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Chapter 13: The Moving Vein
Two groups proceeded down the spiraling cavern, one after the other. Suddenly, the woman with a black tulip tattoo on her chest slowed her pace and moved closer to the three-person team led by Tang Fang.
"Why is it just you three? Where's Tok?" she asked.
Tok was one of the original three who followed Tang Fang. He had been killed by the woman wearing a leather collar during Lawrence's bridge bombing.
"He's dead," replied the woman, who was responsible for his death.
"Dead?" The woman with a black tulip tattoo furrowed her brows. "How did he die?"
"I killed him," the woman wearing a leather collar responded calmly.
The tattooed woman was named Eva. She was the woman having sex with Tok while everyone was in a chaotic scramble for weapons after the Scorpion armed transport helicopter dropped off the equipment.
"You killed him?" Eva's expression shifted.
"What? You planning to avenge him?" The woman wearing a leather collar now held a shimmering dagger in her hand, her thumb gently brushing against its blade.
"Why would I?" Eva responded nonchalantly. "Men like him, with nothing but their lust, are a dime a dozen. I just regret that he had... such a large asset."
"Wonder where Grosso's group is. I heard Simpson is also well endowed."
"Dead," the woman wearing a leather collar replied again.
Eva blinked. "He's dead too?"
"Killed by him," the woman wearing a leather collar said, not lifting her gaze, her expression devoid of emotion.
Eva frowned deeply, her gaze moving to the back of Tang Fang. Her face showed some displeasure.
Having finally escaped that lightless prison, Eva had hoped to have some fun and enjoy herself. But the two men who had caught her eye turned out to be short-lived, both dead in the blink of an eye.
The woman wearing a leather collar was known as ruthless; everyone on the Abyss One knew that. But how had an unremarkable man managed to kill one of Grosso’s men right under his nose?
"If I were you, I wouldn’t mess with him," the woman wearing a leather collar said coldly, smoothly returning the dagger to her boot. "Unless you're tired of living like Grosso's men were."
What did she mean by that? Were all of Grosso’s men dead?
Eva stared blankly at Tang Fang’s back. Could he really have killed all nine of Grosso’s men by himself? That was impossible!
Everyone knew how ruthless Grosso was on the Abyss One. When his advances were rejected, he’d blown up the entire station in a fit of rage. The man was a terrifying criminal, and his eight accomplices were all hardened killers with military experience—far more skilled at taking lives than this young, unknown man.
The idea that Tang Fang had single-handedly wiped out Grosso's group was simply unbelievable.
Tang Fang and his two companions had no intention of explaining. After all, who would believe that he could control alien bugs unless they saw it with their own eyes?
—
The cavern grew wider, and the path underfoot became smoother. According to the coordinates on their navigator, the target should be close.
The environment became more humid, and a pungent, overpowering stench filled the air, making it difficult to breathe and causing a nauseating sensation.
Turning a corner, they arrived at a vast opening.
The spiraling cavern had reached its end, revealing the bottom of a massive hollow space, shaped like an inverted funnel. The narrow area at the bottom stretched into the distance, beyond the reach of their rifle-mounted lights.
At the center of the vast hollow lay a slightly elevated rocky vein. Beyond that was a wide, expansive pool of water, dark and deep, its surface still and mirror-like.
"Saiban, take your team and scout the surroundings. Check for any rock bug nests," Byron ordered.
"James, you take Naru and Harvey to survey the vein."
"Housen, Eva, stay with me on guard."
As expected of a former pirate leader, Byron issued his commands methodically.
Tang Fang walked up to the rocky vein, his gaze sweeping over the exposed crystal stones in the cracks. Was this really a mere Class 7 resource planet? A sense of doubt stirred within him.
James, accompanied by Naru and Harvey, also moved closer to another section of the vein. Naru took out the drilling equipment from his backpack, unfolded the tripod, and placed it on a smooth surface of the ore. Meanwhile, Harvey beside him took out the matching PDA (personal digital assistant) and gently pressed the confirmation button. The drill base trembled, and with a soft "click" sound, a metal steel pin extended from the bottom of the tripod, embedding itself firmly into the rock layer, securely anchored to the stone wall.
After Naru stepped back, Harvey adjusted the drill settings and pressed the button again.
With a faint, high-pitched hum, the sharp alloy drill bit pierced into the ore layer, slowly pushing forward. On the PDA screen in Harvey's hand, the various elemental readings began to appear as winding, undulating data lines, each one fluctuating in real-time.
Naru then took out several small, round iron balls from his backpack, setting them up with another PDA.
The iron balls rolled on the ground, then split open, revealing tiny legs and a single optic sensor. These were miniature spider-like robots; depending on their configuration, they were used for military or scientific purposes. Currently, the one Naru used was a version equipped with a resource structure scanner.
The spider bots swiftly scurried up the rocky walls, their optic beams scanning the minerals. The data was simultaneously transferred to Harvey's PDA as frequency spectrums.
Soon, Saiban’s team returned from their patrol. "Everything's clear. No signs of rock bug nests. The underground area is vast, though—we walked a kilometer and still didn’t reach the end."
Byron pondered for a moment. "That's fine. As long as it's safe. Once Naru and Harvey finish collecting the data, our mission will be complete."
"Boss, you should come see this!" Harvey suddenly shouted from nearby.
Byron frowned and instructed the others to remain on guard while he and Eva approached the vein.
Tang Fang led the two people behind him closer as well, and then they saw several green beams of light projected from the PDA in Harvey’s palm, which formed a holographic 3D image suspended in the air.
From the structure of the display, it appeared to be a 3D simulation of the mineral vein layers. At the center, the drilling probe had already penetrated several hundred meters underground, utilizing gamma radiation instruments with a range of two to three kilometers. Various elemental reactions within the rock layers were mapped onto the 3D model, each represented by color-coded blocks for clarity.
At this moment, Harvey was pointing to a red area about a kilometer away from where everyone was standing and said, "This... this is Element Zero?"
Element Zero?
The group was shocked. Element Zero was an extremely rare material discovered after humanity entered the age of space travel. Unlike ordinary elements, it contained immense energy and could be converted into any known element through scientific means.
More importantly, Element Zero was the foundation for the fuel used in interstellar travel. Even the smallest deposit of Element Zero would upgrade the planet’s resource rating to at least a Class 5.
As everyone stood in stunned silence, Harvey dropped another bombshell. "That’s not the real issue. The issue is... it's moving!"
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