"David, what's the situation now?" the leader of the bounty hunters asked his subordinate operating the console inside a shuttle.
"Everything is good. The shuttle probe is making a jump," David replied respectfully. "After the jump, it will reach Blue Star's near-orbit. Once it arrives, comprehensive monitoring will commence."
The leader nodded in satisfaction, then immediately asked, "What about the other bounty hunters?"
David fiddled with the console. A dense cluster of tiny light spots appeared on the screen. "Hunter Squad, Merman Squad, Treasure Hunter Squad, and others – a total of twelve teams, with forty-seven ships, are hidden in this star system. Additionally, there are continuous jump fluctuations. The closest to us is the Hidden Squad."
On David's screen, each light spot represented a spaceship. The leader's expression darkened slightly as he stroked his meticulously groomed beard. More and more bounty hunters were arriving in this star system. In less than half a day, forty-seven ships had gathered within a single system, and more were still jumping in. This was an unusually grand scale, and the leader, after taking a deep breath, felt his initial confidence in this mission begin to waver. What had this Blue Star person named Lin Feng done to the Time Administration to attract so many powerful bounty hunters? The squads David had just mentioned were all big names in the bounty hunter circles. Of course, he wasn't insignificant either.
"Boss, should we... withdraw from this mission?" After reporting, David hesitated for a moment before offering his suggestion. If this trend continued, dozens of bounty hunter groups would be crammed into the system within a day. However, the maximum number wouldn't exceed fifty, as there weren't as many individuals with the necessary rating to accept the mission as one might imagine. Moreover, many bounty hunters were busy with their own tasks and couldn't spare time for this. "The reward is tempting, but we need to be alive to claim it!" David continued to persuade him. He didn't know that his leader was also pondering this very question. It was true, the reward was substantial, but only if one could survive to get it. He wasn't a reckless fool, just momentarily blinded by the bounty. The issue now wasn't how to capture Lin Feng, but that whoever captured Lin Feng would become a target for all other bounty hunters.
After a moment of deliberation, the leader slammed his hand on the seat. "Wait!" he commanded. "Power down all engines, keep the main engines in a constant preheat, fully charge all ship shields, and charge the jump drive. Then... stand by!"
"Yes, sir!" Following a series of operations, their three shuttle ships simultaneously activated their shields. Although they didn't know when Lin Feng would appear, shields were necessary to guard against any opportunistic bounty hunters engaging in infighting beforehand.
...
Meanwhile, on Blue Star, a uniquely shaped ship, cloaked, broke through the atmosphere and ascended into space.
"Woohoo!" Inside the ship, Martina and Lin Jili raised their arms, their faces beaming with excitement. Behind them, a black cat squatted, rolling its eyes continuously. The two little ones were simply too excited. Although they had been to space before, this time they had snuck out without their parents' knowledge. Not only that, but they were also going to fight bad guys! Doing something they knew their parents wouldn't allow sent their adrenaline soaring.
"How is it, Iron Blood? Can you find those bad guys?" Martina sat in the pilot's seat, excitedly tapping the console. The ship's name was simple and direct: Iron Blood, a name given by Tony.
"Apologies, Leader. My search range has not detected any hostile signals." Martina's excited smile visibly deflated. "Alright, useless big guy."
Iron Blood: ... How rude! You want me to search for signals four light-years away? Sorry, this ship doesn't have such advanced sensory detectors!
"Lin Jili, you navigate?"
"No problem!" Lin Jili patted her flat chest and quickly inputted coordinates on the console. The technology of the Iron Blood Predator was designed with simple and intuitive virtual control buttons. Lin Jili, being a Universal Cube, found it very easy to understand and plot cosmic coordinates.
"Coordinates uploaded. Initiate jump immediately?" Iron Blood's voice came through. Since becoming a silicon-based lifeform, all its systems had been upgraded. Jumps of a few light-years required almost no waiting for the systems to charge.
At this moment, Martina exclaimed, "Wait a moment!"
"What is that?" Martina pointed to a large iron sphere not far outside the window. This iron sphere hadn't been there before; it had appeared quite suddenly.
"Analyzing..."
"It's a spherical probe, Leader!" Iron Blood explained.
"Is it from Blue Star?"
"No, Leader!"
"Not..." Martina exchanged a thoughtful glance with Lin Jili. "Blow it up! Then initiate the jump immediately!" There was no need to ask further; if it wasn't a Blue Star probe and had appeared so abruptly, it must belong to those bad guys! Iron Blood's cannons extended, faithfully executing the leader's command...
At the same time, four light-years away. David stared blankly at the "signal lost" message on his screen and hurriedly turned around. "Boss, the probe was blown up!"
"What?"
"Just now, our probe was destroyed immediately after it jumped to the vicinity of Blue Star!"
"This is the image transmitted before it was destroyed!" Before the probe exploded, it sent back a photograph. The leader looked at the uniquely shaped, never-before-seen ship in the image and felt a bit flustered. The 800,000 credit probe was gone just like that? That was a rare commodity purchased at great expense for this mission! Damn it, they had lost 800,000 credits before even doing anything! Although he had mentally prepared himself for a difficult mission, this was happening too fast! His heart aching, the leader gritted his teeth and ordered, "What the hell is this ship? Share it with the Hidden Squad and pay them to investigate!" The Hidden Squad, in addition to their usual bounty hunting, primarily engaged in intelligence gathering. They should have leads on this unknown ship.
However, the next second, David responded with a cold sweat, "Boss, perhaps... it's not necessary."
"Hmm?" The leader's beard twitched. "That ship has already jumped over..." As soon as he finished speaking, spatial fluctuations appeared in the distance. The ship from the photograph had followed and jumped over. There was no need for further detection; it was visible to the naked eye...