280: The bait enters the water and the "swarm of bees" takes the bait.

The "Hidden Dragon" was like a smear of silver-gray blending into the night, silently moving through the quiet Starry Sky Debris. The upgraded stealth System worked perfectly; unless one deliberately scanned with a high-precision detection array, it was nearly impossible to distinguish it from the background.

"Arrived at the designated 'Bait Zone'." Wang Wu reported in a low voice while staring at the navigational star map. This place was about twenty thousand li from the "Anvil" area, situated along the extension of several regular "Swarm" patrol routes. The debris was sparse, and the energy background was relatively stable, making it ideal for the "bait" signal to propagate.

"Prepare to deploy Bait Beacon No. 1," Wen Youyi ordered.

Beneath the belly of the Hidden Dragon, an inconspicuous hatch slid open quietly, and a silver "metal fragment" the size of a fist was gently ejected. Its surface shimmered with a dim luster, looking like ordinary junk that had drifted in the Void Realm for countless ages.

However, once it was a certain distance from the Hidden Dragon, the preset Star Patterns inside were activated. A weak, intermittent pulse of pure starlight energy, bearing obvious characteristics of "damage" and "panic," began to emanate from the beacon. Simultaneously, the beacon's surface simulated scorch marks and faint energy leak flashes similar to a thruster overload. It began to drift slowly toward the "Stone Beach," away from the "Anvil," following an irregular and slightly "stumbling" trajectory.

It was the spitting image of a residual energy signal from a "Hidden Dragon" that was "heavily damaged and fleeing, with unstable energy and in a blind panic"!

"Bait deployed, signal simulation normal. It's estimated to last for about three shichen," Senior Brother Li reported after checking the feedback data.

The Hidden Dragon immediately turned, activated its active stealth jammer to erase all remaining traces of itself, and quietly retreated behind a large metallic meteorite further away, entering a state of complete silent lurking. On the bridge, everyone held their breath, staring intently at the slowly drifting "bait" and the vast surrounding airspace through remote monitoring equipment.

The waiting process was always exceptionally grueling.

Time passed second by second. In the Void Realm, there was only that "bait" lonely flickering its "dying" signal. Ten minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour... "Could it be... they aren't patrolling near here?" Xiao Wu muttered a little impatiently.

"Patience," Wen Youyi said calmly. "Fishing requires patience. Besides, the Swarm's patrols have intervals."

Just as he finished speaking!

"Something's happening!" Wang Wu suddenly called out in a low voice, his fingers quickly zooming in on a corner of the monitoring screen.

In the Void Realm about a thousand li away from the bait's direction, several extremely faint streaks of dark-gold light, almost blending into the background, suddenly changed their original straight patrol paths. Like a school of predatory fish in the deep sea, they made a clear turn toward the source of the "bait" signal!

Their speed suddenly increased. No longer at a leisurely patrol pace, they moved with the urgency and precision of finding prey, closing in in a fan-shaped formation!

"They've taken the bait!" Senior Brother Li clenched his fist excitedly. "Count... five! It's a small patrol team!"

"Hidden Dragon, prepare to act according to plan," Wen Youyi said, his spirits lifting.

[Understood.] The Hidden Dragon's consciousness was calm and focused.

Those five dark-gold "Worker Bees" (as they were tentatively called) soon approached the "bait." They circled and scanned around the beacon, their dark-gold crystalline surfaces shimmering with light as if confirming the signal's authenticity. One of them extended a slender energy tentacle and touched the "bait."

The "bait" immediately "cooperated" by bursting with a small cluster of more intense energy leakage sparks, simulating a "startled struggle" reaction. It then "struggled" to "accelerate" toward the "Stone Beach"—a disguised acceleration, of course, as its actual speed remained slow.

This reaction seemed to completely dispel the Worker Bees' doubts. The five dark-gold crystals immediately dispersed, forming a loose encirclement and following the "bait" closely. Meanwhile, some kind of signal seemed to be passing between them, sending short, repetitive pulse signals toward the "Anvil."

"They are calling their companions! Reporting their discovery!" Senior Brother Zhang analyzed the weak signals they captured. "The content is roughly... 'Found a suspected heavily damaged fleeing target, energy signature highly consistent, currently tracking'."

"Good, their report is exactly what we want." Wen Youyi's eyes narrowed slightly. "Now, it's our turn to take the stage."

The Hidden Dragon slid quietly out from behind the meteorite where it had been hiding. It actively deactivated its highest level of stealth but still maintained energy fluctuation suppression. It adjusted its posture to appear behind and to the side of the Worker Bees. Several "new" scratches and dim energy halos were simulated on its hull, and the thrusters deliberately emitted a weak, fluctuating hum, as if they were "lacking power."

Then, it "panicked" and "fled in distress" toward the same direction as the bait—the "Stone Beach" area.

The appearance of the "real target" instantly made the five Worker Bees even more excited (if they had emotions). One of them immediately stayed to keep a close eye on the "bait," while the other four unhesitatingly turned and chased after the Hidden Dragon! Their pursuit formation became tighter and their speed faster, clearly judging the Hidden Dragon to be a more valuable target. Meanwhile, they continued to send signals to the rear: "Primary target discovered, currently pursuing."

