Chapter 220: The Struggle

Yang Bo naturally didn’t know the President was so capable. Wearing the Camouflage cloak, he advanced from the canyon towards the mine entrance, walking right through the front gate where the Fat Boss and his crew’s spaceship had entered.

“The Camouflage cloak actually absorbs.” The moment Yang Bo put it on, he understood the principle behind the Camouflage cloak.

It worked just like the stealth battlecraft on Earth, absorbing radar waves. The Camouflage cloak was made of special material used to absorb radar waves from surveillance equipment.

“It seems I can also do that?” Yang Bo felt inspired by the Camouflage cloak. His Optical Ability seemed capable of achieving a similar effect.

After all, the radar waves released by the surveillance equipment were all derived from light and electricity.

But how exactly could he do that? Yang Bo didn’t have a clue just yet. He’d also need the right equipment to experiment properly. Otherwise, testing without results was pointless.

“Luckily, there are two cloaks. I’ll take one back for research.”

“This cloak isn’t better than my own invisibility, but having it as an excuse will make things easier for me in the future.”

“Since the Bounty Hunter Guild issued this cloak, it should be better than what’s sold on the black market.”

“Once back on March Planet, I should check if there’s any notorious criminals, preferably in the pharmaceutical field.”

Wearing the Camouflage cloak, Yang Bo wasn’t worried about the ships in the sky. No matter what type of spaceship it was, they all relied on radar for locking onto targets before attacking.

The Camouflage cloak prevented radar detection, though it didn’t hide him from the naked eye. But spaceships and warplanes primarily relied on radar to detect targets.

This Camouflage cloak could evade the Planetary Security System’s array radars, so smaller radars on modified ships were even less of an issue.

“Once the pirate identity enters the mine, I’ll log off, leaving an air of mystery.” The reason Yang Bo took on this task was to swap out his real body.

“I can take a look inside the mine and grab more energy stones. It shouldn’t be a problem to sell them through the Bounty Hunter Guild.” After all, Yang Bo wasn’t interested in the bounty.

“I have to leave within 20 hours.” Yang Bo knew that in 20 hours, the other party would deploy bait and begin exterminating the mutated bugs.

From a distance, Yang Bo could already see the metal doors of the mine riddled with holes, with many mutated bugs crawling around.

Seeing the bugs living in such an environment made Yang Bo feel a slight sense of crisis.

“Too much success with gene biotechnology isn’t a good thing. If these mutated bugs ever get out of control or mutate further, it could spell disaster.”

“Then again, maybe not. Perhaps these bugs can only survive in this environment. They might not be able to live in an oxygen-rich atmosphere.”

“This clearly isn’t something under the Alliance Government’s supervision.”

“I hope no major crisis arises.” Yang Bo slipped into a nearby mountain crevice, took out his mecha, and placed the Camouflage cloak and the Bounty Hunter Guild’s task terminal into the storage compartment.

“I should find some corresponding metals to make a box. That way, I can store things more securely.” Yang Bo then put the mecha away and walked towards the mine while invisible.

The bugs in the mine were growing larger, some reaching two to three meters in length. They resembled cockroaches but without wings, sporting only black bodies.

Yang Bo couldn’t stand these creatures. He wondered why they didn’t even drop any skills.

Most of the mine had indeed collapsed, but many areas remained intact, especially the ceiling, which was made of a single large rock.

All the metal items had been gnawed away, leaving only non-metal items.

The bugs had crawled through the collapsed areas, creating tunnels. These tunnels were about three meters in diameter.

Yang Bo moved quickly, heading straight for the bottom of the mine. He needed to reach the lower levels before the Bounty Hunter Guild arrived.

“The Fat Boss really took a loss this time. But given his personality, he’s probably going to demand compensation from the client.”

As soon as Yang Bo reached the 33rd level, he sensed an energy fluctuation—energy from a laser gun attack..

He quickly found a spot to release his mecha and then donned his heavy-duty protective gear over his armor, laser gun in hand..

Just as he finished putting on the protective gear, the public channel buzzed with voices.

“Who are you? We saw this energy stone first!”

“Who cares if you saw it first? So what? We saw it too, but the energy stone is still embedded in the ore, not in your hands.”

“How can you be so shameless? We’re all here for a mission. Don’t you have any rules?”

“Of course we know the rules. Since you came first, you get 60%, and we’ll take 40%.”

“Nonsense! If you’d been two minutes later, we would’ve grabbed it by now. This is robbery!”

“The rules apply to unclaimed territories out there. But this mine has an owner. You’re lucky we’re even offering to split it. What more do you want?” Both sides were arguing on the public channel, seemingly over the energy stones.

