I don't want it anymore! I don't want the Galactic Throne anymore! (in Elder Jinchi's voice)

Ning Zhiyuan stared intently at the screen.

At last, under the full assault of the three corvettes, every enemy ship entered the flak cannons' firing range.

"Flak cannons, fire!" the general in his prime ordered loudly.

The flak cannons mounted atop the ship spewed vast quantities of explosive shells into space, firing continuously at a breathtaking rate.

The shells slammed squarely into the enemy ships' deflector shields. At last, unable to withstand such a dense barrage of explosions, the shields shattered.

If missiles were weapons for small ships to fight big ships, then flak cannons were weapons for big ships to fight small ones.

Stellaris's battle reports always listed the number of small warships destroyed by flak cannons or point-defense systems separately, showing that flak weapons were made to attack small vessels.

These rapid-fire explosive shells provided powerful suppressive fire and worked wonders against small ships' deflector shields.

Under the relentless flak bombardment, the small ships' deflector shields shut down one after another as their energy ran out, exposing thin armor and hulls.

Ning Zhiyuan waved a hand with boundless confidence. "Fire the red lasers!"

Two searing beams shot out simultaneously once more, targeting the ships whose shields had broken. Without their deflector shields' protection, the red lasers carved hideous, melting holes into the ships as easily as slicing vegetables.

A simple sweep could cut a warship in half. At worst, it would leave the ship dead in the water.

"No, something's wrong. Are those flak cannons?"

As Alexei watched his fleet's losses multiply, panic suddenly began to take hold.

"I never imagined changing their weapons would make such a huge difference."

"No, our losses are mounting. We can't drag this out any longer!"

After a round of attacks from the flak cannons and red lasers, combined with the Left and Right Protector Ship's nuclear missiles, he had only around twenty warships left!

"The Left and Right Protector Ship is nothing to fear. The Galactic Throne is the only worry-this should have been a one-sided stomp. How did it turn into this?"

Watching the enemy flak cannons continuously fire explosive shells and the red lasers sweep through his fleet, Alexei felt hot all over and began to sweat.

He instinctively raised a hand and wiped his forehead.

His palm felt damp. He opened his hand and looked down to find his palm, pale from clenching, covered in sweat.

"Is... is this sweat? I'm sweating?"

"No, the humidifier must be turned up too high."

"What a joke! How could I possibly sweat fighting an opponent like this?"

Alexei grabbed the communicator and roared, "Hold firm! There's no retreat now. Advance until we're right in their faces! Get a little closer and their weapons won't have the angle to hit us!"

"Do not retreat! Anyone who does will be treated as a deserter!"

Perhaps heaven was looking out for him?

In any case, shortly after he shouted his orders, the flak cannons firing at full capacity aboard the Galactic Throne suddenly fell silent, no longer launching high-explosive shells.

Alexei was overjoyed.

"Their flak cannons can't keep firing as long as their red lasers. They're reloading now-everyone, launch an all-out assault!"

The few remaining warships had fought themselves into a frenzy. Throwing caution to the wind, they went full throttle and surged toward the Galactic Throne.

There were only two red laser beams, not enough to stop their advance completely.

Before they even reached optimal attack range, they could no longer hold back and sent dozens of space torpedoes hurtling toward the Galactic Throne.

"Yes, that's it! Charge in and destroy them!"

Alexei had gone mad. He switched on his broadcast microphone and roared across the entire communications band.

As long as they could destroy the Galactic Throne!

Then every sacrifice would have meant something!

What little remained of his fleet was about to reach the underside of the Galactic Throne, where its weapons had a blind spot!

As long as... as long as they could reach that spot...

But...

"It's time!"

Ning Zhiyuan announced from the center of the bridge.

"Activate the ion thrusters. Full speed ahead; speed up the flak cannon reloads and prepare to fire!"

"Yes, General!"

The thrusters at the Galactic Throne's stern blazed with bright blue light. The warship began moving forward, then rapidly picked up speed. Its powerful engines gave the entire vessel tremendous acceleration, carrying it more than a hundred kilometers in an instant.

Ning Zhiyuan had adjusted the ship's heading well in advance. Its stern had been facing the starport all along, so it could now open up the distance without even turning.

Although Shoigu's fleet also used nuclear fission reactors and ion thrusters, the ships on the two sides were on entirely different scales. The Galactic Throne easily pulled away.

"They're running! Chase them!"

Frantic with anxiety, Alexei slapped the table and shouted his orders.

The few remaining sublight warships all accelerated to maximum speed, trying to catch the Galactic Throne.

But the Galactic Throne was clearly faster, and its range was longer. Its red lasers kept sweeping across them. Now its flak cannons had finished reloading, and another round of fire began.

The Galactic Throne led by a considerable distance. Although the small sublight ships behind it were traveling at full speed, the gap continued to widen.

The two red lasers and the flak cannons fired at will, inflicting more and more losses on the pursuing fleet.

Ning Zhiyuan had never felt so exhilarated!

He piloted the warship himself, even circling around and slowing down to keep the fleet trailing at just the right distance, then unleashed a furious barrage using his superior range.

"No, it shouldn't be like this. What kind of tactics are these?"

Alexei was already numb.

"We can't catch them at all. Their range and speed are both better than ours..." someone said in despair.

"Commander Alexei, as much as I hate to admit it, there's nothing we can do to turn this around."

"Surrender. We might still survive!"

Seeing the situation, his staff officers had long since worked out how the battle would end. Their faces were ashen, and some had already begun discussing surrender.

But why had things turned out this way?

A flash of realization struck Alexei.

They had been wrong all along.

In their earlier fight against the corvettes, the corvettes had used the least suitable weapons and stayed stationary like gun emplacements throughout the battle. That was what had given them the illusion that corvettes were nothing special.

But agility and speed were the defining traits of corvettes. To these little ships, corvettes were enormous, but on a cosmic scale, corvettes were already the smallest vessels.

Later ships like Titans and Colossi could each be the size of a small planet.

Xi Yan's tactics were, of course, correct. They were even far beyond humanity's current level.

This world was almost identical to the world of Stellaris. It could practically be called a high-definition, real-life remake of the game.

Who was Xi Yan? He was someone who had commanded fleets with several million fleet power in space combat!

His understanding of ship weapons and performance surpassed anyone else's. He was a born military theorist, needing only a little field testing to become the finest commander.

Against a novice at space warfare like Alexei, it was utterly one-sided.

Xi Yan had even personally commanded countless wars against alien empires, conquered countless star systems, and become Emperor of the Galaxy at least ten times. The cybernetic lifeforms that had died at his hands numbered in the trillions.

Still, Xi Yan had always considered himself a great philanthropist of the Sea of Stars. After all, he gave the citizens of his empire a standard of living of utopia-style abundance.

That's right. The Marshal really is a genius!

Ning Zhiyuan thought happily as he slowed down again. Otherwise, the pursuers behind him would fall out of range.

The enemy ships dwindled as the red lasers ruthlessly harvested Shoigu's fleet. At last, when fewer than ten sublight warships remained on the battlefield, Alexei finally broke down.

"I don't want it anymore! I don't want the Galactic Throne anymore! I'm done fighting!"

"Come back and protect me! Stop chasing them!"