Three Days

The oil lamp flickered, then the light stabilized.

Lu Yuan pressed the note onto the stone slab and glanced at everyone. Shen Moxin's lips were pale, Mo Chen's cheeks were clenched, and Lin Xiao's pupils shrank to vertical slits in the dim light.

"Three days," Lu Yuan's voice boomed against the rock face, "Starting from now."

Mo Chen slammed his fist on the stone wall. "Damn street Scavengers!"

"The Shadow Guards Cleanup Team." Shen Moxin's fingertips were icy cold. "Handling 'out-of-control Key ' or 'contamination sources'. There are scattered records in the academy's archives... They've never failed."

Lin Xiao remained silent, drew his dagger, and began sharpening it. The scraping sound was ear-piercing.

Lu Yuan walked to the simplified diagram on the wall. "Mo Chen, activate all preset defensive traps. Prioritize energy supply to defense, halt the workshop. Reinforce all weak points, sparing no expense in materials."

"Understood." A fierce glint appeared in Mo Chen's eyes. "Two days, the outer layer strength will increase by 30%."

"Not enough," Lu Yuan interrupted. "We need to hold off the Soul King for ten breaths. Use all the Soul Crystal ore we've looted; if that's not enough, use the reserves Deacon Han gave us. If the base is still standing in three days, we can earn more Soul Crystals."

Mo Chen grinned. "Okay."

"Lin Xiao, you're in charge of guard duty. Withdraw the outer sentries, and set up mobile checkpoints within 300 paces of the entrance, rotating every two hours." Lu Yuan looked at him. "The mission isn't to engage the enemy, but to detect and warn them in advance. The Scavengers excel at stealth; I need you to be even more stealthy."

Lin Xiao licked his canine teeth with the tip of his tongue. "Just what I wanted."

"Su Yan, Li Wangye." The two boys straightened their backs. "Take inventory of all supplies and stockpile enough for thirty people to last fifteen days. Notify the five trainees in the pilot class to immediately cease training and be placed under the Deacon Han. This is an order; no explanation is needed."

Li Wangye managed to squeeze out a "Yes".

"Mr. Shen," Lu Yuan turned to her, "Analyze the Scavengers' operational patterns. The Shadow Guards' style, their usual methods, the characteristics of their Soul Skill, their configuration patterns—anything you can uncover. Especially how they identify targets, infiltrate, and ensure a thorough cleanup."

Shen Moxin a deep breath. "They... will verify the intelligence first. The Listening Wind Pavilion's investigation may have provided the coordinates. After verification, they will choose the lowest-cost method to intervene, which could be poison, assassination, or creating an 'accident'."

"Continue."

"The advantage is stealth and precision; the disadvantage is the need to ensure a thorough cleanup without leaving any future problems. Therefore, once they discover that the target is organized and defended, they will adjust their strategy, but they will never give up."

Lu Yuan nodded. "That's pretty much what I was thinking. The core strategy isn't a direct confrontation, but rather to make them back down or pay a heavy price."

He walked back to the stone slab and pointed to the center of the picture.

"The base is on maximum alert. Personnel are not allowed to leave the core area without permission. Communication will use the shortest possible Soul Power signal; daily activities will be reduced to a minimum." Lu Yuan surveyed the scene. "Three days, three things."

Holding up one finger. "First, turn the base into a hedgehog. Make anyone trying to sneak in suffer the consequences."

"Secondly, develop a combat plan against the Scavengers. They excel at secrecy, we'll create chaos. They seek precision, we'll add variables. They must possess some intelligence about us—their plundering of Soul Crystals, their training of trainees, their workshop capabilities—we'll use that intelligence to set a trap."

The third point. "Thirdly, if we cannot hold the position, evacuation routes and dispersal and concealment plans must be prepared. Core theoretical notes, key drawings, personnel lists—everything that cannot fall into their hands must have a contingency plan for destruction."

The mine tunnels were deathly silent.

Mo Chen spat. "Trying to run away before even fighting?"

