Every person on the Number One ship held their breath, eyes fixed on the warhead's position.
"What are you really thinking? Will this actually work?" Ling Xiao asked, his brow furrowed with worry.
"I don't know," Ou Zhanpeng replied. "I only know that smaller warheads have a lower chance of being detected than missiles."
As Ou Zhanpeng had planned, a large number of warheads slipped past the alien species' notice, failing to draw their attention.
Ou Zhanpeng suspected this was because the space environment grew more complex the closer they got to Jupiter, and the alien species might have been blinded by the various celestial bodies, causing them to overlook these warheads.
Alternatively, they might have detected the anomalies early on but remained still due to the great distance.
A full six days later, the first cluster reached the vicinity of Io.
If they had been missiles, the Number One ship would have had two options: either launch an immediate attack, or to ensure comprehensive surprise, keep the first cluster in orbit and wait for other directions to be in position before launching a coordinated assault.
The problem was that these were warheads, not missiles, and they had already accelerated, making deceleration impossible!
They only had one chance; once this opportunity was missed, it would be gone forever.
The Number One ship had no choice. On January 31, 2067, over a hundred warheads from the first cluster, traveling at a super high speed of over a hundred kilometers per second, headed directly for the alien modules on Io.
Neither Ou Zhanpeng's observations nor the Number One ship's scans had detected any changes on Io, so it had never been a focal point for the Expedition One. Allocating over a hundred warheads was already bending the rules.
However, as swarms of missiles appeared near Io, hundreds of alien fighter craft rose from the satellite's surface, launching a desperate interception regardless of their own safety.
On Expedition One, Ling Xiao, witnessing this, was bewildered. "There's been no activity there until now. Why have so many aircraft suddenly appeared?"
"There really hasn't been any activity!" Ou Zhanpeng's face flushed slightly. This whole situation was handled too hastily!
Luo Tu nodded in agreement. "Indeed, no anomalies were detected. It's not an issue with observation, but that the enemy is too cunning."
The sheer number of alien fighter craft indicated that Io was far more important to the alien species than Europa.
As they spoke, the two sides engaged. Hundreds of alien fighter craft, arranged in loose formations, blocked the warheads' path. The instant the first warhead met an alien fighter craft, a dazzling explosion erupted.
The subsequent warheads continued to break through, to impact, and to explode. In the blink of an eye, from bottom to top, dozens of warheads detonated, forming a rapidly ascending pillar of fire!
Among them, the fiery blooms of several nuclear warheads were particularly conspicuous, appearing from a distance like white candy balls threaded onto a skewer.
In just over ten seconds, the last warhead detonated amidst the alien resistance, but it was still at a considerable distance from the planet's surface and posed no threat to the landing modules.
As everyone was immersed in the spectacular visual impact, a startled cry drew their attention back to the bridge: "Look quickly!"
Turning their gaze to Europa, everyone was astonished to find that a large number of alien flying craft had also taken off from this location.
Luo Tu's expression turned extremely grim. "In such a short time, where did the alien species get so many flying craft?"
"Regardless of how they got them, the alien species must have methods we don't understand," Ou Zhanpeng said with a heavy expression. "It's strange, is Io that important?"
When they attacked Europa, the other moons had shown no reaction. Why was Io different?
Ou Zhanpeng was convinced that if not for the great distance making it impossible, the alien flying clusters from Europa's direction would have immediately come to Io's aid.
"Is there any activity from Ganymede?" Luo Tu asked.
"None!"
"Io must be hiding a secret of the alien species!" Luo Tu declared with conviction.
Ling Xiao cast him a sidelong glance. Did he even need to say that? Even an idiot could see that!
Unfortunately, the warheads that had flown past Io could not turn back. Even though they knew something was wrong, they could only put the matter aside for now.
The first offensive ended in failure, and it also served as a warning to the alien species. Shortly after the battle, all gunboats and warships on the other moons, with the exception of Io, took off, carrying a large number of alien fighter craft towards Io.
Even Europa, which had lost a large number of its flying craft, was no exception.
Now, everyone realized that something was amiss. Io was not abandoned by the alien species; on the contrary, it was the key target.
Clearly, the lack of activity on Io all along had been a smokescreen by the alien species, intended to mislead human judgment.
But the opportunity had already passed. What use was it to understand now?
A few days later, nearly four hundred warheads launched an assault on the alien base located on Europa.
Due to the redeployment of their main forces, Europa's interception was much weaker than expected. After sacrificing half of their warheads, the remaining over two hundred warheads all struck the alien base.
The Number One ship first saw a large number of warheads hit the surface of Europa at extremely high speeds, the alien base instantly engulfed by explosions, followed by a sudden burst of intense light that overshadowed all other explosions.
Superheated water vapor erupted into the sky like a fountain, and the molten water boiled violently in the vacuum.
The subsequent battle decisively tilted in humanity's favor. After all the warheads had been deployed, the alien base was annihilated, leaving only a crater of astonishing diameter on Europa's ice plains.
The crater's edges were highly irregular, and the bottom was littered with ice chunks that had reformed after boiling.
The offensive had succeeded, but there was no cheering on the Number One ship, only solemnity and a heavy atmosphere.
Ling Xiao quietly grumbled, "Regardless of how it was achieved, it's a victory, big or small. Do we need to be this serious?"
Ou Zhanpeng responded in a low voice, "This isn't seriousness, but because Io is completely unharmed, and because this victory is so strange."
Ling Xiao understood this point, but he felt that victory and defeat should be viewed separately, and that a temporary setback shouldn't affect the mood after a victory.
A few days later, the battle to assault Ganymede proceeded as scheduled.
With the precedent of Europa, the alien species knew they could not hold Ganymede and had preemptively withdrawn all their flying craft, leaving behind an undefended base, allowing the warheads descending from the sky to ravage it at will.
When it came to Io, a new change occurred. Everyone assumed that the alien species, having abandoned Ganymede, would not defend it. However, the enemy surprisingly held their ground, and very resolutely. In the end, they withstood the pressure and blocked the attack at the cost of their entire force.
The alien species had only four strongholds. Having eliminated half of them in one fell swoop, it was an achievement worthy of celebration. Yet, Io remained an unresolved knot, weighing on everyone's minds.