239: Chapter 239 The Gap in Strength: Losses from the First Encounter
Three hundred kilometers to the scheduled engagement point.
On a cosmic scale, this was practically face-to-face.
On the bridge of the soaring heavens, everyone's breath seemed to freeze. On the holographic screen, every detail of the three Scavenger units was heart-stoppingly clear—dark purple cracks constantly opening and closing on the black crystal, a particle storm spinning wildly within the grey mist, and the extreme spatial ripples warping around that void of darkness.
General Xu Rushan stood before the command seat, his right hand slightly raised. His gaze was locked onto those three targets, waiting for a moment.
A moment that would allow the human fleet to unleash its maximum firepower.
"Entering optimal main cannon range!" Lu Chuan's voice rang out. "Distance: two hundred and seventy kilometers!"
"All units, hear my command—" General Xu Rushan's voice was low and slow. "Three, two, one—fire!"
The moment the order was given, the entire human fleet erupted with devastating firepower simultaneously!
The judgement-class main cannon on the bow of the soaring heavens spat out a torrent of deep blue energy over fifty meters in diameter! It was a terrifying force capable of destroying an asteroid in one shot, racing toward target a—that black crystal—at near-light speed!
Twelve guang han - destroyer class destroyers fired three hundred and sixty secondary cannons at once! Dense energy beams poured out like a torrential rain, covering the entire area where targets B and C were located!
Thirty-six Xuan Niao-class aerospace fighters spread out like a Bee Swarm, launching hundreds of smart missiles carrying variants of the Zhu Xian virus from the flanks at the three targets!
Eight Thunder Department-II orbital batteries fired eight massive plasma blasts, each powerful enough to melt through the armor of any old-era warship!
At this moment, the firepower unleashed by the human fleet was enough to completely plow the surface of an entire planet!
—
Nothing happened.
The energy from the main cannon of the soaring heavens, capable of destroying an asteroid, suddenly... vanished three kilometers away from target a.
No, it didn't vanish. It was devoured.
When that deep blue energy torrent touched the dense "Web of Death" woven from countless spatial rifts around target a, it was instantly torn into countless tiny fragments and swallowed by those rifts one by one, without even causing a ripple.
The secondary cannon fire from the twelve destroyers, upon entering the "Grey Sea" surrounding target b, began to decay, degenerate, and dissipate at a visible rate. Those energy beams, originally hot enough to melt steel, turned into harmless thermal radiation within milliseconds, evaporating silently like dew under the sun.
And the smart missiles carrying the Zhu Xian virus all lost control the moment they approached target c. Their navigation systems failed completely in the extremely distorted gravitational field around that void of darkness, and they began to spin and tumble wildly and erratically until, one by one, they were sucked into that darkness and disappeared without a trace.
The plasma blasts from the eight orbital batteries achieved a slight "result"—they hit a small crystal fragment on the periphery of target a, completely vaporizing it.
But that fragment was less than one-ten-thousandth the size of target a's main body.
The moment that fragment was vaporized, the cracks on the surface of target a suddenly widened tenfold!
"Not good!" Lu Chuan cried out. "It's charging up!"
Before his voice had even faded, target a moved.
That massive black crystal jolted violently in the void. The countless dark purple spatial rifts around it all opened to their maximum—
Countless "Spatial Faults," too thin to be seen by the naked eye, swept toward the human fleet with near-instantaneous speed!
"Evasive maneuvers! Full speed evasive maneuvers!" General Xu Rushan's roar exploded across the bridge!
But it was too late.
The speed of those Spatial Faults far exceeded the reaction limits of the human fleet.
A guang han - destroyer class destroyer at the very front—the Vessel Name—was struck on its starboard side by a fault.
There was no explosion, no fire, and no sound.
The moment that fault swept across, a section of the three-meter-thick keystone-1 type alloy armor on the Vessel Name's starboard side vanished silently, like a pencil drawing erased by an eraser. It was gone completely, leaving behind not a single fragment, speck of dust, or trace of radiation.
In its place was a massive gap with edges as smooth as a mirror. Through that gap, one could see the pipes, circuits, and compartments still operating inside the Vessel Name, as well as the crew members who hadn't even had time to scream.
It was just an instant. Less than 0.1 seconds.
The Vessel Name's starboard side, along with everyone in that area, became eternal nothingness in the universe.
