There were no stars in the Rust Belt's night.
The eternally dusky, man-made sky was shattered by towering mountains of junk and derelict buildings, casting thick shadows on the ground that were as deep as an abyss.
And Ling Feng and Shi Lei were two ghosts, merged as one with those shadows.
Shi Lei moved in front. His stout body now displayed an agility and lightness that completely defied his size. Like an old cat familiar with its territory, he always found the perfect cover, avoiding all potential surveillance cameras and wandering gang members. It was a survival instinct honed over years of dodging debts and trouble.
Ling Feng followed behind, acting as the team's "radar."
His spiritual perception was extended with unprecedented breadth and precision. Everything within a three-hundred-meter radius was constructed in his mind as a real-time, incredibly detailed three-dimensional map.
"Left. Top floor of that three-story abandoned apartment building, there's a sniper," Ling Feng's voice, like a wisp of smoke, sounded directly in Shi Lei's ear. This wasn't a sound produced by vocal cords; he was transmitting his thoughts directly to the nearby Shi Lei—a method from the "Induction Chapter" that was extremely draining on the mind, but also exceptionally stealthy.
Shi Lei's body tensed, and a cold sweat instantly broke out. He had been just about to pass under that building! He quickly gave a hand signal and led Ling Feng into another, narrower and filthier alley.
"Seven o'clock direction, behind the trash heap, three men are smoking."
"Intersection ahead, a five-man patrol will pass in thirty seconds."
Guided by Ling Feng's cheat-like "map-wide vision," they flawlessly bypassed all the visible and hidden sentries set up by the Iron Fist Gang. Like two drops of ink merging into the ocean, they silently arrived beneath the towering, fortress-like outer wall of Scrap Relay Station No. 3.
This was one of the centers of power in the Rust Belt.
The very air seemed thick with a grim and oppressive atmosphere.
Shi Lei leaned against a corner of the wall, his heart pounding. Just standing here exerted immense pressure on him. Ling Feng, however, was exceptionally calm.
He looked up at the wall, which appeared menacing in the dim light. In his "mind's eye," the rusted, weak point he had marked was crystal clear.
He gestured to Shi Lei.
The clock pointed to 11:14 PM.
One minute left until their designated window.
Every second felt as long as a century.
Finally, Ling Feng's gaze sharpened.
"—Now!"
Shi Lei no longer hesitated. He took a small, suction-cup-based pulley device from his back and pressed it firmly onto a relatively solid part of the wall. He took a deep breath, his arm muscles bulging, and began to slowly pull on the rope.
Meanwhile, Ling Feng, like a weightless lynx, used the pull of the rope to scale the three-meter-high wall, agilely and silently.
He lay flat on top of the wall and peered inside.
Everything was exactly as he had "seen" it.
The sniper on the top floor was watching with interest as several guards gambled in the warehouse's main hall; two of the guards at the main gate had indeed walked to a corner and lit cigarettes, the embers glowing on and off in the night.
He found the weak point. From his waist, he drew a specially modified dagger with a flat, blade-like tip that vibrated at ultrasonic frequencies. This was another masterpiece he had created using parts from military-grade medical equipment.
There was no screeching noise, only a barely audible "hum."
Where the dagger passed, the rust-spotted metal plate was cut open as smoothly as a hot knife through butter, creating an opening just large enough for one person to pass through.
Ling Feng slipped through lightly, then lowered the rope and pulled up Shi Lei, who was several sizes larger than him.
They had successfully infiltrated!
Inside Warehouse B, crates of sealed medicines and medical equipment were stacked high. The air was filled with the smell of disinfectant, a stark contrast to the filth outside.
Using the shelves as cover, the two moved like shadows, quickly and silently, towards the heavy alloy gate of Warehouse A.
In front of the gate, a red electronic keypad lock glowed with a cold light.
Shi Lei's heart was in his throat. Success or failure hinged on this moment.
Ling Feng wasn't nervous at all. He took out the device he had named the "Ghost Key" and gently placed it on the keypad's sensor area.
He closed his eyes, his spiritual energy highly concentrated, and then pressed the activation button.
Zzzt...
An extremely faint electrical sound buzzed.
The red light on the keypad flickered violently twice, then went out completely.
And the internal lock core of the alloy gate, which represented "No Entry," made a soft click.
The gate was open!
A look of ecstatic joy burst from Shi Lei's eyes. He immediately went forward and, together with Ling Feng, pushed the heavy gate open just wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways.
A gust of dry air, mixed with the unique, sweet scent of energy ore, flowed out from Warehouse A.
They exchanged a look and slipped inside without hesitation.
The space in Warehouse A was much larger than in Warehouse B.
Row after row of giant shelves were neatly stacked with tens of thousands of standard-sized energy lattices. They reflected the light from the incandescent lamps on the ceiling, glowing with a mesmerizing, faint blue light, like a boundless sea of stars made of wealth and power.
And in the center of this starry sea, several guards were sitting around a table, lazily playing cards.
One of them was particularly eye-catching.
He wasn't part of the game. He sat alone on a huge energy lattice storage container, silently polishing a battle-axe that was thicker than an average person's forearm and glinted with a cold light.
He was built like a prehistoric bear, his bare arms covered in knotted muscles and coiling veins. Even sitting still, he radiated a suffocating aura of bloodlust and brutality.
"Brute Bull."
Under the Iron Fist Gang's leader, Buck, he was the strongest enforcer.
A monster who could tear apart a standard mechanical guard with his bare hands.
He seemed to sense something. The motion of polishing his axe paused for a fraction of a second.
Then, slowly, he raised his head. His beast-like eyes looked over, with pinpoint accuracy, in the direction where Ling Feng and Shi Lei were hiding.