272: The eerie "iron felt" and the "mineral vein" trap

Qianlong glided through the starry sky like a vigorous silver fish.

The upgraded hull was not only faster but also had stronger stealth capabilities; Senior Brother Li proudly called it "Starry Sky Ghost Mode," meaning that when it flew past, even the energy ripples were barely visible.

Wang Wu operated the observation array at the bow, clearly projecting the scene of the "Anvil" area onto the living panel in front of the bridge.

It was a daunting "steel jungle": countless unimaginably huge starship wrecks, shattered planetary crusts, and twisted metal frameworks... stacked, pierced, and embedded together in an almost insane manner, forming a silent and ferocious mega-structure ruin stretching for tens of thousands of miles.

Between the wrecks, thin but chaotic energy mists permeated, and occasionally, tiny electric sparks silently swept across, illuminating the jagged outlines in sections.

"This place... doesn't look like a good place." Senior Brother Zhang pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting the twisted metal light and shadow. "The energy readings are very chaotic; there are strong radiation zones and energy voids, making it easy for conventional detection to be interfered with."

[Already entered the periphery of the target area. The energy background is complex. It is recommended to reduce speed and activate full-band passive detection.]

The ship spirit of Qianlong conveyed a steady suggestion, while the stealth coating on the hull surface began to fine-tune according to the environmental energy background, striving to blend into this chaotic ruin.

"Do as Qianlong suggests." Wen Youyi approved. "Wang Wu, start deploying the first batch of 'scout spores'."

"Received." Wang Wu operated the special launcher. After a slight energy fluctuation, hundreds of tiny silver light spots, like the tears of stars, silently scattered from under the belly of Qianlong, drifting with the wind (energy flow) toward different directions of the "Anvil" area.

Once these "spores" touched the surface of the wrecks or energy-rich areas, they would automatically attach and activate, entering a dormant reconnaissance state.

The deployment process went smoothly without triggering any abnormal reactions.

Qianlong began to cruise slowly along the edge of the "Anvil" area according to the predetermined route, its powerful passive detection array acting like invisible tentacles, meticulously scanning this land of death.

Senior Brother Li and Senior Brother Zhang stared intently at their respective monitoring panels, recording the operating data of the new Systems.

[Thirty degrees to the port side, eight hundred miles away, detected a high-intensity metal reaction, suspected to be a 'star pattern gold' rich area, basically consistent with the previous distant signal source location.] Qianlong soon brought good news.

The living panel marked the target area: it was a giant Ore deeply embedded between several huge armor plates, dark gold in color, with natural energy patterns flowing on its surface.

Its volume was estimated to be comparable to a small hill, and the energy fluctuations it emitted were pure and rich; it was the top-tier Materials urgently needed for building starships—star pattern gold!

"Good stuff!" Senior Brother Li's eyes lit up. "This purity, this volume! If we can get it back, the keel and key structural strength of 'hope' can be upgraded by a notch!"

"But the location is very tricky," Senior Brother Zhang analyzed the scanning data. "The surrounding wreck structure is unstable, and the energy turbulence is dense. Flying in directly to mine is too risky and can easily trigger a collapse or energy riot."

Wen Youyi pondered for a moment: "Qianlong, can you evaluate the environmental risks and formulate a safe close-contact and scanning plan? We need more precise Ore data and analysis of the surrounding structural stability."

[Analyzing...] The consciousness of Qianlong calmed down, the hull slightly adjusted its posture, and various detection beams focused on the target area.

A moment later, [Assessment complete: The risk of entering the core area directly is high (collapse probability 37%, energy turbulence interference probability 52%). Recommended plan: Slowly descend vertically from the relatively stable 'skylight' area above (a gap formed by two huge wrecks) for close-range scanning. This path has a lower risk (collapse probability < 5%, energy interference controllable), but requires precise operation.]

"Approved for execution. Prioritize safety; scanning data is the main goal. Abandon contact if necessary." Wen Youyi ordered.

Qianlong began to execute this operation, which was as precise as "threading a needle."

It silently pulled up, found the narrow gap marked as the "skylight," and then the hull slowly stood up, adjusting to a head-down, tail-up posture, like a dragon diving into the deep sea, cautiously descending toward the Ore vein area below.

The atmosphere in the bridge was tense and focused. Everyone held their breath, watching the altitude value on the panel decrease bit by bit, and the image of the Ore vein becoming clearer and clearer.

[Distance to target three hundred zhang... energy turbulence strengthening, starting stable Star Pattern offset... two hundred zhang... detected weak abnormal vibration, source unknown... one hundred and fifty zhang...]