"The Vessel Name!" Lu Chuan's voice went hoarse. "The Vessel Name is heavily damaged! The starboard side has completely vanished! Life support is failing! Decompressing! It's..."
Before he could finish, a second, third, and fourth Spatial Fault followed in quick succession.
The Vessel Name's massive hull was like a paper toy before those indestructible faults. One fault sliced through the bow, and the main cannon along with the forward half of the bridge vanished instantly; one fault sliced through the stern, and the engine room along with the two main engines were completely erased; one fault swept horizontally through the middle of the hull...
The Vessel Name broke into two.
The two sections broke into four.
The four sections broke into countless fragments.
Those fragments drifted silently in the void, the edges of every piece as smooth as a mirror, as if they had never been part of a warship but had been a pile of independent metal blocks from the start.
The Vessel Name—signal lost.
Crew complement: 327 people.
Zero survivors.
A deathly silence filled the bridge.
Everyone stared blankly at the rapidly spreading cloud of debris on the screen that used to be a warship, their minds a total blank.
Three hundred and twenty-seven people. One second they were at their posts, ready to give everything for the home behind them. The next second, they had become a cloud of cold dust in the universe.
This was the "Gap in Power."
This was the true strength of a Scavenger.
"Reporting..." a monitor's trembling voice broke the silence. "target a... is recharging. Estimated next attack... in thirty seconds."
General Xu Rushan snapped back to his senses. His eyes were fixed on the spreading debris cloud, on the last traces of the once-proud Vessel Name.
His fists clenched until they popped.
But his voice remained as steady as a rock:
"Order the entire army. All units, disperse and evade. We cannot let them concentrate their attacks on a single ship again."
"Xuan Niao squadron, continue launching decoys to disrupt their targeting lock."
"Thunder Department batteries, stop direct attacks and switch to scattering interference to disrupt the density of that 'Web of Death.'"
"Guang Han-class ships, retreat with the soaring heavens, pull back, and wait for the next opportunity."
Order after order was issued, calm, clear, and decisive.
But after the last command was given, General Xu Rushan suddenly turned to look at Lu Chuan.
"Captain Lu," his voice was very low, audible only to Lu Chuan, "are you afraid?"
Lu Chuan was stunned for a moment. He nodded forcefully. "I am."
General Xu Rushan also nodded and patted him on the shoulder. "It's right to be afraid. But after you're done being afraid, keep fighting."
He turned back to the three cold figures on the screen and the spreading debris cloud that was once the Vessel Name:
"Three hundred and twenty-seven people cannot die for nothing."
"Keep fighting."
Meanwhile, inside target a.
Deep within those countless black crystals that were frantically splitting and recombining, there was a core. That core had recorded all the data from the recent attack.
Attack effect assessment: One medium warship successfully destroyed. Enemy combat capability decreased: approximately 8%. Enemy morale fluctuation assessment: Significant. Enemy commander emotional fluctuation assessment: Anger, sorrow, but still within effective control.
Analytical conclusion: Although the enemy has suffered significant casualties, they have not yet collapsed. Further pressure is required.
Next phase attack plan: Concentrate fire to destroy the enemy flagship, the soaring heavens.
Plan confirmed. Commencing charge.
Target locked—soaring heavens.
Thirty-second countdown initiated.
The bridge of the soaring heavens.
"Warning! target a has re-locked! Target locked—this ship!" the monitor's cry rang out.
General Xu Rushan stared intently at the frantically flashing cluster of black crystals on the screen, at its countless spatial rifts opening to their limit.
The next wave of attacks would all be poured onto the soaring heavens.
"All units," his voice was still calm, "cover the soaring heavens with everything you have. Activate all jamming equipment. Xuan Niao squadron, construct a decoy barrage in front of the soaring heavens. Thunder Department batteries, fire at target a with full force to disrupt its targeting precision."
"Can we block it?" Lu Chuan asked.
General Xu Rushan was silent for a second.
"I don't know," he said. "But we won't know until we try."
He looked up at the approaching death, at those indestructible Spatial Faults, and at the spreading debris cloud of his three hundred and twenty-seven comrades.
The corners of his mouth curled into a slight smile that even he didn't notice.
"Come on then," he said softly. "Let me see just how many more people you can kill."
The thirty-second countdown ended.
The attack from target a descended once more.
And this time, it had only one target—
The soaring heavens.