47: Who is calling for the fleet?

"Shield integrity: 21%"

Nearly ten hours had passed.

After the Shield was activated, Baili Ying made a decisive choice and diverted all the energy within the space station to the Shield system—

Although those two giant bugs had already left, the surging Swarm had not diminished.

The Z25 Sentry Post had already drifted off its operational orbit due to the previous intense attacks, and now it was being carried further and further away by the Swarm.

The only good news seemed to come from the AI that called itself "night lamp." According to it, a one-way distress signal had been sent, and those coming to save them were already on the way.

At the time, Baili Ying broadcast this message throughout the entire station, even though she herself didn't believe it—

Amidst such a dense Swarm, who could possibly find a small space station that had been drifting off-orbit for nearly ten hours?

By comparison, finding a needle in a haystack wouldn't be that difficult.

However, Baili Ying didn't want the order within the Sentry Post to collapse so soon—besides, hadn't that message also numbed her own senses?

Fortunately, perhaps because White Shark's credibility was strong, or perhaps because Baili Ying had closed all the windows via the central console, and the Shield prevented the space station from shaking, the Sentry Post still maintained basic order for now.

Everyone believed they were operating on a secret orbit, waiting for rescue from the outside world.

Only Baili Ying—a young girl who was clearly only 20 years old—clutched a delicate revolver once collected by White Shark, facing the dense Swarm outside the window alone, along with the despair that could crush everything.

Outside the window, shadows drifted by like vengeful ghosts, announcing their arrival.

...

"Warp Drive Module: Cooling down."

A flash of white light, and a menacing Warship appeared in mid-air.

First came four massive CAS066s. Following the silver-white figures were twelve smaller Warships—five FG300s and seven Rubies.

Just as they arrived, the radar began to sound continuous alarms:

"Enemy ships have locked onto our position!"

"Enemy ships have locked onto our position!"

Countless bugs noticed this suddenly appearing fleet and immediately swarmed forward one after another.

Before Xi Hai could react, a thick layer of bug carpet covered the surface of the Warship.

Under the constant impact of the Swarm from behind, the bugs that first made contact with the Warship's outer armor were crushed and burst, spraying pools of scarlet-yellow pus that coated the surface of the Warship evenly.

The massive, over-one-thousand-meter hull of the CAS066 actually began to shift slightly under the impact of the Swarm!

"Firepower systems at full power."

"Propulsion systems at full power."

The cannons on the Warships erupted with fire, and the trajectories of each ship swept across the armor of nearby Warships to clear off the bugs stuck to them;

Scorching flames erupted from all engine nozzles—whether they were propulsion engines or maneuvering engines—and the bugs attached to them were instantly burned to charcoal, turning into mere ashes in the universe.

The massive hulls slowly accelerated, and large numbers of bugs clinging to the smooth outer armor were thrown off by inertia. The Warships rammed through the Swarm, carving out various trajectories.

"Contact the Z25 Sentry Post immediately!"

Xi Hai held onto the central console beside him and shouted the order.

The communications officer on the side repeatedly searched for frequencies on the public channel. Nothing, nothing, still nothing!

White Shark was right there, staring silently at the Swarm outside the window, but his fingertips and lips were trembling slightly, silently revealing the tension in his heart.

"Area exploration complete!"

"No traces of the Z25 Sentry Post found!"

The announcer reported loudly after finding nothing.

"night lamp, can you connect to that Little Night Lamp plugged into the mainframe?"

Watching White Shark, who remained silent beside him but had bitten his lower lip until it bled, with two lines of blood hanging from his chin, Xi Hai quietly asked night lamp.

"Searching..."

"Located. Target is at the relative position,"

"Plane at eight o'clock, vertical angle of 37 degrees,"

"At a distance of 4AU outward."

"???"

"Why is it so far away?"

Before Xi Hai could even be shocked, the shipboard ai suddenly blurted out another broadcast,

"Locked onto enemy cruiser target."

