Chapter 530: It is toying with us!

The technical officer shook his head: "A cruise Missile cannot maintain such stable low-altitude flight, and its flight pattern is clearly... observing us. This is not the behavioral pattern of a Missile."

"A hydrofoil? A hovercraft?" a destroyer captain proposed another possibility.

"It is impossible to reach that kind of speed," the engineering officer flatly denied, "The fastest hydrofoil in the world currently does not exceed 60 knots, and it is impossible to maintain stability at that speed."

The conference room fell into Silence, every person's face written full of confusion and unease. The fear of the unknown is more terrifying than a known threat—they were facing an existence that completely exceeded their existing technical understanding.

"Beijixiong Guo?" someone whispered, asking the guess in everyone's hearts.

Captain Thompson nodded solemnly: "This is the most reasonable guess. Intelligence departments have been warning us that Beijixiong Guo is secretly developing some disruptive weapons. This might be one of them."

Just at this moment, an emergency call from the Radar room interrupted the meeting: "CIC! Radar room! That unidentified target has returned! Bearing 210 degrees, distance 48 nautical miles, approaching at a high speed of 270 knots!"

"What?" Captain Thompson shouted in disbelief, "It actually dares to return? General quarters! All Anti-aircraft Systems prepare! Launch carrier-based aircraft for interception immediately!"

The entire carrier strike group entered the highest state of alert again, Anti-aircraft Systems operating at full power, carrier-based aircraft taking off in an emergency, and destroyers adjusting their formation to form an anti-aircraft barrier. However, facing this unprecedented mysterious threat, these preparations looked so pale and powerless.

Li Mingyuan sat in the control cabin of the "Kunpeng," clearly seeing all the movements of the Star-Spangled Country fleet through the holographic display screen. The "Pangu" system not only captured their Radar signals but also cracked their communication frequencies, allowing Li Mingyuan to monitor their every command and reaction in real-time.

"They are starting to get nervous," Li Mingyuan chuckled, "Let's play a game and see just how much capability these Star-Spangled Country people, who boast of being the world's strongest navy, really have."

He adjusted the control parameters, his fingers sliding flexibly on the touch panel: "Pangu, initiate 'Ghost' maneuver mode; the goal is to make our signal flicker in and out on their Radar, just like... a phantom."

"Understood, 'Ghost' maneuver mode activated. Adjusting flight path and altitude, executing random course changes and short-duration climbing maneuvers, combined with sea clutter cover."

Li Mingyuan leaned back in his seat, eyes fixed on the tactical display screen. In his view, this was not just a test, but a technical duel, a contest between technology from the future and the strongest contemporary military force. And he was the master of this duel, possessing an overwhelming advantage.

The "Kunpeng" began executing the "Ghost" maneuver mode. It would sometimes lower its altitude to just 2 meters, flying almost against the waves, completely hidden in the sea clutter; sometimes it would suddenly climb to 15 meters, leaving a brief and clear signal on the Radar; sometimes it would make sharp turns, sometimes accelerate in a straight line, the entire flight trajectory appearing to have no pattern to follow, yet precisely controlled at the edge of the Star-Spangled Country's Radar detection.

Inside the Radar control room of the "Haowei," the operators were almost going crazy. The mysterious light spot on the screen was like a phantom, sometimes clearly visible, sometimes disappearing completely, and the position where it reappeared after each disappearance was impossible to predict.

"It is toying with us!" the Radar supervisor roared, his face flushed red, "Adjust the parameters! Increase low-altitude detection sensitivity!"

"It is already adjusted to the maximum, sir!" an operator was almost crying, "But its flight altitude is too low and its speed is too fast; our Radar was not designed to detect this kind of target!"

Inside the CIC, Captain Thompson and the officers stared nervously at the main display screen, watching that flickering light spot cruise around the fleet, like a shark testing its prey before hunting.

"Where exactly is it? What is it?" Captain Thompson asked through gritted teeth, his knuckles turning white from gripping the railing, "A submarine cannot be this fast! Could it be... a UFO?"

This term, which would normally never appear in the mouths of high-ranking U. S. military officers, was now blurted out by an experienced carrier captain, showing the depth of his inner shock and confusion.

"Do the carrier-based aircraft have any findings?" Commander Martin asked urgently.

"No, sir!" the Communication Officer reported, "8 'Petrel' fighters have already searched the area where the target last appeared three times, and there are no findings! The sky is so blue, the sea is so calm, we just cannot find it!"

"Impossible!" Captain Thompson slammed his fist on the table, "How could an object that big and that fast disappear right under our noses? Unless..."

He stopped suddenly, his expression becoming even more grave: "Unless it possesses some kind of stealth technology we know nothing about."

This possibility plunged the entire CIC into a deathly Silence. If this were true, then the threat they were facing was far more terrifying than imagined—a weapon platform capable of high-speed movement, near-undetectability, and coming and going without a trace, sufficient to overturn existing naval warfare theory and defense systems.

Just as everyone was falling into a panic, the light spot on the Radar screen suddenly became exceptionally clear.

"Target has entered stable detection range!" the Radar Operator reported loudly, his voice mixed with tension and excitement, "Distance 42 nautical miles, approaching at a speed of 280 knots! Bearing 175 degrees!"

"Finally!" Captain Thompson felt a sense of relief and immediately ordered, "The 'Van Buren' and 'Sherman' destroyers proceed to the interception position immediately! All carrier-based aircraft adjust flight paths, prepare for a coordinated attack!"

The two destroyers immediately adjusted their course, sailing at full speed toward the designated position. These were the most cutting-edge destroyers of the Star-Spangled Country Navy, equipped with the most Advanced Radar and weapon systems of the time, theoretically capable of dealing with almost any maritime threat.

However, the moment they finished their turn, the target on the Radar screen disappeared mysteriously once again.

"Target lost! Repeat, target lost!" the Radar Operator was almost screaming.

"How is that possible?" Commander Martin could not believe it, "It was just there a moment ago!"

"Could it have dived?" someone guessed.

"At that speed? Impossible!" the engineering officer flatly denied, "That would create a massive water column and cavitation, our carrier-based aircraft would be able to see it!"

"Then where did it go?" Captain Thompson roared.

The answer was revealed quickly. Only two minutes later, the Radar of the "Van Buren" destroyer suddenly captured a massive signal, at a distance of less than 20 nautical miles!