Ou Zhanpeng was immersed in his shocked thoughts when the holographic projection before him suddenly changed without him making any moves, interrupting his train of thought.
What was happening?
He had never encountered such a situation before and was momentarily bewildered.
The next second, piercing alarm sirens filled his ears. Ou Zhanpeng looked up abruptly. The center of the spaceship cabin had transformed into a spatial projection of the base's surroundings. Over a dozen light spots were flashing above the base.
Damn it!
Ou Zhanpeng quickly waved his hand to enlarge the image and was stunned to realize that each light spot was an opening wormhole!
He jolted awake: Bad!
Ever since the Brain Fish surrendered, the fleet had not left Callisto. These were definitely not wormholes opened by their own warships!
Gong Yiding's communication also came in at this moment. A roar erupted from the terminal, "What happened?"
Without time to explain, Ou Zhanpeng immediately roared back, "Combat alert, fleet ascend!"
The sharp alarms suddenly blared, and the starship base descended into chaos.
In over thirty years, this was the first time the base had sounded a combat alert. Although Gong Yiding had organized numerous drills, the suddenness of the event left many researchers still engrossed in their experiments and reluctant to leave.
With insufficient personnel, Gong Yiding couldn't manage everyone. He ordered all cabin doors and bulkheads sealed, leaving the rest to fate and praying the battle wouldn't affect the base.
In the direction of Callisto, the six warships that received the order also sounded combat alerts. Combat orders were quickly relayed downwards, with everyone ordered to return to their positions as quickly as possible, preparing to reinforce the starship base.
Everyone present understood the importance of the starship base. They would rather have their entire fleet annihilated than let the base suffer any damage.
Callisto's semi-major axis is 1.88 million kilometers, while Io's semi-major axis is only 420,000 kilometers. The orbital distance between the two is too vast. Traveling conventionally would take at least a day; wormholes were necessary to reach the battlefield in time.
Fire support was also unrealistic. Among the weapons known to humanity, the longest-range weapon was the shear cannon used by the starship base to destroy the derelict ships, followed by the Horizon Cannon.
However, this distance far exceeded the range of the Horizon Cannon!
Just as the fleet was preparing to open a wormhole, Ou Zhanpeng suddenly issued an urgent directive, ordering the fleet to jump behind Io and conceal themselves, rather than appearing directly near the starship base.
The commander did not understand Ou Zhanpeng's intentions but carried out the order without hesitation. A wormhole opened, and the six warships vanished in an instant, reappearing directly below Io.
The moment the wormhole unfolded, Ou Zhanpeng promptly activated the quantum jammer. An invisible light film enveloped the surroundings, completely masking the spatial fluctuations caused by the wormhole. Regardless of who was coming, they wouldn't be able to discover the fleet's location.
Gong Yiding rushed to the main control room and questioned Ou Zhanpeng directly, "Xiao Ou, why didn't you fire?"
Ou Zhanpeng shook his head, his heart extremely conflicted. "What if the intruders are not enemies?" No one could determine the identity of the arrivals through a wormhole. If they weren't the 4-meter beings or pirates, firing rashly would only create new enemies for humanity.
Gong Yiding had far fewer concerns. "Opening a wormhole next to our base is itself a hostile act!"
"I know," Ou Zhanpeng silently adjusted the shield power to its maximum, intending to withstand the enemy's initial assault. "We still have seven billion Earthlings behind us."
Gong Yiding sighed, "Whatever you say... How can someone as young as you think more than an old man like me?"
In his eyes, the solar system had always been humanity's inherent home. Any unauthorized entry into the solar system was tantamount to invasion.
Ou Zhanpeng held the same view, but humanity had only just ventured beyond its homeworld and was hardly an interstellar civilization. They were pitifully weak, unable to match even a group of disreputable pirates, let alone other interstellar civilizations.
To speak of repelling enemies at the doorstep at this juncture was simply unrealistic.
He remained silent, gritting his teeth, every action carrying immense weight.
As they spoke, twelve white ships passed through the wormhole and appeared within the starship base's line of sight.
These warships were larger and had more turrets. In comparison, the previous batch of white ships were at best armed patrol boats; these were the 4-meter beings' true warships!
The situation was turning grim!
Ou Zhanpeng's muscles tensed subtly. If the other party showed any signs of aggression, he would retaliate immediately.
Unexpectedly, the 4-meter beings did not launch an immediate attack but maintained their distance, remaining stationary.
In the main control room, the communication projection flickered.
Ou Zhanpeng and Gong Yiding exchanged glances and activated the communication system.
A string of verbose and bizarre sounds emerged, leaving Ou Zhanpeng utterly confused. "What is all this nonsense?"
