Maughan operated the aircraft cannon with full force, unleashing a torrent of expensive ammunition that rained down like a storm, destroying all the meteors with electromagnetic interference one by one. As the echo of the last explosion faded, the interference was finally cleared.
The control center reestablished communication with all team members. Carlos quickly took command, directing Maughan to continue securing the areas around the collapsed craters while assigning other team members to collect the Zerbeasts' corpses and use mechanical arms to dismantle the meteors.
No one could be certain how many Zerbeasts still lurked underground. The collapsed rock layers were thick and solid, requiring significant time and effort to excavate. The current task was to remain vigilant, clear the surrounding meteors, and secure the area. Without fresh flesh to nourish them, the Zerbeasts couldn't reproduce and would be confined to this area.
With the addition of seven Bluebirds, all meteors were marked as safe in green, and the secured area gradually shrank. Maughan personally commanded from the air while the other six Bluebirds were busy transporting meteor resources. Everything was orderly on site.
Under Carlos's arrangement, Jane was also dispatched to assist in the transportation of meteors. The entire operation excluded Torres and some others. Ryan understood this was Carlos's way of repaying him for his contributions to the team.
Ryan roughly estimated that the over three hundred meteors could yield resources worth more than twenty million. If these resources were evenly distributed among the ten security personnel involved in the operation, each would receive two million. And Jane… she would get two million for free.
The six Zerbeasts were Ryan's spoils of war. The company's reward, plus the sale of the corpses, would bring him a considerable income. After more than seven hours of intense work, all the meteors were finally transported. Only then did Carlos order a shift change, ending the operation.
As the tense mission concluded, Carlos finally issued the order for a shift change. Two exhausted patrol teams returned to the base for necessary rest and energy replenishment, while two teams led by Iron Bear and Karim took over their positions.
The remaining team members were somewhat disgruntled, knowing that most of the benefits had already been distributed, leaving only the potential Zerbeasts and the largest meteor in the collapsed area undiscovered. Their new task was to clear the collapsed area and search for remaining meteors and Zerbeasts. Despite their complaints, they knew…
Orders were orders, and they had to be executed regardless of personal feelings.
Ryan and his team returned to the base headquarters, selling the raw minerals extracted from the meteors to the logistics department at market price, earning twenty-three million. As for the Zerbeasts' corpses, Maughan suggested Ryan store them together and plan to send them to the group's headquarters in the Pegasus Galaxy for sale, where the price would be at least double.
Ryan agreed to this proposal. However, he had already extracted the pancreases from the Zerbeasts and preserved them using a special method. These precious pancreases would be key to enhancing his physical fitness, allowing him to reach H9 level in a short time.
On the twelfth floor of the training ground, Ryan enjoyed four hours of deep sleep with the help of a bio-mechanical masseuse, restoring his mental and physical state to its best. After waking up, he learned from Kazemi about the current progress in Zone C25.
Iron Bear and Karim's teams were progressing slowly. Despite having summoned a group of miners to assist in excavating and clearing the collapsed site, only about twenty meters of rock layer had been cleared so far, with a kilometer still to go to reach the detected bottom.
Kazemi shared two exciting pieces of news with Ryan: Carlos, after analysis, believed that the remaining number of Zerbeasts in the meteor collapse area was not significant and no longer posed a major threat. Therefore, he decided to reduce the patrol team size from two to one, rotating every eight hours. This meant Ryan's next shift would be in sixteen hours, giving him ample time to rest at the base.
Additionally, Ryan's heroic act of saving Maughan and five other team members had been reported to the company headquarters, and the higher-ups generously awarded him a bonus of one hundred thousand. Now, Ryan's account had over two million four hundred thousand. After repaying the one million debt to Carlos, he still had one million four hundred thousand left. Without the burden of debt, Ryan felt particularly light and happy.
Curious, he asked Kazemi, "What's Torres's reaction now?"
Kazemi laughed, "Mentioning Torres just makes me laugh."
Kazemi privately revealed that this time, the team following the boss had gained significantly, while Torres's team got nothing, feeling extremely unbalanced. Some members of Torres's team had already started contacting Carlos privately, considering switching allegiance to him.
It was obvious to everyone that even a new employee like Jane could get a huge bonus of two hundred thirty thousand, while those following Torres got nothing and were assigned to do hard labor. It was clear that Carlos was intentionally suppressing Torres's team.
Previously, they followed Torres because he posed a threat to Carlos, but now the situation was different:
Maughan's rise;
Ryan's exceptional combat talent;
Carlos's special commendation from the company for discovering and recommending talent.
All these indicated that Torres's influence was waning, while Carlos's position was becoming more stable.
Kazemi finally told Ryan, "This meteor fall event might be the turning point that completely weakens Torres's power."
Ryan outwardly agreed but held a different view internally. Based on his understanding of Torres, Ryan believed Torres wouldn't give up so easily. Torres was not an ordinary person. Iron Bear and Karim also had their unique talents. The trio had once posed a significant challenge to Carlos. Carlos had withstood their pressure for three years!
During these three years, Torres's schemes were endless, both openly and covertly, making them hard to guard against. How could ordinary people dare to compete with their direct superior like this?
After ending the conversation with Kazemi, Ryan returned to his room, chewed a piece of Zerbeasts' pancreas, and then went back to the fifteenth floor of the training ground to train even harder. The effect of the pancreas diminished with each use. This was his third time using the mutated substance in the pancreas for genetic enhancement, and the effect was already much weaker. After eight hours of training, his muscle strength only increased by 0.5 units.
Muscle Strength reached 13.4;Muscle Reflex Flexibility reached 13.2.
He could foresee that over time, the H-level pancreas would eventually lose its stimulating effect.
Just as he was about to leave the training ground, Maughan walked in with a smile, "I knew you'd be here."
"Maughan, what's up?" Ryan asked, wiping the sweat off his body with a towel as he approached.
Maughan warmly patted Ryan's shoulder, "The brothers are all looking for you… Listen, we've decided to take a portion of this operation's earnings, one million, to apply for H5-level chip computing power from the higher-ups… And, everyone also plans to pool money to upgrade your chip to H5 level! This is our way of thanking you for saving our lives today. You can't refuse!"