87: The Art of Losing

"Boss, their scanning equipment power is abnormal... They don't look like gangsters, more like... a regular army reconnaissance squad!"

Reno's urgent voice broke the calm of the needlefish's bridge.

Chen Feng shifted his gaze from the tactical board to the deep void outside the porthole. The commercial trap he had just outlined for Su Li now had a fatal variable.

"They're closing in!" another soldier reported tensely. "Distance eight hundred, seven hundred... They're entering our effective firing range!"

"Initiate maximum-level silent mode," Chen Feng's voice was devoid of any ripples. "Open the signal camouflage module and set the parameters to 'space junk under repair'."

"Boss?" Reno's eyes were filled with confusion and anxiety. "We should jump immediately! It'll be too late once they lock onto us!"

"Jump?" Chen Feng retorted, his tone carrying a trace of cold mockery. "And let that fox sense there's a hunter in the forest, causing her to vanish without a trace?"

He looked at Reno calmly. "Our goal isn't to run away, Reno. It's to fish. Any movement that might startle the fish is forbidden."

"But, Boss, they..."

"They won't fire," Chen Feng interrupted him with certainty. "If they were here to silence us, they would use missiles directly, not scanners. They're also looking for someone, or rather, confirming something. Until their objective is met, they want to avoid complications even more than we do."

Reno's breath hitched. Chen Feng's composure acted like a sedative, forcibly suppressing his combat instincts as a soldier.

The engine indicator lights of the needlefish flickered out one by one. The entire ship seemed to die instantly, turning into a metal coffin floating on the edge of the interstellar lane. That threatening scout ship slowly glided past, its scanning beam lingering on the needlefish's hull for several seconds before finally moving away, having found nothing.

The crisis was temporarily averted, but the air in the bridge grew increasingly heavy.

"Time is running out," Chen Feng said, watching the retreating scout ship. "We must speed up. Before that squad finds her, we need to make her come to us of her own accord."

Chen Feng turned and sat back at his terminal, his consciousness sinking into the Interstellar Exchange. He didn't look at the dazzling array of goods but instead directly contacted the gnome information broker hidden deep within the Shadow Hive—'Echo'.

"I want to post a commission," Chen Feng's voice rang out in the encrypted channel.

"Oh? My distinguished client, what new business do you have?" Echo's characteristic voice, sounding like sandpaper rubbing together, came through. "My information is never discounted."

"This time it's not about buying information; it's about having you spread it," Chen Feng said. "I want you to find a... stupid chamber of commerce that's on the verge of bankruptcy but desperate to strike it rich overnight."

"Ha! That's too easy. Eighty percent of the chambers in the Shadow Hive fit that description."

"Let me finish," Chen Feng's tone brooked no argument. "The commission is to transport a batch of 'High-Activity Nutrient Paste,' with a profit set at three times the market price."

"Three times?!" Echo's voice changed pitch. "Are you serious? People will fight tooth and nail for that kind of profit."

"Of course. But the transport route must pass through the 'Smuggler's Black Hole'."

The communication channel fell into a brief silence. After a moment, Echo spoke dryly, "Client... are you trying to hire a killer? The 'Smuggler's Black Hole'—out of ten ships that enter that place, nine turn into space dust."

"That's why I'll include an encrypted cargo list. You don't need to decrypt it; just send it directly to the technical or financial director of the target chamber and have them perform a risk assessment." Chen Feng revealed the core of the plan. "Remember, if they dare to take it, your commission doubles."

"I love your madness, client," Echo's tone became excited again. "I'll get on it immediately. Rodney from Stardust Freight, that old idiot, he'll definitely be the first to bite."

The communication ended.

Reno, standing aside, had heard the entire conversation. The confusion on his face deepened. "Boss, I still don't understand. Even if the profit is high, for a suicide mission... would that Su Li... would she agree?"

"She will," Chen Feng's gaze seemed to pierce through the ship's steel plates, seeing the woman's figure in the distant space station. "Because what I'm giving isn't just a commission."

"Then what is it?"

"It's a riddle," Chen Feng leaned back in his chair, his voice carrying the pleasure of an intellectual game. "She wouldn't even look at an ordinary death-trap commission. But what if, hidden within that death-trap, there's a map to a way out?"

"A map?"

"Remember the data we got from Lao Mo?" Chen Feng pulled up a small fragment of a star map. "Inside the 'Smuggler's Black Hole,' there's a secret safe route abandoned by the Su Family. I'll include the coordinates of this route as a second layer of encryption within the cargo list."

Reno's eyes widened. "I see! When she sees the route, she'll think it's a trap, but when she decrypts it and finds a route only her family knows..."

"She'll realize that this isn't a client who wants her dead," Chen Feng took over. "But someone who knows her identity and is 'testing' her with the value of this star map."

"What will she do?"

"She'll accept the commission," a smile curled at the corner of Chen Feng's mouth. "And to figure out exactly who I am, she will definitely make a request."

"What request?"

"She must personally accompany the ship."

A few hours later, when Echo's communication request lit up again, Reno's heart skipped a beat.

"My distinguished client, your bait... is too fragrant," Echo's voice was full of disbelief. "Rodney from Stardust Freight took the deal, and he's playing exactly according to your script."

"Get to the point."

"They added an additional condition."

Chen Feng leaned forward slightly. He knew the decisive moment had arrived.

"The analyst they have in charge of risk assessment, named 'Amy,' insists on being the onboard supervisor to personally oversee this voyage."

The smile on Chen Feng's face fully bloomed. He turned to Reno and mouthed silently: Look, the fish has taken the bait.

On the terminal, a forged profile for a supervisor named "Amy" was sent over. The woman in the photo had an ordinary face, but her eyes were exceptionally sharp.

However, before the smile could fully fade, Reno's face suddenly turned deathly pale. He pointed to another corner of the tactical screen, his voice trembling with tension.

"Boss, look!"

On the screen, the red dot representing that mysterious reconnaissance squad had, at some point, moved next to Stardust Freight's docking berth.

A high-power scanning beam was undisguisedly sweeping over and over across the dilapidated ship that was about to set sail with Su Li on board.