Walter's Open Strategy
After blowing up the hatch of the Grey Eagle, a small team of the Federal Army personnel searched the ship's interior. The search, naturally, yielded nothing; no one was hiding, and no useful clues were found.
Gu Ding and the others tidied their rooms spotlessly, throwing all valuables into their Storage Ring. Bigge even put away all the pots and pans in the kitchen to prevent the military personnel from breaking in and smashing things.
Most of the other teams didn't gain much either. After all, the military's advance was too fierce, and many people, seeing that things were not going well, packed their bags and ran away into the city before the spaceship had even fully docked.
The city to which the port belongs is called Barto, one of the largest cities on the entire Titan Star, with a population of over 24 million.
Finding a few Interstellar Pirate among a population of over 24 million is undoubtedly a very difficult task. Especially for Gu Ding and his group, thanks to the Sea Emperor, they are invisible to all video and photographic equipment in the entire Bato City.
At the port, small teams continuously reported their search results; only three teams had captured the hideouts inside the spaceship. Those hideouts naively believed that the Port Authority wouldn't allow the military to forcibly open the spaceship. Some, when captured, even threatened to file complaints against the Port Authority and the military in Federal Court.
Many more were arrested because they hadn't managed to escape in time. Those people were still observing when they saw the military's spaceship land; they only reacted after the military's overwhelming power was displayed, but by then it was too late.
The speed of the thirty Mecha was comparable to that of Eighth Order Gene Body warrior, and most of the Interstellar Pirate were unable to escape the pursuit.
Upon hearing the report, Sharp seemed dissatisfied, because almost none of those on the captured list were among the targets initially designated for capture. These included rising rookie teams like the Gu Ding Team and the Bade Team, as well as some established and powerful teams.
"Not catching those guys was expected," Walter, standing beside him, said without surprise. He even had a faint smile on his face. "This is just the first phase of the manhunt."
"I've discovered that this whole thing is more interesting than I imagined. My biggest regret is not being able to see Bigge." Emily looks to be in her early twenties. As Tenth-Order Gene Body powerhouse, she should be able to live to at least eight hundred years old. Her youthful appearance can be preserved until she is three hundred years old before she slowly ages.
"Emily, Bigge is my hunting target, as I mentioned before I came. What you do with him after I capture him is your business. But I don't want you interfering during the capture process." Sharp frowned. Having finally encountered a fellow Tenth-Order Gene Body swordsman, he naturally wasn't going to let him go easily. Before this, he had only encountered such an opponent once before, in the Boundary River. That battle had given him profound insights.
"I never said I was going to fight you for it. Besides, if you lose, I won't help you." As a fellow Military Department General, Emily never listened to others, and she had never been afraid of Sharp was the strongest among them.
The two had worked together for several years, Sharp knew her temperament well, so he didn't say anything when he heard her say that.
"Sister Emily, the plan requires your assistance in capturing Bigge. His actual Combat Strength is still unknown. He is a huge obstacle to this operation." Walter was interrupted by the two of them before he could finish speaking.
"I'm not going to make a move!"
"I don't need anyone's help!"
Walter was taken aback, not expecting to encounter such a situation. He changed the subject. "Based on the information we have, Gu Ding's group is the most difficult to capture. Besides having the support of super-strong Combat Strength, Gu Ding's hacking skills are also quite formidable. He will definitely erase all traces of their presence, making it very difficult for us to find them through the surveillance system."
Just then, a senior colonel from the military Senior Colonel came running up. "Sir, something bad has happened! Our spaceship's code has been changed, we can't get in, and the people inside can't get out either. We just tried a few other spaceships, and the situation is the same."
Sharp leaped onto the Golden Eagle, pressed his Palm Print against the hatch, but the hatch didn't respond. He entered the code again, but it showed an incorrect result. He jumped off the Golden Eagle and waved his hand, "Find a codebreaker to crack it!"
"Gu Ding's doing?" Emily, standing to the side, couldn't think of anyone else besides Gu Ding who could have such methods.
"Who else could it be but him?!" Sharp said irritably.
"That's really childish," Emily said, covering her mouth with a laugh. "That squad seems to have blown up their hatch, so this is their revenge. But it's alright, it's just a prank. If it were me, I would definitely detonate the self-destruct sequence on all the military ships."