Immediately, the Warship under their feet shuddered again, and the Warship structural integrity value displayed on the central console instantly dropped from 100% to 97%.

"Enemy attack!"

"Six o'clock direction, vertical angle of 34 degrees!"

The navigator's report came through the headset.

Just then, the Swarm outside the window was brushed aside by a massive projectile, and a giant bug appeared before everyone.

...

"Shield under high-energy attack!"

"Hummm—!"

Just a moment ago, when the exhausted Baili Ying was about to close her eyes to rest, a piercing alarm sound jolted her awake.

A thick beam of white light suddenly appeared, striking the seemingly thin layer of Shield outside the space station, sending ripples through it.

"18%"

"17%"

"16%"

"..."

In Baili Ying's bloodshot pupils, the rapidly dropping integrity value on the screen was reflected.

"9%"

It finally stopped. The bugs that had been crawling outside the Shield were turned into ashes under the destructive beam of light,

and Baili Ying was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the attacker's true face:

A creature of immense size, with long, thick tentacles dragging behind it. Its black skin shimmered with eerie blue patterns, and atop its head was a blue tubular organ that was still glowing, which seemed to be the part that had just fired the attack.

No!

Watching the giant creature slowly moving toward her outside the window, Baili Ying's brain raced. It had just wiped out half of the remaining Shield integrity in one shot!

If she took another hit like that, she would surely die!

What to do?

She couldn't just run away using the engines, could she...

Wait, that's it, the engines!

A crazy idea gradually emerged in her mind.

She pulled up the status of the space station from the central console. All eight main engines on the four sides were intact and could be started at any time. So—might as well go for it!

She directly turned off the Shield system, letting it enter a dormant cooling state.

Fortunately, the airspace around her had just been cleared, so there weren't many small bugs swarming up.

Afterward, she pressed down on the central console and shouted:

"night lamp! Help me predict the enemy's attack trajectory!"

"Received."

"Calculating."

"Based on the visual targeting position,"

"Predicting an attack on the A3 area."

"A3, huh..."

Baili Ying's nerves were taut as she watched the glowing nozzle.

"Hum—!"

The entire space seemed to vibrate with this beam of light, and the earth-shattering energy column rushed toward Baili Ying.

"Left engines at full power!"

"BOOM—!!!"

Instantly, a massive burst of fire erupted. The floating space station shuddered and immediately dodged to one side. The energy beam grazed the side armor plate, leaving a pitch-black scorch mark.

"Now!"

"Jettison all redundant structures!"

"All-channel distress call!"

"Escape at full speed!"

"Bang, bang, bang, bang!"

A large amount of external parts and armor plates were jettisoned. Instantly, the small space station erupted with massive energy, carving a graceful arc in mid-air as it darted toward the other side.

In an instant, that giant bug became a tiny speck in Baili Ying's eyes.

"Phew—"

She finally let out a long sigh of relief.

"Activate the Shield system."

"Received."

"Shield integrity: 10%"

"I hope... I can shake it off..."

"Bang!"

Before her voice could fade, a massive figure instantly appeared before Baili Ying's eyes. The giant creature's eyes were fixed directly on the space station's observation window, as if filled with mockery.

Her heart, which had been pounding with excitement, instantly stopped. At that moment, Baili Ying felt as if all the blood in her body had frozen.

"Is it... the end?"

Seeing this giant beast reappear, her hope was completely extinguished.

"Damn Salted Fish..."

"The bet..."

"I really lost the bet to you..."

The hammer of the pistol was slowly cocked, and the gold-plated muzzle was gradually aimed at that head topped with pink hair. Two lines of clear tears streamed down Baili Ying's cheeks.

...

"Who is calling the fleet?"

Just at the moment her finger was about to pull the trigger, a transmission filled with electronic distortion and static sounded from the communications console, jolting Baili Ying awake.

She opened her eyes wide, looking toward the window in disbelief. A brilliant white light was reflected in her eyes—

...

"Who is calling the fleet?"

— — — —

...

(Bros, can I ask for a free book review?)