The starship passed through the wormhole, and the bridge immediately became busy. Officers carried out their duties, a continuous stream of technical jargon filling the air.
Unlike previous times, the bridge was not as chaotic. The Starship team had developed excellent tacit understanding through years of work. They didn't need many reports, nor did Ouyang Zhanpeng need to issue many commands. The bridge officer corps could flawlessly execute every order from the captain.
Using the most concise language to complete the most complex tasks.
But today was different. The Star Destroyer Cannon was a new toy. No one had ever used it before. Although the operating procedure was not much different from other weapons, the specific details required Ouyang Zhanpeng's personal approval.
For example, crucial data such as firing trajectory, power output, and duration.
Ouyang Zhanpeng was also in a difficult position. The crew hadn't used it, and neither had he!
At this moment, he really wanted to contact the base and ask Lei for remote guidance, but he dismissed the idea after a moment's thought.
It wasn't a particularly important planet anyway. At worst, they could just try a few more times, right?
With this thought, Ouyang Zhanpeng made up his mind, "Full charge, firing power at 30%!"
The fire control officer immediately responded, "Charging complete, 30% power... ready to fire at any moment!"
"Target locked!"
Ouyang Zhanpeng subtly pursed his lips, lightly tapped his fingertip, and issued the fire command.
At that very instant, the lights on the bridge suddenly dimmed, and even the brightness of the screens changed noticeably.
Everyone looked up, looking around, unsure of what had happened.
The next second, the Star Destroyer Cannon fired fiercely. A bright red beam shot out from the front of the warship, piercing directly into the depths of the planet.
The atmosphere of the giant planet was already turbulent. The moment the beam struck, disturbances arose. The already raging hurricane suddenly intensified, and a vortex centered on the beam slowly formed at a visible speed, expanding outwards rapidly. Before long, a striking large cyclone had formed on the surface of the giant planet.
Just like on Earth, the center of the cyclone was a calm eye. The alien structures on the planet had been continuously obscured by the surging airflow. This was the first time everyone had seen the true appearance of this thing.
The beam passed through the eye and struck the "ruins" above, immediately triggering a bright shield.
The beam and the shield canceled each other out. Energy clashed fiercely at a level imperceptible to human senses. In the blink of an eye, the area of the eye expanded several times, and the speed of the cyclone's outer edge increased further.
Witnessing this, Ouyang Zhanpeng couldn't help but wince.
30% power couldn't penetrate the shield of the Supernova Cannon?
He could not accept this result no matter what. Seeing that the shield seemed to be close to its limit, he immediately ordered an adjustment, "Increase firing power by 10%!"
"Firing power at 35%... 40%... Power stable, energy supply normal!"
Whether it was an illusion or not, Ouyang Zhanpeng suddenly felt the beam seemed to have become a little brighter.
For some reason, he suddenly recalled Jupiter back then. It seemed like a beam like this had penetrated it deeply. Not long after, Jupiter turned into a small star, still emitting light and heat to this day.
Like a meowstar that misrecognized itself and thought it was a dog.
As the beam intensified, the shield's brightness also increased. It still blocked the beam tightly without any concession.
"They're still in a stalemate?" Ling Xiao couldn't help but mutter.
Ouyang Zhanpeng's mouth twitched, revealing a cold, ruthless smile, "Then let's add a bit more effort, 50%! I refuse to believe that if I can blow up a planet, I can't break through this turtle shell!"
The firing power increased by another ten percent. The shield's brightness continued to increase. It looked precarious, but it still blocked the beam tightly.
It was unclear if the Star Destroyer Cannon had triggered some kind of emergency mechanism in the alien structure. The structure, which had been silent, suddenly changed. The top cover slowly opened, revealing a cannon muzzle large enough to fit several starships.
Deep within the cannon barrel, a faint glow could be seen.
Ouyang Zhanpeng's heart skipped a beat. Instinctively, he leaned forward, "70%!"
The Star Destroyer Cannon increased its firing power for the third time, by 20% in one go. The previously tenacious shield finally couldn't withstand it and, without any warning, suddenly exploded, causing the camera feed to turn white.
When the image returned to normal, the beam finally hit the structure. In just a moment, it blasted a large hole through the sturdy wall and directly hit the Supernova Cannon.
Ouyang Zhanpeng held his breath subconsciously, waiting for the result.