Gong Yiding furrowed his synthetic brow. "This is a final ultimatum from someone named Bing Yan, representing the Glorious Star Kingdom, demanding that we cease resistance and immediately hand over the stars and clouds that change color, or they will initiate an attack."
It was indeed very nonsensical.
Ou Zhanpeng's eyes immediately changed. "You understand it?"
"A little," Gong Yiding replied humbly.
Apart from his mind and memories, everything else in him was mechanical and electronic. He didn't need to think; loading software allowed him to instantly translate the other party's language.
"Can you speak it?" Ou Zhanpeng asked.
"We can try," Gong Yiding said.
A sharp glint flashed in Ou Zhanpeng's eyes. "Reply: If you want to fight, then fight. Stop the damn chatter!"
Gong Yiding was taken aback. Before he could translate the message, Ou Zhanpeng launched a fierce attack. A heavy white ship quietly split apart, dividing into two halves.
It was like a master chef casually slicing a zucchini with a single stroke, effortlessly cleaving it open.
The remaining enemy ships were instantly thrown into disarray. They had never expected this lowly civilization to fire the first shot!
In the eyes of the 4-meter beings, humans who had just left their planet were almost equivalent to primitive beings. This act was akin to an ant provoking an elephant.
In just an instant, the eleven heavy white ships opened fire simultaneously. With their initial volley, over a hundred beams of light densely crisscrossed, filling the void with the brilliance of piercing spacetime.
But the 4-meter beings' firepower fell upon Starship's shield like light reflecting off a mirror, immediately repelled. Not a single beam penetrated the shield.
The Starship Base was far more advanced than imagined. It used a reflective force field shield, which required very little energy to deflect enemy fire.
This scene agitated the enemy. The eleven warships intensified their bombardment, and for a moment, the starry sky seemed to be submerged by the 4-meter beings' cannons.
Although the Starship Base's shield was strong, it wavered under the enemy's continuous assault, its strength rapidly declining. Gong Yiding, anxious, hopped up and down, "Counterattack! Counterattack!"
"This is good, this is good!" Ou Zhanpeng repeatedly agreed. A wormhole quietly opened behind the enemy ships, and Starship fired a shot into it.
Expecting to instantly vaporize the enemy ships, they were surprised when this shot was interfered with by the wormhole, deviating drastically from its intended path. The deviation was immense, effectively firing a high-angle shot.
Gong Yiding was almost choked with anger. "Wormholes aren't used like that. Energy weapons are problematic, and solid projectiles are also affected."
Ou Zhanpeng felt a toothache. It wasn't that he didn't want to continue firing, but the shield and the cannons were inherently contradictory. To fire, he had to deactivate the shield, or at least turn off the shield directly in front of the cannon's muzzle. Otherwise, it wouldn't be the enemy attacking the shield, but both sides attacking it.
He certainly wished for the shield to block only enemy fire and not their own bombardment, but that was impossible. Either they had to use wormholes to bypass the shield or partially lower the shield before firing.
Given the intense enemy fire at the moment, deactivating the shield was simple, but the base would inevitably take a few hits, making it a loss not worth the gain.
The enemy's firepower grew fiercer. The fleet hidden behind Io repeatedly requested to engage, but Ou Zhanpeng sternly refused.
The gap between the two sides was glaringly obvious. Deploying their warships at this time would undoubtedly lead to heavy losses.
Seeing that Starship was unable to retaliate, the enemy became even more brazen, bombarding the base's shield until it was on the verge of collapse.
Even a powerful entity like Starship couldn't withstand such sustained barrages for long without fighting back.
At this point, Gong Yiding no longer urged him but waited for the next move.
Ou Zhanpeng gritted his teeth. "Forcing me to use my trump card, huh? I'll play with you to the end!"
With a stern expression, he moved his arms, pointing and gesturing, and unexpectedly activated the temporal bubble.
In an instant, the enemy's dense firepower suddenly slowed down like a motion picture. Only two enemy ships remained unchanged, continuing to fire intensely.
Gong Yiding's eyes lit up, and he immediately gave a thumbs-up. "Well done!" He truly hadn't expected the temporal bubble to be used in this manner.
Ou Zhanpeng, without any hesitation, immediately opened fire in retaliation. Over a dozen beams launched from various positions of the base accurately hit the two enemy ships.
The enemy's shields were not for show; they withstood the base's first wave of counterattacks.
However, it didn't matter. The base's firepower was far superior to the enemy ships. They unleashed a furious barrage of concentrated fire, using storm-like volleys to suppress the two enemy ships, preventing them from retaliating.
