Cut-off cannons, melt rays, spatial tremors—Ou Zhanpeng unleashed every weapon at his disposal, launching a full-scale assault.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that since finding the Starship base, this was the first time the base had opened fire with all its might.
Moreover, the weapon effects of the Starship base couldn't be directly observed with the naked eye. Everyone could only see the enemy battleship's shields suddenly becoming exceptionally bright, but they couldn't see where the Starship's cannons were hitting.
Although Ou Zhanpeng appeared calm, his heart sank.
The cut-off cannons and melt rays could be considered as certain humanly unknown physical phenomena, so it was understandable that they were blocked by the shields.
But spatial tremors could also be blocked by shields? What kind of shields was the pig-nosed battleship using?
Despite the limited effect, the enemy ship's shields grew brighter, and everyone's hearts grew heavier.
A moment later, the sustained bombardment finally surpassed a certain critical point. The pig-nosed battleship's shields suddenly emitted a dazzling brilliant light, and then abruptly exploded.
A rain of cut-off forces immediately struck the enemy ship, slicing it layer by layer, rapidly dismembering it.
Melt rays simultaneously acted upon the target. The dark, heavy battleship quickly turned bright red.
Next came the spatial tremors, which, in a short while, completely pulverized the enemy ship. Only the slowly dissipating high temperatures still retained the battleship's outline.
Although the original material structure was shattered, the high-temperature molecules and atoms remained there, requiring some time to gradually disperse.
Perhaps it was because the Starship base's performance was too formidable, but the pig-nosed battleship finally realized that the possibility of seizing the Starship was zero. The remaining pig-nosed battleships immediately abandoned the idea of capturing the base and aggressively launched an attack on it.
Invisible beams of light and energy traversed the void, accurately hitting their targets.
The exterior of the Starship base shimmered, deflecting and reflecting the firepower from the enemy ships.
"Shield energy down 24%!" Zeng Qiao's voice was high-pitched and urgent.
With just one salvo, a quarter of the base's shields were depleted. If they endured a few more salvos, wouldn't the base be finished?
Ou Zhanpeng remained silent, continuing to operate the base and fire.
There was no cover or concealment in the void; there was nowhere to hide or seek shelter. There was no tactic to speak of. Either they would make a swift escape, or they would have to face the enemy's artillery fire head-on!
Trading damage for damage was the most foolish strategy, but it was also a last resort.
Ou Zhanpeng completely ignored the other enemy ships, locking onto one target and firing relentlessly. Before the enemy's second salvo could be fired, the second enemy ship exploded with a bang.
Almost simultaneously, the enemy's second salvo hit the base.
Everyone's hearts leaped into their throats, and they unconsciously clenched their fists.
"Shield energy remaining at 57%!"
Ou Zhanpeng's gaze flashed: Continue!
The third enemy ship met its demise on the spot, and the base's shield energy dropped to 45%.
Everyone was pleasantly surprised to find that as the number of enemy ships decreased, the damage caused by the enemy's firepower also lessened. Although there were still five pig-nosed battleships, everyone's confidence in the base was unprecedentedly strong.
Ou Zhanpeng was no exception. He pressed his advantage, continuing to fire at the enemy, destroying four enemy ships in quick succession.
With three enemy ships remaining, the base's shields were down to a mere 7%. Everyone's gaze converged on Ou Zhanpeng.
Could the base withstand the next salvo?
Energy surged from the enemy ships' cannons. The next salvo was only a second away, but at this critical moment, Ou Zhanpeng activated the temporal bubble again.
Although the remaining energy was indeed not much, activating a temporal bubble that only covered the base wouldn't consume a significant amount of energy.
In an instant, everything outside the bubble became extremely slow.
The shield's energy began to recover. Although the speed was also very slow, the base had enough time to take it slow.
Witnessing this, everyone was stunned for a moment, and then simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief. The sound of their exhales was so synchronized that a moment of silence filled the bridge. Then, they erupted in laughter.
Gong Yiding patted Ou Zhanpeng's shoulder, "Good job, kid, you really pulled it off!"
"Exactly, I can't believe you thought of that. I'm sweating!" Ling Xiao exaggeratedly wiped his forehead, shaking off imaginary sweat.
Ou Zhanpeng felt a lingering fear. "It was a sudden inspiration, luck, pure luck!"
"Don't give me that!" Ling Xiao rolled his eyes fiercely.
