Feeling like he was being treated with a double standard, the Warden was more than a little displeased. The result of his displeasure was a sudden, sharp ache in Feng Zhixi’s teeth, as if the scent of sour green plums in the air had suddenly spiked past the limit. It was incredibly tart, biting, and utterly nonsensical.
Having been forced to bite into a metaphorically mouth-puckering plum, Feng Zhixi—who loathed sour flavors—clutched his jaw and shot a glare at the culprit.
*Is this man intentionally directing his pheromones at me? So sour, so astringent! Can’t Ji Yeran try to be a little sweeter on his own?*
Forced to endure the phantom taste of a rotten plum, Feng Zhixi was fuming. He glared righteously at his primary suspect, Ji Yeran, his cheeks puffed out in indignation.
Ji Yeran, having successfully earned another eye-roll, was speechless. *Who was that "good boy" acting all obedient and submissive in front of others just now? Can this little brat stop being so hypocritical?*
Feng Zhixi: *So sour! Disgusting plus!*
Ji Yeran: *Little ingrate!*
The two "little rookies," unhappy for entirely different reasons, refused to back down. They engaged in a childish yet persistent battle of glares, proving that immaturity knows no bounds of age or experience.
Just as the nonsensical bickering between Feng Zhixi and Ji Yeran was about to escalate, the Executive Officer—who had been completely hoodwinked—finally made up his mind. His voice inadvertently broke their silent standoff.
Having reached a decision, the Executive Officer declared that all was fair in war. They would do it!
However, he needed to remain on the bait ship to oversee the big picture. Who would operate the captured pirate vessel?
The Executive Officer’s gaze swept over everyone on the ship, including the three military academy students.
When his eyes landed on Feng Zhixi, a realization struck him. This student was likely the one among them who understood the "Spiderweb" system best. After all, the kid hadn't just bypassed the warship’s security; he had used an external link to directly infiltrate the pirate ship’s main control.
This level of ability was, frankly, the technical peak of anyone on his ship. He was the optimal candidate to operate the Spiderweb.
Thanks to Feng Zhixi’s previous display of "strict adherence to orders," the Executive Officer was once again misled by his behavior. In his deliberation, he momentarily forgot the boy’s history of mischief and made a bold decision—one that he would later look back on as both a stroke of genius and a total trap...
"Me?" Feng Zhixi blinked, hiding his inner thoughts perfectly behind a mask of confusion.
He looked as though he found it strange that the Executive Officer would suddenly give such an order: tasking him, a mere student, with operating the pirate ship’s Spiderweb system to coordinate with the main ship’s trap.
In the face of Feng Zhixi’s feigned doubt, the Executive Officer gave a firm affirmation. He was the type of man who stood by his moves once they were made, and in his eyes, talent knew no age.
Feng Zhixi had proven his strength. At the very least, regarding the application of the Spiderweb system, the Executive Officer was certain Feng Zhixi was more capable than anyone present, regular soldiers included.
Thus, the Executive Officer made his daring move: he dispatched Feng Zhixi to the pirate ship.
There was another practical consideration behind this choice. The personnel on the small escort craft couldn't be moved. Among the people currently on the bait ship, only these three students were "extra" hands, while the regular soldiers were all needed at their respective combat stations.
He couldn't very well send his subordinates to the pirate ship and leave three students behind to fill vital combat roles, could he? He wasn't *that* reckless.
Besides, in the Executive Officer’s eyes, the performance of the pirate ship was only slightly better than a merchant vessel. At most, it could play a supporting role. Its most useful feature was the Spiderweb system, meant to assist the main ship in setting traps. Its other configurations—from weaponry to general specs—were lackluster.
The Executive Officer believed that even if these three kids wanted to pull something, they couldn't cause much trouble with such a small ship. Furthermore, he specifically assigned one of his subordinates to go with them. Though young, this soldier was honest and steady; he would surely be able to keep an eye on the three brats.
With all these restrictions, could these three kids really bring the sky down? The Executive Officer didn't think so.
And so, under Emir’s star-struck, admiring gaze, Feng Zhixi quietly gained independent control of a starship. Although a supervisor was following them, given Feng Zhixi’s track record of bamboozling everyone he met, the "honest and steady" subordinate didn't stand a chance.
Stepping onto the pirate ship, Emir felt like her Chief was simply the best!
In the starry void, the once-bizarre pirate ship silently masked its presence. The "conscripted" vessel followed quietly beside the bait ship—which had disguised itself as a merchant vessel once more—acting as a silent ghost lurking in the shadows.
A merchant ship that looked low-key at first glance but was actually quite luxurious sailed through the Gamma Galaxy Corridor. The complex and ever-changing navigation routes forced the ship, which boasted seven or eight escort craft, to move with extreme caution.
This merchant ship, simultaneously flashy and understated, was like a living target in the stars—a poison-coated candy bar radiating a sweet, irresistible aroma to the outside world.
However, what the Executive Officer didn't know was that on the pirate ship trailing them, Feng Zhixi had developed a new idea after taking a stroll through the main control computer.
There was likely no one present who understood these pirates better than he did.
"Want to play?" Feng Zhixi turned his head to look at Ji Yeran, his eyes sparkling.
Ji Yeran couldn't help but smile. As a qualified partner, he nodded in cooperation.
