At this very moment, Medusa — having just witnessed the scene of those five T3 interstellar missile ships' one round of annihilating attack — was still immersed in the shock of a moment ago.
"Reporting — this is the enemy-fleet loss data we've tallied; in that round of firepower strike just now, the enemy fleet lost, at the least, close to 20,000 interstellar warships!" Qingman reported in a rush from the side.
"20,000?" Medusa stared dumbstruck, mouth agape.
A bare 10 minutes of bombardment, and it had wiped out 20,000 enemy ships. Though over 90% of them were cannon-fodder T1-grade interstellar warships, this terrifying capacity for firepower strikes was, all the same, enough to leave one aghast with dread.
"This is money being scattered, naked and unabashed. I made a rough tally just now: these five T3 interstellar missile ships launched at the very least 50,000 interstellar missiles! If they were self-researched and self-made, then the cost consumed would exceed 1 billion star coins too. And if they were purchased — then that one round just now alone might well have consumed upward of 10 billion star coins! Those interstellar missiles just now were astonishing in power, and their cost may well be no small thing either — indeed, this wave might well have flung out 20 billion star coins straight off! I've never seen anyone wage war this filthy-rich. This isn't waging war — this is smashing money straight into the other fellow's face," Red Rose said with feeling, over on the far side of the video window. Being a merchant, she was, of course, the more interested in these economic properties of things.
Tens of billions of star coins!
Medusa drew in a cold breath. Put this way, then, the value in star coins consumed by that one round of attack just now might well be the equal of having fought clean through nearly one whole Snake-folk interstellar fleet's market worth!
This battle was being fought… terrifying to such a degree.
"Reporting — that fleet from the Lion King System has suddenly launched an assault. Several T3 interstellar warships are taking the initiative to attack the enemy fleet!" a subordinate reported suddenly.
Medusa looked at the battle situation before her; that terrifying interstellar-missile bombardment just now had straight off thrown these "fish-fleet"-system interstellar fleets' command systems into chaos. A time like this was precisely the best moment to launch an assault! Medusa at once got in contact with Zhao Chen's side, inquiring whether he needed her fleet to coordinate in the fighting. But the response she got was: carry out the pre-set battle plan. And the pre-set battle plan was, of course, simply for Medusa's Snake-folk fleet to keep to its place, minding its own duty, and guard well the Snake-Sovereign Fortress's defensive line. This left Medusa, of all things, with a small trace of loss.
"Queen… Your Majesty the Queen… quick, look at that… that interstellar warship!" Qingman, unable to hide her excitement, pointed at a certain interstellar warship in the display. That interstellar warship's bow position was, just then, shining with a dazzling radiance. At the same time, their starship radar, too, showed that a high-intensity energy attack was forming.
"That's a T3-grade interstellar battleship!" Medusa's lovely eyes bored into this interstellar battleship; for a moment, she found herself, of all things, drawn in by this interstellar battleship too. For, after all, the interstellar battleship and the carrier starship were the two star ship-types among the same-grade ship-classes. One might even put it thus: there might be those who did not care for the carrier starship — but there would absolutely not be a single captain or commander who did not love an interstellar battleship!
At this moment, this mysterious T3 interstellar battleship was very plainly charging its energy, and had, moreover, already locked onto its target. And at this moment, this locked-on target… it was, truly, for all the world like an ant on a hot oil-pan — like a herd of grass-mud-horses stampeding across the grassland.[1] The emotions were complex to a degree beyond describing.
Most unluckily, that was, precisely, a T3 Dragon-Croc-class Medium Interstellar Battleship.
Aboard the bridge where Young Master Sun was at this moment, it was a scene of utter disorder — alarm-tones rising and falling one upon another, and, besides, the acrid smoke from the hull modules' damage filling the whole bridge.
"Reporting — star-shield energy at 34% remaining."
"Reporting — the hull's starboard armor was severely damaged in the interstellar-missile assault just now. Multiple compartments destroyed; personnel casualties have appeared."
"Reporting — one of the hull's engine modules has malfunctioned; 30% of power lost."
Under that round of the interstellar missiles' firepower ground-washing just now, this T3 Dragon-Croc he was aboard had, most fortunately, not fallen outright. Of course, this was in a situation where his interstellar fleet had paid a quite grievous price. The fleet, originally 300 elite interstellar warships, now had fewer than 100 interstellar warships left! And all around, everywhere, was the wreckage of the T1 and T2 interstellar warships that had, just now, given their lives shielding them. Even these hundred interstellar warships of theirs that had survived were, without a single exception, marked with damage of varying degrees upon their hulls.
At this very moment, in Young Master Sun's mind there was no longer any thought whatsoever of wiping out the enemy fleet; his one and only notion was — retreat! Whatever else — first retreat to a safe place. He was no professional soldier; what he gave first priority to was, of course, his own safety.
But it was at just this moment.
A single alarm-tone threw the whole bridge into utter chaos.
"Warning! Warning! Warning! Our ship is being locked on by an interstellar warship's bow cannon; by energy detection, it is suspected to be a T3-grade interstellar battleship! The energy-intensity value is ceaselessly climbing. Please evade at once! Please evade at once!" the mechanical voice sounded.
Young Master Sun stared dumbfounded at the red simulation data flashing up ceaselessly before his eyes; upon it was displayed the attack-line of the main weapon of an interstellar warship of unknown model — and it covered, precisely, this T3 Dragon-Croc he was aboard. And the energy value detected — to what degree of terror? It far, far exceeded the main weapon this T3 Dragon-Croc-class Medium Interstellar Battleship of his was equipped with — five times the energy value!
This… just what in the world was this monster of an interstellar warship? Even were this a T3 interstellar battleship — was this a weapon that a T3 interstellar warship ought to be equipped with?
"Retreat! Retreat at once! Full-speed retreat!" Young Master Sun roared out hysterically; in this instant, he'd begun to regret his having appeared here. A year ago, in that Lion King System, he'd plainly had a chance to escape with his life from the very jaws of death. Why had he been so greedy as to come back to the Reef Star Region anew? If… if he hadn't joined the Prince Faction, hadn't come to the Reef Star Region — then even had he achieved nothing at all in his whole life, at the least, after going back, he could still have inherited a title from his father; his father was a marquis, and to him it would come, at any rate, as an earl's title. In his fief he could have been an existence like a local emperor of his own petty realm.
Remorse!
But at this moment, remorse had already come too late.
The warning-tone, too, had changed from "energy attack detected" into "energy strike in transit."
Thereupon, the image within the deep-space telescope was of a thick, stout golden energy beam that directly set the starry sky alight, and pierced through every interstellar warship that blocked its way upon this attack-line ahead. And at the last, it accurately struck this T3 Dragon-Croc-class Medium Interstellar Battleship. Together with what scant little of the star-shield remained, it destroyed this T3 Dragon-Croc!
T3 Imperial-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship · bridge.
"Reporting — the chief attack target has been destroyed. Please give your instructions."
Charlotte coldly raised a hand and pointed forward. "T3 Blizzards, coordinate with the T3 Imperials — make ready to charge in and interpenetrate the enemy formation!"