84: Positron Gun

Lagrange L1 point.

At this special spatial coordinate where the Earth and Moon's gravity are perfectly balanced, time seemed to slow down and grow heavy.

Two fleets representing different civilizations were like two prehistoric beasts meeting in the deep sea, confronting each other from a distance of tens of thousands of kilometers.

On one side was the Earth Defense Force First Fleet, led by the voyager, the most powerful war machine in human history.

More than six hundred starfish-class frigates closely guarded the flagship, their gun barrels glinting with a cold, icy light.

On the other side was the "Faraim Fleet," composed of two hundred silver-white warships with a design full of rhythmic beauty.

They floated silently in the void, showing no obvious weapon systems, yet exuding a suffocating sense of oppression.

On the bridge of the voyager, Captain Li Zhenhua and his entire bridge crew watched with solemn expressions the field of red dots on the main screen representing the enemy.

"All units have entered combat stations, weapon systems are loaded."

"Report, Captain, we cannot lock onto the enemy ships. Their hulls seem to possess perfect stealth capabilities against all of our radar bands; we can only estimate their positions through optical and gravitational lensing effects."

"This isn't fair..." The executive officer, a former senior naval captain from the United States, looked at the enemy battle line that was almost impossible to lock onto precisely, and couldn't help but curse under his breath.

"War has never been fair." Li Zhenhua's voice was calm and steady.

In his eyes, as sharp as a hawk's, there was not a trace of fear, only the purest calmness and determination belonging to a soldier.

"Since radar is useless," he issued his first order, "then abandon active target acquisition. Order all frigates to move forward in a fan formation and conduct fire reconnaissance! Use our shells to force those rats hiding in the darkness out!"

"Yes!"

With his order, the one hundred starfish-class frigates at the forefront of the First Fleet opened fire simultaneously.

Thousands of electromagnetic shells, like an ignited meteor shower, tore through the silent space, bombarding the airspace where the "Faraim Fleet" was located with a saturation barrage.

However, an unexpected scene occurred.

Those shells, carrying immense kinetic energy, suddenly seemed to hit an invisible wall just as they were about to strike the enemy fleet formation.

Their speed was rapidly reduced, and then they were deflected in other directions in a strange manner, without causing a single ripple on any of the enemy warships.

"It's an energy shield! Just like the intelligence provided by Paradox Technology, the enemy possesses an energy shield that can deflect kinetic weapons!" the weapons analyst on the bridge reported loudly.

Just as the human fleet was still shocked by the failure of their first attack, the enemy's counterattack arrived in an even more bizarre and deadly way.

Dozens of warships at the forefront of that silver-white fleet suddenly had their bows light up with an eerie glow, like a black vortex.

The next second, dozens of "black lines," almost invisible to the naked eye, crossed the tens of thousands of kilometers in an instant at a speed exceeding the speed of light, precisely sweeping across the frontline frigate formation of the human fleet.

The sturdy hulls of those dozens of starfish-class frigates swept by the "black lines" were silently sliced into two, three pieces... eventually turning into a pile of cold wreckage floating in space.

"What... what kind of weapon is that?!"

Seeing this, everyone on the bridge of the voyager was stunned.

What kind of weapon could ignore distance and armor to instantly dismember a starship weighing tens of thousands of tons in such a bizarre way?

"According to the intelligence provided by Paradox Technology, this is a dimensional weapon that can cut through space itself!" the weapons analyst's voice was filled with horror, "Our armor is meaningless before it!"

"But they also mentioned that this weapon has an extremely long charging time; there is almost no chance of it being fired a second time during a single battle," another analyst said calmly.

After completing a round of over-the-horizon "sniping," the silver-white "Faraim Fleet" began to press forward as a whole in an elegant and cold posture.

"All units! Activate high-energy laser weapons! Fire at will! Do not let them get close!" Li Zhenhua's voice exploded in the command channel like thunder.

The surviving starfish-class frigates and the secondary gun arrays on both sides of the voyager lit up with blinding red light simultaneously.

Hundreds of high-energy laser beams looked like red spears, weaving into a huge web of light that enveloped the approaching enemy ships.

This time, the attack actually worked!

The moment those silver-white falam warships were hit by the high-energy laser beams, violent ripples would appear on their energy shields.

After being continuously irradiated for more than ten seconds, they were pierced through, and the hit parts of the hull would rapidly "evaporate" like melting ice cream, turning into a mass of silver-gray mist.

"Effective! Laser weapons are effective against them!" This discovery invigorated everyone!

However, they soon discovered that things were not that simple.

Those parts "evaporated" by the laser weapons would be rapidly filled in by the surrounding silver-gray material within just a few seconds, restoring them to their original state.

"These monsters... what on earth are they made of?"

Just as the human fleet was still grappling with the enemy's unkillable nature, several pilots flying Hummingbird fighters conducting reconnaissance on the front lines seemed to notice some unusual details.

"Eagle's Nest! This is Sharp Sword 01! I have a discovery!" Jin Yuantong's voice rang out in the chaotic communication channel, sounding exceptionally clear, "Although the enemy warships regenerate after being hit by our laser weapons, their overall 'brightness' seems to dim a little! I suspect their regenerative ability is not infinite; every repair consumes some kind of 'energy' or 'material' of their own!"

"This is Maverick 16! I agree with Sharp Sword 01!" Another American pilot's voice also rang out, "And I found that the low-speed nuclear missiles we launched seem to be able to easily penetrate their energy shields! Just now, a missile that missed its target happened to hit an enemy ship; although it didn't detonate, it smashed directly into the opponent's hull!"

