Zero Blizzard · Bridge
"Report, the Swarm on the front lines has begun to retreat in succession, heading straight for us," a bridge crew member reported.
"Don't mind it, continue at full speed!" Charlotte was personally piloting the starship at this moment, controlling every navigation angle and flight trajectory herself.
This was usually handled by a dedicated bridge helmsman.
But today, after many years, General Charlotte was back at the helm!
Because she was well aware of the danger of this combat mission. The slightest misstep—being hit by the biological plasma cannons of the Hive Mothership or being overtaken by the Swarm—would come at the cost of death.
The navigation route and trajectory had been calculated countless times in her mind.
"It will still take some time for the main Swarm forces to withdraw," Charlotte murmured, her eyes scanning the Stellar Sand Table as if searching for a target.
The Zero Blizzard's ability to skillfully evade and escape was due, on one hand, to its astonishing speed, and on the other, to the extremely small number of t1 Flying Insects and t2 Spike Snakes left guarding the Hive Mothership, which prevented them from forming an effective encirclement around the Zero Blizzard.
Once the main Swarm forces, originally engaged with the Imperial Fleet and the T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship, withdrew, the threat to the Zero Blizzard would increase dramatically.
Time passed minute by minute.
"Report, the T2 Heavy 1200mm Devil Crocodile Cannon has been reset and is ready to fire!" the crew member in charge of the weapon system reported.
In truth, there was no need for the report; these numbers had long been etched into Charlotte's mind.
And at this moment, by sheer coincidence or not, the Zero Blizzard's bow was pointed directly at the position of a T2 Hive Mothership.
This T2 Hive Mothership might have also sensed the danger, as it began to retreat continuously while firing plasma cannons at the Zero Blizzard. However, it simply couldn't hit the rapidly moving starship.
Charlotte stared at the targeting reticle.
She had only one shot!
She didn't need to destroy the T2 Hive Mothership with a single shot, but she had to at least inflict heavy damage.
The Swarm was controlled by the Hive Mothership. Although destroying the Hive Mothership wouldn't directly kill the Swarm, it would cause their combat capability to plummet drastically.
It was like an army losing its commander—leaderless and in disarray.
"Now, fire!" Charlotte roared.
A shell shot from the barrel of the T2 Heavy 1200mm Devil Crocodile Cannon, tracing a comet-like trajectory at incredible speed before finally striking the flank of the T2 Hive Mothership.
Boom!
A massive explosion directly flipped the kilometer-long T2 Hive Mothership, sending chunks of flesh drifting into space.
Following this explosion, an even larger blast erupted from the abdomen of the T2 Hive Mothership. This explosion split the ship in two, declaring its demise in this corner of the universe.
Commander Chu Xuan and her female adjutant, witnessing all of this, were stunned.
Previously, they had only managed to heavily damage a Hive Mothership through a surprise attack, and even then, they couldn't destroy it on the spot.
Yet this starship had brought about its destruction with just a single shot.
It was truly unbelievable.
And that T2 Hive Mothership just now had clearly been taken down with one shot as well.
"This... this shot... destroyed a T2 Hive Mothership... Could this possibly be a T3 Starship?" The female adjutant found it hard to believe.
Commander Chu Xuan quickly grasped the reason: "It hit the organ where the Hive Mothership stores Bio-Plasma Elements.
That's equivalent to our starship's ammunition depot or starship engine.
Once hit, it triggers an effect similar to a Sympathetic Detonation, amplifying the damage severalfold, even dozens of times!"
"But hitting it twice in a row... Is that even possible?" the female adjutant questioned.
Commander Chu Xuan stared at the Zero Blizzard on the screen, which had resumed high-speed maneuvers: "It's not about possibility. This starship just did it!"
Destroying two T2 Hive Motherships in ten minutes was already an outstanding combat achievement.
"Report, over half of the enemy Swarm forces have retreated. The remaining Swarm forces can no longer break through our fire blockade," a Starship Crew member reported.
Commander Chu Xuan couldn't help but exclaim in admiration: "It's insane, truly a madman's Combat Plan.
Yet... it actually achieved the strategic objective of buying time. This way, we can delay for at least another hour or more.
Maybe even two hours!"
The female adjutant was left speechless. Recalling her earlier mockery of the two starships, she truly felt as if she had been slapped in the face.
"But whether the Zero Blizzard can return safely now is another question," Commander Chu Xuan said with concern.
At that moment, after destroying the two T2 Hive Motherships, the Zero Blizzard had begun its retreat.
However, the Swarm, whose home had been raided, could not tolerate the culprit's escape. Swarms like black whirlwinds began to encircle the Starship.
Their numbers were dozens of times greater than before.
It was like a massive black hand trying to crush a tiny mosquito.
"Report, according to Starship System calculations, based on our current heading, our chance of escape is only 16%!" a crew member reported nervously.
Charlotte closed her eyes. At that moment, it felt as if she had returned to her days with the Beastman Rebel Army—outnumbered, outmatched.
Yet every time, she had managed to turn the tide.
"Turn around!" Charlotte suddenly ordered.
This command caught the crew on the bridge completely off guard.
Originally, the Zero Blizzard was retreating away from the main battlefield. Turning around now meant heading straight toward it.
Wasn't this like throwing herself into the net?
But Charlotte's word was law on this starship!
The Zero Blizzard executed an extremely agile turn.
"Full speed ahead!" Charlotte said sternly.
After the brief turn, the Zero Blizzard's speed increased again to one hundred Knot Stellar Speed.
At that moment, Charlotte summoned a virtual control interface, input a string of numbers, and said, "Remove the Engine Restriction and continue accelerating!"
Remove the Engine Restriction?
The crew member in charge of navigation was stunned, then worriedly said, "If we remove the Engine Restriction and continue accelerating, the engine load will be too heavy!"
"That's an order! Keep accelerating!" Charlotte said intently.
"Yes, removing Engine Restriction. Starship continuing to accelerate. Speed 103... Speed 106... Speed 110..."
The maximum speed set for each starship engine is not actually its peak speed, but its optimal speed. This means that at this speed, the engine's lifespan is maximized. Exceeding it can cause navigation issues and significantly shorten the engine's lifespan.
Therefore, starship engines generally have an Engine Restriction lock, which only the Captain or Deputy Captain can unlock with a password.
"Report, the engine is beginning to overload!"
"Report, the Power System is starting Overload Operation!"
"Report, current speed has reached 120!"
The hearts of every Starship Crew member on the bridge were tightly clenched.
Zero Blizzard's sudden turn, combined with its sharp increase in speed, caught the surrounding Swarm completely off guard, leaving them far behind in an instant.
As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is often the safest.
The battlefield was currently divided into two areas: one was the main combat zone of the Imperial Fleet, and the other was the Swarm forces that had been pulled back to besiege Zero Blizzard.
Under normal circumstances, everyone would assume Zero Blizzard would flee in the opposite direction, so the Swarm had already begun deploying an encirclement.
Conversely, the number of Swarm units heading toward the main battlefield was the smallest!
However, unfortunately, a T2 Hive Mothership and a small cluster of Swarm were right in Zero Blizzard's path!
"Report, speed is too high! We cannot make significant course adjustments now!" a crew member reported nervously.
Charlotte suddenly laughed—it was the first time she had laughed so freely since joining Zhao Chen's side.
"Then we won't go around! Full speed ahead, ram it for me!"