Now, all of this had been shattered by that Federation brat named Qin Bei Wang, using a series of cunning and ruthless tactics.
Disgrace! An unprecedented, unparalleled disgrace! Even more unacceptable than Lancaster's Obsidian Debacle! Because he had actively pursued the hunt, yet without even formally facing the enemy, his fleet had been nearly wiped out!
He clenched the battle report tightly, his knuckles frighteningly white, as if he wanted to crush it. A violent fury burned in his chest, but a deeper emotion—a mixture of intense pain, brutality, and a trace of fear he himself was unwilling to admit—was brewing.
Qin Bei Wang... Pluto Fleet...
This blood debt, he would remember.
Charlas Star System, Seventh Military Jump Point.
The massive forms of the Megalodon Fleet were arrayed in the void, like the most dangerous predators in the deep sea.
The engines of nearly a hundred starships roared softly, maintaining relative stillness.
The Jump Point Generator released a stable Spatial Anchoring Field, forming a massive, visible energy vortex ahead of the fleet that slightly distorted light.
On the bridges, each ship was conducting final Jump Preparations.
"Main engine power reduced to maintenance threshold. Secondary engines on standby."
"Shields contracted to basic protection mode. Overloaded shields during warp may trigger spatial turbulence resonance."
"Inertial stabilizers operating at full power. All non-essential equipment powered down or switched to standby."
"Jump coordinates locked: Savannah Star System, Z-78 Reference Point. Gravity well data calibration complete."
"Crew restraint system check!
Repeat, all personnel assume impact-resistant posture and secure safety locks!"
Commands were rapidly transmitted across the Fleet Channel.
Soldiers secured themselves in the buffer straps of their seats or bulkheads, engineers shut down non-core systems, and gunners removed their fingers from weapon launch buttons.
Inside the massive starships, only the low hum of engines and the electronic tones of system self-checks remained.
"Energy injection reaching critical value. Spatial curvature matches jump window parameters."
The navigator of the flagship "Abyssal Fang" reported.
Fleet Commander Isaac Jenkins stood on the command console, watching the increasingly bright Jump Vortex outside.
He said in a low voice.
"Entire fleet, Jump Countdown."
A cold, electronic synthesized voice echoed within every ship:
"Ten."
"Nine."
"Engine energy beginning to converge towards the Jump Core..."
"Eight."
"Seven."
"Spatial coordinate anchoring complete..."
"Six."
"Five."
"Prepare for spacetime conversion shock..."
"Four."
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
"Jump initiated."
There was no deafening roar.
But every starship jolted violently, as if seized by an invisible giant hand and hurled forward!
The starscape outside the bridge instantly underwent a bizarre transformation.
The Jump Vortex ahead suddenly expanded, swallowing all light, becoming a pure, bottomless dark passage.
Meanwhile, the Charlas Star System behind was infinitely stretched and distorted, transforming into a dazzling, multicolored ribbon streaming backward.
The stars ceased to be individual points, melting into the visual afterimages formed by hypersonic motion.
The hull emitted a low, deep hum that seemed to come from its structural depths.
The inertial stabilizers worked at full capacity, countering the tearing sensation brought by spacetime conversion, yet a strange dizziness of alternating weightlessness and overload could still be felt.
The dark passage outside the viewport was not calm; occasionally, eerie, rainbow-colored energy turbulence flashed by—unstable zones at the boundary between normal space and jump space.
This process lasted about fifteen seconds, yet it felt stretched in perception.
Suddenly, a point of light appeared at the end of the darkness ahead, rapidly expanding.
Boom!
Another violent tremor, accompanied by a "breakthrough" sensation akin to rapidly surfacing from deep water.
Blinding normal starlight instantly flooded the field of vision once more.
Savannah Star System, Jump Point Z-78.
The Megalodon Fleet emerged abruptly from the void as if spat out.
The surface of each starship still bore the energy afterglow of the jump, like a rapidly dissipating pale blue light membrane.
"Jump completion.
Repositioning... Confirmed arrival in the Z-78 region."
The navigator's voice was somewhat hoarse.
"Initiate full ship scan, establish defensive formation, restore speed to cruising state!"
Jenkins immediately gave the order, shaking his head in an attempt to dispel the brief dizziness and ringing in his ears.
This was a common physiological discomfort after long-distance jumps, colloquially known as "post-jump aftereffects."
Many crew members also experienced similar mild nausea and disorientation, requiring a few minutes to adjust.
The fleet began reforming its formation, the engine glow gradually stabilizing.
They had successfully traversed a vast distance, arriving in this stretch of space where even fiercer battles might soon erupt.
And just as they were making adaptive adjustments, certain "eyes" lurking in the shadows of the asteroid belt near Point Z-78 had already detected their arrival.
At the very moment the Megalodon Fleet experienced a momentary lapse.
Without any warning, four pale white heavy particle beams, brimming with destructive energy, shot through the void like long-dormant vipers, emerging from a shadow zone marked as a "sparse asteroid belt" diagonally above the jump point!
Their targets were clear and concentrated: the flagship of the Megalodon Fleet, the "Abyssal Fang," which had just materialized!
"Enemy attack!
Upper diagonal!"
The sensor officer's scream and the piercing alarm sounded almost simultaneously.
On the bridge, including seasoned veterans, many froze for an instant in disbelief.
This was a jump point in an Empire-controlled star system!
A preset safe zone and rear channel!
How could there be an attack?
Was it a jump coordinates error?
Or friendly fire?
Chaos and panic began to spread.
"What's all this panic?!"
Commander Isaac Jenkins' thunderous roar drowned out all the noise.
He didn't look at the source of the attack; his gaze remained locked on the incoming beam trajectory and his own ship's posture displayed on the main screen, his mind making an instant judgment.
"Helmsman!
Hard to port, bow elevation angle 35 degrees, point our nose toward the attack direction now!"
His words were rapid, the command leaving no room for doubt.
"Shield control!
Abandon uniform ship-wide defense, redirect all redundant energy to the bow fan-shaped sector, maximum power!
Now!!"
His calmness and clear commands acted like a stimulant.
The well-trained crew quickly suppressed their panic, executing the orders with conditioned reflex.
The massive hull of the "Abyssal Fang" began a laborious turn and ascent amidst the roar of its thrusters.
The fearsome ram at its bow and the Main Battery Array slowly pointed upward.
Simultaneously, energy from shield generators across the hull was frantically redirected to the front. The pale blue energy membrane that originally enveloped the entire ship rapidly condensed and thickened ahead, forming an abnormally bright, nearly materialized heavy energy shield.
All of this was completed within two or three seconds.
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