304: The "Scrapstone Belt" Ambush and the "Tuition Fee" of the Bee Swarm

On the bridge of hope, Wen Youyi's decision was like a boulder thrown into a calm surface.

After a brief shock, everyone's eyes quickly sharpened.

Running away was instinct, but the courage to fight back from a desperate situation had long been etched into the marrow of "Starfire".

"Let's do it!" Zhao Iron Pillar was the first to shout, "Running away all the time is suffocating! Let those metal lumps taste the power of our big baby!"

Senior Brother Li and Senior Brother Zhang immediately rushed to the console and began quickly adjusting weapon parameters and energy distribution schemes based on the terrain data of the preset defensive point—the "Debris Belt".

That area was filled with metal fragments of various sizes and active energy turbulence, making it a natural ambush field and deceleration zone.

"All weapon arrays, switch to the 'High-Frequency Purification Pulse' and 'Energy Burst Shell' mixed mode! Prioritize attacking the energy cores and structural joints of the 'Soldier Drones'!"

" 'Wide-Area Interference Ripple' emitters are charging; release them once the Swarm enters the dense area to create maximum chaos!"

"Adjust the intensity of the defensive energy field; strengthen the front, appropriately reduce the flanks and tail to save energy and lure the enemy in!"

"Engine group, prepare to execute the 'Tactical Deceleration - Emergency Acceleration' maneuver; the timing must be precise!"

A series of orders were issued methodically.

Everyone knew that this might be a life-and-death defensive battle that would determine the fate of hope and everyone on board, and it allowed for no mistakes.

" 'Dragon' has received the message and is closing in on us at full speed; it is expected to arrive on the outskirts of the support area in an hour and a half," Wang Wu reported on the communication situation.

"Tell it not to force its way into the battle; have it cruise on the outskirts, monitor the subsequent movements of the 'Hive', and provide long-range fire support or extraction if necessary," Wen Youyi ordered.

"Dragon" was not in good condition, and forcing it to join the frontal battlefield was too risky.

[The entire ship System is ready. The terrain model of the sniper point is loaded. The tactical maneuver plan is calculated.] The ship spirit's consciousness was steady and reliable, like an anchor.

An hour passed quickly in tense preparation.

hope's massive hull began to slightly adjust its course, slanting toward the "Debris Belt" area.

At the same time, engine power began to slowly decrease in a controlled manner, and the ship's speed slowed down, turning from the previous lightning-fast escape into a "stumble" that carried the illusion of being "exhausted".

The Swarm behind clearly sensed the change in the prey.

Those "Soldier Drones" and high-speed variant units charging at the front, like sharks that had smelled blood, suddenly increased their speed by another notch, dragging long trails of dark golden light in the starry sky as they rushed over!

The distance between them and the main force of the Swarm was thus pulled apart, forming a sharp "arrowhead".

This was exactly what Wen Youyi wanted—to split the enemy's vanguard and concentrate superior firepower to take out its sharpest spearhead!

"hope, entering the predetermined defensive position!" Wen Youyi stared at the star map.

Their ship was sliding behind a natural "groove" formed by several huge wrecks, while in front was a relatively open "channel" filled with debris of various sizes.

[Position confirmed. Weapon Systems locked. Defensive field adjusted.] The ship spirit responded.

The Swarm vanguard had already plunged into the debris belt like a golden arrow!

"Now! 'Wide-Area Interference Ripple', full power coverage launch!" Wen Youyi ordered sharply.

Hum—!!!

Dozens of launch ports on the surface of hope erupted with silver light!

The intensity of this interference ripple was far greater than before; it was no longer a spreading ripple, but an invisible tsunami that instantly swept across the entire airspace where the Swarm vanguard was located!

The hundreds of "Soldier Drones" and high-speed variants charging at the front hit an incredibly viscous wall of air, their speed plummeted, the dark golden light on their bodies flickered chaotically, and many units' flight trajectories became twisted, even colliding with each other!

The charge momentum of the entire vanguard cluster stalled!

"All weapon arrays, target the core units in the chaotic area, fire at will!" Wen Youyi ordered again.

hope, this giant beast that had just awakened from its slumber, revealed its ferocious fangs to the enemy for the first time!

The bow, the two flanks, the superstructure... dozens of weapon platforms erupted with blazing silver-white light simultaneously!

Beams of "High-Frequency Purification Pulse" were like the gaze of death, precisely picking off the "Soldier Drones" command units that had the strongest energy fluctuations and were trying to regain control; "Energy Burst Shells" rained down like a storm into the densest areas of the Swarm, where the silver-white purification energy violently countered and annihilated the dark golden Swarm energy, triggering a series of small-scale energy explosions that tore apart and blew away more "Worker Bee" units and damaged "Soldier Drones"!

