The Tengshe darted back and forth through space, nimbly dodging the dense rain of fire. Such effortless evasions immediately put the enemy fleet on alert. The fleet finally came to a halt and opened fire on the target region.
A dense barrage instantly engulfed a vast expanse of space. This was an entire fleet attacking; unless someone had godlike luck, not even a space fighter pilot could be sure they would survive such a relentless bombardment.
But for the Tengshe, this attack was not lethal. With Sublight Assault and a few sharp turns, it escaped the deadly firepower net.
At last, the Tengshe drew close to the Unknown Fleet. Comparing the radar readings, he quickly figured out what the fleet was made of. "They're all standard warships. Are they the Rebel Army?"
In the Dark Star Domain, unless they were preparing for a large-scale invasion, even the Federation military's Fleet 017 would only guard important Hyperspace Lanes. They wouldn't swagger into the area like this and risk provoking the NPC Faction.
Lin Zhichen furrowed his brow, puzzled. Dakan I had once been a Pirate Faction base, but Meteor Mercenary Group had cleared it out. If someone had come to take revenge or investigate, it should have been a pirate fleet. Why had a Rebel Army fleet shown up instead?
After confirming the fleet's identity, the Tengshe abruptly accelerated and flew into deep space, vanishing in an instant.
A little over ten minutes later, it returned to Dakan I. In the Holographic Projection, Wu Tianyi asked, "Big brother, how did it go?"
"It's a Rebel Army fleet with more than a thousand ships," Lin Zhichen replied.
"Ha, no big deal. We can take them out easily." Wei Peng breathed a sigh of relief. He had watched the previous battle. If they had dealt with a massive fleet of two thousand ships, then defeating the enemy would be even easier now that their own fleet had grown stronger.
"It won't be that simple." Wu Tianyi frowned. "We attacked a Pirate Base. Why did the Rebel Army come?"
"Maybe the Rebel Army had already planned to attack the Pirate Base, and we just happened to get there first?" Link guessed.
"A thousand warships to attack Dakan I?" Wei Peng finally caught on and shook his head repeatedly. "They look more like bait to me. The Main Fleet could be farther back. Or maybe they're a search fleet, looking for something."
"They don't look like bait. Tengshe and I circled the nearby space, and there wasn't another fleet within dozens of light-seconds," Lin Zhichen said, shaking his head. "But what you said about them searching for something is possible."
"What could they be looking for? The two Factions have been at war for years. Surely the Rebel Army knows Dakan I is Pirate Faction territory?" Wu Tianyi asked, puzzled. "A Rebel Army fleet suddenly showing up here is suspicious no matter how you look at it."
"There's a distinct aura of Psionics coming from that Rebel Army fleet," Lin Zhichen said thoughtfully. "From what I can sense, there are at least three NPC Psionicists among them. That's very unusual."
The others exchanged glances. It really was unusual. NPCs spawned in huge numbers, but the vast majority were worthless blanks. Those with special talents were extremely rare, and the numbers of NPC Psionicists were even more discouraging.
Of course, that didn't mean there were none at all. In fact, since Psionicists lived longer and were more likely to survive, generations of them had accumulated over time. Every Dark Galaxy had at least some Psionicists.
It wasn't strange for NPC Psionicists to appear. What was strange was finding three of them in a mere Micro Fleet of a thousand ships.
"Big brother, let's take that fleet!" Wei Peng urged, unable to sit still after hearing the news.
NPC Psionicists were extraordinarily rare. It was usually difficult to find even one. Now that three had appeared, capturing and converting them would be a great opportunity. Otherwise, who knew how long it would take to build a Psionicist ground force?
"Don't rush. Let's see what they're after first," Lin Zhichen said.
"Big brother, I have a theory." Wu Tianyi spoke up, drawing everyone's attention. "When the new Psionic Warships bonded with their ship spirits, they caused quite a stir in the Psionic Domain."
Lin Zhichen's eyes shifted. "That's right. Anyone who wasn't blind could feel that enormous wave of Psionics. And the fleet's movements are indeed centered on the region where we were stationed back then."
At that, the others fell silent. None of them had expected their unintentional act to lead to consequences like this. The defensive system at the underground base wasn't even finished yet. If an enemy fleet noticed the place, it could set off a whole chain of problems.
"Big brother, this might not be all bad. At least we've found another source of NPC Psionicists. There are other Dark Galaxies with Psionicists, after all. If we prepare in advance, we can lie in wait for them!" Seeing the gloomy mood, Ake hurried to offer some comfort.
