Everyone's heart skipped a beat at that moment, watching the No. 1 ship being engulfed by the shockwave from Jupiter. The massive warship seemed to be slapped, its bow suddenly turning ninety degrees.
Yet, this was just the beginning. The No. 1 ship, over three hundred meters long, swayed and drifted like a small boat in a giant wave, caught in the surging storm.
The solid smoke hull warped and deformed, the coating on its surface stripped away by the high temperature. But before any streamers could form, they were blown apart by the shockwave.
Even the tail flame from the stern was distorted by the violent particle flow, like a candle flickering in the wind, about to be extinguished at any moment.
The No. 1 ship was finished!
However, the shockwave came and went as quickly as it arrived, lasting only ten-odd seconds. But in everyone's hearts, each second felt as long as a century.
When everything returned to normal, everyone was stunned, disbelieving what they were seeing.
The severely deformed Expedition No. 1 hovered in the void, its thrusters weakly emitting an imperceptible tail flame before falling silent.
"Bridge, Bridge, respond! Bridge, Luotuo, Lingxiao, speak to me!" Ou Zhanpeng's eyes split open with fury as he frantically called out to the No. 1 ship, but the radio offered no response, only static.
Everyone's heart sank to the bottom at that moment.
But this was no time for grief. The alien aircraft that had managed to escape into the satellite's shadow were not far behind the expeditionary fleet.
"Attack! Leave none alive!" Liu Wenwen gritted out the words. Expedition No. 2 immediately launched its assault, expending all its remaining missiles, not leaving a single one.
Fighter jets, including the Arrowfish, also surged forward. Ou Zhanpeng felt a surge of frustration, but upon rushing forward, he realized the Arrowfish had no suitable weapons.
Yet, before the fighter jets could even engage, countless missiles had already made full contact with the enemy aircraft, the sky filled with flashes of explosions.
The enemy ships' counterattack also inflicted considerable damage on the expeditionary fleet. The No. 2 ship was hit by several beams, leaving pale white marks on its solid smoke hull.
Obvious cracks appeared around the edges of each mark, giving the illusion that one could easily kick a hole through it.
However, that was all.
Liu Wenwen had gone all out, directing the No. 2 ship straight towards the enemy formation. Its six plasma cannons roared to life, ruthlessly harvesting alien fighters.
The enemy fighters also attempted to counterattack, charging head-on regardless of the consequences, leaving icy white impact points on the No. 2 ship's surface. The solid smoke hull deformed in multiple places, but Liu Wenwen gritted her teeth and held firm, refusing to retreat an inch. She single-handedly broke through the enemy formation, destroying the last ice ship of the alien species.
Human bravery far exceeded the aliens' expectations. With the ice ship sinking, the remaining giant species, terrified, scattered like startled rabbits.
Liu Wenwen wanted to pursue and annihilate the enemy, but the enemy fleet had collapsed, and the expeditionary fleet was also at its last gasp after fighting so hard.
"Rescue the No. 1 ship at full capacity!" Liu Wenwen wasted no time, immediately ordering a rescue operation.
Upon rushing to the vicinity of the No. 1 ship, they discovered that while the hull was destroyed, the core compartments were intact.
Ou Zhanpeng impatiently floated out of the Arrowfish. As soon as he exited, his power armor immediately issued a high-temperature warning, advising him to avoid direct sunlight, as the armor would suffer irreversible damage.
Young Master Ou was speechless. Was it really that serious?
Regardless, the system's warning could not be ignored. He could only fly back into the Arrowfish's shadow and report the situation to the bridge.
Soon, the battered No. 2 ship arrived, positioning itself between Jupiter and the No. 1 ship, blocking the heat from the newly ignited star.
To expedite the rescue, Ou Zhanpeng personally blew open the deformed solid smoke hull. The hatch immediately opened from the inside, and two people drifted out.
Ou's greatly relieved heart settled considerably. "How are things? Is everyone alright?"
"Basically fine, just the warship is destroyed."
"We can build another warship if it's destroyed. As long as everyone's okay!" Ou Zhanpeng breathed a sigh of relief and immediately transferred the personnel to the No. 2 ship.
It turned out that most people were unharmed, suffering only minor scratches and bruises. Only Luotuo had broken two ribs.
Fortunately, their lives were out of danger.
With the rescue concluded, Expedition No. 2 immediately set sail, increasing its orbital altitude to distance itself from Jupiter.
Returning to the No. 2 ship, Ou Zhanpeng gazed at the receding Jupiter, a hint of complexity in his eyes.
In the corner of the screen, the coin-sized sun continued to shine as usual.
"What are you thinking about?" Lingxiao floated to his side, asking curiously.
"Nothing," Ou Zhanpeng managed a smile. "I always thought the aliens' goal was to escape into the ice sea. Now that I think about it, our assumption was too hasty."
Lingxiao raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Brain Fish are a very special intelligent species. Judging by the air pressure in the damaged ship, they don't require high water pressure and are a shallow-water species. The ice layers of Europa and Ganymede are over a hundred kilometers thick. Setting aside the temperature suitability, the pressure alone would be immense enough to crush anyone. Even creatures from the Mariana Trench would be crushed if thrown in. How could the aliens possibly escape into there?"
Lingxiao suddenly realized. "That makes sense!"
"Also, I believe that from the very beginning, the aliens' target was to ignite Jupiter. Even the base on Mars was a diversionary tactic by the aliens, meant to distract us and create conditions for igniting Jupiter."
"Hey, are you done with your hindsight commentary? I'm curious about one thing: how did the aliens manage to ignite Jupiter?" Lingxiao said.
After all, Jupiter was not like some articles described it as a failed star. It was far from reaching the minimum mass for a star and did not possess the temperature and pressure required to ignite fusion reactions.
This was an inherent limitation. Unless it merged with other gas giants and eventually exceeded its critical mass, Jupiter could only remain a planet.
Although Brain Fish were more advanced than humans, their technological level was only slightly superior. Lingxiao wouldn't believe for a second that Brain Fish had the capability.
The problem was that Jupiter had already ignited. The facts were undeniable, and this left Lingxiao utterly perplexed.
Ou Zhanpeng sighed softly. "Brain Fish, perhaps not. But behind them, there are other, more advanced alien races..."
"What kind of nonsense is that?" Lingxiao could hardly believe his ears. "No, where did you hear that? Why haven't I heard anything?"
Ou Zhanpeng inwardly grumbled, "Because you haven't been dreaming!"
Just as he was about to concoct an excuse, Liu Wenwen's voice suddenly came from the terminal: "Fatty Ou, where are you? Get to the bridge immediately!"
"Understood!" Ou Zhanpeng replied, waving goodbye and leaving Lingxiao looking utterly frustrated.
What kind of people were these? He was clearly just toying with him!