Chapter 59
The Undercurrent was like a small boat in a storm, tossed violently by the turbulent energy. Beyond the portholes was no longer the familiar starry sky, but twisting, swirling bands of multicolored light, as if the universe were being tampered with by an invisible hand. Space itself groaned under the strain, and every slight course correction required a tremendous expenditure of energy.
"Minister, the external pressure has reached critical value!" The driver gripped the joystick tightly, his voice hoarse from excessive force, "The shield energy is rapidly depleting!"
Miao Weizhen stood in the center of the bridge, his figure steady as a rock, his lips tightly pursed, only betraying the gravity of his heart. He ignored the piercing alarm, his gaze fixed on the blinking dot on the navigation system, representing the target's final coordinates.
"Keep going." His voice was cold and without a trace of emotion, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him.
Luo Yan stood beside him, the data stream from her mechanical eye frantically refreshing as she calculated the optimal path to circumvent the most lethal energy turbulence. "Minister, the Federation reconnaissance ship tracking us has disappeared," she suddenly reported. "Either it was destroyed by the energy turbulence, or... they believe we're trapped and there's no need to follow us."
"Very good." Miao Weizhen's lips curled up in a cold arc, "Then let them wait outside to collect the bodies."
The Undercurrent struggled to penetrate an extremely thick energy curtain, and the scene outside the porthole suddenly changed. The violent turbulence disappeared, replaced by an eerie, relatively calm airspace. And at the center of this airspace, a massive, dilapidated, ring-shaped space station floated. It was pitch black, its surface covered with scars of impact and energy burns. Its style was ancient and strange, definitely not the creation of modern civilization.
"Right here..." Miao Weizhen muttered to himself, a terrifying glint in his eyes. He recognized this ring-shaped structure; it bore a striking resemblance to the theoretical ultimate jump anchor design in the "Star Shuttle" project!
"Scan the station structure for signs of life and power sources," he ordered.
The scan results came back quickly - there were faint, intermittent energy reactions inside the space station, but no signs of life... zero.
A sense of foreboding gripped Miao Weizhen's heart, but he forced it down. "Prepare for docking. Luo Yan, you lead the first team and follow me in. The rest of you, stay aboard the Dark Current and maintain maximum alert."
The atmosphere in the base's command center was so oppressive it felt almost frozen. On the star map before Wen Ling, the green blip representing Han Zhong's fleet flickered and dwindled, its red-marked area of engagement looking like a dead cloud of stardust. And after plunging deeper into the vortex, the blip representing the Dark Current's signal became extremely weak and intermittent.
"Your Highness, General Han's fleet has suffered losses of over 30%! The shield of the 'Indomitable' is overloaded and it is retreating and reorganizing its formation!" The communications officer's voice was filled with despair.
Wen Ling's heart sank. He forced himself to remain calm, his mind racing for a way out. A head-on fight would have no chance of success.
"Get Dr. Anthony!" he ordered.
Anthony's face appeared on the screen, exhausted from all-night research, but his eyes were unusually bright. "Your Highness, I've analyzed the vortex's energy data and discovered that its turbulence isn't completely random. It has a weak cycle that recurs approximately every 127 standard seconds! If we can accurately capture this window..."
Wen Ling's eyes lit up: "Doctor, synchronize this weak cycle data to General Han. Tell him to use this cycle for maneuvering and evasion."
This is the only ray of hope in despair.
At the same time, A Yuan hurried into the command center, holding a list of supplies in his hand. "Your Highness, according to your order, all non-essential energy sources have been centralized. Also, when I was sorting out the old warehouse, I found a batch of sealed high-energy pulse generators that Lao Lin labeled as 'experimental products.' Lao Chen said that this thing is extremely unstable, but if used in the right place..."
Wen Ling immediately understood what she meant: "Prepare them immediately, perhaps... they can come in handy in unexpected ways."
Miao Weizhen and Luo Yan, clad in heavy protective suits, stepped onto the cold, silent deck of the space station. Inside, a dead silence reigned, their footsteps the only echoing echo in the empty corridors. The air circulation system had long since ceased, and dust drifted slowly beneath the beams of their helmet lights.
Following the direction of the energy source they scanned, they struggled through a maze-like damaged passage and finally arrived at a relatively intact central control room.
Inside the control room, the screens of various ancient instruments were pitch black. Only in the center of the room, a cylindrical, transparent life support pod still emitted a faint blue light.
Miao Weizhen's footsteps suddenly stopped and his breathing almost stopped.
Inside the life support capsule, a young woman in an old scientific research uniform hovered. Her eyes were closed, her face serene, as if she were simply asleep. She looked exactly like her sister, Xinglan, in the photo Miao Weizhen treasured.
"Xinglan..."
Miao Weizhen's voice trembled with disbelief. He stepped forward quickly and placed his palm against the cold cabin wall.
However, the next second, his pupils suddenly contracted.
On the control console next to the life support cabin, a line of ancient, yet still clear handwriting, like a cold judgment, pierced his eyes:
[Transfer experiment failed. Consciousness has been stripped away and sealed in the "core." □□ Active maintenance system will terminate upon exhaustion of energy. Warning: The core is bound to the station's defense system and Federation remote monitoring protocol.]
Xinglan's body is here, but her consciousness... is long gone.
This wasn't a hiding place at all, but a carefully laid cage and trap. The Federation not only knew about this place, but also monitored it constantly. They were waiting for someone to trigger this "core."
Almost at the same time when Miao Weizhen saw the handwriting clearly, a shrill alarm sounded throughout the space station, and red warning lights flashed wildly.
Luo Yan's mechanical prosthetic eye instantly locked onto the control console: "Minister! A powerful energy lock signal has been detected, coming from deep within the space station! At the same time... a high-priority external signal is forcibly connecting to the federal monitoring channel!"
Outside the space station, the originally relatively calm airspace suddenly began to ripple. Three new federal warships ended their stealth state and emerged like ghosts, with their cold muzzles pointed at the lonely "Undercurrent".
On the control room's main screen, a communication request popped up. The next second, the face of Federal President Qu Beichen, with a false smile, appeared on the screen.
"Weizhen, long time no see." Qu Beichen's voice was filled with the joy of a winner. "It seems that you have finally found your 'home'. Do you like this reunion gift I prepared for you and Xinglan?"
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