"The fish are biting hard." Wang Wu looked at the four dark-gold glints drawing closer behind them, his palms sweating slightly.

"Maintain speed. Don't let them catch up too quickly, but don't lose them either." Wen Youyi calmly controlled the Hidden Dragon's "performance." "Slowly lead them toward the 'Stone Beach'."

A meticulously directed "escape" drama unfolded in the starry sky.

The Hidden Dragon played the role of a scarred, unstable fugitive, "dangerously" weaving through the debris. It would "stumble" to avoid a floating rock one moment, and be "forced" to make a short burst of speed to break away the next, only to "exhaustedly" slow down again, keeping its pursuers at a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

The four Worker Bees were tireless, pressing hunters. They coordinated perfectly, attempting to flank and intercept, constantly firing disruptive energy needles, but the Hidden Dragon "narrowly" avoided them or "struggled" to endure the hits.

One chasing and one fleeing, the two sides gradually approached the "Stone Beach" area, composed of countless fragments of various sizes, twisted metal, and chaotic energy flows.

"Entering the designated area! The 'trap' is ready!" Senior Brother Li, who was monitoring the trap's status, sent a message.

The Hidden Dragon did not hesitate. With a "panicked" sharp turn, it plunged into a labyrinthine area on the edge of the "Stone Beach" made of giant metal plates and countless fine fragments.

The four Worker Bees followed closely behind and entered as well.

The moment the last Worker Bee entered the area!

Buzz—!

Several "Space Stabilization Anchors" hidden in the shadows activated simultaneously! A powerful, invisible stabilization field instantly enveloped the area. The movement of all objects was slightly delayed, and the space structure became exceptionally stable, greatly limiting high-speed maneuvers and spatial escape methods!

At the same time, the "High-Intensity Purification Field Generators" hidden behind several "boulders" suddenly lit up! Soft but incredibly dense pure starlight shot out from multiple angles like searchlights, cross-covering the space where the Worker Bees were!

This starlight was not an attack but formed a powerful "Purification Suppression Field." To the Hidden Dragon, it was like warm sunlight, but to the dark-gold Worker Bees, it was like being stuck in thick glue. Their movements became extremely sluggish, their dark-gold luster dimmed at a visible rate, and their internal energy Systems emitted painful screeches!

"Now! Fire the capture nets!" Wen Youyi ordered sharply.

From both sides of the Hidden Dragon's hull, several large energy nets woven from special "Star Pattern Alloy" and shimmering with silver-white purification runes were shot like the net for catching birds, precisely targeting the four hindered Worker Bees!

Three of the Worker Bees couldn't react in time under the purification suppression and were covered by the large nets. The silver-white purification runes instantly lit up, fiercely clashing with the dark-gold energy on their surfaces with a sizzling sound, firmly binding and suppressing them.

But the last one, which was slightly larger and seemed more "experienced," actually blew up half of its body at the critical moment! The violent dark-gold energy shockwave temporarily pushed back the purification suppression and the capture net. It took the opportunity to turn into a dim golden light and, at the cost of sacrificing most of its structure, forced its way back toward the direction it came from! Simultaneously, an unprecedentedly strong distress and alarm signal erupted from within it!

"Not good! It's going to escape! And it'll report back!" Wang Wu was alarmed.

"We can't let it send back the full information! Hidden Dragon, intercept it! Use high-frequency shockwaves to disrupt its signal transmission structure!" Wen Youyi reacted extremely quickly.

[Received!]

The "High-Frequency Vibration Generator" on the Hidden Dragon's bow activated instantly. An invisible and intangible wave capable of causing violent resonance in energy structures shot toward the fleeing Worker Bee like a precise scalpel.

Buzz—!

The fleeing Worker Bee suddenly stiffened. The light on its surface became completely chaotic, and the alarm signal that had just lit up stopped abruptly. Its entire "body" was like a puppet with its strings cut, tumbling into a pile of rubble. Its light faded rapidly; although it didn't immediately disintegrate, it lost all ability to move or communicate.

In a flash, luring the enemy, leading them into the trap, suppressing, capturing, and intercepting... it was all done in one smooth motion!

The Hidden Dragon slowly landed in the Stone Beach. Looking at the three dark-gold Worker Bees firmly bound by the silver nets and still weakly struggling, as well as the "wreckage" lying in the rubble with no signal, everyone on the bridge breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Fishing Operation... Phase one, success!" A smile appeared on Wen Youyi's face.

They not only successfully captured live samples but also intercepted a potential alarm, buying precious time for subsequent research and analysis.

"Recover the samples immediately! Clean up the site! We have to retreat home before a larger Swarm reacts!" Wen Youyi issued the withdrawal command.

The Hidden Dragon extended its mechanical arms, carefully placing the three captives and the "wreckage" into a specially made isolation cargo bay. Then, it activated its stealth System, erased all traces of the battle and setup, quietly left the Stone Beach, and sped toward the starlight gauze curtain.

On the bridge, although everyone was exhausted, their eyes sparkled with excitement.

This time, they were no longer the prey, but successful "anglers."

Next, it was time to see what kind of "intelligence" these "fish" could bring them.

(End of Chapter)