293: Sniping "Finger Bees" and Long-Range Deterrence

"Dragon" set out again; this mission was codenamed "Severed Finger."

The target was one of the three "Combat Clusters" currently assembling on the periphery of the "Bee Hive," chosen because it was relatively isolated and slightly further away from other support units.

Based on a comprehensive analysis of data from the "Thousand Eyes" network and legacy data from the "eye of dust," the core of this cluster was a larger "Elite Bee Command Unit," surrounded by approximately thirty standard "Worker Bee" units and five "Soldier Drones" (a more aggressive variant).

The "Dragon"'s tactics were clear: utilize its upgraded stealth and speed to silently infiltrate to the edge of the optimal firing range (which required taking extreme risks to get close to the "Bee Hive" alert perimeter), use the "starlight focusing array" to conduct an ultra-long-range, high-precision sniper shot, hit the target in one go to kill or severely damage that "Command Unit," and then, while the cluster was in momentary chaos due to losing its command, immediately retreat without lingering.

The risks were: the edge of the firing range meant the "Dragon" itself would be exposed to the "Bee Hive"'s long-range detection and potential counterattack range; the sniper shot had to be fatal in one hit, otherwise, it would alert the target and lead to being surrounded; the evacuation route had to be planned flawlessly, utilizing all terrain and energy turbulence for cover.

The "Dragon" was like a silver assassin walking on the edge of a blade, weaving through the complex terrain on the periphery of the "Anvil" region.

It would sometimes dash through the shadows of massive wreckage, sometimes use energy turbulence as cover for short jumps, and sometimes go completely silent, disguising itself as a piece of floating metal.

Inside the bridge, the atmosphere was even more tense than during the last "fishing" operation.

This was not an exercise; it was a real combat mission, and the target was within reach.

"Entering the designated ambush zone, approximately 800 li from the target cluster, at the edge of the relatively safe distance."

Wang Wu reported in a low voice, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead.

Eight hundred li was already "in-your-face" distance for a starship's scale.

The "Bee Hive"'s massive, dark-gold geometric structure looked like a dormant metal beast in the distance outside the observation window, exuding a heart-pounding sense of oppression.

The target cluster was assembling on a relatively flat "derelict ship deck," with dark-gold light points moving rhythmically.

The "Command Unit," like a Bee Queen among the Swarm, was located in the center, noticeably larger than those around it, and the flowing light on its surface was more complex.

[Target locked. Energy readings stable, standing by.]

The "Dragon"'s thought came through calmly, [The "starlight focusing array" is fully charged, ballistic calculations complete, ready to fire at any time.]

Wen Youyi took a deep breath, his gaze sharp as an eagle's.

He not only had to issue the attack order but also had to precisely seize the right moment—ideally during the gaps in the "Bee Queen"'s routine command scans, or at the moment of a natural disturbance in the surrounding energy background, to maximize the concealment of the attack's energy fluctuations.

He stared intently at the real-time waveform charts of the "Bee Hive"'s command flow and the surrounding energy environment on the monitoring screen.

Now! A slight ripple of spatial energy happened to sweep across this area!

"Fire!"

Hum—!

The "starlight focusing array" on both sides of the "Dragon"'s hull simultaneously lit up with blinding silver light.

Two highly concentrated, hair-thin, yet terror-inducing silver-white beams, like the gaze of death, silently cut through the 800 li of Void Realm, striking the geometric center of that "Elite Bee Command Unit" and the energy connection node beneath it with absolute precision!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a momentary, extreme energy annihilation.

That "Command Unit" didn't even have time to send out an "alarm."

The dark-gold light on its body suddenly dimmed and twisted, like a pencil drawing erased by a rubber.

A fist-sized hole with terrifyingly regular edges appeared in the center, and immediately after, the entire structure rapidly disintegrated and dissipated from the inside out, turning into a cloud of rapidly dimming golden light dust!

The energy node on the deck beneath it that had been hit also overloaded and exploded simultaneously, triggering a small area of energy turbulence.

The sudden strike caused the entire "Combat Cluster" to instantly fall into a deathly silence.

The flowing light of all the dark-gold "Worker Bee" units and "Soldier Drones" froze simultaneously, as if they had collectively "crashed."

The next second, chaos erupted!

