The gazes of everyone once again focused on Ou Zhanpeng, their eyes filled with doubt and confusion.
According to their thinking, if it was meant to be a deterrent, then the enemy should be dealt the maximum possible blow. If they weren't beaten into submission, how could it be called deterrence?
However, this round of mushroom bombs all targeted objectives outside the planet. Although they caused considerable losses, they had virtually no impact on the planet itself, to put it mildly, it was completely inconsequential.
Ou Zhanpeng had also considered directly attacking the Rolor planet. But after a round of mushroom bombs, at least half of the planet would be submerged by mushroom clouds.
On such a prosperous planet, how many Rolor people would die? How many cities would be destroyed?
That would be more than just a question of deterrence; it would be a complete declaration of an irreconcilable feud, with no room for compromise.
The Starship was not a drifting duckweed; the solar system was still tethered behind it. If the Rolor people knew that humanity possessed the capability to destroy their planet, it would be over. Dealing a fatal blow and creating an irreconcilable enmity was no longer a question of whether it was appropriate or not, but rather fundamentally contrary to the overall interests of humanity!
The reason Ou Zhanpeng disliked politics was precisely because this thing required considering the overall interests from all angles, and he had to make necessary compromises for it.
Considering matters purely from a military perspective was different. It was just about going all out, and that was it. Floods, tsunamis, mountains collapsing and earth splitting? Who would care about all that?
The chaos on the planet's periphery stunned the Rolor people, even their continuous offensive faltered.
But the opponent immediately launched an even more fierce attack. The planet actually deployed a shield, blocking various debris falling from orbit.
On the Starship, a large group of people almost stared their eyeballs out.
Good heavens, the Rolor people truly lived up to their reputation as a powerful interstellar civilization. Just looking at this planetary shield, ever since humanity ventured out of the solar system, they had never heard of anyone possessing such a thing!
Ou Zhanpeng's pupils contracted sharply, and his heart sank: "Judging by this, the Rolor people have no intention of stopping."
Ling Xiao snorted: "If we were attacked by some primitive tribe, do you think the people in charge would compromise?"
The answer was obvious: of course not!
"Alright." Ou Zhanpeng sighed. He had done what he could. Since the other side had already made their choice, there was no need for him to dwell on it any longer.
At that moment, several super-large wormholes suddenly opened nearby, and groups of Rolor warships passed through them.
If the Black Horn people could open large wormholes, then the Rolor people naturally wouldn't lack the technology for it.
Ou Zhanpeng had intended to directly bomb the planet, but upon witnessing this scene, he immediately changed his mind and opened wormholes to launch missiles continuously.
Each time, he opened the exit in front of the Rolor wormholes. The Rolor fleet that had just passed through the wormholes collided head-on with swarms of missiles.
Hundreds of mushroom bombs detonated in an extremely short period, and the intense light instantly engulfed the battlefield.
When the glare dissipated, the Rolor reinforcement fleet had already lost more than half its strength. Most of the remaining Rolor warships were still on the other side of the wormhole, having never had the chance to pass through.
It wasn't that the Rolor shields were not powerful enough; it was simply that mushroom bombs were too formidable and too heaven-defying. Without fusion, there would be no stars, no galaxies, and certainly no habitable planets or various forms of life.
It was no exaggeration to say that fusion was one of the cornerstones of this universe!
The Rolor shields were indeed advanced, and there might have been some hope of blocking miniature mushroom bombs. But when faced with super-large yield mushroom bombs, often tens of millions of tons, even the strongest shields were no different from paper.
Even the Starship base's shields were no exception.
With the conflict between the two sides reaching this point, the situation had become very clear: neither side was willing to back down.
Since that was the case, there was only one way to proceed: continue the confrontation.
Ou Zhanpeng made up his mind. After blocking the Rolor reinforcements, he decisively opened a wormhole.
This time, he harbored no illusions. He passed through the planetary shield and opened the wormhole directly into the planet's atmosphere!
Subsequently, a mushroom bomb with a yield of one hundred million tons was sent into the wormhole.
Almost as soon as the mushroom bomb was sent in, Ou Zhanpeng immediately closed the wormhole.
The Rolor people keenly detected this anomaly and immediately organized an interception.
However, the mushroom bomb didn't need to land at all. The warhead that passed through the wormhole detonated at an altitude of six thousand meters.
In an instant, the intense light illuminated more than half of the planet, and the sky instantly turned scarlet.
