241: Chapter 241 The Simmering Frontal Battle
Seventy-two hours.
Precise, as if the time had been carved by light-years.
The fourth "Scavenger"—that metallic flower enveloping the three combat units—vanished silently at exactly the twenty-five million nine hundred twenty thousandth second.
As if it had never existed.
Those three death machines, temporarily isolated, reappeared on the human fleet's sensors.
They held no anger, no impatience, no emotional fluctuations that humans could comprehend.
They simply hovered in place, using those three pairs of cold "eyes" composed of pure geometric structures to size up the human fleet ahead, which had completed emergency repairs and redeployment within those seventy-two hours.
They moved simultaneously.
This time, it was no longer the scattered attacks from before.
This time, it was a coordinated, precise, and instrument-like—encirclement.
Jupiter orbit, human defensive line.
General Xu Rushan stood on the bridge of the "soaring heavens," staring intently at the three figures approaching in an eerie formation.
The seventy-two-hour respite had barely allowed him and the "soaring heavens" to recover their vitality—the massive gash sliced open by a single blade had been sealed by emergency bulkheads, and the one hundred thirty-seven lost crew members had been replaced by new recruits urgently transferred from the reserves.
But "recovery" did not mean "restoration."
The gash remained, the death remained, and the fear in the eyes of those new recruits remained.
"They've changed formations," Lu Chuan's voice rang out, hoarse and weary. "They're no longer fighting individually with 'Weaving Net - Contamination - Jump.' They are coordinating."
On the holographic screen, the formation of the three targets displayed an unsettling pattern—target a in the center, unfurling that web of death woven from countless spatial rifts; Target B on the left flank, spreading that grey sea of decay; Target C on the right flank, constantly executing short-range spatial jumps, ready to launch a surprise attack from any direction at any moment.
And directly in front of them was the main force of the human fleet.
"This isn't a simple encirclement," General Xu Rushan's voice was low and calm. "This is 'besieging a point to strike reinforcements.' They want to use frontal pressure to force us to commit all our reserves... and wipe us out in one go."
"Then what do we do?" Lu Chuan asked.
General Xu Rushan was silent for a second.
"Fight," he said. "There is no other way but to fight."
The moment the order was issued, the entire human fleet erupted with all its firepower simultaneously!
But this time, the enemy's response was even more lethal than seventy-two hours ago.
target a no longer passively endured attacks.
It began to actively move that web of death woven from spatial rifts, using those rifts to swallow, deflect, and shred most of the energy beams and missiles before the human fleet's firepower could reach it.
Target B no longer slowly spread that sea of decay.
It began to actively contract and condense that grey mist, compressing it into slender yet highly penetrative "decay rays," precisely firing them at the "Xuan Bird" fighters attempting to flank them.
Target C no longer just passively jumped.
It began to actively utilize its ability to distort space, creating countless micro, localized gravity traps around the human fleet.
Those traps wouldn't directly destroy the warships, but they would drastically reduce the ships' maneuverability, turning them into sitting ducks for target a and Target B.
Three targets, three abilities, now integrated into a perfect, airtight system of slaughter.
And the human fleet was the prey in that system.
The first ship to be sunk was a "Guang Han - Destroyer Class" destroyer named "Taihang."
It attempted to flank from the side, bypassing target a's web of death to launch an attack from the rear.
But just as it entered its predetermined position, one of Target C's micro gravity traps detonated right in its path.
The course of the "Taihang" was forcibly altered by zero point three degrees by that distorted gravity field.
Zero point three degrees.
On a cosmic scale, this deviation was negligible.
But target a's web of death unfurled a new rift at that exact moment.
That rift sliced precisely through the center of the "Taihang's" hull.
Sliced in two.
Three hundred and nine people, along with all their hopes, fears, and dreams, were transformed into eternal nothingness in the cosmos.
The second ship to be sunk was a "Guang Han - Destroyer Class" destroyer named "Changbai."
It attempted to charge into Target B's decay zone under the cover of "Xuan Bird" fighters, hoping to trade a suicide attack for a momentary collapse of the enemy's defenses.
But the moment it charged into that grey mist, Target B suddenly increased the "decay rate" of that mist tenfold.
The armor of the "Changbai" rusted, flaked, and disintegrated at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Its engines failed and died at the same speed.
Its crew fell one by one under the dual assault of radiation and corrosion.
But it continued to advance.
Until its hull completely turned into a grey, drifting dust less than one hundred kilometers from Target B.
Two hundred and ninety-three people, none survived.
The third ship...
The fourth ship...
Every sunken warship was accompanied by the disappearance of hundreds of lives.
Every fallen fighter was accompanied by the shattering of a young dream.
The battle was tilting toward an absolutely unfavorable direction for humanity at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"soaring heavens" bridge.
General Xu Rushan stared fixedly at the friendly signals continuously disappearing on the screen, his fists clenching until they cracked.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his lips bled from biting down hard.
But he persisted.
Because he was the commander of the flagship.
Because he was the soul of this fleet.
Because if he fell, it meant everything was over.
"Report!" a monitor's voice suddenly rang out, carrying an irrepressible tremor. "target a... its web of death is contracting toward the direction of the 'soaring heavens'! It... it is locking onto us!"
General Xu Rushan looked up abruptly.
On the holographic screen, the core of target a's black crystal mass was flashing frantically.
Countless dark purple spatial rifts were surging out from that crystal, slowly extending toward the direction of the "soaring heavens" like a giant, invisible tentacle.
"It wants to eat the flagship first," Lu Chuan's voice was hoarse. "Decapitation strike."
General Xu Rushan was silent for a second.
He smiled.
In that smile, there was bitterness, determination, and a hint of indescribable—relief.
