Explosion

Even the Lashudia Clan, who were determined to win their first victory, gave up, which showed that the situation was indeed hopeless. Therefore, when Conrads gave the order to retreat, everyone rushed to teleport back to the Frontline Base from Lima.

Whether Conrads intended it or not, he did not make specific arrangements for the retreat when he issued the order, which made the situation even more chaotic.

"These idiots..." Conrads's Adjutant muttered under his breath, looking at the scene before him. In fact, Conrads had done this on purpose; he had ordered the Outer-Ring Civilizations to retreat first, precisely to create the current situation.

However, this was not something Conrads would do simply because he was one of the Zerg's "own people," but rather it was part of the Lashudia Clan's plan.

This step was originally intended for the Zerg Stellar Bomb. The entanglement between the middle and Outer-Ring Civilizations cleared the channel, making it easier for the Lashudia Clan fleet to retreat.

However, the current situation doesn't seem as urgent as the Stellar Bomb, and half of the Lashudia Clan fleet has been diverted to flank the enemy, so the rest don't need much of a route.

Therefore, Conrads' actions were somewhat unnecessary. After all, it is unwise for a Coalition Army commander to do something that could cause conflict between friendly forces, and it raises suspicions.

However, this somewhat abrupt action was perfectly normal in the eyes of the Lashudia Clan. The great Lashudia Clan had lost its first victory, and the only way to offset their frustration was to make other races even more unlucky.

While other races continued their struggle, the Lashudia Clan, taking advantage of their position, had already turned around. Their warships then split into groups according to a pre-arranged plan, heading in their respective directions. Once a safe distance was reached, they would activate their warp engines and depart. Conrads's flagship was among them.

In fact, the foreign tribes were not fools; they saw through the Lashudia Clan's methods perfectly clearly. But it was an open scheme, and when the crisis came, they had no choice but to comply.

"Taking a step back opens up a vast expanse"—this saying is easy to say, but incredibly difficult to truly put into practice. The foreign tribes all know that the most important thing now is to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.

But who should go first? The Mid-Ring Civilizations believed that its technology was superior and its warships were fast, so letting them go first was the most efficient choice.

Indeed, this was the case. As long as the Outer-Ring Civilizations remained still, allowing the Mid-Ring Civilizations to escape the chaos first, once the Mid-Ring Civilizations's warships began to accelerate, the Outer-Ring Civilizations would face an easy path.

It's like comparing a car traveling at 70 kilometers per hour to a car traveling at 60 kilometers per hour. Ignoring other factors, the car traveling at 60 kilometers per hour will never catch up with the car traveling at 70 kilometers per hour.

So for these two cars traveling at 60 kilometers per hour, there are essentially no obstacles in front of them.

However, the Outer-Ring Civilizations did not see it that way. They felt that they had already made sacrifices and become cannon fodder, so in this situation, they should naturally be the first to run away.

If the fleet of the Mid-Ring Civilizations escapes first, and the Zerg launches a pursuit, those who fall behind will inevitably become cannon fodder once again.

Moreover, this is Zerg territory; any delay could mean being stuck here forever. To avoid that fate, we must entangle the Mid-Ring Civilizations's fleet.

And we must act as if we're fighting to the death; either let me go first, or none of us should leave.

Faced with the shameless behavior of the Outer-Ring Civilizations, the Mid-Ring Civilizations was somewhat at a loss. These guys were clearly trying to drag them into their mess, so how could they possibly comply with their wishes?

Unfortunately, as time passed, the Mid-Ring Civilizations was the first to succumb. They regretted their decision, realizing they shouldn't have stooped to the level of these fools.

However, they weren't regretting making the decision, but rather regretting why they hadn't made it sooner. If they had made that decision from the beginning, how much time could they have saved? The two teams would probably have already separated by now.

Except for those that were turning around, the warships of the Mid-Ring Civilizations that had already turned around shut down their engines and stopped advancing.

The Outer-Ring Civilizations, having won this standoff, felt no excitement. Forcing the Mid-Ring Civilizations to submit would inevitably lead to retribution, and as the technologically weaker party, they would pay a heavy price.

But there was no time to worry about that now; being eliminated was better than becoming a prisoner of the Zerg. With the warships of the Mid-Ring Civilizations no longer fighting for passage, the entangled forces of both sides were rapidly separating.

However, suddenly, the instruments on both sides' warships detected a sudden explosion.

In fact, explosions are common on the battlefield, and one explosion wouldn't normally attract much attention. But the direction from which this explosion originated was something they hadn't anticipated.

While their fleets were still locked in combat, the Lashudia Clan fleet, which had made prior arrangements, had already created a safe distance between them and began to gradually enter warp drive mode.

The explosion occurred at that moment; it was a catastrophic explosion of a warship. The foreigners easily deduced this from the various data they observed using their instruments.

But why did that warship explode for no apparent reason? The instruments showed that there were no Zerg space units around it, which meant that the Zerg were not lying in ambush there.

That location was not only extremely far from the Zerg on the battlefield, but also separated by numerous fleets from the outer and Mid-Ring Civilizations. The Zerg's artillery fire was already sparse and could not possibly reach them.

However, the warship did indeed explode. Given the technological level of the Lashudia Clan, without external interference, no matter how they operated it, they shouldn't have been able to blow up the warship.

Therefore, after comprehensive analysis, only one possibility remains: the warship was attacked from within.

The outsiders didn't take long to reach this conclusion. In fact, many of them hadn't even considered other options; the moment the explosion occurred, they immediately thought of the Zerg's trap units.

Based on previous analysis, the Zerg units occupying key positions on the warship were fully capable of causing the warship to explode, and the timing was just right.

Normally, even if Zerg trap units damage the warship's energy generation and energy hub systems, the Lashudia Clan can avoid the damage from the explosion by shutting down the relevant instruments.

At most, the warships would be damaged and rendered immobile, but they wouldn't reach the point of exploding. However, many of them are now entering warp drive, so these energy instruments cannot be shut down and will need to operate under heavy loads.

At this point, if the Zerg can take the opportunity to destroy the energy system, there is a high probability that a large-scale explosion will occur, which will then trigger a chain reaction and lead to a secondary explosion.