46: Initial thoughts (3K, please support!)

"Brother Feng?"

The security guard saw him and offered a friendly smile.

Jiang Feng nodded in response and exchanged a few casual pleasantries, but his mind was churning with thoughts.

This city seemed accustomed to being ruled by violence; whether it was the gangs or the Great Leader on the news shouting "Make the Terran Union Great Again," privilege seemed to have succeeded in domesticating most people.

People wallowed in the pleasure brought by contraband, treated injustice as mere conversation fodder, and all sense of resistance evaporated amidst their laughter.

'I am the same as them, yet completely different.'

Jiang Feng thought to himself. The reason he said "the same" was because he, too, had to hustle for a living, toil for his loved ones, and shoulder all the burdens for his family.

Yet he was "completely different" because he had once seen what true justice and righteousness were, what peace and a normal life looked like.

'I could have endured the darkness, had I never seen the sun.'

Jiang Feng recited this silently. In the past, he thought he understood, but now, he only felt how naive he had been.

He thought of Lin Xiaoyu's face, his parents' faces, and in his mind, the awe he once felt for his "father-in-law" surfaced.

At this moment, he didn't want to escape the darkness at all.

'I should be the wall, shielding my wife from the wind and frost.'

'I should be the road, leading my parents to a distant place.'

'I should be the kite in the sky, soaring freely, yet tethered to the stake called "home."'

Jiang Feng felt a sense of clarity. For him, resistance was never a choice, but an instinct carved into his blood.

Unless he saw the sunlight, he would never stop tearing through the darkness.

"Armory, convert one thousand kilograms of materials into energy."

[Integrated Material Reserves: 1466 kg]

[Energy Reserves: 0.058%]

[Operation Complete]

Lines of text popped up before his eyes. Jiang Feng's focus sank deeper, the black briefcase in his hand swaying gently with his steps.

He felt it was a pity. Since there was a sun in the "Miniature Galaxy," why couldn't the "Cybrex Warforge" come up with something like solar power to collect energy?

Or was it that this thing required him to supply energy personally until he upgraded his permissions?

Unable to figure it out, Jiang Feng simply stopped thinking about it. Both the Miniature Galaxy and the Armory were vital tools for his comeback; he couldn't stop using them just because of a minor inconvenience.

"Produce 10 'Peregrine' robots and 4 Robot Dogs. Set the paint style to industrial waste."

[Target: Manufacturing Blueprint "UX-332" (Robot Dog)]

[Matching Resources...]

[Required Materials: 308 kg]

[Estimated Time Remaining: 116 seconds]

[Target: Manufacturing Blueprint "H-25 Type C Peregrine Humanoid robot"]

[Matching Resources...]

[Required Materials: 950 kg]

[Estimated Time Remaining: 3000 seconds]

[Please wait for the production queue]

The coldness in Jiang Feng's eyes grew sharper as the countdown ticked away, second by second.

Although he didn't yet know exactly what he would do next, he had decided on the general direction.

There was only one way to solve the problem; it had appeared in this world alongside life itself and would never disappear.

Little Handsome followed silently behind him. In its processor, it was rapidly analyzing the possible thoughts Jiang Feng was having at this very moment.

[Formulating Emergency Escape Strategy (Probability 78%): Combat module data shows pupil contraction frequency has increased by 37% compared to the baseline. Body language matches the "Tactical Deduction" model. It is speculated that he is internally simulating three or more escape routes.]

[Family Safety Priority Confusion (Probability 65%): External brainwave scan shows abnormal frequency. The amygdala region appears to be under sustained high pressure. It is speculated that his attention is focused on the "Wife's Family Priority vs. Parents' Priority" issue.]

[Cooperation Partner Risk Assessment (Probability 52%): Blinking data shows abnormalities. It is speculated that he is highly vigilant, constructing a risk model for Molly's betrayal and pre-setting various response plans.]

[Aggressive Emotion Suppression (Probability 41%): Masseter muscle contraction frequency is too high. It is speculated that he is suppressing anger to maintain focus.]

[Self-Value Reconstruction (Probability 29%): Default personality model detected slight disorder. It is speculated that he is trapped in self-doubt regarding "Is it worth continuing to live if my family is killed?" and requires emotional counseling.]

[Unknown Variable Anxiety (Probability 14%): Data is not significant. Theoretical speculation, unconfirmed.]

[Counterattack (Probability 0.1%): No possibility of victory in confrontation. Speculated to have the lowest probability.]

Just then, Jiang Feng's steps stopped. He saw Manager Zhang in the inner field.

"Engineer Jiang? You're here again?" Manager Zhang walked over with a beaming smile and shook Jiang Feng's hand.

Jiang Feng smiled slightly and said naturally, "Miss Molly has some work for me to do. Which way to the gravity training equipment?"