"Order the entire fleet," his voice was as calm as if he were stating the most ordinary fact, "all units, close in on the 'soaring heavens.' Focus all firepower on target a."
"If we die, we'll take one down with us."
The moment the order was issued, all remaining human warships and fighters simultaneously turned and launched a final charge toward the approaching web of death.
They knew this was suicide.
But they knew even better that if the flagship were sunk, the remaining fleet would only be picked off one by one, dying faster and even more pointlessly.
Rather than that, it was better to die together in a blaze of glory.
"Ark" Command Hall.
The massive holographic screen was broadcasting this brutal decisive battle in real-time.
Those charging warships, those falling fighters, those disappearing life signals—every scene was like a knife, stabbing fiercely into everyone's heart.
Elder Chen held onto the console, his aged body trembling violently.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but could not produce any sound.
Su Xiaowan stared fixedly at the screen, her eyes red, tears sliding down silently.
Her hand was tightly gripping Lin Mo's hand, gripping it until her knuckles turned white.
And in the center of it all, Lin Mo stood quietly.
His gaze penetrated the screen, penetrated the web of death, penetrated the three cold killing machines, and landed on the deeper, more unknown darkness beyond.
"Seventy-two hours..." he muttered to himself, "the 'gardener' has not come yet."
Su Xiaowan turned her head to look at him, her voice trembling: "Lin Mo... how much longer can we hold on?"
Lin Mo was silent for a second.
He said softly: "I don't know. But no matter how long we can hold, we must keep holding."
He looked up at the starry sky, at the three grim reapers slaughtering the human fleet, at the deeper darkness where the "gardener" would soon descend.
"Because this is our only way to survive."
Jupiter orbit, battlefield.
The "soaring heavens" was advancing at full speed.
In front of it was the web of death from target a, which was expanding frantically.
Those dark purple spatial rifts were approaching at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the edges of every rift flickered with a light capable of consuming everything.
Behind it were the remaining seven "Guang Han - Destroyer Class" destroyers, twelve "Xuan Bird" fighters, and three "Thunder Department" turrets still persisting in their fire.
They were all charging.
Toward death.
Toward a victory that might never arrive.
General Xu Rushan stood on the bridge of the "soaring heavens," watching the web of death getting closer in front, watching the comrades following his charge behind, and suddenly thought of Long Zhantian.
That tough guy who, when the "soaring heavens" was first heavily damaged, rammed his own broken hull into the enemy to win precious time for humanity.
"Old Long," he muttered to himself, "did you feel this way back then too?"
No one answered.
But if it were Long Zhantian, he would surely be laughing right now and saying:
"Screw being afraid. If I die, I'm taking someone down with me."
General Xu Rushan smiled too.
He looked up and issued the last order of his life:
"All ships—main battery charge. Target—that broken net. Fire!"
The "judgement" class main gun on the bow of the "soaring heavens" suddenly erupted with its final light.
That stream of deep blue energy rushed toward the center of the web of death at near-light speed!
—
It hit.
But the web of death only trembled slightly before stabilizing again.
The energy, capable of destroying an asteroid, was swallowed clean by those spatial rifts.
And target a's counterattack followed immediately.
A dark purple, extremely slender spatial fault line headed straight for the bridge of the "soaring heavens" at a speed approaching instant teleportation!
General Xu Rushan watched the approaching death, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"Come on," he said softly.
Just as that fault line was about to strike the "soaring heavens"—
A massive consciousness composed of pure geometric structures appeared out of thin air in front of the "soaring heavens."
The fourth "Scavenger."
It used its own "body" to forcibly block the spatial fault line capable of slicing through any matter.
The moment the fault line struck it, blinding, chaotic light erupted from its surface.
Countless geometric structures disintegrated, shattered, and dissipated at that moment.
But it blocked it.
It did not retreat.
A cold voice transmitted through the quantum network into everyone's ears:
【'gardener' has not yet descended. Civilization 'Human', must not perish prematurely.】
【This unit—will continue to fulfill 'Observer' duties until the very last moment.】
General Xu Rushan was stunned.
Everyone was stunned.
The fourth "Scavenger," the "Observer" that had always silently watched everything humanity did, was actually... protecting them?
target a's core flashed frantically.
That was not anger.
It was a more pure, logical-level "conflict."
【'Observer' intervention in combat detected. Permission conflict. Executing emergency assessment.】
【Assessing...】
【Assessment complete. Conclusion: 'Observer' authority is higher than 'Combat Unit'. Cease attack.】
target a's web of death slowly contracted, finally condensing back into the form of a black crystal mass.
Target B's sea of decay also began to contract and dissipate.
Target C's gravity traps disappeared one by one.
The three combat units stopped attacking simultaneously.
They hovered in the void, motionless.
And the fourth "Scavenger," the "Observer" that had used its own body to block the fatal blow for humanity, was now floating quietly in front of the "soaring heavens."
On its surface, the places struck by the spatial fault line were still constantly disintegrating and dissipating.
But it emitted no signal of pain, showed no signs of retreat.
It just hovered there quietly, using its constantly dissipating "body" to stand between the human fleet and those combat units.
Its "voice" transmitted into everyone's ears for the last time:
【'gardener' is about to descend. Time: Unknown.】
【Civilization 'Human'—prepare to accept the final trial.】
Its core, that dimly flickering dark light, extinguished completely.
The fourth "Scavenger"—signal lost.
It had used its own "life" to win the last bit of time for humanity.
The battlefield fell into an eerie, deathly silence.
The human fleet was in ruins.
The enemy's combat units were motionless.
And in that deeper, more unknown darkness, a more massive, more terrifying existence was slowly waking up.
"gardener."
About to descend.