79: Martian Flames and the End of the World

The "hope" destroyer's engines overloaded, traversing the Asteroid Belt at near-limit speeds, until the familiar red planet of Mars finally reappeared in view. However, the sight before them made everyone on the bridge gasp.

Mars' orbit had turned into a burning hell!

The once-busy orbital shipyards and defense platforms were now mostly floating wreckage, silently telling of the tragic battle. The few remaining super-large orbital defense platforms were fighting desperately, as dense prism cannon fire and missiles pierced the dark void, striking the enemies besieging them.

And the enemy... was an unprecedented horror!

Dozens of giant warships, far larger than any Scrin vessels previously encountered, were like moving mountains of steel suspended in Mars' orbit! Their appearance was even more hideous, their armor thick, and the caliber of their main cannons astonishingly large. Every volley triggered world-destroying energy ripples on Mars' shields! These were true "Reaper" capital ships!

Even more heart-pounding was that, surrounded by these capital ships, an even more massive, asteroid-like Super-giant Mothership hung quietly behind the battlefield! It emitted a suffocating energy pressure, as if it were the command core and power source of the entire fleet!

On the Martian surface, the energy shields of Hope Fortress flickered violently under the all-out assault, appearing unstable; it had clearly reached its limit! Countless Scrin ground forces, like a purple tide, were crashing against the fortress's outer defensive lines, with the light of explosions constantly flashing on the surface!

"Commander! Mars Base is in critical danger! Colonel A001 reports that the shields are about to collapse! Multiple ground defense lines have been breached!" the communications officer's voice carried despair.

"All hands, prepare for battle! Target: enemy capital ships. Fire at will! Relieve the pressure on Mars Base!" Sun Zheng ordered without the slightest hesitation.

The "hope" charged into the battlefield like an angry lion! The enhanced Phase Prism Cannons fired at full power, white pillars of light slamming into the flank of a scrin capital ship that was attacking an orbital platform!

Boom! The capital ship's shields fluctuated violently but did not break immediately! Its armor was much sturdier than previous enemies!

"Shield strength is extremely high! We need focused fire!" Colonel Falcon roared.

The appearance of the "hope" immediately drew the fire of some enemy ships! Several thick purple Phase Beams shot toward the "hope"!

"Order Resonance! Full power!" Sun Zheng stood in the center of the bridge, blue light bursting from his eyes as he covered the entire ship with an Order Energy field!

The shield strength of the "hope" surged instantly, stubbornly withstanding this round of volley fire! But Sun Zheng also felt a sudden wave of intense dizziness; the load was immense!

"Counterattack!"

The combined firepower of the "hope" and the surviving orbital platforms finally overloaded and pierced the shields of a scrin capital ship! A massive explosion erupted inside the enemy ship; trailing fire and thick smoke, it began to tilt and disintegrate!

"Target destroyed!"

However, this small success was a drop in the bucket for the overall battle situation. More scrin capital ships turned their cannons, and more attack craft swarmed like locusts! That Super-giant Mothership remained unmoved, as if coldly watching the massacre.

"Hope Fortress shield energy below 10%! Repeat, shields about to collapse!" The communication from Mars Base was full of static and explosion sounds.

Sun Zheng was anxious, but he knew that the "hope" alone could not turn the tide. He had to find the enemy's weakness!

"Concentrate all sensors, scan that Super-giant Mothership!" Sun Zheng ordered.

Sensors operated at full capacity, and data came back quickly.

"Mothership energy level... immeasurable! Detecting super-strong spatial fluctuations... It... it seems to be a mobile beacon! It is stabilizing the 'doomsday passage' opened by the jupiter main beacon!"

"There is a powerful energy barrier around the mothership; conventional attacks cannot penetrate!"

"Weakness found!" an analyst suddenly shouted. "There is a massive Energy Gathering Device at the top of the mothership, which seems to be its main cannon and beacon core! The energy flow is most intense there, but the barrier is relatively weak! If we can destroy that device, we might severely damage the mothership or even interrupt the doomsday passage!"

"There's only one chance!" A look of determination flashed in Sun Zheng's eyes. "Falcon, command the 'hope' to cover me and draw fire! I will personally sortie to attack that core!"

"Commander! It's too dangerous!" Falcon was shocked.

"There's no time! Execute the order!" Sun Zheng's tone left no room for doubt. He turned and rushed toward the hangar, where an Assault Craft modified and equipped with a high-power Order Energy Generator was parked.

Minutes later, the Assault Craft launched from the "hope's" hangar. Under Sun Zheng's piloting, it shot like a blue comet toward the Super-giant Mothership that resembled a death star!

The "hope" launched a suicidal all-out assault on the surrounding Scrin Fleet like it had gone mad, buying precious time and space for Sun Zheng!

The Scrin Fleet clearly discovered this tiny speck heading for the mothership's core, and dense interceptor fire covered the Assault Craft like an inescapable net!

Sun Zheng pushed his piloting skills to the limit; the Assault Craft maneuvered wildly through the barrage, its Order Shield flickering constantly in a series of close calls!

Getting closer to the mothership! The massive energy core device was clearly visible, emitting a destructive purple light!

"For humanity! For order!" Sun Zheng roared, pushing the Assault Craft's speed to the maximum while channeling all his mental power and keystone energy into the Order Energy Generator!

"order... Judgment!"

An unprecedentedly massive blue pillar of light, condensing all of Sun Zheng's power and will, boomed from the head of the Assault Craft. Like a holy sword piercing a demon's heart, it slammed into the mothership's energy core!

BOOM—!!!!!!!

An unprecedented explosion occurred! Blue and purple light clashed and annihilated each other wildly! The Super-giant Mothership's energy core device was instantly destroyed, triggering a chain of secondary explosions! The massive mothership shook violently, internal explosions occurring continuously as the purple light rapidly dimmed!

The spatial fluctuations of the doomsday passage also became extremely unstable!

It worked!

But Sun Zheng's Assault Craft was also completely swallowed by the explosion's shockwave, disappearing into the endless energy turbulence...