These two key discoveries sent a shock through Li Zhenhua.

He immediately grasped the enemy's weakness—the shield that deflected hyper-velocity kinetic shells had no effect on low-speed missile attacks!

And the seemingly infinitely regenerating hull would be constantly consumed when facing sustained energy attacks!

"All units, listen up!" His voice spread through the command channel to the entire fleet, "Abandon electromagnetic cannons! All frigates move forward, use your hulls and close-in defense laser cannons to entangle the enemy's small warships!"

"All space fighter squadrons take off immediately, target the flanks of the enemy fleet, and use your carried nuclear missiles to conduct close-range attacks on them!"

"voyager," he took a deep breath and issued the final order, "Charge the main cannon! Target—the enemy flagship!"

"We are going to use our strongest spear to pierce their hardest shield!"

He intended to use the numerous frigates and fighters at his disposal as a "suicide squad" to create an excellent firing opportunity for the voyager's main cannon, which required a long charging time.

"For humanity!"

"Ura!"

Accompanied by the roars full of tragedy and determination that rang out in every channel, the human fleet launched a desperate counterattack.

Hundreds of starfish-class frigates, like the bravest gladiators, rushed towards the silver-white fleet without hesitation.

They no longer conducted long-range shelling, but instead used the high-rate-of-fire close-in defense laser cannons on their hulls to conduct crazy, sustained burning on the same part of the enemy ships at close range.

Countless human soldiers also flew their Hummingbird fighters toward the enemy ships at this moment. While strafing the enemy ships with cannons, they also threw missiles loaded with nuclear warheads onto the enemy ships like satchel charges.

A close-quarters melee, tragic to the extreme, unfolded in the cold universe.

Besides the "black light" main cannon with its extremely long cooldown time, the various secondary guns of the falam warships, capable of firing high-energy particles and energy beams, were also frantically reaping the vital forces of the human fleet.

But their sacrifice was not meaningless.

They used their lives and blood to hold back the enemy's main force for the flagship behind them.

The Hummingbird fighter squadrons, like the deadliest swarm of bees, utilized their small and flexible advantages to penetrate the enemy's defense line again and again, successfully "sticking" nuclear missiles onto those silver-white warships.

These low-speed missiles passed through the enemy's energy shields without obstruction. The immense power generated after the nuclear warheads detonated was enough to blow apart a large portion of the falam warships' hulls.

Although they would soon be repaired, several falam warships were completely unable to be repaired due to being unable to withstand the saturation attack, and the entire warship turned into a cloud of silver-white nanites and disappeared.

Just as the entire battlefield was plunged into a white-hot chaos.

In the center of the voyager's massive 1800-meter-long hull, a huge crack running through the entire ship slowly opened.

Revealing the super weapon underneath, which had been improved for the second time by Paradox Technology—the giant positron cannon.

Its muzzle diameter exceeded fifty meters, and the barrel length exceeded one kilometer.

Soon, the center of the barrel emitted a heart-palpitating blue electric light.

Huge energy was continuously drawn from the ship-borne fusion reactor and converged at the end of the barrel.

"Main cannon charging 30%... 60%... 90%... Charging complete!"

"Target locked—enemy flagship!"

"Fire!"

Accompanied by Li Zhenhua's roar full of killing intent.

A blazing white light, more dazzling than the sun, flashed from the bow of the voyager.

The high-energy positron beam fired from the voyager's muzzle rushed at the speed of light directly toward the "Falam flagship," which was significantly larger than the other falam warships.

It was like a spear of judgment thrown by a god, striking the flagship located at the very center of the Faraim Fleet formation, which was also the largest in size, with an unstoppable posture.

After the positron beam struck the energy shield, it immediately produced a fierce annihilation reaction with the electrons existing on the energy shield, resulting in an extremely violent explosion.

Soon, the energy shield collapsed because it could not withstand it.

The beam did not stop, but continued to strike the warship's hull in an unstoppable manner.

Another burst of violent and dense explosions followed. Soon, the port side of the "Falam flagship" was pierced through, followed by the starboard side, leaving a huge hole with a diameter of over one hundred meters.

That massive silver-white warship suddenly expanded like an over-inflated balloon, and then exploded into a brilliant silver-gray mist in a silent flash of light.

The flagship was killed in one hit!

This dramatic turn of events instantly reversed the entire battle situation!

Having lost the command of the flagship, the remaining falam warships were clearly plunged into brief chaos.

And the human fleet was greatly encouraged, launching a more violent counterattack.

The scales of victory seemed to be tilting toward the human side.

However, just when everyone thought a victory was about to come.

Another anomaly occurred on the battlefield.

Around that destroyed flagship, space rippled again like water waves.

One after another, warp exits appeared out of thin air on the battlefield.

One ship, ten ships, one hundred ships...

More and more identical silver-white falam warships, like endless ghosts emerging from hell, kept appearing on the battlefield through warping.

In just a few minutes, the number of enemies surged from less than one hundred to nearly one thousand!

They surrounded the human fleet, which had already exhausted its ammunition and was scarred, tightly.

Looking at the dense field of red dots on the main screen, the number of which was more than ten times that of their own.

On the bridge of the voyager, all the crew members who had just been immersed in the joy of the impending victory fell into a deathly silence.

Their faces were written with two words.

Despair.