He wasn't worried about the Supernova Cannon firing at the Starship because although the warship was positioned above the structure, it was not directly above it. Even if this thing fired immediately, it wouldn't singe a single hair on the Starship.
As for firing at the star, there was even less to worry about. This thing could indeed age a perfectly good star, but this aging process wasn't sudden. Instead, it compressed billions of years of evolution into a very short period.
However, "short" here was relative to stars. For humans, this period would be enough to destroy planets.
As expected, all signs indicated that the Supernova Cannon was about to fire.
Although Ouyang Zhanpeng knew the warship was not in danger, he still felt reluctant to take risks. Noticing that the Star Destroyer Cannon was performing very stably, he immediately decided to continue increasing the power, raising the total power to 85%.
In terms of sheer power, the Supernova Cannon was definitely stronger than the Star Destroyer Cannon, and not by three or five times, but ten or twenty times wouldn't be an exaggeration.
The problem was that the Supernova Cannon couldn't fight back at all, and could only endure the firepower of the Star Destroyer Cannon.
The light at the bottom of the Supernova Cannon grew brighter and brighter. It was clear that it would start firing before long.
Many people's moods gradually became tense, all wondering what would happen next.
Just as the Supernova Cannon was about to fire, the beam of the Star Destroyer Cannon finally penetrated the outer wall of the target.
A thick beam suddenly shot out from the Supernova Cannon and swept past the side of the Starship. At this moment, the massive warship felt like a paper boat under a waterfall, giving the illusion that it would be submerged the next second. Everyone's heart lurched.
However, an illusion was just an illusion. The warship had sufficient safety distance from the beam.
But the beam only lasted for a moment. Because another, much thinner beam shot out from the position penetrated by the Star Destroyer Cannon, narrowly missing the Starship and startling everyone.
The Starship emergency evaded, and the Star Destroyer Cannon ceased firing. The cyclone did not weaken but instead grew stronger, continuing to expand outwards, and the eye instantly expanded several times more!
In fact, there was no need to continue firing. The beam, which should have been concentrated, had split. The damaged cannon barrel had suffered immense impact. In just over ten seconds, there was a sudden explosion in the eye, the Supernova Cannon broke in the middle, and the beam's direction shifted, sweeping past the rear of the Starship.
This time, everyone was truly terrified. Ouyang Zhanpeng's heart leaped, and he quickly activated the wormhole to escape the danger.
Ouyang Zhanpeng believed the Starship's shield was strong enough. However, in front of the Supernova Cannon, the base's shield was no stronger than paper. The warship itself was even less so, it would surely break with a gentle poke.
Without the protection of a shield, the hull was a brittle shell.
It wasn't until the warship entered the wormhole and appeared near the base that everyone involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was too close!" Ling Xiao wiped the sweat from his brow. His heart was pounding like a drum, as if he had just run several hundred-meter sprints. "If something like this happens again, we have to stay far away. We can't do this anymore!"
Ouyang Zhanpeng readily agreed, "If something like this happens again, only a dog would fire the cannon. I'll just blow up the planet directly!"
One lesson was enough. He never had the habit of risking his life.
At this time, the situation on the planet was still developing. The holographic projection in the center of the bridge showed that at first, there were only two beams, one thick and one thin, sweeping around. Then, for some unknown reason, the beams continued to split, with seventeen or eighteen thick and thin beams. It was like a disco with the lights off.
The wildly surging beams continuously damaged the cannon barrel. After a short while, a white light suddenly exploded, and the rising mushroom cloud swept away the surrounding clouds. A visible shockwave swept across the planet's surface.
A gas giant planet had no surface to speak of, but the energy of this explosion was so immense that it tore a huge gap in the thick atmosphere, completely disrupting the previously regular atmospheric circulation.
It was no exaggeration to say that the explosion of the Supernova Cannon had completely changed the climate and environment of the giant planet.
In the past, if anyone had said that the environment of a giant planet could be changed by artificial means, Ouyang Zhanpeng would have either scoffed or thoroughly questioned and asked for specific conditions.
Now, they no longer needed to. As long as the energy was powerful enough, destroying a giant planet was not a problem. Changing the climate was nothing!
All of this could only be seen on the holographic projection. Due to the distance, the planet still appeared intact from the base, with no abnormal changes.
