269: Chapter 267 Take another look at what's behind you.

The navy has, since ancient times, been a military branch where investment and return are disproportionate.

In the ancient age of sail, building a First-class Battleship required dozens or even hundreds of century-old oaks and years of effort from hundreds of shipyard workers,

yet sinking her took only a single day;

When ironclad Warships began to dominate the seas, building and maintaining a Battleship equipped with iron armor and heavy cannons could directly crush the finances of a small nation,

yet sinking her still took only a single day;

When missiles and aircraft carriers gradually became the protagonists of naval warfare, an aircraft carrier or a destroyer was enough for a great power to invest decades of national effort into research and construction,

yet sinking them still took only a single day.

And now, as the battlefield has moved from the vast blue seas to the quiet, dark sea of stars, this rule still exists—

"Report! The Third Mobile Fleet is in position!"

The encirclement closed.

The moment the communication came through the receiver, everyone on the Bridge of the Thunder shuddered. Then, Oran could no longer suppress the upward curl of his lips—

Of course, he didn't need to suppress it anymore.

"Aio-class Independent Strike Formation, take note! Enter firing positions in sequence according to the pre-arranged plan!"

"Target: all enemy Warships within the encirclement,"

"Volley!!!"

The command was carried by a roar, accurately captured by the microphone, and transmitted to every Warship in the aio-class strike formation.

Immediately after, that roar, tinged with tension, transformed clearly and distinctly into the thrumming of the power rooms, the violent white light erupting from engines, and the main cannons that had finished preheating—

Eternal Paradox-S35-A, Curvature Oscillation System.

It was the sharp tool the entire Legion pinned high hopes on, the "decisive battle-class weapon" in the words of the Legion's testers. This hellish weapon could ignore Shields, ignore armor, and ignore everything standing in its way:

Like the Gungnir of myth, once thrown, it would surely hit.

"Activating Warp Drive Module."

They set out.

The first batch of 75 bone-white Warships first emitted a burst of intense white light, followed by a distortion in space as they vanished into thin air.

Fifteen seconds later, the second batch; fifteen seconds after that, the third.

Like a formation of gulls and herons on the water taking flight in sequence—beautiful, elegant, and orderly, as if a work of art.

But beneath the beautiful exterior, it was incredibly lethal.

(Of course, there was no 'elderly and children take off first' here.)

(Showing off makes you fly!)

After the last batch of Warships entered curvature flight, the Bridge of the Thunder received the final communication before the battle began:

"Reporting to flagship! The Aio-class Strike Array has begun its move. The strike is expected to begin in 7 seconds, with a total of 20 waves. Command confirmed!"

And Oran, with a voice full of vigor, shouted without hesitation:

"Confirmed! Permission to strike!"

At this moment, the Coral Sea, still in transit, and the other Warships of the Xila Republic, were still completely unaware,

That destruction had already arrived—

...

"Report, still no anomalies detected. Gravitational Wave Radar has not found any targets—"

On the Bridge of the Coral Sea, the Radar Operator continued to report data as a matter of routine.

But the radar screen, cleaner than his own face, made him feel increasingly uneasy—

It was too clean, unnaturally so. Forget enemy Warship signals, there weren't even any normal wandering asteroids.

Gravitational Wave Radar shouldn't be like this!

Initially, some thought it was a malfunction, but after repeated comparisons across the fleet, they confirmed a startling fact:

The area they were currently navigating was completely empty—

"It's like a graveyard prepared specifically for us..."

This was the exclamation Gaius made on the spot after understanding the situation in the airspace.

However, he wasn't worried about a so-called ambush. After all, according to intelligence, those rebellious thugs had at most a few thousand Warships, most of which were old, broken, and small.

His 150,000 Warships, and the First-class Battleship Coral Sea he was currently aboard, were his greatest reliance.

"Increase Shield power by one level, and increase radar detection frequency,"

"Keep the entire fleet's fire control systems on standby at all times. Don't give the enemy any openings!"

Listening to the Radar Operator's report, Gaius sat on the command platform, deploying orders unhurriedly.

A moment later, the crew member in charge of Shield control replied loudly:

"Report, Commander! Shields are already operating at maximum power!"

"Should we activate Secondary Shield Reinforcement?"

"Already at maximum?" Gaius hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly.

"Activate it!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Activating Secondary Shield Reinforcement!"

The dials moved slowly, and the low hum of electric currents echoed through the Bridge from time to time; otherwise, there was no sound.

Gaius himself hadn't noticed that his right hand was tightly gripping the edge of his uniform—

For those fighting in space, an unknown, silent sector of space was the most terrifying.

(Just as terrifying as a certain five-character god-tier game's top-secret aerospace mission where not a single shot is fired or a single lever pulled until 24:55.)

"What is going on..."

He muttered to himself unconsciously.

Under normal circumstances, if one wanted to intercept a fleet arriving from a Void Channel node, setting up defenses in the area he was currently navigating would be the most standard tactic.

However, considering those thugs hadn't received military training, perhaps they only knew how to set up defenses around planets?

After thinking for a long time, Gaius shook his head, sighed, and said to himself,

"I must be overthinking it..."

But he was only halfway through when the Radar Operator beside him suddenly interrupted loudly—

"Report! Port 85°/22°! Radar has detected a large number of signals!"

(The first is the horizontal angle, the second is the vertical angle.)

"Suspected enemy Warships!"

They appeared!

They finally appeared!

Gaius's whole body trembled. He had been worried for so long, and those damned enemies had finally shown themselves!

"Report! Confirmed as Warships! Signal sources are between seventy and eighty!"

So few?

Gaius burst out laughing—

"Haha!"

"Those ignorant lunatics! They dare to stop me with only a few dozen Warships?"

"Hard to port! Crush them!"

"Yes, sir!!!"

A celebration instantly broke out on the Bridge of the Coral Sea, as if victory was already within reach.

Many crew members were highly excited, loudly relaying orders and instructions.

In stark contrast were the 75 bone-white aio ships that had just arrived—

They continued to sail forward slowly.

This was the fifth second after their arrival, and also the final moments of revelry for the Xila Republic fleet—

Locking the main cannons required five seconds.

"Report! Locking complete!"

On the Bridge of the lead ship of the aio strike formation, the Armory Chief reported loudly.

Immediately, the captain, standing like a statue on the command platform, shouted the order:

"All weapons! Fire one volley! Then immediately relocate according to plan!"

"Fire!"

...