"It's not about running away," Lu Yuan said, looking at him. "It's about ensuring the Core Flame doesn't go out. If we die, this theory and this path will truly be 'eradicated'."

He paused. "But that's the final step. Now, get moving."

Figures dispersed. Footsteps and the clanging of tools filled the mine tunnel. Oil lamps were lit, Soul Tool hummed, and defensive runes lit up with a ghostly blue light one by one.

Lu Yuan entered the quiet stone cave and closed the door.

Fragments of memories about the Shadow Guards from his past life surfaced. Few, very vague. It was a shadow deeper than the Cloud Mist Sect, maintaining a certain "order" and eliminating "anomalies." His own theories from his past life were probably also categorized as "anomalies."

"The Scavengers"... a special cleaning team that deals with "Key".

Lu Yuan smirked.

It seems this theory of breaking Shackles has really struck a nerve with some people.

He took out his charcoal pencil and rough paper and began to work out his deductions.

How many people are on the other side? What are their levels? What are their Soul Skill combinations? What's their infiltration route? When will they attack?

With too little known information, we can only assume the worst-case scenario: a five-person team, led by at least one Soul King, with the rest being Soul Ancestor. They are skilled in stealth and assassination, and their Soul Skill are well-coordinated. They may be carrying specialized Soul Tool or poisons.

Base advantages: complex terrain, pre-set defenses, home-field advantage, and nascent teamwork.

Disadvantages: Significant gap in overall strength, limited resources, and tight timeframe.

The key lies in the "first wave".

If the Scavengers are thwarted in their first contact and realize that the cleanup costs far exceed expectations, they might reassess or even temporarily retreat. The Shadow Guards are not suicide soldiers; they carry out "missions," and while missions can fail, the cost cannot be too high.

Therefore, the war to be fought is not a war of annihilation, but a psychological war.

You need to make the other party feel that this fire is not easy to extinguish.

The pen moved swiftly across the rough paper, drawing diagrams, marking nodes, calculating Soul Power consumption, and deducing changes. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

Time, that's what we lack most right now.

The first day passed by in a flurry of activity.

The workshop was filled with the clanging of Soul Tool as they were disassembled and reassembled, and layers of defensive runes were stacked on top of each other. Mo Chen Su Yan and Li Wangye led their men to move supplies, and the warehouse gradually filled up. Lin Xiao roamed the perimeter like a ghost, setting up hidden watchtowers and trigger mechanisms. Shen Moxin buried herself in piles of documents, her glasses reflecting the Soul Guidance Lamp as she took notes from time to time.

Despite his injuries not yet healed, Lu Qinghe forced himself to examine the rock structure, pointing out several weak points that could be breached from the outside.

In the evening, Deacon Han arrived.

He stood at the base entrance, not going in, his face grave. "The five trainees have been housed in the Inspection Office's safe house. Young friend Lu, the trouble you've caused this time... has exceeded our expectations."

Lu Yuan stood in the shadows. "Shadow Guards?"

"You know?" Deacon Han was surprised, and gave a wry smile. "The warning letter has already been delivered to the door. The person behind me asked me to pass on a message: if you can survive this wave, he will reassess your 'value'. If you can't..." He didn't finish his sentence.

"Please thank that sir for me," Lu Yuan said calmly. "Also, I need a few things."

"You say."

"A potent paralyzing potion, the kind that can slow Soul Ancestor down by at least three breaths. The more, the better." Lu Yuan paused. "Also, a detailed topographical map of the area near the ' Ghost Cry Rift ' deep within the Black Stone Mountain Range, the more detailed the better."

Deacon Han frowned. "I'll figure out a way to get the paralysis potion. The topographical map... what do you need that for?"

"A backup plan." Lu Yuan didn't elaborate. "Can it be delivered before sunset tomorrow?"

"Try your best."

Deacon Han turned to leave, but after a few steps he turned back. "Young friend Lu, take care. Your lives mean something different to many people."

Lu Yuan nodded.

The pressure increased visibly the next day.

