81: Chapter 81 The Arrogant Ones' Equipment! The Holy Alliance's Conspiracy

"That's right, a man-made star." Chu Xinghe's voice also carried a trace of awe.

"This is the core of the 'Stellar Furnace'. Don't be fooled by its current size; to create such a furnace core, it requires consuming nearly a quarter of a standard yellow dwarf star, or an equivalent amount of stellar matter."

He paused, looking at the shocked expressions of the students, and continued to drop a bombshell:

"But that's not enough. To obtain near-infinite energy output within a limited volume, the designers used neutron star matter as a gravitational anchor and catalytic core, subjecting this star to super-strong confinement and catalysis."

"This allows stellar matter that would normally burn steadily for billions of years to be violently 'burned' out within a mere five million years at nearly a thousand times the power."

"In other words, what you are seeing now is a star that has been turbocharged and is frantically squeezing out every ounce of its energy potential."

Chu Xinghe paused, "This is the determination and courage of humanity in the Defensive Era. Whatever the cost, extracting to the limit, just to obtain enough power to support the final decisive battle."

Laya tugged at Li Yuan's sleeve and whispered, "Master, they're locking up a sun to burn it... won't it explode?"

Her question was naive and direct, yet it voiced the concerns of many.

Chu Xinghe heard her and smiled, "Good question. Yes, and it desperately wants to explode. So, do you see all those densely packed confinement field generators, energy diversion conduits, and buffer structures around it?"

"They are performing astronomical levels of calculations and adjustments every moment, balancing the terrifying internal pressure. Maintaining its stability is in itself an engineering miracle no less than building it."

Leaving the Stellar Furnace observation deck, which left people both exhilarated and scalp-tingling, Chu Xinghe led the team deeper.

They rode an internal high-speed rail car, traveling through ship corridors as wide as city main roads, passing by one jaw-dropping area after another.

They saw the firing base of the 'Return to Void' annihilation wave cannon—it was a giant ring structure with a diameter of over ten kilometers, deeply buried inside the warship.

It is said that when fired, one-third of the entire warship's energy is instantly poured into it, shooting out not a beam, but a wave capable of triggering a local spatial structure 'Return to Void', which has a devastating effect on super-giant targets.

Next, they arrived at a special observation platform, from where they could see a unique area on the warship's surface. Several ring-shaped structures stood there, resembling giant satellite antennas, but on a vastly larger scale.

"That is part of the 'Genesis' system," Chu Xinghe pointed to those ring-shaped structures, "or more accurately, its energy focusing and firing array."

He brought up a holographic diagram to explain: "Its principle is to use multiple superconducting energy rings scattered inside the warship to convert the massive energy output from the Stellar Furnace into special 'Genesis particles'."

"And then perform a final focusing and acceleration in these external arrays. Upon firing, a gamma-ray laser capable of piercing a planet will shoot out from the center of the array, with enough power to instantly destroy everything in the target area."

"It also triggers a sustained secondary radiation storm, which has an absolute extermination effect on biological organisms. In the Defensive Era, it was envisioned for clearing planets completely occupied by the Zerg."

The next stop was the 'Requiem' system. Unlike the exposed array of 'Genesis', the firing device of 'Requiem' was more concealed, deeply hidden beneath thick armor layers, with only some specially reinforced armor plates covered in energy patterns exposed on the warship's surface.

"'Requiem' deflection particle cannon, or to put it more simply—'Ultra-Long-Range Multi-Phase Energy Cannon'." Chu Xinghe's introduction carried a certain complex undertone,

"It is a strategic deterrent weapon. It fires a special type of composite energy mass that can maintain its form for a long time and be guided over ultra-long distances."

"Once fired, it is almost impossible to intercept by conventional means; it will continue to fly until it hits the preset coordinates or is exhausted by an energy barrier of the same level."

"Its range, persistence, and difficulty to intercept make it the preferred choice for attacking fixed strategic targets or conducting ultra-long-range strategic strikes."

Finally, Chu Xinghe focused on introducing the 'Nibelungen' array defense system.

"This is the key to why the Sovereign-class can become an 'unsinkable fortress'." They were in a control node filled with holographic monitoring screens, which displayed the real-time energy field status of different areas outside the warship,

"It's not just a simple layer of shielding. The 'Nibelungen' system constructs a near-perfect 'beam deflection force field network' on the warship's surface, composed of countless hexagonal energy units."

The holographic image showed the details: when an enemy beam weapon hits, the impacted energy units instantly calculate the frequency, energy, and angle of the incoming beam, then coordinate with surrounding units to generate a miniature but extremely tough reverse deflection force field at the point of impact.

This force field does not resist the attack head-on, but acts like the smoothest mirror, "sliding" or "refracting" the energy of the incoming beam along a calculated tangent direction, causing it to deviate from its original trajectory, and potentially even deflecting it toward nearby enemies.

"When facing solid projectile barrages or collisions, it switches to a mode that combines a high-intensity energy buffer layer with a physical deflection field," Chu Xinghe added.

"Theoretically, as long as the system's energy supply is sufficient and the computing nodes are not overloaded, 'Nibelungen' can deflect or neutralize the vast majority of known types of attacks. It allows the Sovereign-class to truly be 'unshakeable'."

...

Meanwhile, millions of light-years away, in the core star region of the Holy Alliance, at a top-secret laboratory.

Countless researchers in white robes were busy in front of holographic screens and complex instruments, whispering data to each other. In the center of the laboratory were giant cylindrical incubation pods.

Inside, soaked in light green nutrient solution, were biological organisms of various forms, but all bearing obvious Zerg characteristics. Some still retained Zerg carapaces and limbs, while others presented bizarre forms fused with human or other species' tissues.

They all had their eyes closed, as if asleep, but occasionally twitching limbs or slightly moving eyeballs indicated the presence of life activities.

"Quick! Hurry up!" an elderly researcher wearing a monocle and with graying hair urged, "Transfer the third batch of Gene Primordial Bodies to the 'Holy Judgment' super-curvature starship!"

"His Majesty the Pope has ordered that this batch of Progenitors must be deployed to the preset 'test field' before the joint combat trial of the Academy visiting season begins!"

"Yes!" "Understood!"

The staff pushed the floating platforms carrying the incubation pods, moving quickly and orderly through the dedicated passages to the shipyards docked with the laboratory.

A young researcher ran to the elderly researcher and asked in a low voice: "Mentor, incubation pod number seven... that 'Queen' Primarch, should we transport it too? It seems a bit restless recently."

The elderly researcher frowned and looked toward an independent incubation pod in the corner of the laboratory, which had significantly tighter protective measures.

Inside the pod, suspended in pale gold nutrient solution, was a perfect female body. She had silver-white hair reaching her waist, fair skin, and a face identical to Olivia's.

It was precisely Olivia, whom the Holy Alliance had recovered from the Blazing Dragon Federation. At this moment, her eyes were tightly closed, and her expression was calm, as if she were still asleep.

But looking closely, her long eyelashes were trembling at an extremely fast frequency and extremely slightly. The eyeballs under her eyelids were also moving rapidly, as if she were experiencing an intense dream from which she could not wake up.

Even more eerie was that, with the incubation pod as the center, strands of abnormal fluctuations—invisible to the naked eye and only vaguely detectable by precision instruments—were constantly radiating outwards like ripples in water.