Having lost unified command, the underlying logic of these "Swarm" units seemed to conflict.

Some attempted to rush toward the direction from which the attack had come (but the "Dragon" had already begun maneuvering to retreat), some spun in place trying to re-establish connections, and a few others, being too close to the explosion node, were affected by the chaotic energy, suffering structural damage and starting to fly around aimlessly or even collide with each other.

The entire cluster's assembly formation disintegrated instantly!

"Attack successful! Target confirmed destroyed! The cluster is in chaos!" Senior Brother Li growled excitedly.

The "Dragon" did not stop for even a second.

Following the pre-planned, labyrinthine evacuation route, it pushed its speed and stealth capabilities to the limit.

Like a silver lightning bolt merging into the darkness, it performed several agile sharp turns and short jumps, escaping the most dangerous close-range alert perimeter before the "Swarm" could react and form an effective encirclement.

Almost at the same time the "Dragon" broke away, several intense detection beams and angry command pulses erupted from the direction of the "Bee Hive," sweeping toward the general direction from which the attack had come!

At the same time, the other two peripheral combat clusters also became noticeably restless and began moving toward the incident area.

But the "Dragon" had already gone far away, leaving behind only the chaotic wreckage of the cluster and the turbulent energy background.

"Safely clear of the danger zone!" Wang Wu let out a long breath as he watched the shadow of the "Anvil" recede into the distance behind them.

"Well done, 'Dragon'!" Xiao Wu waved his fist excitedly.

[Mission complete.]

The "Dragon"'s thought came through, carrying a hint of relief after executing a perfect mission and a faint sense of "pride," [Its 'finger'... has been severed.]

After returning to the base, the detailed battle report and data were immediately analyzed.

"The sniping effect exceeded expectations!" Senior Brother Zhang said, looking at the data.

"Not only was the Command Unit destroyed, but the aftershocks of the energy node explosion also affected seven nearby 'Worker Bee' units, causing varying degrees of damage."

"The entire cluster has completely lost its organizational cohesion. It is estimated that it will take at least two days to reorganize or wait for the 'Bee Queen' to dispatch a new Command Unit."

"More importantly," Wen Youyi pointed to the monitoring records of the "Bee Hive"'s subsequent reactions, "the 'Bee Queen's reaction was intense but also very 'conservative.'"

"It strengthened its detection and mobilized other clusters, but it did not immediately dispatch large-scale forces for an indiscriminate sweep, nor did it pursue in the direction of the 'Dragon's retreat."

"What does this indicate?" Zhao Iron Pillar asked.

"It indicates that it 'cherishes' its forces, or rather, its 'judgment logic' is evaluating risks."

Wen Youyi analyzed, "We demonstrated a capability: the ability to precisely take out its peripheral command nodes right under its nose."

"This gave it a clear signal—we are not to be trifled with, and we have the capability to strike its weak points."

"If it rashly disperses its forces to conduct a massive search, it will likely give us more opportunities to 'take cheap shots'."

"So... it chickened out?" Senior Brother Li blinked.

"Not necessarily chickened out, more likely a tactical adjustment."

Wen Youyi shook his head. "It might further strengthen its core defenses, shrink its peripheral activity range, or change its assembly patterns to make the command units more concealed and harder to snipe."

"But regardless, for the time being, it likely won't dare to form an obvious encirclement and oppressive posture near us with such fanfare again."

This was precisely the goal the "Severed Finger" operation aimed to achieve—remote deterrence.

I won't go head-to-head with you, but I can let you know that if you stick your claws out, I will dare to chop them off.

If you want to be safe, honestly pull your claws back.

The construction of "hope" therefore gained another period of valuable, relatively stable time.

"However, we cannot let our guard down." Wen Youyi reminded.

"The 'Bee Queen' has suffered a loss and will definitely find ways to counterattack."

"We need to closely monitor its next moves. At the same time, the construction of 'hope' must be faster!"

He looked at the increasingly complete silver giant ship skeleton in the dock, his eyes full of anticipation.

When "hope" truly takes shape, possessing its own "star core engine," a complete neural network, and powerful firepower, their relationship with the "Bee Hive" will shift from a game of hide-and-seek between an "assassin and a behemoth" to... a confrontation in the true sense.

And that day is approaching at an accelerated pace.

(End of this chapter)