Just as Qianlong was about to enter the ideal scanning distance, a sudden change occurred!

The surface of that huge, seemingly stable star pattern gold Ore suddenly had its natural energy patterns flowing in reverse without any warning!

The dark gold Ore suddenly burst into blinding, ominous dark red light!

Immediately afterward, the Void Realm around the Ore suddenly rippled with circles of distorted space, like a huge stone thrown into a calm water surface!

These ripples were not naturally formed, but rather like some kind of triggered trap!

[Warning! High energy reaction! Spatial disturbance! The target is a bait trap!] Qianlong's reaction was extremely fast, issuing the highest level of alert almost the moment the anomaly appeared, while all thrusters on the hull sprayed in reverse at full power, attempting to retreat urgently!

But it was too late!

The distorted spatial ripples were faster, suddenly contracting and wrapping inward like a living thing!

A sticky and binding space web, invisible to the naked eye but clearly "touchable" by energy perception, instantly enveloped Qianlong!

The hull shook violently, as if it had fallen into invisible glue. No matter how the thrusters roared, the speed dropped sharply to near stagnation!

[Hull captured by unknown spatial binding force field! Struggling... the binding force is extremely strong! Analyzing force field structure...] The consciousness of Qianlong remained calm, but a hint of "strain" could be felt.

"It's a trap! That Ore vein is fake! It's a bait!" Wang Wu exclaimed.

"Not just bait!" Senior Brother Li stared at the crazily jumping data on the panel. "That force field... has strong spatial anchoring and energy extraction characteristics! It's trying to pin Qianlong here while draining our energy!"

Sure enough, the energy reserve readings in the bridge began to drop slowly but steadily, as if being drained by invisible pipes.

"Activate the emergency detachment System! Attempt to break free by force!" Wen Youyi ordered immediately.

Several preset "detachment nodes" on the surface of the Qianlong hull lit up, preparing to actively "discard" some non-critical compartments and use the recoil of the explosion to break free from the binding.

However, the spatial web seemed to have life; sensing the energy gathering of Qianlong, the binding force suddenly strengthened, and even began to infiltrate and entangle those "detachment nodes," attempting to "extinguish" the detonation in advance!

"The detachment System is interfered with! Cannot be started normally!" Senior Brother Zhang said anxiously.

[The force field structure has some similar energy characteristics to the 'Shadow Devourer', but it is more complex and orderly, tending towards imprisonment and extraction rather than devouring and destruction.] Qianlong analyzed quickly, [Suggestion: Use the 'starlight focusing array' to attempt to burn and disrupt the key nodes of the force field with high-purity, high-intensity starlight energy.]

"All focusing arrays, full power! Target—the eight positions where the force field energy circulation is most dense!" Wen Youyi did not hesitate.

The armor plates on both sides and the belly of the Qianlong hull slid open, and several thick silver focusing arrays quickly extended and adjusted their angles.

The next moment, several silver-white beams, more condensed and brighter than ever before, like the dawn sword piercing the darkness, fiercely stabbed into the surrounding sticky invisible force field!

Zzzzz—!

The harsh sound of energy confrontation seemed to resound directly in everyone's minds.

The silver-white starlight fiercely resisted the invisible spatial web, and in the areas hit, the force field clearly began to distort, disorder, and appear with short-lived "voids."

Effective! But not enough! The force field was too thick, and the recovery speed was also very fast!

"Continue! Don't stop! Increase power! Aim at the edges of those 'voids' and keep burning to expand the gap!" Wen Youyi stared intently at the energy flow map of the force field on the panel.

The ship spirit consciousness of Qianlong erupted with amazing focus and control.

Several starlight rays no longer attacked dispersedly, but like precise scalpels, concentrated firepower, chasing the "wounds" of the force field that were torn open, repeatedly cutting and burning!

At the same time, it was also struggling hard, and the "muscle fiber bundles" inside the hull were exerting force crazily, trying to break free from the increasingly unstable binding.

This was a contest of power, will, and technology.

Just as Qianlong was about to tear open a gap large enough to escape, another change occurred!

The dark red "bait" Ore below, disguised as an Ore vein, exploded with a bang!

Dozens of dark gold light beams, faster than outrageous, shot out from it like a Swarm, blasting toward Qianlong, which was struggling with all its might!

Each beam of light was a fist-sized, angular polyhedron crystal emitting cold metallic luster and ominous fluctuations!

New attacks followed one after another!