The others also wore expressions of disbelief, as if to say, "You're not fooling us." They had been incredibly nervous moments ago, but now they were completely relaxed. No one was worried about the threat of the pig-nosed battleships anymore.
What a joke, were temporal bubbles something to be trifled with? With such a safeguard, why worry about the enemy ships?
As long as the temporal bubble could still be activated normally, even if the Starship base were dismantled piece by piece, it could be reassembled and continue fighting. They were already in an invincible position before the battle even began!
This was not an exaggeration; it was literal.
Unless the enemy possessed the ability to destroy the Starship base with a single shot.
Ou Zhanpeng not only used the temporal bubble to restore the shields but also took the opportunity to reposition the base.
About half an hour later, the shields were fully restored. Ou Zhanpeng immediately canceled the temporal bubble, saving precious special energy—he regretted his past recklessness deeply, having been so wasteful without any thought.
The temporal bubble disappeared, and time returned to normal. The enemy's salvo grazed past the Starship base. If it had been even slightly off, it would have hit the shields.
To their own people, the base had moved to a safe location under the protection of the temporal bubble. However, to the enemy, the massive base had suddenly vanished and then reappeared kilometers away.
They didn't know what the enemy called this phenomenon, but humans were accustomed to calling such a maneuver "blinking."
Ou Zhanpeng gave the enemy no chance, immediately counterattacking and destroying another ship.
The rest was simple. The base withstood the firepower of two enemy ships head-on and, in a flash, completely destroyed the remaining enemy ships.
The explosion of the pig-nosed battleships had not yet dissipated when Ou Zhanpeng lowered his arm, which had been raised for a long time, and let out a long breath.
Ling Xiao gave him a peculiar look. "Is that it? Why didn't I feel tense at all?"
Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.
As Ling Xiao said, everyone had indeed been quite tense at the beginning, believing it would be a hard-fought battle.
But once the temporal bubble was activated, all their negative emotions were instantly swept away, completely eradicating the ground for negative emotions.
No wonder they called it a super warship; the name was not inaccurate at all.
While everyone excitedly reminisced about the battle, Gong Yiding's expression was solemn. He patted Ou Zhanpeng's shoulder and asked, "What's your plan next?"
Ou Zhanpeng thought for a moment, then gave a wry smile and shook his head. "My mind is in a complete mess; I have no plan at all... How about sending a warship back to Earth to check?"
Gong Yiding shook his head. "It's best not to. No matter where we go, the enemy can follow, indicating they possess some tracking technology we don't understand yet. Last time, returning to the solar system could be explained as bringing the base back. If we send a warship back now, something could go wrong, and Earth could be in danger."
"But I can't put my mind at ease. What if something happens to Earth?"
"Tough luck," Gong Yiding said. "The best approach is strategic deterrence."
No explanation was needed; everyone understood the meaning of these words.
Ou Zhanpeng nodded. "Invite Xiao Luo to come!"
The biggest problem now was the asymmetry of information. The enemy knew that the Starship base was in human hands, and even knew the location of the solar system. However, on the human side, they didn't even know where the enemy came from.
War was about intelligence. Since they had won the first battle, it was time to catch up on their homework.
Shortly after, Ling Xiao brought Xiao Luo into the bridge.
The little guy was extremely excited. He ran to Ou Zhanpeng's feet with his short legs, and his speed was surprisingly fast!
"Captain Ou, Captain Ou, you guys are amazing, truly amazing!" Xiao Luo gave a thumbs-up, looking utterly adoring.
He only had four fingers on each hand, making a total of eight, which looked a bit strange.
Ou Zhanpeng responded humbly, "We were just lucky."
"No, no, no, I saw it all. You've mastered the secret of time. Frankly, I really can't imagine how you, being so backward, managed to grasp space-time." Xiao Luo's large, cute, and expressive eyes were filled with curiosity.
"I'm sorry, that's our secret." The other's admiration greatly satisfied Ou Zhanpeng's vanity, but he was a man of principle and would never casually reveal the secret of the temporal bubble.
Not even a tiny bit.
Gong Yiding smiled in satisfaction; he had been about to remind Ou Zhanpeng.
"Okay, okay, I understand," Xiao Luo sighed dejectedly, looking very disappointed.
Ou Zhanpeng stopped talking nonsense and directly stated his request, "Xiao Luo, you've seen the situation. Now, we need your help."
