Chapter 28: Crowdfunding H5
With Chen Wuling's full-throttle assault, the $20,000 worth of machine gun shells and grenades were expended. The meteorites, each embedded with magnetic storm interference fields, were systematically destroyed one after another.
The magnetic storm's disruptive effects completely dissipated.
The monitoring center re-established communications with everyone.
Luofei officially took command of the operation, instructing Chen Wuling to maintain a lockdown around the collapse zone. The rest of the team was tasked with collecting the corpses of the insect beasts and utilizing mechanical arms to break down the meteorites.
No one knew how many insect beasts still lurked beneath the surface.
The rock layers from the collapse were thick, requiring considerable time to excavate.
For now, their focus was on securing the area—clearing the meteorites and sealing off the region.
Without fresh nourishment in the form of blood and flesh, the insect beasts would not be able to breed further. They would be trapped and confined within the perimeter.
They could afford to wait.
With the arrival of seven Qingniao drones, all the meteorites were marked with a green "safe" status.
The area of confinement kept shrinking.
Chen Wuling remained stationed in the air, while the other six drones were busy transporting meteorite resources.
Everything was running smoothly.
Under Luofei's orders, Zhu Xiaotian was dispatched to assist in the transport of the meteorites, fully excluding Wu Hao and his crew from the operation.
Tian Xiao understood that Zhu Xiaotian's deployment was a gesture of thanks from Luofei for his role in saving the situation.
He calculated the potential value of the over 300 meteorites. The resources unearthed could easily surpass 20 million. If the spoils were evenly distributed among the ten security personnel involved, each person could pocket 2 million.
As for Zhu Xiaotian…
She'd be receiving 2 million just for showing up.
The six insect beasts were Tian Xiao's spoils. The company would reward him with several thousand for their carcasses, and selling the bodies would yield a good sum.
After over seven hours of operations, all the meteorites were cleared.
Luofei finally ordered a shift change.
The two patrolling teams returned to recharge and rest, replaced by two new teams led by Tie Xiong and Zhao Jia.
The group departed reluctantly.
With the profits already divvied up, the only remaining task was to clear the collapsed zone and locate the last of the insect beasts and the largest meteorite.
Naturally, they grumbled, unwilling to continue. But…
Orders were orders.
They had no choice but to comply.
Tian Xiao and his team returned to the base headquarters, where all the raw ore extracted from the meteorites was sold to the logistics department at market price—netting them 23 million.
As for the insect beast corpses, Chen Wuling suggested they gather them all up and send them to the Earth Alliance headquarters in the Tianma system, where they could be sold for at least double the price.
Tian Xiao agreed.
However, he had already removed the pancreases from the insect beasts and sealed them in blood-soaked containers.
The six pancreases were valuable treasures.
With them, Tian Xiao had a sufficient supply of materials to enhance his physical strength for the time being, ensuring that he could push himself to the H9 level in no time.
Training Room, Level 12
With the help of a biomechanical massage specialist, Tian Xiao rested for four hours, entering a deep sleep and recovering to peak mental condition. Afterward, he checked the progress of the C25 district mission with Lao Lu.
Tie Xiong and Zhao Jia's team had made little progress.
Though a group of miners had been deployed to excavate the collapse site, the area was vast, and only 20 meters of the rock layers had been cleared. The bottom, still over a kilometer deep, remained out of reach.
Lao Lu relayed two pieces of good news:
Luofei had assessed that the insect beasts in the collapse zone were mostly gone, and the threat level was low. As a result, the patrol teams were to be reduced from two to one, with eight-hour shifts. The next shift change wouldn't happen until 16 hours later.
This meant Tian Xiao had time to rest.
Additionally, Tian Xiao's heroic rescue of Chen Wuling and his team had been reported to headquarters, who generously rewarded him with 100,000 yuan. His account balance had swelled to over 240,000 yuan.
After deducting the 100,000 owed to Luofei, Tian Xiao was left with 140,000.
No debts, only freedom.
Tian Xiao was naturally pleased.
"Any news from Wu Hao?" he asked.
"Haha... Just thinking about Wu Hao makes me laugh," Lao Lu chuckled, then leaned in to share a secret.
The team that followed Luofei had reaped tremendous rewards, while Wu Hao's group received nothing. They were seething with resentment, and two of Wu Hao's men had already begun reaching out to Luofei, hoping to break away from Wu Hao's command.
It was obvious to anyone with eyes.
Even Zhu Xiaotian, a rookie, had walked away with 2.3 million, while Wu Hao's crew had been relegated to menial labor. It was clear that Luofei had intentionally marginalized Wu Hao's faction.
Originally, Wu Hao posed a significant threat to Luofei. But now…
Chen Wuling had risen to prominence, and Tian Xiao had showcased his formidable combat talents.
Luofei was riding high, and this time, he had earned special recognition from headquarters for discovering and recommending valuable personnel.
Anyone could see that Wu Hao's faction was losing its footing.
Finally, Lao Lu dropped a bombshell:
"This meteorite incident might just be the nail in Wu Hao's coffin."
Tian Xiao, however, remained skeptical.
From what he knew of Wu Hao, he didn't believe the man would bow out so easily.
Wu Hao wasn't ordinary.
Tie Xiong and Zhao Jia also had their own talents.
Together, this trio had caused Luofei no small amount of trouble.
For three long years, Luofei had been under constant pressure, with Wu Hao's covert and overt tactics keeping him on edge.
How many others could even dream of challenging a leader as formidable as Luofei?
After finishing his conversation with Lao Lu, Tian Xiao returned to his room. He consumed one of the insect beast pancreases, chewing it slowly, before heading back to the training room on the 15th floor to continue his intense regimen.
The more he used the pancreas, the less effective it became.
His third round of absorption yielded a meager 0.5-point increase after eight hours of rigorous training.
Muscle Strength: 13.4Muscle Flexibility: 13.2
It was clear that the benefits would continue to diminish, and eventually, the H-level pancreases would no longer provide any significant enhancements.
As he was about to leave the training room, Chen Wuling walked in, smiling.
"I knew I'd find you here."
"Tian Xiao, do you have a moment?" Chen Wuling asked.
Tian Xiao wiped the sweat off his body with a towel and greeted him.
Chen Wuling casually slung an arm around his shoulder. "The guys have been looking for you. We've decided to pitch in one million from this haul and apply for an H5-level chip computational upgrade… and we're planning to help you level up to H5 too! It's a way of thanking you for saving our lives today. You can't refuse!"