302: Stargazing and the fangs of the "Hidden Dragon"

"hope" broke free from the shackles of the dock, like a silver meteor moving against the flow, dragging a trail of deep blue exhaust, speeding toward the preset evacuation route. Inside the bridge, although they had escaped the initial encirclement, the atmosphere remained tense as a bowstring.

The starry sky behind them was now a boiling golden Hell.

The vanguard of the Swarm, temporarily disrupted by the "wide-area interference ripple," gathered and surged forward again in an even more frenzied manner after a brief moment of chaos, like an angry tide! More "Soldier Drones" poured out from the "Hive" and underground fissures; they were larger, the dark golden luster on their surfaces was deeper, their flight paths were more treacherous, and they could even fire slender energy beams for long-range harassment.

The scale of the entire "Swarm" far exceeded any previous encounter! They were no longer patrol squads or combat clusters, but a torrent of destruction pouring out with everything they had! The dark golden points of light, blotting out the sky, almost covered nearly half of the starry sky behind them. The cold killing intent they emitted could be clearly felt by everyone on "hope," even from a great distance.

[The threat from behind is continuously approaching. The relative speed difference is narrowing. It is estimated that they will enter the effective range of the 'Soldier Drones' in three quarters of an hour.] The "hope" ship spirit reported the data calmly. Its consciousness, like the most stable cornerstone, smoothed out the instinctive fear that everyone on the bridge felt due to the overwhelming pursuers.

"Maintain course, keep engine power at 80%!" Wen Youyi's gaze was fixed on the star map behind them. "'hope,' evaluate how long our speed advantage can be maintained?"

[With the current engine load and hull state, full-speed travel can be maintained for six hours. However, there are some high-speed variant units in the Swarm behind us, whose limit speed may approach our 90% power state. If we get entangled by them, our speed advantage will be lost.]

"In other words, we can't just run blindly," Senior Brother Li said over the engine room comms. "We have to find a way to slow them down, or... make those leading 'fast legs' shut up!"

"How much longer until the interference ripple's cooldown?" Wen Youyi asked.

[Thirty breaths.] The ship spirit replied.

"Good. Next volley, lock onto those high-speed variants and suspected command units rushing at the front!" Wen Youyi pulled up the dynamic scan of the Swarm behind them, where dozens of red dots with significantly higher speeds and energy readings were marked. "Take out their 'arrowhead,' and the 'arrow shaft' behind will naturally fall into chaos!"

"Understood! Interference ripple launch array recharging and locked!" Senior Brother Zhang responded from the weapons control center.

Just as "hope" was engaging in a thrilling game of speed and interference with the Swarm behind it, "Hidden Dragon," like a silver ghost, took advantage of the gap where the Swarm's attention was drawn by the main force, and silently circled around to the side and rear of the "Anvil" area.

Its target was not the "Hive" itself (that was too dangerous), but several key energy connection nodes between the "Hive" and the underground sleeping facilities that had just been marked by the "pangolin" probe, as well as an enhanced antenna array suspected to be used by the "Bee Queen" for transmitting and receiving external commands.

According to the key hints and the technical team's analysis, destroying these nodes and arrays could effectively interfere with the "Bee Queen's" precise control over the Swarm, weaken its resonance intensity with the underground facilities, and might even interrupt or delay the awakening process.

"Hidden Dragon" pushed its stealth capabilities to the limit, flying almost against the surface of the debris, using the shadows of the complex terrain and energy turbulence to cover itself. Inside the bridge (of "Hidden Dragon"), only a Divided Soul of Wen Youyi and Xiao Wu were responsible for communications and navigation; the atmosphere was equally tense.

[Arrived at the periphery of the first target area. Strong energy shielding and automatic defense nodes detected.] The consciousness of "Hidden Dragon" transmitted.

Looking from the observation window, ahead was a relatively flat metal plain covered with regular geometric protrusions, clearly an auxiliary structure extending from the "Hive." Several thick pipes flowing with dark golden energy extended from the depths of the plain and submerged into the rock layer below. Around the junctions of the pipes and several towering tower-like structures floated many stationary dark golden defense turrets and reconnaissance units that emitted dangerous fluctuations.

"According to the plan, use the 'high-frequency purification pulse' for precision sniping, prioritizing the destruction of defense nodes and the weak points of the energy pipes." Wen Youyi (Divided Soul) ordered, "Move fast, hit and run, never stay!"

[Understood.]

The "starlight focusing array" on both sides of the "Hidden Dragon" hull quietly extended and adjusted its angle. The next moment, several beams of condensed silver-white light, like the fine needles of death, shot with almost impossible reaction speed, precisely at the energy cores of those defense turrets and several pre-calculated stress concentration points on the energy pipes!

Puff! Puff! Puff!

The defense turrets that were hit exploded silently, turning into clusters of dim golden light dust. Where the energy pipes were hit, the dark golden light suddenly stalled, then burst out with unstable energy sparks, and even fine cracks appeared on the surface of the pipes!

The attack happened too fast and too suddenly; the surrounding defense units clearly appeared to have a brief moment of "stupor."

"Hidden Dragon" did not linger. Once the strike was successful, it immediately turned, thrusters at full power, like a startled fish, speeding toward the preset evacuation route while maximizing its stealth.

A few breaths later, a piercing alarm energy wave erupted from the attacked area! More defense units were activated, and several detection beams and energy rays swept wildly in the general direction of "Hidden Dragon's" retreat, but "Hidden Dragon" had already disappeared into the shadows of the debris.

"First target strike completed! Confirmed partial energy leakage and defense gaps!" The report from "Hidden Dragon" came.

"Well done! Immediately proceed to the second target area and repeat the same tactics!" Wen Youyi (Divided Soul) felt a boost of spirit.

"Hidden Dragon," like a highly skilled assassin, used its speed and stealth advantages to perform swift and deadly "stabs" on the defense network on the periphery of the "Hive." Every attack hit a key node, and every time it immediately fled, never giving the enemy a chance to surround it.

Although it could not cause fatal damage to the "Hive," this continuous harassment and destruction clearly interfered with the "Bee Queen's" command efficiency and energy scheduling.

Behind them, the torrent of the Swarm chasing "hope" began to show signs of incoordination. The pursuit routes of some of the Swarm deviated slightly, and their speeds fluctuated, no longer moving as a whole like before. Even a few small groups of the Swarm, due to confused instructions, collided and obstructed each other slightly.

"The harassment by 'Hidden Dragon' is working!" Wang Wu said excitedly on the bridge of "hope." "The Swarm's pursuit formation is starting to loosen! We can maintain our speed advantage for longer!"

"Don't be careless!" Wen Youyi (Main Body) reminded, "The 'Bee Queen' will not sit idly by. It may adjust its strategy, or even... send special forces to deal with 'Hidden Dragon'."

Sure enough, not long after, the "Thousand Eyes" network (some reconnaissance spores were on the ship) detected that a small squad of exceptionally slender, fast-moving dark golden "Hunter Bees" had separated from the direction of the "Hive" and were flanking toward the general area where "Hidden Dragon" had last appeared!

The fangs of "Hidden Dragon" had stung the behemoth, attracting a dedicated "cleanup crew"!

Above the star sea, "hope" was engaged in a life-and-death race against the main force of the Swarm.

Below the star sea, "Hidden Dragon" and the "Hunter Bees" were playing a perilous game of cat and mouse among the steel ruins.

The first battle of the ark's voyage was already this magnificent and perilous.

But everyone from "Starfire" had only the star path leading to "Return to Ruins" in their eyes, and no longer had any intention of retreating.

(End of Chapter)