"Me?" Xiao Luo was both surprised and delighted.
"Yes... more accurately, we need the help of the Rao people," Ou Zhanpeng emphasized again.
"I can't guarantee for others, but I will do my best," Xiao Luo said with determined eyes. "What do you need me to do?"
"We want to know the enemy's origin," Ou Zhanpeng said. "What race are they, where do they come from, what is their territory size, how many warships, how many planets—in short, the more detailed, the better."
Xiao Luo immediately looked troubled. "I'm sorry, we don't interact much with the three major civilizations. We only know they've formed a joint defense line, and we don't know anything else. I can't even tell which civilization this type of warship belongs to."
"Is that so!" Ou Zhanpeng sighed in disappointment. "Do you know where the Swift Edge is headed?"
"I'm not sure," Xiao Luo shook his head. "I'm just a junior officer at the frontline base. How would I be notified about such a significant event as visiting the three major civilizations?"
Ou Zhanpeng thought about it and felt even more disappointed. "Alright... if we contact your administrative planet, can we get the answers I want?"
Xiao Luo clearly froze, then his expression turned uneasy. "You want to go to our administrative planet?"
What's with that expression?
Ou Zhanpeng wanted to retort but ultimately held back. "Why? Is it not appropriate?"
"Of course, it's not appropriate," Xiao Luo said with a serious expression. However, with his cute, chibi-like appearance, his seriousness was not very evident, making him rather amusing. "We all know what the other side did. You're worried about the safety of your home planet, but if you contact our planet now, or go directly to our star system, aren't you worried about leading the enemy to us?"
At these words, Ou Zhanpeng was stunned. After a long moment, he said, "I apologize. I really didn't consider this issue... You are also a very powerful interstellar civilization. I thought you wouldn't be afraid of them."
Although the others remained silent, most of them shared Ou Zhanpeng's sentiment; they hadn't considered the possibility of bringing danger to the Rao people.
Xiao Luo looked disheartened. "This isn't about being afraid or not. It's that no one wants to fight a powerful enemy in their own star system."
"We were indeed inconsiderate. I apologize," Ou Zhanpeng said.
"It's alright; I understand," Xiao Luo said, tugging at the corner of his mouth, his mood subdued.
Ou Zhanpeng thought for a moment and said, "How about this? I'll send a warship to take you back later. If it's convenient, provide us with some information; if not, that's fine too."
"No, we can't go back!" Xiao Luo suddenly exclaimed, his face filled with anger. "As I said, do you want to lead the enemy to our star system?"
Ou Zhanpeng shook his head. "It's not a solution for you to stay here forever. If you circle around a few times, it should be fine, right?"
"No, there's a big problem. We can't take the risk. We'll stay right here, and we're not going anywhere!" Xiao Luo's tone was exceptionally firm. Anyone with normal intelligence could hear his resolve. "What are you worried about? Afraid we'll steal your ship? We've known about this ship for a long time. If we wanted to steal it, we would have done so long ago. Why wait until now?"
"Besides, there are only a few of us. Do you think we can steal the ship from you? Captain Ou, as I said, I'm willing to help you, but I can't risk our star system to help you. Do you understand?"
Ou Zhanpeng rubbed his nose. "Alright, you'll stay here for now. For safety reasons, you can only operate within a designated area. Is that okay?"
"No problem," Xiao Luo nodded in agreement.
"Also, during this period, I will do my best to ensure your safety. If we encounter your warships, I will hand you over promptly. Is that okay?"
"No problem."
"Excellent, we have reached an agreement," Ou Zhanpeng said. "Now, please go back and ask your companions if anyone knows anything about the enemy."
"Okay, no problem," Xiao Luo agreed crisply, but as he was about to leave, he hesitated.
"What is it?" Ou Zhanpeng asked.
"Can I ask what your arrangements are next?" Xiao Luo asked earnestly.
"I haven't figured it out yet," Ou Zhanpeng replied truthfully. "I plan to wait here for a while, ambush the enemy's follow-up fleet, and then consider the next steps."
"Is that so... Can I offer a suggestion?" Xiao Luo asked.
Ou Zhanpeng found it interesting but still nodded. "Of course, no problem."
"Since you can't return to your home planet, I suggest you find a relatively safe star system to hide in for the time being."
Ou Zhanpeng sighed. "It's not that easy..."
"It's not as complicated as you think," Xiao Luo said. "For example, a nebula!"