In an instant, that starry sky turned into a purgatory of death where silver-white and dark gold were intertwined!

The formation of the Swarm vanguard was completely disrupted, suffering heavy losses.

However, the terrifying aspect of the "Swarm" lay in its cold execution.

Despite the setback of the vanguard, the subsequent main force of the Swarm still poured into the debris belt without hesitation, and began to consciously disperse its formation, flanking the "groove" position where hope was located from multiple directions, while using dense energy beams to conduct carpet shooting, suppressing hope's firepower.

"Defensive field energy consumption is increasing!" Senior Brother Zhang reported, "The third sector of the port side has been hit continuously, shield strength is dropping!"

"hope, execute tactical maneuver! Emergency engine acceleration, disengage from the current position, and move to the C3 debris area! Continue fire coverage along the way to intercept pursuers!" Seeing that the Swarm had a tendency to encircle, Wen Youyi immediately initiated the contingency plan.

[Executing.]

hope's thrusters suddenly erupted with extraordinary blue flames, and the massive hull darted out of the "groove" with an agility disproportionate to its size, retreating while fighting, and rushing toward another debris area with more complex terrain.

Along the way, ship-borne weapons continued to fire, repelling or severely damaging the Swarm units that attempted to approach.

This chase and counter-chase, ambush and counter-ambush in the debris belt was intense and cruel.

The Swarm was huge in number, fearless of loss, and followed one after another.

hope relied on stronger individual firepower, more flexible tactical maneuvering (thanks to the ship spirit's precise control and the efficient coordination of the neural network), and the clever use of terrain to forcibly carve out a bloody path from the encirclement of the Swarm.

Every concentrated salvo could harvest dozens or hundreds of Swarm units; every emergency maneuver could narrowly avoid the sharp edge of the Swarm's encirclement.

The silver-white purification energy and the dark golden torrent of the Swarm repeatedly collided, intertwined, and annihilated against the backdrop of the shattered starry sky.

The battle lasted for nearly an hour.

When hope successfully transferred to the third preset defensive point and once again used a fierce salvo to scatter the pursuing Swarm vanguard, the Swarm's pursuit momentum finally showed obvious stagnation.

The Swarm's main force behind no longer rushed forward recklessly as before, but began to re-gather its formation, maintaining a relatively "safe" distance from hope, while constantly having reconnaissance units spread out to the surroundings, seemingly conducting a battlefield assessment.

"The 'Bee Queen' is recalculating the cost," Wang Wu looked at the monitoring data, his voice filled with a hint of excitement. "Our defensive battle was effective! The elite vanguard it sent suffered heavy losses, but they didn't even scratch our skin! It's hesitating!"

"Not hesitating, but tactical adjustment," Wen Youyi stared at the changes in the enemy's formation. "It realized the cost of a frontal assault is too high, maybe it's thinking of other ways, or... waiting for that 'big guy' underground to give a reaction."

"Regardless, we have bought time!" Senior Brother Li looked at the energy readings, "The engines need to cool down, the weapon Systems need to be recharged, but our speed advantage is back!"

"That's right," Wen Youyi nodded. "hope, execute the disengagement procedure immediately! Engine power increased to 85%, proceed at full speed along the final evacuation route! 'Dragon', report your position and status!"

[Engine power increased. Route locked. Accelerating.] hope executed the order steadily, its massive hull beginning to slowly accelerate, leaving the dark golden Swarm that was still lingering and reorganizing behind.

["Dragon" has arrived on the outskirts of the support area. Energy restored to 45%, external damage initially repaired. No signs of large-scale reinforcements for the "Hive" found, but the underground energy pulsation continues to strengthen.] "Dragon's" consciousness came through.

"Very good. 'Dragon', stay hidden, conduct alert reconnaissance behind us, and pay attention to the anomalies in the underground facilities. hope, let's go!"

The silver ark, trailing a ghostly blue exhaust, like a true star of hope, tore through the starry sky that had just experienced the flames of war, and firmly accelerated toward the direction of "Return to Ruins".

Behind it, a large number of Swarm wrecks and dim energy embers floated in the "Debris Belt," like a cold metal graveyard, recording the painful "tuition fees" the "Swarm" paid for this pursuit.

And in the distance, the heart-palpitating pulsation deep in the "Anvil," like the low roar of a giant beast after being disturbed, still echoed faintly in the starry sky.

The first frontal defensive battle, hope won completely.

But everyone knew that the battle with the shadow of the "Reapers" was far from over.

The ark had broken free from the initial net, heading into deep space.

The true journey of the sea of stars had just begun.

(End of this chapter)