Chapter 214: Escape

“Wait a minute, why didn’t I get any skills from killing those mutated bugs?” Yang Bo suddenly realized something.

He thought about it for a while but couldn’t find an answer, becoming more cautious.

After opening the energy stone cart, he saw a completely different sight inside.

The cart looked no different from the other carts around it. If someone wanted to steal energy stones, it would be hard to find the right one amidst so many.

“Jackpot!” Yang Bo quickly placed his hand on the cart’s control system and opened the storage area for the energy stones.

The energy stones were kept in containers filled with blue liquid. Since the energy properties of each stone varied, mixing them could cause their energy to deplete. Stones with the same properties were placed together.

Yang Bo looked around and found a nearby passage. It seemed to be an abandoned tunnel, though its purpose was unknown.

Then he began moving the containers into the tunnel one by one.

After several trips, he released the mecha in the abandoned tunnel and started storing the containers filled with energy stones inside the mecha’s storage compartment.

Then, he quickly retracted the mecha and returned to the energy stone cart, destroying the cart’s systems.

He also destroyed the sorting system. Even if someone repaired the equipment, they wouldn’t be able to find the data.

“Fortunately, I’m wearing heavy-duty protective gear. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to retrieve these stones.” After handling everything, Yang Bo prepared to leave.

All the mechas in Yang Bo’s team had recording functions, as they were provided by the mining company, just like the spaceship.

The mecha’s recording feature tracked the entire team’s activities to prevent them from stealing energy stones while on missions.

However, Yang Bo’s heavy-duty protective gear didn’t have a recording feature, and neither did the Fat Boss’s armor.

As Yang Bo approached the upward passage, he suddenly sensed something wrong. He saw mutated bugs start appearing above.

The mutated bugs resembled cockroaches. The largest was about two meters long, while the smallest was a few dozen centimeters.

They chewed their way down the elevator shaft, damaging it as they went.

These mutated bugs were brown, with large mouths, long antennae, and powerful legs.

“This is bad.” Yang Bo grabbed his laser gun and attacked the buugs, then quickly headed downward.

The bugs burst into flames when shot, but Yang Bo didn’t gain any skills from killing them.

More bugs swarmed the tunnel, many bypassing Yang Bo entirely to attack the mining carts, starting to feast.

“Is this just like that time on the Green Demon Planet?” Yang Bo compared it to when he hadn’t earned skills from killing certain birds in a mecha game.

Eventually, Yang Bo learned those were from the Mutant Tribe on Green Demon Planet, which had engineered them using biotechnology.

Heading further down, he noticed the bugs weren’t following him anymore.

“The Fat Boss is a walking disaster. Something terrible always happens when I follow him.” Yang Bo sighed inwardly. Every time he worked with the Fat Boss, there was trouble.

“Looks like I can’t follow the Fat Boss to his family next year. Something’s bound to happen.”

Despite his complaints, Yang Bo wasn’t too worried. He had the skills to make it out.

“Fat Boss, what happened to those guys?”

“It seems these bugs were engineered specifically to eat metal. Is the cave-in above because they ate through the mine’s metal supports?”

He reached the 33rd level of the mine. It had also been abandoned, and looked empty without a sorting center. Metal pillars still supported both ends of the ceiling.

Suddenly, the lighting system went out. A moment later, some of the lights flickered back on with emergency power.

This meant the lights had built-in batteries and were powering back up after losing external power.

Yang Bo moved on to the 34th level, which was also fully mined out like the levels above.

On the 35th level, he saw a lot of mining carts.

The passage here was deep. According to the information Yang Bo reviewed, the mine extended 20 kilometers.

Of course, the mission details provided were just for reference. On his first mission with Wu Bing, there had been problems, and they had to communicate with the client.

Never trust mission intel too much. It could lead you into dangerous situations.

“This laser gun is complete trash. If the fire rate is high, the power is low. If the power is high, the fire rate drops.” Yang Bo looked at his laser gun with disdain..

He moved further along the mine while considering his options: “If worse comes to worst, I’ll take off this Heavy-Duty Protective Gear and dig a tunnel to the surface with an energy weapon.”

“Are the Fat Boss and his guys dead?”

“Probably not, they’re pretty experienced.”

