Near the edge of the solar system, a swarm of wormholes suddenly appeared in the void. Thirty-two Meteor-class battleships instantly traversed the wormholes, then formed into three squadrons at maximum speed.
Moments later, the Starship Base appeared behind the fleet.
"Starship One, Ling Xiao's booming voice shook the bridge, "We've reached the designated position, 37 light-seconds from the target. All departments are operating smoothly!"
"Target seven detected: one super-battleship, six battleships!"
"Target speed and direction unchanged!"
"Fleet formation complete, preparing to advance!"
Reports from various posts came in one after another. Ou Zhanpeng's gaze was solemn, "Maintain strict monitoring of the fleet's situation, lock targets with long-range firepower, and prepare to fire... We're not the main force this time, so don't get too excited."
"If you ask me, we're just here to be the fleet's nannies!" Ling Xiao pouted in dissatisfaction.
"There's nothing wrong with being a nanny," Ou Zhanpeng's mindset was very sound. Only when the fleet's overall strength improved would humanity's strength increase. A single Starship One was not enough.
The four squadrons of eight ships quickly spread out, but instead of firing on the enemy, they issued a warning in the common tongue: "Attention approaching vessels, this is Human territory. Please depart immediately, or face the consequences!"
The announcement was broadcast three times, followed by a patient several minutes of waiting. However, the opposing side continued their course.
"Warning, opening fire!"
Upon receiving the order, the battleships immediately opened fire, a beam of light streaking across in front of the enemy.
The previously motionless enemy suddenly erupted, turning in unison to face the human fleet.
This was not a reaction of withdrawal or retreat. The commanding officer made a decisive move, "Fire!"
At his command, over thirty battleships unleashed a volley. Half their firepower struck the six enemy ships, while the other half was aimed at the super-battleship.
The enemy was equally resolute. Before the human fleet's bombardment could hit their targets, the mysterious fleet悍然 opened fire in retaliation.
The distance between the two fleets was too great. Their respective volleys crisscrossed in the void, flying directly towards their intended targets.
On the human side, immediately after completing their volley, the commanding officer ordered the fleet to transfer. Each ship activated a wormhole, instantly appearing in another direction.
While the fleet was safe, Ou Zhanpeng felt a pang of frustration.
It was easy for the fleet to evade, but the Starship Base was still behind them. At least half of the enemy's firepower struck the base, causing wave-like ripples to spread across the shields, like rain on a lake, layering upon one another.
Two seconds later, the human fleet's bombardment hit its mark accurately.
The six enemy ships were clustered together, their shields merging, shielding the super-battleship behind them, adopting a stance of protecting the super-battleship's escape at all costs.
The first exchange ended in a stalemate, with neither side even grasping the enemy's true strength.
The human fleet's tactics were extremely cautious, firing and repositioning. The enemy, on the other hand, steadfastly protected their super-battleship throughout, perfectly deflecting all incoming fire with their shields, regardless of the direction.
From the situation on the battlefield, this back-and-forth artillery duel was likely to continue for some time. However, Ou Zhanpeng's brows were deeply furrowed.
On another battlefield, he would never interfere with a commanding officer's decisions. But the enemy's objective in coming here was to probe human capabilities. If the enemy couldn't be dealt with quickly, it could lead to greater trouble!
With this thought, he contacted the commanding officer without hesitation, "Resolve the enemy as quickly as possible. If you can't, let us handle it!"
Soldiers consider honor their life. Who, being a man, could stand such a remark?
The commanding officer gritted his teeth, hardened his resolve, and ordered the fleet to close the distance and finish off the enemy as quickly as possible.
Abandoning their conservative tactics, the fleet immediately launched a proactive assault, opening wormholes directly near the enemy ships and unleashing a barrage of missiles into them.
Half the battleships maintained a full barrage for suppressive fire, while the other half temporarily ceased firing to build energy for their shear cannons.
Seconds later, two enemy ships were split in two without warning, and several others were hit by shear cannons, sustaining varying degrees of damage.
What shocked the enemy even more was yet to come. A human squadron opened a wormhole directly inside the super-battleship. After sending in several missiles, they immediately closed the wormhole.
A moment later, a mushroom cloud erupted from within the super-battleship, shattering the massive vessel into pieces amidst intense light.
The human fleet pressed their advantage, their artillery raining down like raindrops. However, after losing their super-battleship, the remaining enemy ships seemed to have lost their anchor. They didn't even activate their shields, allowing the human bombardment to hit them.
Ou Zhanpeng cursed inwardly, but it was too late. The remaining enemy ships exploded amidst the dense gunfire.
Scanning the battlefield, not a single intact enemy ship could be found. Even the wreckage was pitifully small.
The enemy had been dealt with, but Ou Zhanpeng let out a sigh.
Defeating the immediate enemy was not the objective. The key was to understand where the enemy came from and what their intentions were.
But with the super-battleship destroyed and the battleships gone, leaving only fragments of wreckage, finding clues and deducing the enemy's origin would be no simple task.
Ou Zhanpeng was also insatiable. He was the one who had ordered a swift resolution, but he was also the one who, seeing the enemy was far weaker than anticipated, had planned to hold back and capture some prisoners.
Fortunately, the enemy had been annihilated.
There was nothing more to say. The next step was a thorough clean-up of the battlefield. A large number of drones flew out of the battleships, scanning every piece of wreckage on the battlefield. Any sign of life detected was to be immediately sent back to the battleships, with the hope of capturing a few prisoners.
Alas, their efforts were in vain. Nothing was found in the wreckage.
Not only were there no enemy corpses, but no biological samples for reference could be found.
This was strange. Unless this fleet had no living personnel at all, there should have been some clues.
Could it have been an unmanned, remote-controlled fleet?
This thought crossed Ou Zhanpeng's mind and immediately consumed his entire train of thought. The more he considered it, the more it seemed to make sense.
Ling Xiao had a different opinion. He pieced together the images captured by the drones, forming partial images of the enemy ships' interiors.
The images showed that the interior of the enemy ships had almost no space. This situation could be explained in three ways: besides mechanical civilizations and remote-controlled warships, the only other possibility was that their size was so small it was practically invisible.
An extremely tiny intelligent life form?
Ou Zhanpeng didn't know what to say. Whether it was true or false, his imagination was certainly wild.
To ascertain the enemy's true nature, the fleet conducted a comprehensive re-examination of the wreckage, its objective being to find any electronic components and determine whether they were remotely controlled or autonomous robots.
Although no one yet knew what technology the enemy used to control their warships, the technology itself could not defy the laws of physics. As long as they followed this line of reasoning, they were bound to find something useful... right?