“How did they get here so fast?” Yang Bo crept closer and saw two groups of people exchanging laser fire.

One group belonged to the Bounty Hunter Guild, positioned between the 34th and 33rd levels. Another group of five was at the 33rd level.

The Bounty Hunter Guild group had entered directly from the mountain crevice and descended to the 35th level before coming back upwards.

Above them, at a spot on the collapsed rocks about ten meters away, a fist-sized energy stone glowed faintly blue.

Energy stones can’t be detected within their veins, as the surrounding rocks can block detection devices. But the density of the nearby rocks differs, making it possible to estimate the ore vein’s path.

Aside from the blue energy stone, there were various other energy stones, both large and small.

The smallest were the size of peas, and the largest were the size of quail eggs.

Energy stone veins were very similar to diamond veins on Earth. A single stone could contain several energy stones.

The Bounty Hunter Guild group had six people. The other group had five. They were shooting laser guns back and forth, but not a single person had been hit.

The two sides were less than 50 meters apart, each hiding carefully, afraid to expose themselves and risk getting shot.

Yang Bo spotted a quail egg-sized energy stone on a distant rock. He aimed his laser gun and fired..

Then he quickly hid again. Hitting an energy stone with a laser gun would cause an expllosion.

Rocks and dust sprayed through the tunnel where Yang Bo hid.

The public channel erupted in curses: “Who did that? Trying to get us killed?”

“What kind of idiot randomly fires their gun?”

“Are you trying to get us all killed?”

“Where did this idiot come from?” Both groups were furiously cursing on the public channel.

Despite the insults, the two sides were now fully engaged in battle. The massive explosion had filled the entire space with dust, rendering the laser weapons almost useless.

Both groups, now wearing Energy Suit, were engaging in close combat. Meanwhile, Yang Bo continued to fire his laser gun randomly..

“Stop shooting, you idiot!”

“We’re all here to make money, not die.”

“Stop, stop, stop! Don’t fight anymore. That idiot is still shooting!” The two groups were hacking at each other with energy weapons when they were suddenly startled by a series of laser shots, forcing them to stop immediately.

Everyone had come here to make money. Yang Bo’s reckless firing made both sides nervous.

The two groups looked at Yang Bo in heavy-duty protective gear with vastly different attitudes.

The Bounty Hunter Guild group of six stared at Yang Bo, surprised. They hadn’t expected the mission to be this easy.

The opposing side looked stunned, unable to believe someone would dare roam an alien planet without even wearing proper armor. Was everyone this confident these days? After all, Yang Bo’s heavy-duty protective gear was the most basic equipment one could have.

“Yang Bo?” Suddenly, someone called out in Yang Bo’s private communication channel.

“Who?” Yang Bo raised his laser gun, his expression cauutious.

“We’re sent by Liu Zhijie. Come quickly. The people on the other side are the ones who damaged your ship.” The Bounty Hunter Guild group naturally knew Yang Bo’s communication frequency. The Fat Boss had included it in the mission brief.

“How many people does our boss still have?” Yang Bo continued to act cautiously.

“Your boss and his group of four are already on our warplane. Our mission today was to find you.” The Bounty Hunter Guild members remained cautious of Yang Bo, knowing full well that in a place like this, strangers couldn’t be trusted.

After all, Yang Bo had a bounty of 300,000 credits plus an escort reward worth one million credits. It was only natural they dealt with him carefully.

“Thanks!” Yang Bo pretended to be grateful, jogging over to join the Bounty Hunter Guild group.

“There are now seven of us and five of you. We’ll divide the spoils according to these numbers,” one Bounty Hunter Guild member said.

“Bullshit! That idiot just blew up an energy stone!” one of the others yelled in anger upon hearing this.

Yang Bo sensed something was off. The Bounty Hunter Guild members weren’t usually this agreeable. These guys were known for their greed.

Besides, the Bounty Hunter Guild was here to capture the other group and look for Yang Bo while scouting out the mine.

“That energy stone didn’t belong to you anyway. It belongs to the owner of this mine,” the Bounty Hunter Guild group shot back, refusing to back down.

“We’ve got people outside waiting for us. You better not plan on leaving this planet,” the opposing group’s leader sneered, thinking their warplanes were waiting for them outside.

The Bounty Hunter Guild group burst into laughter: “You’ve got warplanes? So do we!”

“Don’t push us too far! We’re all trying to make a living out here. If you push us, we’ll destroy the energy stones!” the opposing group threatened.

“What do you propose?” The Bounty Hunter Guild group leader seemed intimidated and asked in compromise.