73: Chapter 73 One-Way Ticket

The Cobra destroyer drifted along the edge of the Asteroid Belt, the airlock door outside the hangar slowly opening.

The cold starry sky and dense asteroid debris suddenly appeared before them.

The Shark Assault Craft slowly took off, quickly speeding away from the hangar and diving headlong into the dense Asteroid Belt.

The launch bays on both sides of the craft opened simultaneously, and over thirty decoy drones swarmed out, flying tightly around the assault craft.

Meanwhile, the Cobra destroyer began to turn around, continuing to expose itself to draw the fire of the moon-class cruiser, buying time for the Shark Assault Craft.

The Shark Assault Craft's initial speed was not fast; it kept close to large asteroid fragments, using the debris as cover to disguise itself as an inconspicuous piece of space junk on the Auspex.

Along the way, small pieces of debris constantly struck the hull, emitting dull, billiard-like sounds.

As the engine power was gradually maxed out, the impact sounds became denser and more rapid.

The hull vibrated violently with the full-power output.

Hawk had been an army soldier his whole life, and now, having temporarily transferred to the navy's Boarding Party, feeling nervous was unavoidable.

To distract himself, he voiced his confusion: "Governor! I've never understood! Since torpedoes can blast through a hull, why not just use torpedoes to sink it? Why do we have to use a Boarding Party instead?"

It would be a lie for Fu Haoran to say he wasn't nervous either; since someone was willing to chat, he didn't mind changing the subject:

"Void Shields can deflect high-speed... torpedoes directly into the Warp, while torpedoes that are too slow get intercepted by point-defense guns."

"Therefore, you need enough torpedoes to pose a threat to a warship."

As they spoke, the Shark Assault Craft rushed out of the Asteroid Belt.

Without the cover of the debris, the Shark Assault Craft was instantly exposed within the detection range of the moon-class cruiser.

"My lord, a Shark Assault Craft has rushed out of the Asteroid Belt and is approaching us!"

Hearing his subordinate's report, Valerius was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized what was happening.

"Are they attempting a Boarding Party?"

Valerius only found it laughable.

"A single Shark Assault Craft? That's only about 50 people. Even if they succeed in boarding, what use is that?"

"My ship is five or six times larger than theirs; even regular crew members might get lost, let alone these outsiders."

"Tch, as expected of a bunch of mud-footed army soldiers, completely lacking common sense in naval warfare."

Thinking of this, Valerius said indifferently:

"It's just a broken assault craft. Even if they get lucky and board the ship, without a naval guide, they won't even be able to find the door to the bridge in a few days."

"Let the point-defense guns intercept them first; if that fails, send people to clear them out."

"Alright, focus all ship firepower and continue pursuing the Cobra destroyer; we must take it down!"

...

The broadside fire from the moon-class cruiser was "tardy."

Macro Cannon shells whistled in, trailing exhaust flames, followed closely by point-defense anti-aircraft missiles, weaving a net of fire in space.

The thirty-plus drones instantly scattered into a fan shape.

The interceptor drones equipped with small laser weapons opened fire first, precisely locking onto the anti-aircraft missiles launched by the moon-class cruiser. The laser beams struck the missile bodies, exploding in balls of fire.

The remaining decoy drones directly activated signal simulation, actively colliding with the Macro Cannon shells and interceptor beams.

The first drone was hit by a Macro Cannon shell and instantly exploded into fragments.

The second, the third...

The flashes of explosions lit up one after another in the void. As the drones were destroyed one by one, they forcibly tore a gap through the deadly net of fire for the Shark Assault Craft.

The moment the Shark Assault Craft reached the boundary of the Void Shield, it fired its reverse thrusters at full power. The assault craft's speed plummeted, instantly dropping below the Void Shield's recognition threshold, passing through the pale purple Void Shield without any obstruction.

The hull tilted upward and stuck to the heavy armor of the moon-class cruiser.

"Bang!"

A massive vibration spread throughout the entire hull.