Walter broke out in a cold sweat and quickly said, "Big sister, don't say things like that. They must be watching us through surveillance cameras, otherwise how would they know that their spaceship's hatch was blown up? If they heard what I just said and actually did it, our losses would be devastating."
"If they really do that, they're courting death!" Sharp glared and said, "The four generals will definitely join forces to hunt him down. Even if he enters the Boundary River, they can still find him. The marshal might even personally take action. In fact, His Majesty might even communicate with the Fei Me Universe Country and ask their military to assist."
Gu Ding and his group heard their conversation clearly, and they were well aware of the consequences of such an action.
"The Golden Eagle's code has been changed, and there's nowhere to hold these captured bounty hunters. Let's send them to the local prison first." The Sea Emperor's prank also caused some changes, prompting Walter to order a change of detention location.
"The detention center has been converted into a local prison, hehe." The Sea Emperor waited patiently, and when the surveillance video showed that the wanted criminals were being transported halfway, he spread the news.
"Due to a malfunction in the military's spacecraft, the captured bounty hunter has been moved to Local Federal Prison."
By the time Walter saw the message, it was too late. Several groups of Interstellar Pirate intercepted the transport team on the way, venting their anger on the convoy and releasing all those captured.
"The transport vehicle was hijacked, resulting in heavy casualties. All prisoners have been released." When this message was sent to Walter's Smart Watch, Walter felt a chill run down his spine. He never expected these Interstellar Pirate to be so audacious as to hijack a military vehicle, and he certainly didn't expect that Gu Ding and his group would dare to openly provoke the military like this.
"That guy is now completely monitoring our every move. Let's destroy all the surveillance cameras near the port," Sharp suggested.
"It's no use. With his current hacking skills, he could probably even hack into our Smart Watch. Destroy the port's surveillance, or even shut down our Smart Watch, he'll still find a way to get the information he wants. If he wants to see, let him see." Walter seemed to understand that Sea Emperor's surveillance capabilities were almost ubiquitous, and he offered his opinion, "In chess, there's a move called 'revealing the moves.' It lets the opponent know every move they're going to make, but it doesn't affect your own chances of winning. We can do that too. Anyway, even if they know some things, they can't stop us. Let's proceed with the plan as scheduled. Don't let a little setback disrupt our original plan."
Hearing his words, Sharp nodded. Actually, now that he thought about it carefully, Gu Ding and his group could at most cause some trouble for his operation, but they couldn't change the essence of the problem. Those escaped prisoners weren't particularly clever; recaptured them wouldn't be difficult.
A hint of approval flashed in Emily's eyes. She had never worked with this young Chief of Staff before, only occasionally hearing tales of his exploits, all of which lauded him as almost mythical. She was skeptical of such flattery, so she hadn't initially felt much favorably disposed towards Walter. But judging from his words just now, he was indeed a talented individual.
"This guy named Walter is indeed extraordinary; he stabilized the situation so quickly," Gu Ding couldn't help but admire.
"Hey, don't praise the enemy!" Liliath objected.
"I'm just stating the facts, he really is very capable." Gu Ding said, nudging Bigge with his elbow, trying to get Bigge to stand on his side.
Bigge smiled and took a step back, adopting a silent expression that suggested he had no intention of offering any opinion.
"You're boosting the morale of others while diminishing your own," Liliath said, rolling her eyes at Gu Ding.
"I'm curious to know what they'll do next. Since they don't care about our sabotage anymore, their next move shouldn't be able to be disrupted." Gu Ding guessed that the other side must have some confidence to let him know their plans.
Walter did some work on his wristwatch, and after about ten minutes, he projected a data file in front of him. The file showed the matching degree between the footage captured by the planet's surveillance cameras and the photos of wanted criminals. Soon, the locations of more than fifty wanted criminals were identified.
"Sea Emperor, can't you do something shady?" Gu Ding asked, looking at the scene on the screen.
"No, I just tried. His watch has S-level encryption enabled, which is basically the highest level of encryption in the Heavenly Realm. If I try to crack it by force, the Heavenly Realm will notice." The Sea Emperor was defeated this time.
After pinpointing the locations of the fifty-odd wanted criminals, Walter assigned tasks to fifty-three squads. Each squad was to go to one location and capture one wanted criminal. Each squad consisted of ten people, and the leaders were all Eighth Order Gene Body powerhouses, at least at the rank of Major General.
After arranging everything, Walter turned his gaze to the nearest surveillance camera, a slight smirk playing on his lips, his expression tinged with mockery.