Thirteen minutes remained until the arrival of the Specter Race. During this ti, Xiao Yu and the Luka fleet commander exchanged critical information and strategies for combating the Specter Race.
The consensus was simple: the only way to defeat the Specter Race was through continuous firepower, gradually wearing down their radiation intensity until they were destroyed. This thod was universally effective, whether for a Level 2 civilization or a Level 6 civilization, though advanced civilizations could achieve the sa result more quickly due to their superior firepower.
To ensure fairness, neither side assud sole responsibility for offense or defense. Instead, they divided the battlefield evenly—each taking charge of their respective port or starboard side for attack and defense.
“Attention, distance now two light-minutes. Begin firing high-power laser cannons!” Xiao Yu received the Luka fleet commander’s signal.
“Roger that!” Xiao Yu responded, imdiately activating the 200,000 laser cannons aboard his ships, directing a concentrated volley forward. At the sa ti, the Luka fleet unleashed 100,000 laser cannons.
Although the Luka fleet had fewer cannons, their average strength far exceeded Xiao Yu’s. Consequently, their total firepower significantly outmatched Xiao Yu’s despite their nurical disadvantage.
Xiao Yu discreetly recorded the paraters of the Luka fleet’s laser cannons, such as their power output and quantity. He knew the Luka fleet was likely doing the sa with his ships, but he didn’t mind.
Due to the lack of pre-deployed superluminal communication satellites, information about the Specter Race’s position and distance had to be gleaned through the Specter Detector. Xiao Yu observed a slow decline in the Specter Race’s energy intensity on the detector.
The decline was agonizingly gradual. At the current firing rate, by the ti the Specter Race closed in, their total energy intensity would have dropped by only about 3%.
“Laser cannons are insufficient! Fire energy projectiles!” Xiao Yu transmitted a ssage.
“Understood! All ships, fire your energy cannons!” The Luka fleet commander quickly responded.
By now, the distance between the Specter Race and the fleet had shrunk to 30 light-seconds, roughly nine million kiloters.
The combined fleet of 180,000 ships unleashed an onslaught of energy projectiles. Bright bluish orbs streaked forward at sub-light speed, exploding violently in the void.
Xiao Yu detected another 5% decrease in the Specter Race’s energy intensity.
With only twenty seconds remaining until contact, Xiao Yu prepared for a second volley of energy projectiles. But at this critical mont, a strange sensation struck him again.
“Force Field Generators! Luka Civilization, what are you doing? Shut them down imdiately!” Xiao Yu roared in fury.
He was right. The Luka fleet had reactivated their Force Field Generators, a weapon Xiao Yu despised.
Earlier, after agreeing to the alliance, the Luka fleet had deactivated their Force Field Generators to avoid impairing Xiao Yu’s combat effectiveness. But for reasons unknown, they had now reactivated them. Xiao Yu’s fleet’s mobility was severely hindered, and their combat efficiency plumted.
“Hahaha! Damn chanical civilization! You can play the decoy while I pull back!” The Luka fleet commander’s arrogant laughter echoed through the communication channel.
Xiao Yu imdiately realized he had been tricked.
“Master, you’ve been deceived,” Luka Two murmured, having quietly regained consciousness at so point, fully aware of the unfolding betrayal.
“Damn it! I know I’ve been deceived!” Xiao Yu roared. “But why would they dare to do this? By crippling my combat strength, are they really confident they can defeat the Specter Race on their own?”
“No, it’s not that simple,” Luka Two said hurriedly. “Even the Specter Race operates on certain instincts. When faced with a distant target and a closer one, they will naturally prioritize the closer target. In this case, after the Luka fleet retreats, you will beco the Specter Race’s primary target. Once attacked, you will retaliate, thereby engaging the Specter Race and delaying them long enough for the Luka fleet to mount an effective attack.”
“Damn it!” Xiao Yu cursed viciously. “If I’m going down, I won’t let you off so easily! Fire the energy cannons!”
Xiao Yu issued the command, but this ti, the target was not the Specter Race—it was the retreating Luka fleet.
“It’s useless! Gravitational bombs, fire!” the Luka fleet commander shouted with wild abandon.
Gravitational bombs, creations of a Level 4 civilization, were weapons on par with Force Field Generators. Their power was nothing short of catastrophic.
