Rebirth of the Super Battleship-Chapter 724: The Neutron War Star Arrives!
“Perhaps after this battle, our civilization and our name will vanish from this universe. Perhaps after this battle, we will become the lords of the entire Milky Way. Two completely different paths await our civilization, but sadly, the power to decide which path we take is not in our hands. We have given our utmost. The time, the terrain, and the unity of people are all on our side, yet we still do not have certainty of victory. Even so, we choose to face the battle rather than flee. I am Xiao Yu, leader of the Divine Ark Civilization.”
The time was Xiao Yu’s thousand years of preparation, with his strength now at its peak.
The terrain was the sector Xiao Yu had managed for more than a thousand years, turning it into a true killing ground.
The unity of people was the formidable beings standing behind Xiao Yu. Whether living or already dead, each had contributed more or less to Xiao Yu’s growth in strength. In a sense, Xiao Yu at this moment was the aggregate of a dozen powerful existences. That was the unity of people.
The thousand-year appointment had arrived. Xiao Yu knew the Sweepers Civilization was here. Xiao Yu, the Specter companions, and the three Taihao civilizations all sensed that terrifying pressure passing from the depths of the dark universe. At most a few hours remained before the Sweepers Civilization arrived. Yet Xiao Yu did not use this time to recheck his battle preparations. Instead, he carved a stone, mounted a curvature flight device on it, and sent it into the boundless universe.
“No matter the outcome, I must leave a trace in this universe. A stone can do that, can it not?” Xiao Yu murmured, then focused his attention forward.
“They are here.” the Alien Beast Taihao muttered, guarding the entrance to the Divine Ark Civilization’s small universe.
“Yes. They are here.” the Specter companions whispered in response from within the small universe, where they were controlling the Micron corpse.
Xiao Yu had already deployed a total of ten billion warships throughout this sector, including the nine and a half billion ships operated by intelligent beings. Every component of the star system’s defense system had been placed. But as for high-end combat power, including the three Taihao civilizations and the Specter companions, Xiao Yu did not intend to commit them yet. He had to confirm the Sweepers Civilization’s offensive posture before deciding who to send and when.
Without question, Xiao Yu was the leader of the Divine Ark Civilization group in this war. Whether the Taihao civilizations or the Specter companions, all would obey his orders.
Xiao Yu waited in silence. The oppressive atmosphere before the battle tightened the spirit of every presence at the scene to the limit. Inside the small universe, about ten million intelligent beings sat at their control consoles, ready to move at any moment.
In this tense air, at a distance of roughly several light hours ahead of the sector, an object abruptly appeared. Its diameter was only twenty kilometers, yet its mass equaled that of a star. It detached from curvature space and emerged into the observable universe. It unceasingly released intense radiation. That radiation left no trace in visible wavelengths but made the body shine extraordinarily bright in the X-ray and gamma-ray bands.
The forward-deployed detection systems immediately captured the relevant information and sent it to Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu slightly relaxed his taut mind and issued the first order after the start of the war.
“All relevant personnel, prepare for combat. The enemy has appeared. Without my order, no one is to act rashly.”
The Neutron War Star began advancing by conventional navigation. To Xiao Yu’s surprise, his detection equipment saw only the Neutron War Star. There was no sign of any conventional warships of the Sweepers Civilization.
“Where did the Sweepers Civilization’s conventional warships go?” a doubt rose in Xiao Yu’s mind.
Xiao Yu ruled out the hypothesis that the Sweepers had hidden their conventional fleet to spring a sneak attack at a critical moment. The reason was simple. In wars between Level 6 civilizations there is no such thing as a sneak attack. Comprehensive detection methods can discover anything attempting to approach a defensive perimeter, whether a warship or a natural body. This was true for both sides. The Sweepers could not hide from Xiao Yu, and Xiao Yu could not hide from the Sweepers. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
The Neutron War Star advanced silently. Its conventional speed was very fast, about more than two hundred thousand kilometers per hour. In at most a few hours it would reach Xiao Yu’s defensive perimeter. That location was already within the attack radius of Xiao Yu’s position. Even so, Xiao Yu did not launch an attack, for it was obviously useless.