“But Fat Boss has this awful habit of abandoning people at the drop of a hat. I need to teach him what it feels like someday.”

“Looks like Fat Boss and I are just not compatible.” Yang Bo picked up his pace, knowing the bugs would soon chew through the sorting center.

After walking a kilometer, he felt a slight vibration in the ground. He figured the metal pillars near the sorting center had been eaten through.

“Something’s off about this section of the mine.” Yang Bo looked around. The colors seemed different.

He walked another two kilometers before the device on his heavy-duty protective suit’s wrist started to beep. Radiation levels were too high.

Radiation was always present in space, but living beings had limits on how much they could handle. Superhumans could handle much more.

“Is that a crack?” After walking more than 10 kilometers, Yang Bo suddenly spotted a massive crack in the mountain next to him. It was about four or five meters wide, and metal supports visibly held up the top.

Large fissures could also be seen along the adjacent parts of the mine.

“Does this crack lead to the surface?”

“Let’s check the mining face first.” Yang Bo glanced at the crack before speeding ahead.

“So many energy stones!” Yang Bo reached the worksite. There were several large machines, including a massive ball-shaped one with lots of teeth that seemed to be drilling the mineral vein.

Energy stones were incredibly hard, resistant to being shattered. The mined ore would be transported by cart to the sorting center.

“Energy metal?” He noticed the teeth on this large machine were made of energy metal.

“This mine must be worth a fortune.” Yang Bo spotted several bright energy particles glistening in the rocks, representing blocks of energy stones.

But he didn’t try to pry them out. They were embedded in the rock.

Taking off his gloves, he placed his hands on the massive machines, carefully sensing the control systems and understanding how they worked.

“Someday, I’ll set up an underwater mining system like this for myself.” After 10 minutes, Yang Bo let go.

Quickly backing away, he knew that once the bugs chewed through the metal supports, the mine could collapse.

The mine ceiling wasn’t one solid piece. Some sections were intact, but others were fractured. Even flat sections needed support pillars, with the fractured parts needing even more.

Support columns had to be installed based on geological conditions and adjusted accordingly.

Reaching the crack in the mountain, Yang Bo squeezed through.

“Someone’s been here.” The moment he entered the mountain crack, he noticed traces of movement, and they weren’t old.

Cautious, Yang Bo charged his laser gun..

“About half a month ago, someone came through here.” Yang Bo carefully examined the footprints on the ground.

The crack was massive. At its tallest point, it reached 50 or 60 meters; the shortest was more than 10 meters. The widest parts were over 10 meters wide, while the narrowest were less than a meter.

“Too bad I lack expertise in geology. I have no idea how this kind of fissure is formed.” Observing the sulfur stains on the rock, Yang Bo muttered to himself.

Fortunately, the passage was gradually sloping upward.

“I should use my superpower and just fly up.” After walking a while, Yang Bo grew impatient.

Finding a spot to stop, he summoned his mecha, took off the heavy protective gear, and placed the gear and laser gun inside a large, shiielded trash bag, which he stashed in the mecha’s cockpit.

He stored the mecha, put on his armor, and grabbed an energy weapon.

Using anti-gravity powers on himself, Yang Bo flew like Superman through the mountain crack.

“I really made it to the surface.” In less than five minutes, Yang Bo found himself above ground.

It was a canyon, several kilometers wide.

“A warplane?” Yang Bo spotted one on the cliff edge, hidden below.

“Are these the saboteurs?”

While invisible, Yang Bo flew cautiously toward the warplane. Since he couldn’t use his other powers while invisible, it took him longer.

“It really is a warplane.” When Yang Bo reached it, he realized why his head was spinning.

The reason he was stunned? Warplanes were never alone. There had to be a mothership.

“Someone’s definitely targeting this energy mine, and they’re ready for it.” Yang Bo realized the bugs would finish eating the mining company’s equipment soon, at which point the raiders would strike.

Thinking about the mothership hidden somewhere in space, he couldn’t help but feel a chill.

“How can I get inside that warplane?” Yang Bo circled the warplane while invisible, but couldn’t find a way in. He was stumped.

“Should I call the pirates?” If worst came to worst, Yang Bo considered going in guns blazing.

Second update coming at noon.