The actions of the Starship immediately angered the Black Horn people. They retaliated instantly, and a salvo of fire turned the remaining three subsidiary ships into space debris.
Even at this point, the Black Horn commander was still fixated on the Phantom Rainbow Nebula, unwilling to open fire on the Starship.
The enemy was strong, and they were weak. Ou Zhanpeng did not want to engage and ordered the fleet to disengage.
"The enemy has space-locked us!" Ling Xiao's voice boomed in the bridge. "We can't activate the wormhole!"
Before the words had even fallen, the warships Linzhou and Qinzhou reported the same message.
Ou Zhanpeng had anticipated this outcome, but he still harbored a sliver of hope. Now, with that hope extinguished, their three warships were in dire straits.
At this critical moment, Ou Zhanpeng's thoughts were clearer than ever: "Linzhou, Qinzhou, activate remote control mode. Everyone evacuate immediately... No need for escape pods, get out as fast as possible!"
Upon receiving the order, a wave of uproar swept through the crew.
However, the situation was urgent, and Ou Zhanpeng would not waste a single word explaining. The two captains would not dare to question, immediately relaying the order while opening all cabin and passage doors.
The soldiers retreating from their posts floated out of the ships, were immediately captured by tractor beams, and all brought aboard the Starship.
Due to the extensive use of automation, the crew on the two warships was not large, numbering just over two hundred in total.
But even a small number of people cannot be evacuated instantly, and the entire process took some time.
Ordinarily, this would have been the enemy's best opportunity, but the Black Horn people did not seize the moment to fire. Instead, they deployed a large number of fighter craft, swarming towards the Starship like a dense beehive.
It was clear that the enemy had no intention of destroying the Starship from the outset, but rather aimed to board and seize the warship.
In an instant, this slight difference in timing became the crucial opportunity for the Starship to successfully rescue the other crew members!
As the Black Horn fighter cluster approached, the Starship was just bringing the last few crew members into its hold. Then, the three warships opened fire in unison.
Laser cannons, rapid-fire cannons, particle cannons!
All defensive weapons fired simultaneously, blasting enemy fighters within range into scattered space dust and flying debris.
Wherever the human warships' cannons pointed, enemy aircraft instantly turned to dust, the explosions continuous like fireworks on a festival.
The Black Horn fighter swarm, like a wave hitting a reef, had its assault momentarily halted.
Simultaneously, the Starship continued its bombardment of the planet, severing the second orbital elevator.
It wasn't that he didn't want to use other means, but no weapon generated power out of nothing; it required sufficient energy from the warship.
The thermal fusion beam seemed feasible, capable of destroying the planet with high temperatures.
However, any weapon must consider environmental and energy constraints. While a thermal fusion beam could cover a large area in the vacuum of space, how large was a planet's mass? And what was the Starship's tonnage?
Even if the Starship expended all its energy to power the thermal fusion beam, it would at most slightly increase the planet's temperature, having no effect.
The same logic applied to spatial tremors. This weapon could shatter all matter in a given space, but when targeting a planet, it wouldn't shake anything. It would be fortunate if the equipment wasn't destroyed; mishandling it could even shatter the warship.
Therefore, the Starship could only rely on its shear cannon.
The Black Horn fleet's eyes turned red. All warships accelerated simultaneously, flying towards the Starship like an approaching storm.
Ou Zhanpeng's expression was unreadable. "What about space?"
Ling Xiao shook his head. "Still locked."
Ou Zhanpeng maneuvered the warship and fired again. This time, instead of targeting the orbital elevator, he directly severed the orbital ring in half. A section of the ring immediately detached and spiraled down towards the planet.
To ensure the effectiveness of his attack, he chose to target the inner ring rather than the outer ring on the synchronous orbit.
Witnessing this, the Black Horn people were indignant. The high command had some reservations, still thinking about seizing the warship.
However, the mid- to low-level officers did not have so many complicated thoughts. Several Black ships angrily opened fire.
Over a dozen beams struck the Starship, but they were immediately deflected by the shields. Not only did they fail to damage the Starship, but they also blew up a large number of the swarming Black Horn warships.
Ling Xiao grinned so wide his mouth almost split: "This is what we call a tactical reflection, using the enemy's firepower against them!"
Everyone was filled with admiration. To still have the mood for jokes at such a time, this person truly had a large heart!
At this, the enemy ships were at a loss as to what to do. Should they attack or not?
