Chapter Twelve: The First Battle - Part Three

In the vast expanse of the cosmos, immense starships shifted formation, two fleets silently altering their positions.

“We’re under attack! Requesting fire support!” Liu Shaoyu suddenly received the message, and simultaneously the display showed the coordinates for fire support. He reached out, swiping the location to the edge of the screen.

“I’m leaving this to you. Finish them.”

“Yes,” came the reply.

At the front of the formation, a squadron of drones abruptly changed course. Positioned already at the edge of the conflict zone, they quickly reached the assault ship, which was firing as it moved.

“Priority: protect the assault ship,” Liu Shaoyu ordered.

With the addition of the original drone escort, enemy resistance was greatly reduced.

“Detecting abnormal energy fluctuation. Estimating target trajectory—impact in ten seconds.” A red line appeared on the display, marking the calculated firing trajectory, cutting straight through the center of the carrier.

There was no way to evade. Liu Shaoyu thought grimly.

“After the impact, repair the shields immediately.” Since escape was impossible, all defenses had to be concentrated.

A pillar of green light struck, landing precisely on the carrier’s shield. The blue shield shimmered, huge energy rocking the vessel.

“Impact report: energy shield down to seventy percent and under repair.”

At that moment, a flash of light sparked in Liu Shaoyu’s eyes. The time had come.

The mother insect’s starship was unaware that its small movement was, for Liu Shaoyu, a giant leap.

“First officer, main cannon—target.”

“Yes!” On Xu Meng’s holographic screen, a targeting reticle darted across, tracking the movement of his eyes. Two reticles finally converged on the mother insect’s starship.

The foredeck of the starship split open, two turrets extending from the center. At the instant Xu Meng locked on, the muzzles glowed bright, gathering immense energy.

The insect race was highly sensitive to fluctuations. As the carrier’s turrets began to charge, two elongated mesh-like structures at the front of the insect starship lit up, each grid containing a pupil-like object.

“Abnormal data detected. Communication system malfunction...”

As those strips lit up, the display began to ripple.

“Damn! Psychic attack.” At the same time, Military Officer Wang Yuyan’s screen showed shield decrease data. The fire control officer’s drone operations were also affected; the sudden disruption forced swarms of drones to switch to autonomous mode, and in that instant, they were shredded by soldier insects.

“Deploy electromagnetic shielding!”

“Electromagnetic shielding deployed. Effect in three seconds,” Wang Yuyan reported.

Three seconds later, the previously blurred screen returned to clarity. Reports from all units came in, confirming normal function.

“Recalibrate target lock.”

Xu Meng’s console chimed, his eyes moving swiftly as he retargeted the two reticles onto the glowing spots of the insect starship.

“I’ll blind your eyes!” Xu Meng growled.

Two massive beams of energy shot from the mothership, streaking straight toward the insect starship. Soldier insects along the path were vaporized, their shells obliterated.

The force of the energy discharge was felt throughout the carrier’s hull.

Faced with the incoming beams, the insect starship’s deck suddenly split at the rear, two enormous membranes unfolding.

“Wings!” The sight startled Liu Shaoyu—astonished at how quickly the enemy entered its second form.

The gigantic insect starship began to move, beating its wings. But Liu Shaoyu saw this and smiled slyly to himself, thinking, “I knew you’d dodge.” The two beams struck precisely at the glowing eyes of the insect starship.

Those eyes were its weak point. Due to its special structure, the mother insect’s psychic attacks required its eyes to amplify the effect across the battlefield. Thus, when attacking, it was the perfect moment to deal a heavy blow.

The fragile area took a massive hit, and though the exterior showed little, the internal structure suffered catastrophic damage.

In an instant, the once aggressive soldier insects froze.

“Perfect timing!” Liu Shaoyu said.

“Strike team—deploy fish torpedoes! Drones, clear out!”

The drone teams soared upward in order, and as they rose, hundreds of fish-shaped torpedoes screamed forth, their white exhausts weaving long trails across the galaxy.

Explosions erupted everywhere, the assault consuming half the fleet’s torpedo ammunition. The fleets couldn’t resupply from the carrier in time.

However, this strike decimated the enemy. The mother insect was not far from death.

Damaged and battered, the mother insect began to retreat. Entering its second state was no small price—it required greater psychic control, and the structural shift halted soldier insect incubation.

The mother insect’s ability to send waves of soldier insects to their deaths stemmed from its capacity to convert consumed energy into ongoing incubation during battle.

What was Liu Shaoyu’s mission? And wasn’t this newly evolved third-stage mother insect the perfect target for capture?

“Assault escort ships—release stasis beams. Fleet, close in!”

The assault escorts already in position immediately converged, net-like beams casting toward the mother insect starship. The fleet began to encircle.

Sensing the change in its body, the mother insect frantically beat its wings, but the stasis beams severely limited its movement. Enraged, it commanded the remaining soldier insects to swarm the fleet.

“Main cannon fully charged! Fire!” Two more blue beams pierced the insect starship’s enormous wings. The mother insect’s movements slowed, and its soldier insects were nearly wiped out.

The drones finally closed in on the insect starship, surrounding it and launching attacks. The tough outer shell seemed impervious. Dazzling beams struck the starship, and under the fierce assault, its wings were shattered.

“Watch for its escape!” Fire Control Officer Hua Qiang suddenly warned. Though this wasn’t the mother insect that had attacked his father’s fleet, seeing this form reignited his fury.

“Be wary of its third form,” Hua Qiang cautioned again, clearly apprehensive about it.

Indeed, speaking of the devil, just as Hua Qiang finished, a pale blur burst from the insect starship, breaking through the shell and rushing toward the edge of the encirclement.

Hua Qiang was startled, hurriedly directing drones to pursue. The white figure dodged swiftly under their attack. Stasis beams retargeted, but the speed was too great for a lock.

Suddenly, the white entity veered in space, pouncing on the nearest assault escort ship, wrapping itself around the hull.

“Communications lost.” With this report, a bright spot vanished from the command screen—a whole assault escort ship disappeared forever into the void. The white entity, having devoured the hull, began moving again, though more slowly, giving Hua Qiang a chance. Countless energy points struck, an energy wave radiating from the white form, causing nearby drones to malfunction.

“Damn!” Hua Qiang slammed his console.

He knew this white creature all too well. The third form he spoke of—the mother insect’s true body. If the entire insect starship was a massive organism, this was its brain. If the brain survived, the mother insect could recover by consuming.

But this form couldn’t last long; prolonged exposure risked permanent loss, ultimately making it prey for other mother insects.

“Monkey, particle cannon. Target and fire!” Liu Shaoyu shouted.

Impatient, Monkey rushed to operate, frustrated by the lack of lock-on range. His eyes darted across the screen, tracing a strange arc around the mother insect.

Under attack, the mother insect dodged, but Monkey’s firing arc included predictive targeting, inflicting numerous hits. The stasis beams swept over her again—this time, escape was impossible.

“Ru Yuan, it’s your turn,” Liu Shaoyu said.

Long Ru Yuan knew what to do. Target, lock, fire—a series of commands, and the deck turret launched a missile with a sharp, pointed tip, loaded with biological anesthetic.

The missile struck its target, and the mother insect fell silent in space.

“Whew!” Liu Shaoyu finally exhaled.

The battle was finally over.

The last chapter for today is delivered.