Chapter 157: Bitter Remorse (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

In warfare, if there is a generation gap between the equipment of both sides, the outcome is nothing short of tragic.

Just as the main cannon of the Hongxian Federal fleet began to glow, the topmost miniature turret of the Mars fired. A streak of deep blue light flashed instantaneously, striking dead center on the main cannon of the Hongxian Federal flagship, which had already formed a circular energy shield.

That massive, energy-laden main cannon muzzle twitched weirdly, churning like an undercurrent.

"Report! The energy at the main cannon muzzle is extremely unstable! I'm afraid... I'm afraid it's going out of control..." A staff officer suddenly stood up, panic written all over his face.

"How is that possible?" The expression on the chief commander's face shifted dramatically.

The main cannon is the core of a warship, and a warship's primary purpose is to annihilate the enemy. Even the most advanced warship is nothing more than an expensive ornament if it cannot destroy the foe. The importance of the main cannon goes without saying; a warship without its main cannon is like a tiger stripped of its claws and fangs.

"Cut off the power supply to the main cannon immediately!" Recalling the terrifying consequences of an energy meltdown, the chief commander made a decisive judgment call, striving to minimize the losses.

At the main cannon muzzle, deprived of a continuous energy supply, the energy wave stopped expanding. It pulsed a few times before bursting open like a punctured balloon. The contained energy poured out, transforming into invisible beams of radiation that vanished into the expanse of space.

This unexpected turn of events left the personnel of the Hongxian Federation ecstatic. They had already mentally prepared themselves to lose a main cannon, yet the goddess of fortune had smiled upon them this time, leaving the weapon completely unharmed.

Zhong Yun sighed in regret. The fully charged main cannon had survived being struck by a "Chaos Ray"—he couldn't help but marvel at their blind luck.

The "Chaos Ray" itself possessed virtually no offensive power and could inflict no physical harm upon living beings. However, it possessed an extremely overpowered and bizarre characteristic: when it struck ordinary energy masses, it instantly shattered their internal equilibrium, rendering them chaotic, volatile, and ultimately uncontrollable.

Loss of control usually led to a massive explosion. For it to dissipate peacefully like this was exceptionally rare. That was why Zhong Yun lamented that the Hongxian Federal fleet had been blessed with sheer dumb luck. It seemed luck wasn't always on his side.

It was a pity that this Mars lacked an "antimatter cannon"; otherwise, things wouldn't be so troublesome. A single ship and a single cannon would have resolved the issue. Warships devoid of energy shields possessed zero resistance against the "antimatter cannon" and were essentially destined for certain death.

"Can't we just blow up their main cannon like before?" Zhong Yun suddenly asked. Earlier, a single cannon shot had struck that unlucky warship's main cannon, triggering a violent explosion that completely crippled it.

"The distance is too great. The probability of our secondary turrets hitting the enemy's main cannon is only two percent. What happened earlier was a low-probability event," Xiao Ling's voice echoed in his mind.

Zhong Yun felt a trace of regret. Yet, upon reflection, it was obvious. Just how large was the enemy's main cannon? The distance exceeded two thousand kilometers, not to mention that the enemy was traveling at high speed. No matter how precise the aim, the projectile would have already drifted off course by the time it arrived. Unless a weapon like the "Chaos Ray," which traveled at the speed of light, was used, such distances could never be ignored.

He glanced at the main cannon's energy gauge: another fifteen minutes until full charge.

"Initiate movement. Coordinates: xxx.xxx.xxx, accelerate to xxx," Zhong Yun ordered once more.

Noticing that the bizarre-looking spacecraft was preparing to flee, the fleet commander of the Hongxian Federation froze for a moment. He quickly snapped to reality: no matter how advanced an ordinary spaceship might be, it stood little chance of victory in a direct head-on confrontation with warships.

Although this spacecraft possessed formidable firepower, its inherent limitations forced it to rely on stealthy ambush tactics rather than engaging them in a frontal clash.

Realizing this, he finally understood why the enemy had hidden in the shadows to strike instead of daring to fight them openly, despite possessing overwhelming firepower.

It wasn't because of some bullshit Great Universe Federal decree, as he had previously imagined.

For a moment, a surge of blood rushed to his head, and his vision darkened. He was nearly knocked unconscious by the brutal reality. Grasping the armrests of his chair, he took several heavy gasps, forcefully swallowing back the sweet taste of blood rising in his throat.

"Chief Commander, are you alright?" The deputy captain, seated nearby, noticed his anomaly and stepped forward with a look of concern.

The chief commander waved his hand, signaling that he was fine, though the profound, soul-weary exhaustion on his face could not be concealed. With a heart full of trepidation, the deputy captain returned to his seat, occasionally glancing back with worry at the commander.

*To think that I fancied myself infallible in predicting the enemy, yet in such a crucial battle, I made such a catastrophic decision.* The chief commander felt as though his lifelong reputation had been utterly squashed to dust right here.

That argument and that "provisional vote" felt like a resounding slap across his face in front of one hundred and sixty-three subordinates.

*Because of my error, I delayed the tactical window and inflicted irreversible losses upon the Federal fleet.* He had never felt that the chair beneath him was so unbearable to sit on.

He stared fixedly at the screen, fixing his gaze upon the egg-shaped, dark cyan spacecraft. It was the root cause of all this chaos. By now, it had lost the intimidating majesty it displayed during the ambush. It was fleeing in panic, looking utterly wretched.

Yet, its acceleration was simply too slow.

For intermediate civilizations, spacecraft were generally capable of reaching the speed of light. The metric that truly reflected a spacecraft's performance in terms of speed was its acceleration rate.

An ordinary spaceship required days, or even ten-odd days, to accelerate to the speed of light. In contrast, "quasi-satellite" class warships like those of the Hongxian Federation could max out their engines and accelerate to light speed within two days.

This was a remarkable figure. One had to know that Dabo's most advanced spacecraft required three days to reach light speed. Such a massive gap granted the Hongxian Federation an immense advantage in combat.

With mobility this formidable, they could fight to the death if they could win, and flee if they couldn't—making them practically an invincible presence. Regrettably, the Hongxian Federation's sole fleet composed entirely of "quasi-satellite" class warships, upon which the entire Federation pinned its infinite hopes, had somehow managed to lose five vessels to a miscellaneous, unidentified spacecraft.

"Pursue them and capture that spaceship alive!" The chief commander's expression twisted into something hideously ferocious. "I want it intact."

*You cannot escape.* His sinister gaze seemed to pierce straight through the vessel's hull, stabbing deep into the interior of the ship, transmitting a dense, suffocating murderous intent toward the faceless enemy within.

*I will make you regret ever being born into this world.*

All of his regret and self-reproach had morphed entirely into a deep-seated hatred for the master of that spacecraft.

And so, a certain scene played out in a remote corner of the universe: two shuttle-shaped warships were relentlessly chasing a slower, egg-shaped spacecraft, while two even slower warships trailed closely behind the first two.

The distance between them constantly shrank and widened. The moment they crossed that critical threshold, the brutal warfare would erupt anew.

Every single warrior of the Hongxian Federation was awaiting that moment, and Zhong Yun was waiting in silence as well.