The four sets of magnetic clamps at the front of the Shark Assault Craft clamped down fiercely, and the immense suction force welded the hull firmly to the moon-class ship's body.

Immediately, the melta-demolition device and laser cutter activated simultaneously, forcibly blasting a gap over two meters wide in the moon-class cruiser's hull.

Inside the bridge, Valerius watched the marker on the screen showing only one assault craft and was not nervous.

"Order the crew and Boarding Party near the breach to clear them out immediately! Seal all corridors!" Valerius waved his hand, not bothering to mobilize the ship's main forces.

At the breached opening, Fu Haoran raised his Storm Shield and was the first to leap into the corridor of the moon-class cruiser.

At the end of the corridor, ten armed crew members opened fire first.

The Storm Shield in Fu Haoran's hand didn't even need to activate; he simply blocked with it.

Then, a heavy Bolter poked out from the side of the shield, and he pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Flesh and blood splattered the wall.

Fu Haoran stepped aside to clear the corridor, and Hawk led forty-nine soldiers, who filed out, holding low-spec boarding shields and quickly forming a combat formation in the corridor.

Fu Haoran, holding the Storm Shield, walked at the very front of the formation, steadily advancing toward the bridge.

The roar of Bolters, the whine of laser beams, and the shouts of soldiers instantly filled the entire corridor.

This boarding death match, which staked the fate of the entire Hive City, seemed to be officially beginning.

However, a huge problem arose!

Looking at the completely unfamiliar intersection and the electronic map that had a huge discrepancy with the actual situation, a very bad situation lay before Fu Haoran.

"I shouldn't get lost, right?" Fu Haoran thought, feeling a bit guilty.

Hawk leaned over and asked in a low voice: "Governor, why doesn't this map match the actual corridor? We aren't going to get lost, are we?"

"What are you panicking about?" Fu Haoran put away the map projection without changing his expression and pointed to the middle corridor, "Follow this direction; it won't be wrong."

As soon as he finished speaking, his heart was pounding wildly.

This modified merchant ship was worlds apart from the structure on the map; who the hell knew where this path led.

As soon as the team entered the corridor, the airtight doors on both sides suddenly opened, and twenty soldiers rushed out holding Laser Guns.

Three minutes later, the battle ended.

But soon, seeing another three-way intersection in front of him, Fu Haoran's face darkened.

On the map, this should have been the main corridor leading directly to the bridge, but now it had turned into four branching paths, and there wasn't even a sign.

Although Hawk couldn't see Fu Haoran's expression, based on his years of experience, this was definitely not the time to ask about the situation.

Fu Haoran gritted his teeth, randomly chose the leftmost corridor, and led the way in.

For the next half hour, the team was completely stuck in a loop of going in circles.

Walking along the corridors led either to dead ends, back to previous intersections, or triggered security alarms, drawing wave after wave of security teams.

The map had completely become waste paper; the corridors of the moon-class cruiser were like a massive maze, and once the airtight doors closed, one couldn't even tell the direction.

After clearing out another wave of rushing security teams, Fu Haoran looked at the tightly closed airtight door in front of him and completely lost his temper.

The team's ammunition had been consumed by nearly a fifth; if they kept circling, even if they actually reached the bridge, they wouldn't have the strength to fight.

[System Prompt: Boarding decapitation mission in progress]

[Current Progress: Distance to the bridge where target Valerius Costa is located is... 600 meters]

Seeing that the decapitation mission was about to be completed, Fu Haoran hardened his heart, threw a melta bomb, and blew the door open.

Then, raising his Storm Shield, he was the first to rush in, preparing to face a new round of crossfire.

But the moment he rushed in, he was completely stunned.

Before him was not a narrow corridor, nor a heavily guarded bridge.

It was a massive hangar for carrier-based aircraft.

"Where is Valerius?"

Fu Haoran was anxious; he and his men could keep looking for him, but the Hive City troops on the ground couldn't afford to wait!