The more than 20,000 Wind Master that rushed into the Wind Star interception fleet immediately launched all their antimatter bombs at the surrounding Wind Star fleet, covering the second echelon of Stealth Killer as they charged in.
In less than half a minute, the remaining 20,000 Wind Master were reduced to flames under the dense attack of the Wind Star warships.
Just as the first wave of Wind Master was completely wiped out, the second wave finally broke into the Wind Star Interception Fleet.
The second echelon has less than two thousand Wind Master left, and fewer than a hundred Stealth Killer. However, the Stealth Killer carrying neutron degenerate matter remained intact under the full protection of the Wind Master.
"Attack. "Hu Yu said softly. This was the first time the fleet had used this substance for an attack. In Hu Yu's mind, this was another trump card. Now it was up to him to see if this trump card could really turn the tide of the battle.
In the first second, the Stealth Killer shut down its energy, and the force field and magnetic field disappeared.
In the fifth second, an egg-sized mass of matter suspended inside the Stealth Killer's pod began to flow with electricity. After losing its restraint, electrons on the surface began to be released from neutrons. This was beta decay, where a neutron became an electron and a proton.
At the tenth second, the matter began to expand, and the current on the surface became stronger and stronger, with electric arcs already visible.
At the twenty-eighth second, the energy generated by beta decay exploded for the first time, releasing a massive amount of energy that blasted the Stealth Killer into interstellar debris.
In the fortieth second, under the influence of powerful degeneracy forces, the matter had expanded hundreds of millions of times, turned into a gaseous state, and was flying in all directions at near the speed of light under the energy impact of the explosion.
At the eightieth second, the neutrons, unable to decay in time, entered every warship, every living being, and every macroscopic fragment on the battlefield with extremely strong penetrating power.
Macroscopic objects initially show no effect when invaded by neutrons, but within tens of seconds, their interiors undergo dramatic changes.
Neutrons are extremely unstable; they cannot exist alone. Once inside these macroscopic objects, they undergo beta decay, releasing electrons, forming new matter, and releasing enormous amounts of energy. This is like placing miniature bombs into the control systems of every warship and into the brains of every Wind Star People.
Besides the explosion, many neutrons decay into ordinary matter, releasing energy insufficient to affect the warship. However, they can create extra particles in the original matter, much like suddenly adding stones or even tumors to the human body.
In particular, the control system of a warship is filled with densely packed circuits. These circuits are usually well protected, but neutrons can easily penetrate the protective layer and reach the interior, multiplying to cause short circuits or abnormal signals.
Because the Wind Star Fleet needed to intercept the dense stream of armor-piercing projectiles and the Wind Master Fleet that was advancing recklessly with its curvature, the distance between the Wind Star Fleets was no longer tens of thousands of kilometers apart as before. This time, they were all concentrated in an area the size of the Sun, which is also the diameter of the channel that the armor-piercing projectiles could create.
At the 120th second, some of the ten million Wind Star warships began to shake as if they were having a stroke, some had their engines and armor start to smoke, some started to burst into flames, preparing to face a series of explosions, while others remained silent, hovering quietly in the starry sky.
Whether it was the Wind Star warship, the remaining Wind Master, or the space-based artillery within tens of light-seconds, everything was out of control. This was the power of neutron degenerate matter. Although it was only the size of an egg, the number of neutrons it contained was astronomical. These neutrons filled the fleet, causing a huge fleet to lose its combat capability without a sound.
Some warships were preserved intact, but none of the crew members survived; these Wind Star People were killed instantly by the neutron beam.
Neither Hu Yu nor the scientists at the Academy of Sciences had expected that such a small piece of Cepheid variable star material could have such destructive power. No wonder it is said that detonating a Cepheid variable star can light up the entire galaxy.
"Continue the advance, don't linger. Chen Peng, raise the sails, you are responsible for guarding the passage entrance. Li Zhixiong and Gao Jianchuan, enter the passage as quickly as possible to reduce the pressure on the fleet guarding the passage. Hurry, don't worry about losses. Victories on the periphery are meaningless. Only by breaking through into the Fengxing civilization will we have a chance of winning," Hu Yu commanded.
The passageway is approximately one million kilometers in diameter, making defense extremely difficult for Yang Fan and Chen Peng. After all, the enemy has a numerical advantage, and the defending side will inevitably suffer some losses. Currently, the Wind Master are only barely managing to even out the casualty ratio thanks to their communication and conventional power engine advantages.
Within the territory of Wind Star.
"Your Majesty, how about it? Ten million warships! Just thinking about it makes my heart ache," Hu Yu said, controlling the Feng Jun clone.
"Humans, what weapons did you use? Why did this happen?" The Minister of Industry, now the head of state, was shocked by this sudden outcome.
"Don't rush, the real show is yet to come. I remind you to do everything you can to plug the gap. You know the consequences once our fleet breaks through the defenses. But before that, you should think about how to deal with your people. I believe it won't be long before they arrive here, and at least three planets will know about your collusion with alien races and the murder of the leader."
"Hahaha, human, do you think this trick of sowing discord will work? I have so many people here to testify for me. Do you think my people will believe a foreigner?"
"Oh, words alone are not enough, of course no one will believe you. But our civilization has a technology that can transmit over long distances in real time. I know you don't trust me, so I risked bringing three sets here and secretly hid them on the three planets where I was in charge of the Wind Star at the time. Just now, I activated the system. Starting with the saying 'money can make the devil turn the millstone,' everything here is being broadcast in real time on those three planets. I didn't have a chance to see it myself, but that kind of aerial projection thousands of meters above the ground should be quite comfortable to watch."
"You... it's alright. I can control those clan leaders. These ordinary people can't cause any trouble. Just give them a little benefit or a little fear, and they'll obediently listen to you."
"Your Majesty, compared to the one you killed, you are utterly foolish. Did you think I would help you control those clan leaders? Wake up. I've already prepared two plans. If you hadn't killed the leader, or if you shared the technology tree with us after killing him, then the addictive molecules would take effect. Conversely, if you didn't share the technology tree with us after killing the leader, then the antidote would quickly appear in the hands of every clan leader on Wind Star."
"Humans, no matter what you do, it won't make a difference. The fleet is still in my hands. As long as I have the fleet, I can control any situation."
"Let's hope so. Let's just stay quiet and watch the show. Of course, if you're willing to share your tech tree with us now, we can still help you control the situation, rewrite everything, and get you through this smoothly."
"Snort."
Upon receiving the notification from the new head of state, the Minister of Military Affairs immediately changed course and returned, but they had already traveled a thousand light-years and it would take at least a year to return to Wind Star.
A year is but a blink of an eye in the interstellar age. It's normal for an interstellar war to last for several years or even decades. However, the Wind Star Civilization did not expect that humans would use such a bizarre tactic, completely disregarding the number of warships lost. If humans did not have neutron degenerate matter and still used this tactic, let alone a mere 40 million warships, even a billion warships would not be enough.
At the same time, Hu Yunhang also ended his mission. Since the S378 Civilization did not exist, there was no point in continuing the search. It was equivalent to traveling trillions of kilometers and wasting eight or nine years of time.
However, Hu Yu did not let Hu Yunhang return just like that. Instead, he instructed Hu Yunhang to gather the crew into 5,000 warships, while the other warships were divided into several small teams. After setting up safety protection procedures and leaving behind a predetermined message, people several light-years away could directly control these warships to reach the predetermined target and then immediately self-destruct, leaving only the information carrier behind, or destroying the information carrier along with the warship. These warships then turned and flew towards the center of the Milky Way, while Hu Yunhang and the other crew members returned to catch up with Earth Two.