Three hours and fourteen minutes later, a wormhole finally appeared in the constantly locked frame, and the Starship emerged from it.
At this moment, Ouyang Zhanpeng felt a strange and indescribable feeling, like an amateur actor accidentally seeing his performance on the big screen.
Others felt similarly.
It wasn't until they witnessed the runaway beams that everyone realized how dangerous that moment had been. Many people unconsciously gasped.
Damn it, if it had deviated just a little more, the warship would have been cut in half by the beam!
At this time, the warship had re-docked with the base. Only a few seconds later, Ouyang Zhanpeng's personal terminal vibrated strongly. It was a communication from Gong Yiding.
Ouyang Zhanpeng didn't think much of it and instinctively accepted the call. He was then severely reprimanded by Gong Yiding.
Before Gong Yiding could finish, he received a communication from Xu Qing. Ouyang Zhanpeng felt like he had been granted amnesty and quickly stopped Gong Yiding's nagging, switching to Xu Qing's communication.
To his surprise, Xu Qing was also there to hold him accountable. Although she wasn't as direct as Gong Yiding, she still offered various subtle pieces of advice, making Ouyang Zhanpeng feel extremely guilty.
He thought to himself, this must be the legendary "killing with kindness." It would have been better to just be cursed out directly!
Ling Xiao, standing beside him, was secretly delighted, his smile reaching his ears. This made Ouyang Zhanpeng grit his teeth.
Weren't they supposed to share blessings and hardships?
Feeling that his wife had calmed down somewhat, Ouyang Zhanpeng quickly found an excuse to end the communication. Before he could relax, a suppressed burst of laughter erupted from the bridge.
Ouyang Zhanpeng rolled his eyes, "Alright, alright, laugh if you want. Stop pretending to be a big shot in front of me!"
Zeng Qiao looked expectant, "Captain, you're amazing with Sister Xu. We can only envy you!"
"Go on, go on, stop making fun of me." Ouyang Zhanpeng couldn't help but laugh too.
He was no longer the naive youth he used to be. When faced with matters, he no longer just looked at the surface but thought carefully and considered the deeper implications.
Whether it was Gong Yiding or Xu Qing, they were only scolding him out of concern stemming from deep love. If it were unrelated people, they wouldn't even bother to ask.
Let's not mention others. Ling Xiao, who was laughing the loudest, was still single to this day.
However, it was rumored that this guy maintained very close relationships with many women, and there were no conflicts between them.
This was indeed a skill. Others, even if they had the desire, didn't have the ability.
Being a single dog to this extent, only others would envy him, and he wouldn't be jealous of others.
Ling Xiao's situation was not an isolated case, but a rather common social phenomenon.
Shortly after, all the image data was collected, and the planet's state stabilized.
The stability here was relative. In reality, the planet was still in chaos.
Ouyang Zhanpeng packaged all the data and sent it back to Earth, along with a detailed description of the Star Destroyer Cannon.
In less than half an hour, the Starship received the latest order from the command center: depart immediately and destroy the Supernova Cannons in other directions!
Finally, it was not forgotten to remind them: be careful!
The Supernova problem had seriously affected Earth's safety. The sooner it was resolved, the sooner they would be safe.
Ouyang Zhanpeng immediately piloted the base to depart, heading towards other star systems where Supernova Cannons had been found. However, he did not solve all hidden dangers but only destroyed the small portion that threatened Earth.
After all, Civilization A's goal was to block the Star Beasts, and Earth was the only potential weak point on the entire defense line. Ensuring Earth's safety was a given; this was the bottom line for humanity.
Destroying all the Supernova Cannons would not only incur the wrath of Civilization A but also cause trouble for themselves.
It was only at this time that Lei did not know that the star map Ouyang Zhanpeng had shown him had been tampered with. Many star systems were marked, but in reality, there weren't that many with Supernova Cannons.
There was no intention to deceive, but rather to increase humanity's bargaining chip during negotiations, so that Lei would not fall into the same predicament of non-interference.
At this moment, Gong Yiding was accompanying Lei on a tour. Besides allowing Lei to understand humanity's development over the years, he asked Lei to offer his insights wherever they went, even requesting Lei to point out key aspects.
This was on-site guidance from a prophet. Once this opportunity was missed, there might not be another.