156: The price of a traitor

"...We're surrounded!"

Su Li's voice cut off abruptly; the communication had been unilaterally severed, clearly due to intense signal interference on her end.

Inside the bridge, there was a deathly silence.

On the main screen, a death web composed of hundreds of enemy ship light-points hung coldly before everyone's eyes like a death warrant. Every light-point represented a ship-mounted cannon powerful enough to blast this rickety spacecraft into cosmic dust.

"Insane... this is fucking insane!" Captain Fili's four eyes bulged as he stared at the blockade formation, which was comparable to a decisive battle between galactic main forces, and he completely broke down. "This is a cleanup? They're trying to start a planet-killing war!"

"Their patrol routes... have gaps."

Eve's voice broke through Fili's wailing. She pointed at the data flowing across the screen, her eyes flashing with the light of frantic calculations. "Look here, and here. To maintain the stability of this net, their patrol ships must conduct regular rotations and energy replenishment. At the north and south poles of the system, there are sensor blind spots formed by two sentry ships alternating patrols, each lasting no more than ninety seconds!"

"Ninety seconds?" Fili shrieked. "Crossing half a system's blockade line? Do you think this is a game? No! This is suicide!"

He suddenly leaped from the captain's chair and rushed recklessly toward the communication console.

"I've had enough! I'm not one of your Hanhai Trade people! I want to contact Xing Zhan! I want to surrender! I'll give him the intel, I'll give you over to him! I just want to live!"

His multi-jointed fingers had already touched the emergency broadcast button on the console.

But a hand was faster than him.

Chen Feng's figure appeared behind him like a ghost, and a clean, sharp hand-chop accurately struck Fili's slender nape.

"Ugh—"

Fili didn't even have time to groan; his four eyes rolled back, and he slumped down limply.

"You..." Eve looked at Chen Feng in shock as he dragged the unconscious Fili toward a nearby medical pod like a dead dog, his expression indifferent.

"One hour." Chen Feng said to Eve without looking back, his voice cold and devoid of any warmth. "I need you to calculate the safest path utilizing that ninety-second blind spot within an hour, and find a way for us to disguise ourselves as one of their own."

"Fix this ship," he paused, glanced back at the shocked Eve, and then at the unconscious Fili on the floor, "before I 'fix' him."

Inside the medical pod.

A cold sedative was injected into Fili's body, causing him to slowly wake from his coma. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Chen Feng sitting across from him, calmly wiping a high-frequency dagger.

"You're awake," Chen Feng said flatly.

"Are you going to kill me?" Fili's voice was somewhat raspy due to the drugs, but fear made him instantly alert.

"Kill you?" Chen Feng smiled and projected an electronic document into the air in front of Fili. "No, why would I kill such a valuable asset?"

The document contained a list of Fili's massive debts to three gangs in Tartarus, with every transaction clearly recorded and followed by descriptions of the debt collectors' bloody methods. This intelligence was exactly what Chen Feng had bought from the Butcher at a high price.

"You... how could you..." The color drained from Fili's face once again.

"Do you think if you surrender, Xing Zhan will let you go?" Chen Feng's tone was as calm as if he were stating a fact. "The Omni-Dimensional Trade Alliance will sell you to Giant Star Mining to offset military expenses, and Giant Star Mining will sell you to those gangs you owe money to. They will break your bones one by one and squeeze every last credit point out of you. Believe me, at that time, you will immensely miss this moment when you can talk to me."

Fili began to tremble violently.

Chen Feng looked at him like a shrewd merchant and threw out his final bargaining chip.

"However," he changed the subject, "I have a better contract here."

Another document unfolded, its title in gold—[Hanhai Trade Golden Retirement Agreement].

"Lead us through the blockade." Every word from Chen Feng was like a bullet, accurately striking Fili's heart. "I'll give you a bonus of one hundred thousand credit points, in cash. All your debts in Tartarus, I'll pay them off for you. This retirement agreement will guarantee you the highest level of citizenship on any habitable planet in Hanhai Trade's future, until you die."

"I don't need a coward who deserts on the Eve of battle." Chen Feng stood up, looking down at him. "I need an ace pilot worth one hundred thousand credit points, a madman who can dance on the edge of a blade while flying this junk ship."

He leaned down and whispered in Fili's ear, "Now, tell me, is your life worth this price?"

Enormous profit and the naked threat of death, like two invisible hands, throttled Fili's throat. His eyes struggled fiercely, and his breathing became incredibly heavy.

An hour later.

A deathly pale Fili returned to the bridge.

Eve had already completed her work.

"The calculation is complete." She pointed to the 3D star map on the screen. "The breakthrough point is in the N-7 area of the North Pole. In ninety-two seconds, the sentry ships 'Hound 3' and 'Hound 4' will rotate here, creating a sensor blind spot lasting 87 seconds. To utilize it, we must disguise ourselves as the logistics ship 'C-47' which is returning to port for supplies; it's the only non-combat unit authorized to pass through this area today. I've already obtained its identification beacon sequence."

Fili walked to the captain's chair and sat down without a word.

He didn't look at anyone, merely reaching out his still slightly trembling hand to input a series of incredibly complex manual commands into the console.

The bridge lights dimmed, and the ship's identification beacon began to be overwritten by lines of brand-new code.

He had given his answer through his actions.

He had accepted this massive gamble.

"Very good." Chen Feng looked at his back and said coldly, "Depart."

The miniature field generators on the ship's exterior began to hum, causing the lucky dice's battered hull to visually distort slightly, making it look more like a bloated logistics transport ship.

It turned its bow, like a drop of water quietly merging into the ocean, slowly and steadily sailing toward the darkest, quietest corner of the blockade net.

Ahead on their flight path, a solitary golden light-point was waiting quietly.

That was their first checkpoint.

A solitary sentry ship.