"Ake's right! If awakening Psionic Warships in the Dakan System draws NPC Psionicists, we can set up ambushes in other systems, too, and target the Psionicists there," Wu Tianyi said, his eyes lighting up. "That's much faster than spending a huge amount of time, effort, and Energy Coins to slowly cultivate NPCs. At least until we can mass-produce Psionicists, we can use this to obtain a large number of NPC Psionicists!"
"Exactly." Lin Zhichen nodded, feeling a little more at ease. Whether or not this unconfirmed discovery proved true, it might give the Mercenary Group wings and let it soar. Compared to that, the current difficulties were nothing.
They didn't immediately destroy the enemy fleet. On Dakan I, more than twenty light-seconds away, the base radar silently tracked the uninvited Rebel Army fleet.
The base monitored the enemy fleet's every move without the enemy knowing.
Wu Tianyi's guess had been right. The Rebel Army fleet kept circling an area about twenty light-seconds away. This was the region where the three Psionic Warships had awakened. There was no doubt they had been alerted by the disturbance from the Psionic Awakening and had come to investigate.
"Now that we know what they're after, let's keep them all here." Lin Zhichen commanded the Meteor Fleet as it formed up and slowly advanced toward the Rebel Army fleet.
This time, they were fighting close to home, with the base radar supporting them. Their fleet's field of view had never been wider. Even from more than twenty light-seconds away, they could detect the enemy fleet's every move.
At such a great distance, even a deviation of one millimeter meant a difference of several kilometers or more. Even Grandmaster-level gunners suffered such severe penalties for firing at extreme range that their accuracy became abysmal.
The silent Meteor Fleet steadily closed in. When the distance fell to 6.5 light-seconds, the shipboard radar finally picked up the enemy fleet's precise location. Only then did they launch the shells they had been preparing for so long.
"Bzzzt—"
Streaks of crimson light flashed by and quickly vanished as they flew through space at near-light speed.
It took nearly a minute for the shells to travel 6.5 light-seconds from launch to impact. In that time, the small turrets across the entire fleet could fire more than ten volleys!
They might have been small turrets, but with the skills of their NPC gunners and the AllSpark's bonuses, their firepower was nearly on par with large turrets. Even the weakest Frigate could now threaten a Battleship.
With Mind Resonance supporting them, the entire fleet became a single unit. Its cannons fired one volley after another at the Rebel Army fleet, which remained blissfully unaware.
This was the Meteor Mercenary Group's first battle against the Rebel Army. As a standard fleet, the Rebel Army's equipment was far more advanced than the pirates'. When the incoming Electromagnetic Projectiles entered radar range, they quickly alerted the enemy, who had been searching through space.
Orders passed down the chain of command at once. The Rebel Army fleet reacted better than the pirates had when ambushed. Following orders, the fleet gradually spread out, hoping to weaken the unknown enemy's attack.
But it was too late. Turning a massive starship took several minutes, which was perfectly normal. The ships were still spreading out when they came under a fierce barrage. Suddenly, one warship burst into flames and exploded.
It was a Frigate. After taking hits from five Electromagnetic Projectiles, the ship reached its limit and promptly blew up.
Then came a second, then a third. In just one minute, after taking more than ten volleys, the Rebel Army fleet's commander suddenly realized that they had lost more than twenty warships before even catching sight of the enemy—including one unlucky Cruiser.
To turn the battle around, he ordered the fleet to charge directly toward the direction the shells had come from, spreading out as they advanced to reduce the concentration of enemy fire.
The Rebel Army fleet acted on the clear order at once. It gave up trying to turn and dodge, advancing into the barrage instead. Since the ships had all been designed by humans, their hulls were rectangular. When charging, they exposed the smallest possible area, making it harder for the enemy to hit them.
The two sides moved toward each other, and soon the distance closed to six light-seconds.
At that point, they were within the maximum range of the Particle Light Spears. Lin Zhichen gave the order without hesitation. The energy they had been storing up burst forth, and dazzling beams of light appeared in space. As the Battleships shifted, the beams swept through space in great arcs, like enormous blades of light.
The highly concentrated beams of energy swept across the battlefield, dealing a heavy blow to the Rebel Army fleet. Even at the very edge of their range, the Particle Light Spears still packed more force than Frigates and even Destroyers could withstand.
Under Lin Zhichen's precise command, the Particle Light Spears of five Pirate Butchers traced several ingenious paths through space. Any warship they touched had its shields torn apart and exploded into scrap metal on the spot.
One Battleship was worth noting. It was also swept by the beams. At such a great distance, the energy concentrated in the Particle Light Spears should no longer have been enough to destroy a large warship.
But it was struck by all five beams almost simultaneously. The five "paintbrushes" intersected at a single point in space, and the Battleship caught in their crossfire immediately exploded into a ball of flame.