This was not the color of the explosion itself, but the result of the high temperature heating the air. It was the same principle as steel being heated red-hot.
Intense light radiation spread outwards. The ground within a radius of tens of kilometers was scorched. All buildings directly beneath the detonation point were warped and deformed by the high heat. Rivers were dried up, vegetation was carbonized, and a large number of Rolor people, as well as various heat-intolerant objects, left their shadows imprinted on walls and the ground.
This was because they blocked the intense light, and the temperature on the walls or ground showed a significant difference, thus creating this peculiar imprinting phenomenon.
A moment later, the giant fireball with a diameter of over thirty kilometers transformed into a mushroom cloud of astonishing size. The extremely strong pressure generated a super-strong shockwave exceeding the speed of sound. Beneath the mushroom cloud, it spread outwards at an incredible speed, with devastating destructive power. Within a radius of fifty kilometers, it was almost flattened by the shockwave.
What's more, the explosion also generated an ultra-powerful infrasound wave that circled the planet more than a dozen times, and the resulting casualties were immeasurable.
Even more terrifying was that the explosion permanently altered the terrain of Rolor 2, triggering a magnitude 7.8 earthquake, indirectly causing more than ten volcanoes to erupt, with tens of millions of tons of volcanic ash scattering into the sky, along with an equal mass of toxic gases.
Ultimately, the explosion formed a mushroom cloud with a diameter of over one hundred kilometers, and the kill radius of this explosion was several times that of the mushroom cloud. Secondary disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis affected one-third of the planet, with incalculable losses.
Ou Zhanpeng watched this scene with a blank expression, his face solemn.
He had anticipated this outcome long ago, yet his heart was still stirred by an overwhelming surge of emotions that he could hardly suppress.
Gong Yiding patted Ou Zhanpeng on the shoulder and whispered in comfort: "Don't overthink it. We were forced into this."
"I'm fine." Ou Zhanpeng gritted his teeth and persisted, "For Earth, for humanity, I can do anything, I dare to do anything, without hesitation, and without regret!"
Gong Yiding sighed inwardly. Saying so much already indicated that Ou Zhanpeng's state of mind was unstable: "This is war, it's either you die or I die."
Ou Zhanpeng forced a smile: "Don't worry, I understand."
The Rolor fleet fell into a brief period of chaos. By the time they realized what had happened, everyone's eyes were red. They immediately launched a full-scale offensive. All Rolor warships opened fire, unleashing countless barrages of firepower against the Starship.
Landing and seizing? Nonsense!
But under the continuous bombardment of the Starship, only a little over twenty Rolor warships remained on the battlefield. Before the volley was even finished, two more were destroyed by the Starship.
The Rolor commander was almost driven mad. If he had known beforehand that a war with the Starship would have resulted in such an outcome, he would never have followed the orders from above.
It was just a spaceship. No matter how important it was, could it be more important than their own planet?
Greed!
Now the person who gave the order was gone, but this battle had to continue. Not only did they have to destroy this super warship, but they also had to destroy humanity's home planet and exact bloody revenge!
The Rolor commander's thoughts were quite good, but the strength of the Rolor fleet was not yet at the level to destroy the Starship.
There was no suspense in the subsequent battle. The Starship continuously destroyed Rolor warships. During this process, it was forced to activate temporal bubbles several times due to the Rolor fleet's attacks.
And then, there was no more. In just half an hour, the last Rolor warship met its end under the Starship's cannons.
Ou Zhanpeng did not send Xiao Luo out of the bridge but kept him in a corner, letting him witness the entire battle from beginning to end.
At this moment, Xiao Luo's eyes were wide with terror, and large tears streamed down his cheeks.
Ling Xiao, with a smug and provocative look, leaned in and taunted: "Little one, if you knew this would be the outcome, would you still dare to steal our spaceship?"
Xiao Luo suddenly snapped back to reality and began to struggle violently: "Demon, madman, let go of me, let go of me—"
Slap!
Ling Xiao, without hesitation, delivered a solid slap to Xiao Luo, like an adult shamelessly beating a child: "Who is the demon? Who is the madman? Don't you know who started this war? What is it? Is everything the Rolor people do righteous, and everything other civilizations do evil? Who gave you that right?"
Xiao Luo retorted defiantly: "Yes, the Rolor people are righteous, and you are evil. What can you do to me?"
Ling Xiao chuckled with anger: "I can't do anything to you, but you know very well why this war started. Originally, all of this could have been avoided. It was you who pushed two civilizations into the abyss of war... If you think the Rolor people are righteous, then so be it. I hope you are not a good person, otherwise, from now on, you will live in unending torment until the end of your life."
