Before Ou Zhanpeng could sound the alarm, Gong Yiding and Mi Sha simultaneously detected the不对劲 situation, and the negotiations were urgently suspended.
A swarm of black ships emerged from the wormhole. Mi Sha's flagship turned and fled, like a startled rabbit.
Gong Yiding activated the wormhole, but the jump system remained inert. He tried again, out of disbelief, but the result was the same.
It was bad!
Ou Zhanpeng's furious roar crackled through the radio: "Star Raft, disengage immediately, disengage immediately—"
"Star Raft cannot disengage!" Facing the menacing enemy fleet, Gong Yiding's processor showed no fluctuation. "The space has been sealed by the enemy. The black ships and the Black Horn people are in league, no wonder the black ships are so powerful!"
"Disengage by conventional means!" Ou Zhanpeng roared.
He could not bear the consequences of losing Gong Yiding, nor could Earth.
Gong Yiding watched the enemy ships pass through the wormhole and immediately calculated their speed: "The enemy ships are faster, Star Raft cannot disengage!"
Ou Zhanpeng was almost driven mad and was about to pilot the Star Boat to meet the enemy.
Gong Yiding sat calmly in the command chair: "Little Ou, don't be rash!"
As he spoke, the back of his head lifted upwards, revealing a sophisticated electronic structure.
The upper part of the command chair's backrest opened simultaneously, and several probes, as thick as fingers, extended out, their ends accurately inserting into the back of Gong Yiding's head.
Gong Yiding's consciousness transferred into the warship. The lights in the robot's eyes extinguished, and at the same time, all screens and lights in the bridge illuminated, and the Star Raft entered combat mode.
"Come on!" Gong Yiding's voice echoed through the bridge.
Just then, over a dozen enemy ships suddenly opened wormholes and departed, leaving only four black ships in front.
"Opportunity!" Ou Zhanpeng shouted.
Gong Yiding immediately attempted to activate the wormhole, but the jump device remained unresponsive.
"There's nothing we can do," Gong Yiding said.
Ou Zhanpeng immediately contacted Earth: "Headquarters, Star Boat requests to engage, to reinforce Star Raft... Headquarters, we must eliminate the enemy ships as soon as possible, otherwise the enemy will blockade Earth, and our warships will be unable to escape and will not be a match for the enemy, the consequences are unimaginable!"
Zhou Guangyi's ruthless reply came through the communication: "No, Star Boat is strictly prohibited from engaging!"
Ou Zhanpeng gritted his teeth: "Are you asking me to watch the Star Raft sink?"
"Even if Earth sinks, you have to watch for me!"
Ou Zhanpeng clenched his fist abruptly.
A soldier's duty is to obey orders. He didn't understand strategic deployment, only that they had the ability to rescue but were doing nothing, what kind of damned order was this?
Gong Yiding, however, didn't seem to care at all and even persuaded Ou Zhanpeng a few times.
With a thought, four auxiliary ships disengaged simultaneously, accelerating towards the enemy ships.
At this moment, the main ship and the four auxiliary ships fired in unison.
Electromagnetic cannons, laser cannons, and particle cannons fired without preference, focusing on a single enemy ship. The enemy's shields immediately erupted with brilliant light.
Particle cannons were an extremely weakened version of the Horizon Cannon but were one of the main armaments of human warships, possessing strong power and high speed, though their range was too short, less than a fraction of the original.
But this was enough. The Star Raft's concentrated firepower was so intense that it prevented the enemy ship from lifting its head.
The remaining enemy ships immediately rushed forward to rescue their comrades. Gong Yiding immediately fired smoke bombs. Under the cover of the smoke, he dodged and weaved, doing his best to evade enemy fire while ignoring the other enemy ships, focusing solely on hammering the target to death.
It was better to break one finger than to wound ten. With the powerful computational assistance of the onboard computer, the warship always flew along the optimal flight path. Acceleration, deceleration, climbing, and descending—every action was precise to the millisecond.
The Star Raft, fighting four against one, performed admirably, giving the extremely anxious Ou Zhanpeng a sliver of reassurance.
At this moment, the Star Boat issued another alert. The holographic projection shifted, displaying a view of Earth's vicinity.
Over a dozen wormholes were opening, revealing eight black ships, and six more ships that were identical to the black ships in their front halves but had their rear halves significantly expanded, resembling enlarged umbrella ribs or a group of super-sized space octopuses.
These warships were strangely shaped, giving off an extremely eerie feeling.
With the appearance of this fleet of unknown warships, after several months, the fleet guarding Earth sounded the battle alarm again. All warships immediately ascended, preparing to meet the enemy!
The Earth-Moon defense system also prepared to repel the enemy in the shortest possible time. The firing points at various locations rotated, their muzzles aimed at the enemy ships.
"Walking into a trap... Fire!" Zhou Guangyi gave the command, and the operator immediately issued the firing order.
However, the scene of chaotic bombardment destroying enemy ships did not materialize.
Zhou Guangyi grew anxious: "What's going on?"
"Unclear, all systems are normal!"
"Try again!"
Trying again yielded the same result, with no change.
"It seems there's a problem with the wireless power supply system," a staff officer said.
No matter how unwilling Zhou Guangyi was to believe it, he knew the problem wasn't with their own system but that the enemy had used some unknown means!
He pinched his thigh hard, as if doing so could alleviate his inner pain.
Why did the problem occur at this critical juncture, not earlier or later? What was the use of spending so much resources to build this thing?
"The enemy is moving, the warships are descending!"
"Fleet sortie—"
Dozens of human warships simultaneously broke from their positions to meet the enemy. Before even entering firing range, each ship bombarded the enemy with electromagnetic cannons.
Not a single human warship escaped the battlefield, but the warships of both sides were not on the same level. The black ships merely showed a brief, slight flicker on their shields when hit by human fire, and then became still.
Conversely, a few black ships, with just a couple of shells, caused several human warships to explode and sink, turning into scattered space debris.
To deal with human warships, the black ships needed only one shot, at most two.
The Allied Fleet suffered heavy losses. The leaders of various factions immediately contacted Yan Jing: "Where is the fleet? Where is your Earth fleet? If the Earth fleet doesn't show up, the Allied Fleet will be completely finished!"
The Earth Fleet also continuously received communications requesting to engage, but Zhou Guangyi's expression remained somber, and he did not issue the order to sortie.
He knew very well the capabilities of his own warships. The next order was simple, but what would be the result? Complete annihilation?
Ou Zhanpeng, who had witnessed the entire event, once again requested to engage.
Zhou Guangyi was furious: "Ou Zhanpeng, have you forgotten what I told you? The enemy clearly has the ability to seal space, so why haven't they made a move until now? Isn't it to lure out all our warships and catch them in one fell swoop? Knowing it's a trap and still jumping in, is there something wrong with your brain?"
Ou Zhanpeng tried his best to persuade him: "Of course I know the enemy's intentions, please believe me, Star Boat is fine!"
With the situation so dire, who would care about the original order?
"It's not up to you to say if Star Boat is fine!" Zhou Guangyi gave no room for negotiation and reprimanded him sternly, "You stay put!"