By the time the attack ended, a huge section of the Rebel Army fleet had disappeared. After hearing the reports, the Rebel Army commander learned that, in the dozen or so seconds just passed, close to two hundred Frigates and Destroyers had been destroyed!
The precise paths of the Particle Light Spears had swept across as many starships as possible. The value of Battleships in fleet combat had been brought to the fullest, and the power of the Particle Light Spears was on full display.
"About five light-seconds away!" After seeing the Particle Light Spears, the Rebel Army commander immediately worked out the enemy fleet's approximate location.
But he didn't know that, with so many skills and the AllSpark enhancing them, their main cannons had reached a new level of power.
"Fire the main cannons!" Unable to strike back while taking a beating, the fleet's morale kept falling. Even if only to raise their spirits, he had to order a counterattack.
"Dodge!" Under Mind Resonance, the entire fleet acted as one. At Lin Zhichen's command, they dodged in different directions, following the best evasive routes he had sensed through his Psionic abilities.
The Rebel Army fleet had more than fifty Battleships. One dazzling Particle Light Spear after another appeared in space, sweeping across the battlefield.
Without radar, they could only fire blindly in the hope of hitting something. It was futile. The beams had already lost most of their power at a distance of more than five light-seconds, and the fleet's evasive maneuvers avoided even the remaining shockwaves.
When the light finally faded, the Meteor Fleet regrouped. In a few breaths, they had reformed into a single unit, almost completely unscathed.
At that point, the two fleets were only 5.5 light-seconds apart. The radar range of a Battleship was five light-seconds. The two sides were almost within sight of each other.
They had no intention of meeting the enemy head-on. With Mind Resonance guiding them, the fleet followed Lin Zhichen's commands like an extension of his own limbs, rapidly changing formation in space. Just before the two sides met, they disengaged and headed for Dakan I.
At the edge of radar range, the Rebel Army commander spotted the enemy fleet's movements and flew into a rage. He led his fleet in pursuit.
They had suffered such heavy losses without even seeing the enemy. Even cannon fodder shouldn't be wasted like this!
He still didn't know that the Meteor Corps was luring them into a trap, planning to rely on the star's accelerated charging effect to annihilate the enemy.
Above Dakan I, seven King Kong turrets orbited along the planet's path. They had finished charging, their barrels pointed out into space at the approaching Rebel Army fleet.
With NPC pilots and the AllSpark boosting their speed, the Meteor Fleet was much faster than the Rebel Army. It reached Dakan I first and took up defensive positions above the planet. The five Pirate Butchers immediately turned their hulls, drawing on the star's energy to accelerate their charging.
In the rear, the pursuing Rebel Army fleet grew suspicious. Going by their direction, Dakan I lay ahead. Could the fleet that had ambushed them just now have been a pirate fleet?
As the distance closed, Dakan I came into view.
Just then, twelve dazzling beams of light shot in from the depths of space, tracing strange paths once again.
This time, an even greater number of Particle Light Spears fired together, producing even more variations. Supported by Mind Resonance, balls of fire erupted one after another across the sky. When the beams faded a dozen or so seconds later, nearly two hundred warships had been destroyed.
After firing their Particle Light Spears, the King Kong Fortresses quickly turned. Their main cannon barrels swung toward the star, and Blazing Star Radiance activated. A stream of fire shot backward from the star and plunged into the barrels.
Rapid Charging activated!
The main cannons were charging, but the King Kong Fortresses kept firing. Depending on their level of evolution, each Fortress had at least three and at most five small turrets. They swiveled back and forth, taking aim at the Rebel Army fleet and joining the Meteor Fleet in volley after volley of bombardment.
The Rebel Army commander finally sensed that something was wrong. In that last attack, seven or eight Battleships had been destroyed. After taking hit after hit, the fleet had already lost nearly half its strength!
Before he could hesitate any longer, a dense rain of shells descended. Even at a distance of 6.4 light-seconds, Mind Resonance kept the shells' hit rate as high as twenty percent. One warship after another exploded, and the Rebel Army fleet continued to shrink before their very eyes.
Just one minute later, the twelve Particle Light Spears fired again. The commander was jolted fully awake. His remaining five hundred or so pirate ships took another hit, losing one-third of their fleet.
The precise fire completely crushed the Rebel Army's desire for revenge. They scattered in a panic, dodging toward the depths of space.
But it was already too late. Once the Rebel Army entered the Meteor Fleet's range, volley after volley destroyed its warships, and the battle gradually drew to a close.
By then, Lin Zhichen had handed command over to Wu Tianyi. He fixed his attention on a Battleship fleeing the battle. Through his Psionic perception, he could sense that it held as many as four Psionic presences.
Before you continue