Aside from the Micron corpse, Xiao Yu had no weapon that could damage the Neutron War Star. The spatial bomb under Xu Junpo’s charge might have been able to harm it somewhat, but unfortunately Xu Junpo died before completing the work. Although afterward Xiao Yu organized many scientists to continue the research, progress was extremely slow.
If the Sweepers Civilization did not let its conventional fleet participate in this battle, then at least ninety-nine percent of Xiao Yu’s arrangements would be of no use. No matter what Xiao Yu did, the core of this war would always be the Micron corpse and the Neutron War Star. Everything else was auxiliary. Still, a scenario with only the Neutron War Star participating was impossible, Xiao Yu thought. His flagship was hidden within the small universe. To attack the small universe they would have to construct a Space Bridge. It was unlikely that a single Neutron War Star could construct a Space Bridge on its own.
More importantly, even if the Neutron War Star had the ability to construct a Space Bridge, a single warship, even a Neutron War Star, could not stop the hundreds of millions of ships Xiao Yu would hurl against the bridge. Once cut into the small universe, even the Neutron War Star could not resist the erosion of entropy.
Xiao Yu believed the Sweepers would not be so foolish.
Yet the conventional fleet of the Sweepers did not appear. Even when the Neutron War Star reached the stellar defense perimeter, the conventional fleet had still not appeared.
“All combat personnel, attention. Withdraw with your ships and do not engage the Neutron War Star. If it pursues your ships, run if you can. Do not attempt to counterattack. That is useless.” At this moment, Xiao Yu transmitted his order to the intelligent beings and also pulled back the ships directly under his control.
“If you want to come in, be my guest. There are ten billion warships here and an uncountable number of star system defense installations. Even if my ships lined up for you to kill, you would still need a great deal of time to destroy them all.” Xiao Yu thought.
Before feeling out the Sweepers Civilization’s reality, Xiao Yu would not commit his main force.
“Or are you planning to destroy all the stars in this sector, using the energy of stellar explosions to wipe out my star system defenses and clear the way for your soon-to-arrive conventional fleet? If that is your plan, the Micron corpse will stop you.”
A thousand stars were nothing for either the Sweepers Civilization or Xiao Yu. But the energy of stellar explosions would sweep away any weakly defended installation in this sector. If a thousand stars exploded, Xiao Yu’s star system defenses would suffer grievously. That was unacceptable.
Over the next few hours, the Neutron War Star maintained a constant speed. It did not even pause upon entering Xiao Yu’s stellar defense perimeter. It completely ignored Xiao Yu’s one hundred billion warships, ignored the dense array of defensive installations in space that were many times more packed than locusts in a plague, ignored the three watchful Alien Beast Taihao ahead and all other threats. It was as if it were unaware of any of these dangers.
It was like a person walking in a forest full of danger who thinks it a paradise, not knowing that countless venomous snakes, insects, and beasts are watching, ready to strike a fatal blow at any time. But Xiao Yu knew the Neutron War Star was not such a person. In this metaphor, the Neutron War Star was not a person. It was a god, a god with inexhaustible might. Its strength allowed it to ignore all these threats.
“Activate the star system’s defense system.” Xiao Yu decided, issuing the order.
Hidden gun turrets in the void locked their targeting on the Neutron War Star. Many interstellar fortresses combined, preparing to unleash a killing strike. Swarms of interstellar bombs, dense as locusts, converged on the target. Moments later, all attacks were launched.
A moment before, this sector was calm to the extreme. In the next moment, it was utter chaos. Endless attacks were unleashed. Numerous thick black spatial rifts struck the Neutron War Star at faster than light speed. Countless interstellar bombs threw themselves at it one after another without fear of death. The combined space shattering assaults launched by many interstellar fortresses completely enveloped the Neutron War Star, slicing the surrounding space to shreds.
Such an attack would subject even the Solar to enormous pressure.
Yet the Neutron War Star paid not the slightest heed. It continued forward at its constant speed.
