moved to the north, and the shouting was also to the north. The noise on this side diminished.

He opened his eyes and looked at the panel. The progress was at 31 percent.

Still early.

At 2:30 AM, the gunfire came closer again.

It wasn't that the two factions had fought back, but that new people had arrived.

Engine sounds, several vehicles. They drove over from the south, and the headlights swayed between the trees. They weren't ordinary cars; they were military vehicles. There were yellow lights on the roofs, flashing on and off.

The vehicles stopped at the edge of the clearing. The doors opened, and twenty or thirty people got out. Wearing bulletproof vests, helmets, and holding automatic rifles.

The loudspeaker blared: "Everyone drop your weapons! This is the Federal Security Service!"

Russian, loud, echoing in the valley.

The people in the clearing were stunned for a moment. Then it became even more chaotic.

Some people ran into the forest, some climbed onto the vehicles, and some were still firing.

The military police also opened fire. The gunfire was denser and louder.

Li Xin lay in place, not moving.

His face was buried in the snow. The thermal blanket was wrapped tightly.

The loudspeaker blared again: "Drop your weapons! Repeat, everyone drop your weapons!"

The gunfire gradually thinned out. Someone was shouting: "Stop shooting! Surrender!"

Some people were crying. Some were cursing.

Footsteps were chaotic, stepping on the snow, crunch, crunch. The light of flashlights swayed wildly in the forest.

Li Xin didn't dare to move. He kept his breathing extremely light.

A soldier ran past him, less than five meters away. He didn't see him.

Another one. Closer. Boots stepping on the snow, heavy sounds. The rifle butt hit the ore, clang.

He ran past.

The gunfire stopped completely. Someone was shouting: "Over here! Caught a few!"

"There are more over there! Chase them!"

The voices of the military police. The voices of the gold-stealing gang. Mixed together.

Li Xin lay there, motionless.

The progress on the panel was jumping. 67 percent.

At 3:00 AM, the night was as deep as ink.

The clearing was quiet. The military police vehicles were still there, lights still on, but there were fewer people. A few soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield, picking up the scattered weapons and piling them together.

Li Xin raised his head from the snow. His face was full of mining slag and snow particles, mixed together, forming ice crystals.

He glanced toward the clearing. Several people were lying on the ground, covered with blankets. Someone was crying, squatting beside a vehicle, holding their head with both hands.

He moved backward slowly. Sticking close to the ground, using a crawling posture, retreating bit by bit.

The snow was cold. His knees hurt. His elbows rubbed against the ground, and the gravel was painfully abrasive.

He retreated over a dozen meters, to behind a pile of mining slag. The slag pile wasn't high, but it could block the line of sight.

He stopped and took a few breaths.

Then he continued to retreat. He retreated to the entrance of a drainage culvert.

The culvert wasn't big, less than a meter in diameter. It was pitch black inside, cold wind blowing out, with a foul smell, like the smell of moldy stagnant water.

He didn't hesitate. He crawled in.

The water submerged his calves. It was icy. It made him shudder.

Bending over, stepping in the water, he walked inside. After walking for a dozen meters, the water became shallower. After walking for another few dozen meters, the culvert turned a corner, and the water was gone.

He sat at the corner of the culvert, leaning against the wall.

The wall was damp and covered with moss. The air was humid and moldy.

He took water out of the space and drank a few mouthfuls. He also took out an energy bar, tore it open, and took a bite. It was sweet, cloying.

The progress on the panel was jumping. 84 percent.

He waited for almost an hour.

[Ding... Extraction of Olimpiada Gold Mine completed. 192 tons. Extracting Blagodatnoye Gold Mine. Current progress: 12 percent.]

The progress bar continued to jump.

He leaned against the wall, eyes closed.

It was very quiet in the culvert, only the sound of dripping water, drip, drop.

After 10:00 AM, the sky was already bright.

The system popped up a notification.

[Extraction of Blagodatnoye Gold Mine completed. 288 tons. Total 480 tons. Purity 99.99%.]

Li Xin checked the panel.

---

[Gold Search and Refining System 2.0] (Repaired version)

[Host: Li Xin]

[Current Level: 15]

[Detection Range: 50 kilometers]

[Extraction Range: ≤ 10 kilometers]

[Extraction Speed: 50 tons/hour]

(After 12 hours of continuous work, forced cooldown for 12 hours)

[Cumulative Gold: 4319.2057 tons.]

[System entering cooldown state. Countdown: 11:59:59.]

[...]

---

4319 tons of gold, worth over 180 billion US dollars, wealth was another explosive growth.

Seeing these numbers, Li Xin couldn't help but feel a ripple in his heart, his mouth stretching to his earlobes.

He closed the panel and crawled out from the other end of the culvert.

This side was a gully, with steep slopes on both sides, bushes growing on the slopes, bare.

He walked south along the gully.

After walking for almost an hour, he arrived at the place where he parked.

He got into the car and started the engine. He drove toward the city.

Returning to the hotel, it was almost 12 o'clock, and the girl at the front desk was eating, glanced at him, and didn't speak.

He went upstairs, then went to the bathroom, turned on the hot water, the water was hot, steam filled the air. He stood under the shower head, letting the hot water rush over his back.

He showered for a long time.

After washing and drying, he sat on the bed, took out iodine and cotton swabs, and wiped the wound on his cheek in the mirror. The wound wasn't deep, but long, from his cheekbone to his chin. The iodine stung when applied.

He put on a Band-Aid.

His phone vibrated.

He picked it up and looked, a message from Qiang Zi: "Brother Xin, Tie Zhu's eighth branch opened today, business is exploding. The line is out to the street. When are you coming back to see?"

He replied: "Soon."

Yang Hong also sent a message: "New product launched, daily active users broke two million, data is good."

He replied: "Very good, worth celebrating."

Li Jiayi sent several documents. The registration progress of the family office, the Singapore framework had already been set up.

He replied: "Thank you for your hard work."

Luo Maifa sent a voice message in the group. He clicked on it, his voice was ear-piercingly loud: "Brothers! I got a big client! Next week I'll treat you all to a five-star hotel! I'll be mad at anyone who doesn't come!"

Li Xin listened twice, his mouth twitched.

He put the phone on the bedside table.

He pulled the curtains and lay down.

The quilt was thick, warm, the pillow was a bit hard, but it was okay.

He closed his eyes.

The gunshots, explosions, shouts in his head were still spinning. But as they spun, they blurred.

Someone outside the window was talking, in Russian, unclear.

The voice got further and further away.

He fell asleep.

---