Thus, without anyone’s knowledge, Feng Zhixi quietly manipulated the pirate ship’s special transmission channels. Using signal frequencies and codes known only to pirates, he sent out a honey-trapped bait message.
The signal originated from the pirate ship Feng Zhixi was on, passing through special channels and, after encryption, diffusing toward the depths of the Gamma Galaxy Corridor.
To ensure the number of lured pirates remained within the bait ship’s capacity, Feng Zhixi precisely restricted the signal’s range to a fixed zone.
The "Sting Operation" had officially begun.
***
As the anonymous fishing operation commenced silently, the Executive Officer was shocked to find that their luck had suddenly turned!
After successfully capturing their first group of live pirates and gaining a handy trap tool, perhaps because they had entered a high-incident corridor, the bait ship moved past the embarrassment of only catching "small fry." Business was booming.
Just as they finished capturing one group and reapplied their merchant disguise, another pirate ship would be lured in. A group of pirates would arrogantly appear before the disguised merchant ship.
Before the greedy pirates could even act, the "Spiderweb," which had been waiting for a long time, would begin to close. Another pirate ship would be successfully snared.
Seeing the prey struggling in the net, the Executive Officer couldn't help but marvel at how practiced Feng Zhixi’s timing and trapping techniques were, even as he habitually ordered the mop-up.
Upon receiving the order, the small escort craft—which had developed a rapport with the Spiderweb after multiple rounds of cooperation—would instantly deploy, surrounding the completely disarmed pirates.
At this point, the pirates, who had inexplicably turned from hunters to prey, still didn't understand what was happening. Sensing the approaching danger, they cursed and swore as they decisively abandoned their ship, choosing to flee in individual flight pods.
In that instant, it was like a nest of rats scattering in all directions.
However, this foolish move only made them die faster.
The military’s small craft didn't even need to exert themselves. The Spiderweb, now fully controlled by Feng Zhixi, activated directly. Dense energy strings filled the void, binding every single fleeing pirate craft.
The pirates who fell into the Spiderweb’s trap were like captured insects, wrapped in ominous red energy strings that tightened until they were completely immobilized.
Once the Spiderweb had bound the prey, Feng Zhixi thoughtfully delivered these "little bugs" right to the front of the bait ship.
Another nest of pirates was wiped out in one go—all alive, and even the pirate ship was intact.
And this was only the beginning...
The Executive Officer found that as soon as they harvested one wave, another would follow. These pirates came one after another, like moths to a flame.
Often, the Spiderweb would just finish capturing one batch when the next was already on its way to deliver itself.
Eventually, the bait ship didn't even have to move. They just stayed quietly in a sector they had become passively familiar with, and groups of pirates swarmed in like sharks smelling blood, allowing them to be caught right where they were.
The strangeness of the situation made it seem as if the entire disguised merchant ship was a dessert wrapped in honey, constantly emitting a sweet fragrance that attracted swarms of wasps.
Not only that, but even more bizarrely, there seemed to be a time interval between these pirate groups. They arrived in small waves, almost as if they had agreed on a schedule to avoid overwhelming the soldiers, taking turns to hand over their heads.
The Executive Officer, who was winning so much he was practically numb, could only sigh. He had captured so many pirates his hands were tired. It was truly exhausting.
Meanwhile, the truth the Executive Officer didn't know was that on the requisitioned pirate ship, the supervisor he had entrusted with heavy responsibility was staring wide-eyed at Feng Zhixi’s series of operations. For a moment, he didn't know whether he should stop him.
The young supervisor was dumbstruck. He looked at Feng Zhixi, his mouth opening and closing.
This student had somehow cracked the pirates’ communication system. Feng Zhixi was currently mimicking the "flavor" of pirate speech, sending out all sorts of bizarre messages in various styles.
For example, Feng Zhixi used the pirate ship’s comms to issue a warning: *This is my hunting ground! The rest of you, get lost if you know what's good for you! Stay far away!*
The pirates who received this message were overjoyed and rushed over immediately, wanting to steal the "food"!
Then, predictably, they were wiped out...
The supervisor, who had wanted to stop him but was left speechless by the results: "..."
Or, for instance, Feng Zhixi somehow accessed the systems of the disarmed pirate ships nearby. He then mimicked the signals of two different pirate fleets, staging a "fight" across the void, refusing to yield as they "battled" fiercely.
Pirates who accidentally scouted the area thought there was a "fat sheep" to be had. To pick up the scraps of the battle, they rushed over without hesitation.
The ending was easy to imagine...
The supervisor massaged his temples. He was confused. *Are these pirates idiots?*
Wait, wait—Feng Zhixi sent out countless strange messages, each one more creative and imaginative than the last, precisely controlling the transmission range and distance. His sole purpose was to trick those "innocent and ignorant" pirates into coming to their deaths.
The supervisor was at a loss for words. He didn't know if those pirates had holes in their brains; they had absolutely no ability to discern the truth. Tricked by Feng Zhixi’s colorful messages, the faster they rushed over, the stupider they seemed.
*Do these pirates have no brains?!*
The supervisor was losing his mind watching this.
His heart was weary: *Reporting to the Commander, there is someone here intentionally fishing. Although the results are excellent, it is a serious violation of discipline. Should I do something about this?!*