The Black Horn fleet quickly adjusted its deployment, abandoning the sole pursuit of capturing the ship. Instead, they ordered each ship to fire freely. For a time, countless beams rained down on the Starship.
Although the enemy ship fire was deflected by the shields, in the long run, the Starship would surely perish.
Moreover, Ou Zhanpeng keenly observed that the enemy ships were careful about their firing angles. While the shields deflected the beams, they could not replicate the feat of destroying large numbers of enemy aircraft.
What made him even more vigilant was that the enemy ships were much faster than the Starship. If this continued, they would soon be surrounded by the enemy.
It was the old saying: "Too many ants can kill an elephant." Once trapped in the enemy's encirclement, no matter how many tricks the Starship had, they would be useless.
In this moment of crisis, Ou Zhanpeng decisively retracted the tractor beams and accelerated towards the enemy's flank.
Simultaneously, under Ou Zhanpeng's command, the Linzhou and Qinzhou warships opened fire with full might, launching all their stored missiles in one go.
However, before the missiles were all fired, the two warships were concentrated fired upon by the enemy, returning to eternity in a flash of light that illuminated the void.
Witnessing this, Gu Haibo and another fleet member didn't know what to feel. If they had known they would become a burden to the Starship after passing through the wormhole, they might as well have stayed on Earth!
The warships could have been saved.
The Starship suddenly braked sharply, stopping at the enemy's flank.
The situation at this moment was somewhat bizarre. The Starship used the enemy ships to block any enemy ships that intended to attack it. They had to pass over friendly forces to gain a firing angle, effectively disqualifying them from firing on the Starship.
The Starship only needed to deal with a quarter of the enemy's firepower, instead of taking it all head-on, which greatly reduced the pressure.
"This is tactical blocking!" Ling Xiao exclaimed again, causing everyone to fall into a thoughtful silence.
The words were true, and the reasoning was sound. However, coming from Ling Xiao's mouth, it felt somehow off.
The Starship seized the advantageous position and unleashed a barrage of fierce fire, destroying over a dozen Black ships and a heavy Black ship on the spot. It then immediately shifted its target, continuing to fire while using the enemy ships to block itself.
The Black Horn people had realized what tactic Ou Zhanpeng was employing. The three warship clusters no longer formed a single line but were staggered relative to each other. Ou Zhanpeng could at most neutralize one cluster of enemy ships, forcing him to face the concentrated fire of two clusters.
Under Ou Zhanpeng's control, the Starship was like a figure skating champion on an ice rink, accelerating abruptly, decelerating suddenly, and making sharp turns to the left and right.
Not only was its speed erratic, but its positioning was also exceptionally flamboyant, either causing enemy fire to miss or evading concentrated attacks.
What further drove the Black Horn people to despair was the Starship's incredibly peculiar firepower. Not only did the three ace weapons strike simultaneously, with Black ships falling one after another, but even the planetary ring suffered continuous attacks from the Starship.
In a short period, half of the inner ring shattered and fell.
The other half of the inner ring lost its necessary structural support, becoming unstable and writhing like an uncoiled snake. It even uprooted the orbital elevator connecting to the ground, flailing in the air.
The abnormal twisting of the inner ring severely affected the stability of the middle ring. The inner ring hung beneath the elevator connecting the two orbital rings, swinging back and forth like a pendulum.
Even the outer ring showed slight tremors.
At this moment, the middle ring could still hold on, but if this continued, the completely unrestrained inner ring could potentially tear the middle ring apart.
At that point, it wouldn't just be the loss of an inner ring, but the safety of the outer ring could also be jeopardized!
To ensure the safety of the middle ring, the Black Horn people made a decisive move. The middle and outer rings opened fire at full capacity, shattering the broken inner ring one by one, finally alleviating the crisis in the middle ring.
The Black Horn high command quickly contacted the fleet: "What in the blazes are you doing? I order you to destroy that damned warship immediately!"
There was a moment of silence in the communication channel, then a voice finally said, "We must capture that warship!"
The high command was stunned and then enraged: "What did you say?"
"That is what the Master requires."
"You mean, this is that legendary warship?" The high command was shocked but quickly regained composure. "I don't care about all that. Our planet is being bullied by an alien warship. Deal with this problem immediately, or you don't need to come back!"
After the communication ended, the commander fell into a long silence, finally issuing an order that surprised everyone: "Disengage the space lock, quickly!"