At this mont, only five seconds remained until the Specter Race and Xiao Yu’s fleet intersected. The gravitational bomb would arrive just as the two forces converged, detonating to deal a devastating blow to both the Specter Race and Xiao Yu’s fleet.
“What a ruthless move! What terrifying decisiveness!” Xiao Yu muttered as he stared at the Luka fleet, his mind racing for a solution but finding none.
“Level 4 civilizations have mastered proton-neutron-level Matter Decay Technology and faster-than-light travel. More importantly, they’ve unified the four fundantal forces: strong force, weak force, electromagnetic force, and gravity. This unification allows for the creation of all manner of force field-based weapons! Gravitational bombs are one of these. Upon detonation, vast amounts of energy are converted into gravitational waves, annihilating everything within several hundred kiloters. It’s unstoppable! I have thousands of these bombs in my arsenal! Damn chanical civilization, you have no chance! Both the Specter Race and you will die by my hand!” The Luka fleet commander’s maniacal laughter filled Xiao Yu’s communication channels.
“So, they’ve unified the four fundantal forces…” Xiao Yu froze for a mont.
Gravity, electromagnetism, strong nuclear force, and weak nuclear force—these are the four fundantal forces. In previous scientific research, humanity had unified electromagnetism, strong nuclear force, and weak nuclear force, confirming that they were different manifestations of the sa fundantal interaction. However, gravity had always eluded unification.
Humanity had spent countless years researching this problem, with the theory of unifying all four forces being hailed as the Grand Unified Theory, a pinnacle of scientific achievent. Yet Xiao Yu had not made any progress on this front.
Now he understood—the Grand Unified Theory was a realm only accessible to Level 4 civilizations. The Force Field Generator and Gravitational Bomb were both products of this theoretical frawork.
Mastering the Grand Unified Theory allowed energy to be converted seamlessly among the four forces. Where Xiao Yu could only create energy projectiles using fusion energy, a Level 4 civilization could transform the sa energy into gravitational waves, crafting weapons like gravitational bombs.
This fundantal advancent in theoretical physics had brought about a leap in technology.
“Am I really going to be outwitted and die here today?” Xiao Yu thought, despair flashing through his mind.
As the gravitational bomb arrived, Xiao Yu’s energy cannon barrage reached the Luka fleet. However, launched in haste, the attack lacked power—destroying only a dozen Luka ships.
The gravitational bomb, anwhile, entered Xiao Yu’s fleet at high speed and detonated instantly.
The mont it exploded, Xiao Yu detected an indescribable gravitational wave. At the center of the blast, it was as if a massive celestial body had materialized, exerting an acceleration of at least 1,000 ters per second squared on all matter within hundreds of kiloters. Ships succumbed to this enormous gravitational pull, spiraling toward the blast center.
Furthermore, the gravitational gradient between the near and far ends of each ship caused extre tidal forces, stretching the ships until they tore apart. Xiao Yu saw a Village-Class ship elongated into a thin strip before being dragged into the epicenter.
Xiao Yu knew this destructive force was called tidal force. Ships caught within the Roche Limit of the explosion were torn apart by these tidal forces.
Energy shields were useless against gravity. Xiao Yu could only watch helplessly as over 10,000 of his ships were obliterated by a single gravitational bomb.
Under the influence of the Force Field Generator, his fleet’s mobility was drastically reduced, preventing them from dispersing. This inability to spread out maximized the bomb’s lethality.
At the mont of the explosion, Xiao Yu detected that the Specter Race had reached his fleet. The gravitational bomb reduced the Specter Race’s overall radiation intensity by 0.5%.
In comparison, the previous round of 180,000 energy projectiles had reduced their intensity by 5%.
The sheer power of the gravitational bomb left Xiao Yu deeply shaken.
“The Specter Race has arrived… They’re thousands, maybe tens of thousands of tis stronger than the Phantom. I have no chance against them. Sigh…” Xiao Yu sighed, abandoning all thoughts of resistance.
But the next mont, sothing astonishing occurred.
The Specter Race, upon reaching Xiao Yu’s fleet, didn’t stop. Instead, they bypassed his fleet entirely and continued charging forward.
Ahead of them lay the Luka fleet!
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