Overnight, the crude map drawn on the oilcloth became their battle plan.
And this workshop, filled with the smell of oil and welding, became the Rust Belt's most secret and efficient war room.
"No," Shi Lei's thick finger drew a firm cross on a point on the map. "Infiltrating through this sewage pipe is too risky. This route is hidden, but the industrial zone upstream discharges highly corrosive waste every half hour. If we're off by even a little, we won't be stealing anything; we'll be clearing the pipes."
Ling Feng closed his eyes, his brow slightly furrowed. His spiritual energy, like a vast, invisible net, had already spanned several kilometers, blanketing the heavily guarded Scrap Relay Station No. 3.
Every detail inside the warehouse was rendered in his mind with perfect clarity.
"The southeast corner of the perimeter wall," Ling Feng began slowly, his voice calm and clear. "Three meters above the ground, there's a joint between two metal plates. The rivets are severely rusted from years of acid rain. That's the weakest structural point of the entire outer wall."
Shi Lei's eyes lit up instantly. He leaned over the map and quickly found the location.
"That's where they dump spoiled food and garbage! It stinks to high heaven, not even a mutant rat would go near it! The guard patrols always make a wide detour when they pass that spot! Feng, you're a monster!"
"At 11:15 PM," Ling Feng continued, as if reciting a text he had memorized, "is when most of the guards have their midnight snack. The two snipers on the warehouse roof will be distracted at this time, watching the gambling game in the main hall. Of the four guards at the main gate, two will go to a corner to smoke. From 11:15 to 11:17, we have a two-minute window to get in through that weak point without being seen."
Shi Lei listened, stunned, a cold sweat breaking out on his back.
For the first time, he was experiencing firsthand the terrifying power of spiritual energy. This wasn't a fight anymore; this was... cheating. Ling Feng had flipped over all of their opponent's cards.
"What about after we get in?" Shi Lei's voice trembled slightly with excitement.
"Inside is Warehouse B," Ling Feng's "vision" in his mind probed deeper. "It's filled with medicine and medical equipment. Our target—the energy lattices—are stored in the innermost Warehouse A. A locked alloy gate, requiring a password and a keycard, separates the two warehouses."
"That's a problem..." Shi Lei frowned. "The password changes daily, and only 'Brute Bull' and his most trusted men have the keycards."
"We don't need a password, and we don't need a keycard."
Ling Feng opened his eyes, which shone with confidence. He walked to the workbench and, from a pile of old communication device parts, picked up a precisely modified, palm-sized instrument.
"I call it the 'Ghost Key,'" Ling Feng said. "Its core is a pulse generator I salvaged from a military-grade jammer. After modification, it can release a highly concentrated, low-intensity electromagnetic pulse in an instant. It's not powerful enough to trigger a large-scale alarm, but it's enough to disrupt the system of a standalone electronic lock, causing it to short-circuit for three seconds."
"And three seconds," Ling Feng looked at Shi Lei, "is enough for us to open that gate."
Shi Lei took the "Ghost Key," which was as exquisite as a work of art, feeling as if he were in a dream.
Ambush, infiltration, cracking codes... words that had previously only existed in legends of gang wars were now, step by step, being turned into reality by him and Ling Feng.
In addition to the "Ghost Key," Ling Feng had also prepared two specially modified "silent flashbangs." They didn't produce a loud noise or bright light. Instead, they released a high-frequency infrasound wave, inaudible to the human ear, that could cause severe dizziness and nausea in anyone within range, completely neutralizing their ability to fight.
They had no guns, no cannons.
But they had Ling Feng's "eyes" and his hands that could turn scrap into miracles.
The night deepened.
The clamor of the Rust Belt was gradually swallowed by the darkness.
When the clock's hands pointed to ten-thirty, Ling Feng and Shi Lei had armed themselves to the teeth. They wore dark clothing for maximum mobility, their faces camouflaged with grease.
"Ready?" Ling Feng asked in a low voice after a final check of the gear on his belt.
Shi Lei pounded his chest firmly, making a muffled thump-thump sound. The excitement in his eyes had long since overwhelmed any fear.
"My bones have been itching for a fight!"
Ling Feng nodded.
He took one last look at the workshop that had been his sanctuary for six years.
Then, he turned around, not a trace of hesitation left in his eyes.
The two pulled open the iron door and, like two shadows melting into the darkness, disappeared silently into the night.
Their target was several kilometers away: the brightly lit, heavily guarded Scrap Relay Station No. 3.
It was one of the hearts of the Iron Fist Gang.
And tonight, two audacious "rats" were about to chew a bloody hole right through that heart.