The Black Horn personnel present were first stunned, but then immediately understood the commander's intention and canceled the space lock.
Immediately, over a dozen Black ships simultaneously opened wormholes, with their corresponding ends encircling the Starship.
Continuing to lock space meant trapping the Starship on the battlefield. This warship was like a fierce beast trapped in a cage, forced to fight for survival.
Canceling the lock was equivalent to giving the Starship a way out. As long as they were rational, they would immediately disengage from the battlefield and escape the dangerous situation.
This would preserve the warship and resolve the crisis on the planet. What was there not to like?
As for whether this warship would escape... Hah, the Black Horn people had plenty of time to capture it later.
The sudden opening of the wormhole made Ou Zhanpeng's eyes light up, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "Excellent!"
His words still echoed when his arms moved at incredible speed. The Starship immediately fired at the just-opened wormhole, preventing enemy ships from passing through.
At the same time, a wormhole opened in front of the Starship.
Anyone looking at it would assume the Starship was about to disengage from the battlefield.
The Black Horn commander had decided to teach the Starship a lesson. He intended to re-engage the space lock as the ship's bow entered the wormhole, thereby severely damaging the Starship.
Although they would only obtain an incomplete vessel, they could still report to their master.
After this battle, they would reassemble the fleet and head for the solar system, and by then gaining control of the Starship base, they would surely win the favor of their master and stand out among the vassal civilizations.
His little plan was going perfectly, but Ou Zhanpeng refused to play by the rules. The warship suddenly swerved, presenting its side directly to the wormhole.
Then, the hatches opened, and neatly arranged missiles ejected from the missile bays at high speed. Igniting their engines, they plunged into the wormhole.
At the same moment, a wormhole opened in the low orbital path of the planet. At first, the Black Horn people thought it was their fleet returning for reinforcements, but what emerged from the wormhole were not warships, but a hail of missiles!
Wormholes caused significant interference with beams and other energy passing through them, and even missiles would deviate from their targets. However, the greatest advantage of missiles was their ability to self-correct their course.
In less than 0.1 seconds, all missiles reacquired their correct targets and surged towards the planet.
More importantly, smoke bombs began to deploy, creating cover for other missiles to fall towards the ground.
This maneuver almost scared the Black Horn people out of their wits. The weapons deployed on the middle and outer rings immediately opened fire to intercept.
Then, ground fire joined the interception. A large number of missiles were destroyed en route.
The Black Horn commander was almost driven to madness. They had clearly cleared a path, but why wasn't the ship leaving? What was the logic behind this?
However, he could no longer afford to dwell on it and immediately ordered the space lock to be re-engaged.
The Starship fired all its missile bays on the port side in one go. Then, intending to flip 180 degrees and do the same with the starboard side, the wormhole was subjected to some peculiar interference and quickly dissipated into nothingness.
On the planet, a few missiles that had narrowly avoided destruction fell towards the ground like shooting stars, sharp as assassins' blades piercing their targets, unswerving and relentless.
Ground fire from the Black Horn people continuously grazed past the missiles, but the missiles had entered terminal guidance, their direction and speed constantly changing. They narrowly avoided enemy fire time and again, yet were never destroyed by anti-aircraft defenses.
At this critical juncture, the weapons on the middle and outer rings dared not fire anymore. Otherwise, they might not destroy the missiles but would certainly wipe out the cities from the ground.
At the crucial moment, a shield opened just before the missiles hit the ground, covering the vast city beneath it.
The middle and outer rings finally breathed a sigh of relief. With the protection of the shields, they could now fire without any reservations.
But before they could fire intercepting shots, the leading missiles slammed into the shield.
Instantaneously, the world seemed to crack and split. In a flash of blinding light, the shield shattered like paper, and the airburst radiation illuminated a corner of the city.
Following this, the shockwave swept outwards at high speed, destroying everything in its path.
Even before the mushroom clouds could rise, several other missiles hit in succession, the flashing intense light appearing one after another, the powerful shockwaves creating open spaces.
The mushroom bombs carried by the Starship had a minimum yield of ten million tons, with the highest exceeding fifty million tons, making them true instruments of mass destruction.
If a city was hit by the highest yield, just one bomb could form a massive kill zone with a radius of over thirty kilometers, at least wiping out half of the Black Horn city!
Not only that, but other major cities on the planet were also visited by mushroom bombs. The planet, which had been peaceful moments ago, was now scorched earth everywhere.