60: Barriers of Order and the Journey Home in Deep Space

The deployment of the "Order Barrier" was like an indestructible blue giant shield, blocking all the indiscriminate bombardment from the Scrin Fleet! The ancient ship, "Border Patrol VII," after countless ages of silence, displayed the majesty of an ancient Guardian warship for the first time.

The Scrin Fleet clearly didn't anticipate this situation. There was a brief moment of chaos in the attack of the five scrin capital ships, but they quickly adjusted their tactics. Their massive hulls began to disperse, attempting to find weaknesses in the barrier from different angles. More attack aircraft swarmed out like bees, coordinating with the scrin capital ship's artillery to continuously saturate the barrier with attacks.

Ripples appeared on the blue barrier, and energy consumption sharply increased.

Inside the ancient ship's core hall, Shadow knelt on one knee, gasping heavily. The immense burden of merging with the keystone and maintaining the barrier had almost drained his physical and mental strength. Blue energy flickered on his armor, as if it could extinguish at any moment.

"Shadow! Hold on!" Lieutenant Colonel Falcon on "seagull three" was extremely anxious but powerless. Their firepower could not threaten the scrin capital ship.

In the Command Center of Hope Fortress, Sun Zheng watched the screen showing Shadow's difficult struggle and the rapidly decreasing barrier energy readings, his heart burning with anxiety. He had to find a way to break the deadlock!

"Combat Laboratory! Analyze the Scrin Fleet formation! Look for command nodes or energy supply weaknesses!" Sun Zheng roared.

"Commander! We detected unusually active energy fluctuations from the largest scrin capital ship in the center of the Scrin Fleet! It might be the flagship and the command core maintaining the coordinated attack!" The analyst reported quickly.

"Concentrate fire on the flagship!" Sun Zheng immediately ordered, "Falcon! Command all units to cooperate with the ancient ship's defense, aim at the Scrin flagship, and launch a feint attack to attract its attention!"

"Understood!"

"seagull three" and "explorer" bravely rushed out from the Shadow of the ancient ship, using their limited laser cannons to harass the Scrin flagship with sporadic fire. Although it was like an itch, it successfully triggered the flagship's defense system, diverting some of its firepower.

However, this was far from enough!

Just then, the glimmer keystone fragment in Sun Zheng's homeworld space pulsed intensely! Vague fragments of information flooded his consciousness:

[Order Barrier energy resonance keystone guidance can reverse]

Reverse? Sun Zheng sharply looked at the star map. An extremely bold, almost crazy, tactical idea formed in his mind!

"Shadow! Can you hear me?" Sun Zheng connected to Shadow's emergency communication.

"Commander, please speak," Shadow's voice was weak but clear.

"Stop maintaining full defense! Concentrate the Order Barrier energy! Not for defense, but for attack! Use yourself as a guide to reverse-focus the barrier energy and blast the Scrin flagship!" Sun Zheng quickly said, "The keystone's energy properties can do this! This is the only chance!"

A blue light flashed in Shadow's eyes! He instantly understood Sun Zheng's intention! This was an extremely risky move; if it failed, the barrier would collapse, and the entire fleet would be annihilated! But it was also the only hope to break the stalemate!

"Understood! Executing tactical reversal!" Shadow did not hesitate. He forced himself to stand up, pressing his hands virtually towards the core keystone in the center of the hall, connecting all his mental power to the ancient ship's energy system!

"Order Barrier energy convergence! Target locked on Scrin flagship!"

Buzz—!

The blue barrier enveloping the ancient ship suddenly contracted inwards, and energy highly condensed in front of the ancient ship, forming an incredibly dazzling and violently vibrating energy singularity! The next moment, Shadow roared and pushed his hands forward!

"Boom—!!!"

That blue beam of light, condensing the vast Order Energy of the ancient ship and the keystone, was like a sword of judgment tearing through the star sea. It instantly crossed the void at speeds exceeding light, precisely striking the center of the Scrin flagship's hull!

There was no explosion, no fire. The blue energy spread rapidly across the entire flagship like mercury. The flagship's grotesque purple armor and energy patterns quickly dimmed and disintegrated under the wash of Order Energy, as if encountering their nemesis! A series of muffled explosions came from inside the hull!

A few seconds later, the massive Scrin flagship seemed to be purified from within, completely losing all energy reactions and becoming a silent wreck floating in space!

One strike! The Scrin flagship was instantly annihilated!

The remaining four scrin capital ships were clearly completely shocked by this terrifying blow! They lost their command, and their attacks became chaotic and disordered. Facing the ancient ship, which still emitted powerful energy fluctuations and the possibility of another devastating strike, they made the most rational choice—retreat!

The four scrin capital ships simultaneously activated their hyperspace engines, tearing through space and fleeing this star system in panic! The small attack aircraft also receded like a tide.

The Asteroid Belt returned to silence.

"We won?" Lieutenant Colonel Falcon looked at the fleeing Scrin Fleet in disbelief.

Inside the ancient ship's hall, Shadow collapsed to the ground, exhausted of his last strength. The core keystone's light also dimmed significantly but remained stable. The Order Barrier slowly dissipated.

"We won, for now." Sun Zheng let out a long breath in Hope Fortress, drenched in cold sweat. They had won this gamble.

But the cost was immense. Shadow was severely injured, and the ancient ship's energy was overdrawn, requiring a long time to repair. Although the Scrin had retreated, they would never give up.

In the following days, the Expeditionary Fleet conducted preliminary exploration and repair attempts on the ancient ship. Shadow gradually recovered under the keystone's nourishment and initially grasped how to communicate with the ancient ship's core. They confirmed that this "Border Patrol VII" was severely damaged; its power and weapon systems were basically scrapped, but its core structure, database, and some defense systems were still usable. It would become a valuable Outpost for humanity in deep space.

More importantly, from the ancient ship's database, they obtained a large amount of valuable data about the "Guardian" civilization and the "Reaper" (Scrin), although most of it was incomplete, its value was immeasurable.

Sun Zheng decided to leave "seagull three" and some engineering troops near the ancient ship to establish a small research station (codename "Outpost") to continue repair and research work. The main force would return to Mars's "Hope Fortress" aboard "seagull one" and "explorer."

This deep space odyssey had exacted a heavy price, but it also brought unprecedented opportunities and power. They not only thwarted a major Scrin operation but also established contact with an ancient and powerful civilization.

Standing by the viewport of "seagull one," looking at the ancient colossal ship quietly suspended in the distance and the newly built research station beside it, Sun Zheng knew that humanity's footsteps had truly entered the sea of stars.

But he also understood that the war with the "Reaper" had only just begun. More secrets and dangers were hidden in the deep space of the Solar System.

"Home," Sun Zheng murmured.

The fleet turned, beginning its journey back towards the red planet.