Mo Chen's eyes were dark, but the three newly assembled "shockwave generators" in the workshop were in place, installed above the key passage. Lin Xiao brought back news that at least three unnatural traces had been found on the perimeter of the base—slightly disturbed stones, unnaturally broken tree branches, and extremely faint Soul Power fluctuations remaining in the rock crevices.

"They're scouting the location," Lin Xiao said coldly. "Very professional, almost flawless. But I can smell something."

Lu Yuan handed the paralyzing potion that Deacon Han had brought to Mo Chen. "Find a way to sneak it into the defensive traps. Don't kill them, just make them suffer."

Shen Moxin compiled an analysis report. The Scavengers were most likely to use two attack methods: one was to infiltrate at night and precisely eliminate key personnel; the other was to create a "collapse" or "toxic gas leak" to bury the entire base. She leaned towards the former because the "cleanup" needed to be confirmed.

Lu Yuan read the report twice and then burned it.

In the afternoon, he convened a final pre-battle meeting in the core area.

"The defense is divided into three layers." Lu Yuan drew a diagram on the ground with a charcoal stick. "The outermost layer is the early warning delay. Lin Xiao's trigger mechanism, Mo Chen's shockwave generator, and the paralyzing drug trap. The target is not to kill, but to expose our position and slow down our movement."

"The second level is the passageway area. The terrain is narrow and easy to defend, but difficult to attack. Su Yan and Li Wangye will lead their men to defend this area, using pre-set Soul Tool crossbows and flashing runes. The mission is not to engage in a direct confrontation, but to create chaos and break up the formation."

"The third level, the entrance to the core area. Lin Xiao, Mo Chen, and I will guard this place. This is the decisive battleground." Lu Yuan looked at Shen Moxin and Lu Qinghe, "Mr. Shen, Father, you take the non-combat personnel and key documents to guard the innermost secret room. If we can't hold it, there's a secret passage in the secret room leading to the back mountain."

Lu Qinghe was about to say something when Lu Yuan raised his hand to stop him.

"Remember, the goal isn't to annihilate them all," Lu Yuan repeated. "It's to hold out against the first wave, to make them give up. And if the opportunity arises..." He paused, "To seize it and strike back. To make them remember the pain."

No one spoke. The Soul Guidance Lamp illuminated the young, tense faces.

The third day, at dusk.

The last rays of the setting sun slanted in through the high-altitude ventilation shaft, casting long, dim patches of light on the rock face. The base was eerily quiet; even breathing was suppressed. All defenses were in place, and all personnel were at their posts.

At the entrance to the core area of Lu Yuan Station, look at the silhouette at the end of the passage that gradually sinks into darkness.

Lin Xiao crouched in the shadows nearby, gripping the dagger in reverse. Mo Chen leaned against the rock wall, clutching the Soul Tool detonator in his hand.

"They're coming soon," Lu Yuan said softly.

Lin Xiao hummed in agreement.

Mo Chen licked his dry lips. "I'll see if this damn Scavengers can even crack this tough nut."

The light spots disappeared completely. Outside the vent, the last ray of A Thread of Sky was swallowed by the night.

The base was plunged into complete darkness, sustained only by the Soul Guidance Lamp. The light was steady, but it couldn't penetrate the thick rock walls and the even deeper silence.

Time passed.

Lu Yuan unconsciously tapped his index finger on his side, silently counting his heartbeats. About half an hour later, he suddenly raised his hand.

Lin Xiao Mo Chen tensed up instantly.

Lu Yuan listened intently.

At the outermost layer of the base, about five hundred steps from the entrance, a very faint sound, like water dripping onto a stone slab, came from the warning Soul Tool disguised as rock.

Click.

Almost simultaneously, from another location diagonally to the side, a second sound.

Click.

Immediately afterwards, a third sound came from the opposite direction.

Click.

The sound was so faint it was almost absorbed by the rock face, yet in the deathly silence it was as clear as the footsteps of death itself.

Lu Yuan slowly exhaled.

"They've arrived."