"Uh..." Manager Zhang tilted his head and glanced at Molly, who was following behind Jiang Feng. Molly gave him a wink.

"Ah..." He immediately smiled even brighter. "Brother Jiang, this way, follow me, I'll take you there!"

Molly watched Jiang Feng walk away, then immediately took the elevator back to her office.

"Noli, regarding the thing I asked you to do..."

"I have already hired a group of hackers and created multiple 'Jiang Feng Files.' His and his family's addresses, names, and social welfare numbers have been diluted immediately. The number of fake identities is currently increasing."

Noli glanced at her wristband. The time Molly sent the message was right when she climbed into the passenger seat. By the time the Garol Gang's hackers started searching for information, it would be far too late.

"Good. One more thing: stop the in-depth investigation into Jiang Feng."

"Don't you want to know who the hacker providing him with technical support is, or the source of his parts supply?"

Molly turned her head and glared at her. "I suddenly don't want to know anymore."

Perhaps fearing ambiguity, Molly hurriedly turned her head away, a blush flashing across her face.

"The people we hired have been investigating for two days. Since there's no result, it's enough to show that Jiang Feng's partners are quite skilled. In that case, there's no need to waste resources."

"Understood." Noli held back her laughter and nodded through gritted teeth.

"What are you laughing at?" Molly turned back abruptly, her brows showing embarrassment and annoyance.

"I'm not laughing?" Noli pinched the web between her thumb and index finger, denying it with a straight face.

But she couldn't hold it in. Seeing Molly's increasingly gloomy expression, Noli had to change the subject immediately to shift the heat onto Molly.

"I was just thinking, I've never seen you be so... 'special' to anyone."

Molly poured a glass of water and took a sip, letting the taste of lemon linger on her tongue. "I'm not being special to him... It's just that he is very smart—smart enough to know he's being used, yet he still does as I say."

'Keep making it up, I'll just watch you make it up.' Noli didn't speak, but she chuckled inwardly.

'Still does as you say... If that were really true, would you even bother looking at him properly? Stop it!'

A trace of melancholy flashed across Molly's brows. "The Garol Gang is getting more and more out of line. The balance that Mother painstakingly maintained is collapsing."

The laughter in Noli's heart paused, and she truly fell silent. Whenever she thought of Alice, the image of that woman, who could only be described as "majestic," appeared in her mind. Although her hair was turning gray, everyone had to speak to her with the utmost respect.

Molly suddenly smashed the cup in her hand against the wall, sending glass shards and lemon water flying.

"But I am not her!" Molly's voice tore through the calm.

"I don't need balance. I want them all to kneel!"

She panted, watching her reflection split into countless pieces within the broken glass.

Noli wanted to ask, "What about Jiang Feng? Does he have to kneel too?", but she ultimately didn't ask it out loud.

A moment later, she smoothed her hair and her expression returned to calm. "Let's go, shall we see how far Jiang Feng has gotten?"

"Miss." Noli hesitated. "There are other important matters today. Several boxing clubs have cancelled their contracts. The promising talent they had has all gone to the illegal fighting rings run by the Garol Gang. Those managers want to meet with you."

"Hmph." Molly tossed her head, gave no reply, and walked straight outside.

'And you say you want to make others kneel.'

Noli felt helpless and sighed inwardly. She followed closely out of the office, finding Jiang Feng's name in her wristband.

After hesitating for a few seconds, she sent a message.

In the bright room, a massive gravity chamber stood in the center like a steel coffin.

In the dim room, surrounded by various training equipment, several boxers were lifting weights in the distance, their sweat dripping onto the floor.

"Ding-dong."

The wristband chimed softly. Jiang Feng raised his hand to look; it was a message from Noli.

[The information regarding you and your family has been placed under the club's protection. Click here to view — Link.]

[The intelligence you wanted. Please do not leak it — Attachment.]

[Miss Molly has an important meeting. Help me persuade her, please.]

[Delete this message after reading. Thank you.]

Jiang Feng frowned at first. He carefully checked the link, which contained his family's information, but every entry had become a scrolling list—the photos were changing, the social welfare numbers were changing, the names were changing, and the addresses were changing.

Unless one knew the real address beforehand, one would go crazy checking through hundreds or thousands of addresses, right?

'Hmm? I didn't expect them to use this method.'

Jiang Feng's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, relaxed slightly. Although he still had to carry out his plan, he had to acknowledge this favor.

Immediately after, he checked the attachment. It was indeed information on the Garol Gang and the Iron Hand Gang.

Detailed down to every stronghold, every high-ranking cadre, and a large amount of insider trading information.

Jiang Feng didn't have time to read it all. He nodded slightly, his gaze moving downward, where he saw Noli's request.

'Since they have chosen to cooperate, it wouldn't hurt for me to cooperate with Noli as well.'