The Star Chart Code of the Defense Zone Prison Ship, Shadow Spider's Reconstruction
T-03 Defense Zone, Temporary Prison Ship.
Inside the metal compartment, the air circulation system emitted a monotonous, low-frequency hum.
Natasha Romanoff sat at a standard alloy table, a blank document template lit up on the tactical terminal screen in front of her.
The template title is. "Review Regarding Unauthorized Contact with External Forces and Unauthorized Installation of Probe in the T-03 Defense Zone".
Word count requirement: 30,000.
Her fingers hovered above the Virtual Keyboard, hesitant to fall.
She wasn't strategizing her self-criticism; she was waiting.
The miniature radar receiver on the corner of the table silently flashes green light, filtering and integrating deep-space echo data from the outer edge of the defense zone into the terminal in real time.
The Bloodfang Fleet should have already made its move.
Following her instructions, they would "hijack" Gwen Stacy Stacy's light Shuttle. A Liaison Office liaison officer facing ruthless wasteland bandits—the outcome was not hard to predict.
As long as Gwen Stacy remains under her control, a crack will appear in the balance of power at the central level. And she will use this crack to pry open the door to the Forty-Second Execution record.
The terminal emitted a barely perceptible sound.
New radar echo logs downloaded.
Natasha's gaze fell on the screen. She pulled up the Bloodfang Fleet identification code she had marked beforehand and tracked their flight path.
Found it.
The Bloodfang Fleet's main warship was towing a small, Management Committee- standard Shuttle, slowly changing course.
It was Gwen Stacy's ship.
Natasha tapped her fingertips lightly on the table.
She zoomed in on the image and retrieved scans of the Shuttle's energy characteristics and structural integrity.
As a result, it stopped her from moving.
The Shuttle's energy shield is in standby mode, the engine output is stable, and the ship's structural integrity is 100%.
There were no signs of a firefight.
There wasn't even any structural damage caused by energy overload.
The Bloodfang Fleet's tractor beams precisely locked onto the center of the Shuttle's structural Force Field, moving as smoothly as if towing a fragile work of art.
This doesn't make sense.
The Bloodfang gang of outlaws are brutal in their actions. Even when they are just plundering, they will first use cannon fire to blast open the shields and intimidate the target. It is definitely not their style to "invite" a ship away intact like this.
Natasha's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
She turned off the radar logs and retrieved another file instead.
It's the cargo manifest for Gwen Stacy's Shuttle.
She had already glanced at the list; it consisted entirely of internal clerical work for the Liaison Office.
[Secret Supply-01: Third Quarter Accounts Review and Backup of the Liaison Office (Physical Media)]
[Secret Supply-02: Inventory List and Sealing Report of Abandoned Observation Stations (Nos. G-7 to G-12)]
[Confidential Supplies-03: Draft Quarterly Performance Appraisal for Accompanying Clerks]
It was all tedious, boring bureaucratic paper that no one, except the Liaison Office auditors, was interested in.
Natasha's gaze slowly moved across the list, scrutinizing it word by word.
Her brain, like a sophisticated analyzer, intertwined the anomalies in the radar echoes, the unusual behavior of the Bloodfang Fleet, and this unremarkable transport list, repeatedly analyzing and deducing their meaning.
Why is Bloodfang treating this ship with such care?
Because the "cargo" on the ship is very important.
But these bureaucratic scraps are worthless to a group of interstellar bandits.
unless...
Unless the list itself is a disguise.
Natasha's pupils contracted sharply.
She remembered Gwen Stacy demeanor at the Standing Committee, always carrying stacks of documents. She remembered the seemingly casual official letter Lynn gave when he approved her "off-course" inspection.
A thought flashed through her mind like lightning.
These "secret supplies" were not provisions at all.
They are bait.
The Shuttle being carefully towed by the Bloodfang Fleet was not a lamb to the slaughter either.
It's a trap.
A living trap designed by Lynn and delivered by Gwen Stacy herself.
Natasha leaned back against the cold alloy chair.
She understood everything.
Lynn knew from the beginning that she was secretly monitoring her, and even knew that she would contact Bloodfang.
Instead of stopping him, he went along with it and turned the tables on him.
He sent Gwen Stacy off course with a seemingly impeccable itinerary and a ship full of seemingly worthless "supplies," walking brazenly into her encirclement.
She, who thought herself a chess player, unknowingly became a tool to help Lynn place the pieces in the right positions.
Gwen Stacy is not in any danger.
The real danger lies with the Bloodfang Fleet, which believes it has captured its prey, and... with itself, far away in the T-03 Defense Zone, believing it has the entire situation under control.
What a clever tactic of feigning weakness!
Natasha closed her eyes, reviewing every detail. Lynn's disciplinary order, the 30,000-word self-criticism, and the confinement of her here were not just punishments, but also a way to physically isolate her, preventing her from intervening and forcing her to watch helplessly as his scheme gradually came to a close.
She lost this round. She lost completely.
After a long while, Natasha opened her eyes again, her gaze now devoid of any emotion, only as calm as the deep sea.
Her gaze returned to the blank 30,000-word self-criticism.
At that moment, on the pure white background of the screen, it seemed as if an invisible brush began to draw strokes.
Lines of Scarlet characters appeared out of thin air.
That wasn't data, but pure, restless, Chaos Magic imbued with an aura of destruction and madness.
[Does the Internal Affairs Inspection Office need a new ally?]
I know what you want.
Come on, let's talk.
The signature was a distorted "W" branded with Chaos Magic.