Just moments ago, the base was being pummeled by the enemy. Now, the situation had done a 180-degree turn, with the enemy ships struggling to survive.
Ou Zhanpeng felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction. He left some firepower to tie down the left ship, concentrating all remaining cannon fire on the right ship. With just two volleys, he shattered the enemy ship's shields and, with a couple of follow-up shots, blew the enemy ship into a blinding flash of light that illuminated the void for an instant.
It was perhaps the enemy ship's final moment of glory.
Subsequently, all cannons concentrated their fire on the other enemy ship. It only lasted a little longer before it too met its demise.
Outside the boundary layer, the enemy fleet was launching a frantic assault. However, the temporal flow was different on both sides, giving Ou Zhanpeng ample time to utilize.
Just as he was about to press his advantage, Gong Yiding stopped him. "Wait a moment, give me some time to transfer those stubborn minds to the sanctuary!"
Ou Zhanpeng thought that was a good idea and readily agreed.
The base's cabin doors and bulkheads were all opened, and Gong Yiding, with maximum speed, transferred those obstinate researchers fixated on their work to a safe zone.
When he returned to the main control cabin, Ou Zhanpeng was calmly observing the enemy's firepower.
Outside the protection of the boundary layer, every enemy action was slowed down countless times. Even the beams of light could be clearly seen with the naked eye.
This scene was indeed a rare and remarkable sight.
Gong Yiding looked utterly astonished. "What? You've become addicted?"
"No," Ou Zhanpeng shook his head. "I just find it quite incredible."
What he was thinking about was the Black Cosmos civilization. Just how powerful was that civilization to have forced the Prophet to flee for over twenty thousand years?
The shields had been replenished and were in optimal condition. Ou Zhanpeng employed his strategy again, deactivating the temporal bubble and immediately restarting it. Outside, time only returned to normal for a few seconds before being fully enveloped by the temporal bubble once more.
Of course, two heavy white ships were included as targets. It was, as expected, a complete domination. In just this short period, five heavy white ships had sunk under Starship's cannons.
The remaining 4-meter beings were all shocked by this unexpected outcome. Was this the combat capability of a lesser civilization? Surely a higher civilization wouldn't be so formidable?
The enemy suddenly felt the urge to retreat. However, the 4-meter beings' commander hesitated for just a moment before the temporal bubble once again encompassed two heavy white ships.
Bing Yan was almost driven mad. Just a little more, and his flagship would have been caught by the temporal bubble!
Without daring to hesitate further, he immediately activated a wormhole to retreat. Yet, he was unwilling to leave so ignominiously. He actually opened the other end of the wormhole in Earth's outer space!
Between destroying two enemy ships, Ou Zhanpeng was stunned to discover that the enemy ships were targeting Earth.
This ignited Ou Dashao's temper. As he shut down the temporal bubble, he unleashed full firepower, aiming and bombarding the enemy ships fiercely.
Simultaneously, he ordered the fleet to sortie, stating that no matter what, they must prevent the enemy ships from entering the wormhole!
Not only that, but Ou Dashao immediately piloted Starship out of the base, preparing to defend Earth.
At the same time, he did not forget to activate a wormhole, sending a drone to Earth to issue the highest level of warning.
Earth was not unprepared. Luojian Mountain immediately activated the derelict ships hidden for many years, waiting to blast any enemy ships that appeared.
However, the wormhole opened, but the meticulously arrayed human fleet only detected waves of terrifying energy fluctuations. Before they could even see the enemy ships appear, the wormholes vanished one after another, making the derelict ships want to fire into the wormholes themselves.
The alarm had been issued, yet they hadn't seen so much as a hair of the enemy ships. This was no way to play!
In the direction of Jupiter, a completely different scene unfolded.
It was initially thought that after Starship detached from the base, it would only be able to rely on its onboard cannons to deal with the enemy. Unexpectedly, wherever Starship locked its gaze, the base would fire at that target. Not only was there no weakening, but the combined firepower of the base and the fleet created an effect greater than the sum of its parts.
The fleet, which had been hiding behind Io, finally got its chance to appear. However, apart from the derelict ships using the Horizon Cannon to shatter one enemy ship, the other warships didn't even get a chance to fire.
But no one found this strange. Starship Base could even control time, so dealing with a few alien warships was nothing?
With Starship holding the line, there was no need to worry about alien invasion, right?
However, Ou Zhanpeng did not think so. His expression was so grim it could almost drip with water. "Elder Gong, from now on, the base will be under your command."
"Where are you going?" Gong Yiding asked.
"Returning to Earth," Ou Zhanpeng replied.