Xiang Yi stood up and turned to look toward the mine tunnel exit.
Sure enough, his former cellmates had followed him.
But there were only two of them: one with a scar on his forehead, and the other a bald man.
The two men stood a short distance away, completely blocking his path out.
"Where are the other two? Why didn't they come along?"
A prison cell typically housed eight people.
Brother Long and his two men were dead, leaving four. But now, only two had shown up.
Scar raised a hand, signaling that he wasn't looking for a fight. "We don't want any conflict with you. Now that you've killed Cai Long and Liu Kun, no one will come looking for trouble anymore. Besides, our statuses have changed. You're the 'big shot' in the mines now."
"Then what are you two doing here? And why didn't the other two come?"
"Their reasons are their own. We came mainly to tell you that from now on, we'll stay out of each other's way. But if you run into any trouble down here, you can come to us. We'll help you handle it."
"Is that another prison rule?"
"No. It just means we admit defeat."
"Oh, so you're scared I'll make things difficult for you later. Afraid I'll target you. You've chickened out, so you've come to beg for mercy?"
Scar and Baldy fell silent, their expressions turning ugly.
Xiang Yi's words were too blunt, leaving them with no face to save.
Scar's face was taut as he took a step forward. "So what's your answer? Do you agree?"
Xiang Yi sneered and retorted, "You think we can just let bygones be bygones that easily?"
"Then what do you want?"
Xiang Yi didn't state his intentions directly. Instead, he asked another dangerous question. "Given where I am right now, why don't the two of you try to kill me here?"
He glanced at the Mining Laser Guns in their hands. With Scar and Baldy's builds, even just swinging the Mining Guns would be enough to bludgeon Xiang Yi to death.
Both men instinctively tightened their grip on their Mining Guns, but neither of them made a move. They didn't dare.
Seeing this, Xiang Yi said, "It seems there are more rules in this prison than I thought. Otherwise, you could have just attacked me the moment I walked in here."
"Right. So what's on your mind?" Baldy's tone had grown impatient. Scar immediately stopped him and looked at Xiang Yi questioningly.
"And if I don't want to make peace with you, what's your plan then?"
"Then we'll leave immediately."
"Hmm… No rush. I actually have something I need your help with right now."
"Is that so?"
Scar, who had been ready to leave, turned back. As long as they could talk things out, everything was negotiable.
The two of them seemed to relax a little. "What is it, specifically?" they asked.
"I'm going to have to trouble you… to become the tools for my prison break, and the funds for my survival after I get out."
The atmosphere, which had just begun to relax, instantly grew tense to the breaking point.
"What do you mean?"
Xiang Yi wasn't a fan of violent conflict, but when he saw the two faces before him, memories of being beaten and cursed at in his cell surfaced in his mind.
'It wasn't technically *me* being bullied, but seeing these memories still makes me feel it as if it were my own experience.'
Besides, just yesterday, he had already decided to do more outrageous things for the sake of his escape.
For these two to come begging for mercy now… it was too late.
Xiang Yi raised his hand, and his Spiritual Power, wrapped in a Spiritual Fluctuation, surged toward Scar.
The Mining Gun was violently ripped from Scar's hands, as if an invisible hand had delivered it right to Xiang Yi.
"You!"
The bizarre situation sent the two into a panic. Baldy was the first to realize something, exclaiming in shock, "You're a Spiritual Ability User!"
"Correct."
Xiang Yi replied, tapping the casing of the Mining Gun in his hand.
"You were probably wondering how Brother Long and his men died at my hands. This is why."
He could exert a certain degree of control over any object he had touched and established a connection with using his Spiritual Energy.
Just like now. The Mining Gun in Scar's hands was the very one he had used and modified before. At this distance, he had absolute control over it.
This was also the reason why the old prison guard's pistol had suddenly appeared in his hand earlier.
Xiang Yi truly hadn't expected that the Mining Gun Scar and Baldy brought down with them would be the one he'd used before.
'This is great. Saves me the trouble of using the Mind Pulse Generator to solve this.'
Xiang Yi pressed lightly on the Mining Gun, then opened his hand. An intricate mechanical device appeared in his palm.
This was the Biological Signal Sensing Device, which he had dismantled using his Spiritual Energy.
He casually tossed the device behind him and looked at the two men.
However, Scar seemed to have misunderstood Xiang Yi's meaning. He glanced at Baldy, then asked Xiang Yi, "Are you sure you want us to help you break out? This prison is on an asteroid! How are we supposed to escape? Even for a Spiritual Ability User, that's way too difficult!"
"…"
Xiang Yi was stunned into silence. For a moment, he wasn't sure if he should proceed with his next step.
"Er…" He considered for a moment, then asked, "Do you have any freshly mined Blood Crystals on you?"
"We do."
The sudden question seemed to confuse the two, but Scar still took a blood-red crystal from the collection unit on his back and tossed it to Xiang Yi.
Xiang Yi clenched the Blood Crystal and, in front of the two men, opened the Mining Gun's panel again.
["Explorer Type 6" Civilian Portable Mining Laser Gun]
[Energy Core: "Earth Core" Civilian Tritium Fusion Micro-Reactor]
[Emission Module: "Triple Helix" Mining Laser Lens Array]
[Cooling System: "Absolute Zero" High-Concentration Water-Cycle Cooling Unit]
[Control System: "Micro-Honeycomb" Parallel Centralized Control System (Sub-unit)]
[Frame Type: "Explorer" Universal Alloy Frame (Simplified Version)]
[Additional Attachment: Energy Equalization Output Limiter]
Under the influence of Xiang Yi's Spiritual Energy, the word [Modify] appeared on the familiar panel.
The 3D projection on the main panel also highlighted the Mining Gun's different modules.
This time, Xiang Yi selected [Emission Module: "Triple Helix" Mining Laser Lens Array] and chose [Unique Modification] from the three modification options.
He had wanted to do this for a while but never had the chance. Now that the opportunity had presented itself, Xiang Yi didn't mind making some extra preparations before getting down to business.
The materials selection panel popped up next. There was only one option: [Blood Crystal].
Although Xiang Yi was still unclear about the material properties of the Blood Crystal, he confirmed its use to modify the Mining Gun's emission module without much hesitation.
'If I can't confirm the material's properties, I'll just have to test it through action.'
Another new prompt appeared: [A Unique Modification can only be performed once per device. Higher-quality materials of the same type can be used to augment the enhancement].
Xiang Yi confirmed again. Under the combined influence of his Spiritual Power and Spiritual Fluctuation, the Blood Crystal in his hand gradually turned into a fluid and seeped into the Mining Gun.
He could feel his Spiritual Power draining away rapidly, far faster than when he performed basic modifications on the Mining Gun.
However, he was in good condition right now, so a single modification like this wouldn't have a major impact.
The Blood Crystal completely integrated into the Mining Gun.
Scar and Baldy were utterly astonished by what was happening to the Mining Gun in Xiang Yi's hands. Both seemed to subconsciously lean a little closer to Xiang Yi, trying to get a better look.
Xiang Yi glanced at the two men before lowering his head to continue watching the changes in the Mining Gun.
Although there was no change on the Mining Gun's surface, the 3D projection showed that its main internal emission structure had transformed from its original metallic color to a faint blood-red.
And the "Triple Helix" Mining Laser Lens Array installed inside the emission structure had completely taken on the color of the Blood Crystal.
Just as Xiang Yi was observing the changes in the Mining Gun…
Scar and Baldy made their move.
They attacked Xiang Yi from the left and right in a pincer movement, viciously swinging their Mining Guns at his head.