"Let go of me, let go of me—" Xiao Luo desperately twisted his body, but Ling Xiao showed no sympathy. "Send him away."
Saying that, he turned and no longer paid attention to Xiao Luo.
Originally, some people felt compassion and felt sympathy for Xiao Luo. But after hearing Ling Xiao's words, they immediately cast aside that little bit of pity.
It wasn't that their loyalties were misplaced; it was that even now, some people's minds had not yet fully shifted into a war mentality.
Knowing that war is brutal is different from witnessing the brutality of war firsthand.
An enemy's tears might be worthy of sympathy, but this was war. Everyone would rather see the enemy shed all their tears than see any harm come to Earth.
Ou Zhanpeng looked at Ling Xiao with surprise: "Not bad. We've known each other for over thirty years, and I've never seen you so sharp-tongued before."
"Haha, I learned this from books. I used it when I thought it was appropriate." Ling Xiao did not hide anything and directly revealed his source. "This side is over. What's next?"
"What else can we do? Once you start, you can't stop. Continue bombing until the Rolor people submit!" Ou Zhanpeng said fiercely.
Coincidentally, Xiao Luo happened to overhear this sentence. Then he was pushed through the teleportation gate, his angry expression immediately replaced by despair.
Just half a day later, Xiao Luo committed suicide in the confinement cell where he was being held.
No one knew what psychological journey he had gone through. Ling Xiao commented coldly: "I can only say that this little guy has some conscience."
Xiao Luo might have been a true warrior, a pure good person, but his righteousness belonged only to the Rolor people, and he was inherently opposed to humanity's stance.
However, Xiao Luo did not escape humanity's control. Gong Yiding, on the principle of making use of everything, connected Xiao Luo's brain to an independent soul conversion device, attempting to transfer his soul into a machine brain.
He was initially just trying a long shot, but unexpectedly, it succeeded!
Gong Yiding was cautious. He only prepared a mechanical brain for Xiao Luo, but he did not prepare a corresponding body, nor did he connect it to the network or any other functions.
When Xiao Luo's consciousness revived and he understood his situation, the despair he felt was imaginable.
Ou Zhanpeng, upon receiving the news, couldn't help but smile wryly: "Why do I feel like we're becoming more and more like villains in movies?"
"Don't doubt it," Ling Xiao said. "To the Rolor people, we are the villains."
As he spoke, another Rolor warship was destroyed.
This was the Rolor 3 star system. The ruler here also refused the Starship's demands, and the two sides once again engaged in fierce confrontation.
Despite the precedent of Rolor 2, they still refused. It was hard to say whether the Rolor people were too stubborn or too foolish.
As mushroom clouds rose again, Ou Zhanpeng couldn't articulate what he felt.
Although he had experienced so many battles, so much danger, and so many farewells in life and death, at this moment, he was still filled with mixed emotions.
However, this time he was no longer fighting alone; he received strong support from other civilizations!
The overall strength of the Rolor people was too great. All civilizations located in this star region had been oppressed by the Rolor people before.
Among civilizations at different levels, this was extremely common and nothing to be ashamed of.
If the Rolor people continued to remain powerful, all civilizations directly or indirectly ruled by the Rolor people would obediently submit.
But when the Starship, representing humanity, raised the banner of opposition against the Rolor people, everything changed.
As the saying goes, when a wall is about to collapse, everyone pushes it; when a drum is broken, everyone beats it.
A race that could not bear oppression seized the opportunity to stand up and resist the tyranny of the Rolor people alongside humanity.
However, more civilizations chose to stand by and watch, rather than immediately joining the fray.
Ou Zhanpeng didn't care about all that. If they had remained neutral, it would have been one thing, as the odds were stacked against them.
But at this moment, to still be in cahoots with the Rolor people was unbearable.
After dealing with Rolor 3 planet, the Starship wasted no time. Using information provided by other civilizations, it located the Rolor 4 star system.
The enemy's strength was considerable. Seemingly having received news of the destruction of other Rolor star systems, they had significantly strengthened the defensive forces of the 4th star system.
But the number of warships assisting humanity was also not small, and it was growing like a snowball. The number of warships appearing in the Rolor 4 star system had already reached over 400.
The battle was about to erupt.
"Keep fighting. The next target will not be the orbital ring!" Ou Zhanpeng said.