Rebirth of the Super Battleship-Chapter 581: Victory in Hand

Xiao Yu now had a premonition that in fifteen years, when this star arrived at the Death Flower Star System, that would be when he and the Level 5 Civilization Alliance decided the winner.

A close-range stellar explosion is not something a Level 5 Civilization can withstand. The immense energy of a stellar eruption would surge like a tide and smash the planetary war star’s planetary shield, sweeping away those Level 5 Civilization ships like garbage.

Although this energy does not surpass Level 5 Civilization weapons in unit intensity, its attack range is vast enough to encompass the entire side of a planetary war star facing the star. That is truly terrifying. It also means the planetary war star’s shield must bear an unimaginably heavy energy load, and its destruction would be instantaneous. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Neither Xiao Yu nor the Level 5 Civilization Alliance can withstand a stellar explosion. Of course, since it cannot be withstood, there is a strong possibility of another course of action, flight. Namely, the Level 5 Civilization Alliance would flee in advance before this star arrived.

There were still fifteen years before this star reached here. Fifteen years is already enough time for the Level 5 Civilization Alliance to accelerate all planetary war stars to a speed higher than the star’s and then leave this star system to escape, letting the star Xiao Yu transported never catch them.

Xiao Yu did not doubt this. He knew the Level 5 Civilization Alliance had this capability. At the pinnacle of a Level 5 Civilization, whether a defensive system is built with or without reliance on a star does not affect fundamentals. They could abandon dependence on the star and directly use planetary engines to push these one hundred-plus planets to form a defensive circle.

At present the Level 5 Civilization Alliance structures the system’s defense ring around the star to save manpower and resources. After all, assigning stable orbits to planets by planetary engines and assigning stable orbits by a star are expenses that cannot be mentioned in the same breath. The second reason became clear to Xiao Yu only after the war began, exploiting Xiao Yu’s penchant for directly attacking stars, they deliberately built the defense ring around the star, laid a trap to lure Xiao Yu to attack, and tried to use it to annihilate a large portion of Xiao Yu’s strength.

It was precisely for these two reasons that the Level 5 Civilization Alliance built the defense ring around the star. Of course, the trap they set failed because the Earth was too powerful.

But regardless of the reasons, under the threat of a stellar explosion, it is certain the Level 5 Civilization Alliance would definitely flee. Staying here would be certain death.

Xiao Yu understood all of this clearly. He knew that when resistance was impossible, the Level 5 Civilization Alliance would choose to run, letting the star he transported never catch them and turning all his painstaking efforts into a futile endeavor. Yet Xiao Yu still chose to transport that star.

Because Xiao Yu had his own plan, one that probed much deeper.

He knew they would choose to flee, but this involved a question, how would they flee?

Would the entire main force, including more than one hundred sixty million ships, countless civilians, and over one hundred and thirty planetary war stars, clump together, leave the Death Flower Star System as a group, and escape?

On the surface, this seems the most reliable approach, because clustering together provides the strongest defense, ensuring that during the escape they would not be overly affected by Xiao Yu’s attacks. In fact, however, this is the most foolish approach, tantamount to suicide.

The reason is simple, maneuverability. While the Alliance’s ships can easily enter curvature space and achieve faster-than-light travel, their more than one hundred and thirty planetary war stars do not have superluminal capability. Their conventional propulsion is extremely poor. They can only accelerate slowly at no more than ten meters per second, and must keep accelerating for over three months to attain a speed surpassing that of the star Xiao Yu transported.

And planetary war stars are the Alliance’s foundation. The Level 5 Civilization Alliance cannot allow mishaps to befall them. If they lose the planetary war stars, they can no longer resist the onslaughts of the relentless Xiao Yu and the powerful Earth.

The planetary war stars’ poor maneuverability drags down the fleet’s maneuverability. To ensure the planetary war stars’ safety, most fleets would inevitably follow beside them at that slow speed, moving forward together. Then an interesting situation arises, if the main force and planetary war stars leave the Death Flower Star System, and that system’s defenses grow thin, what if Xiao Yu charges straight in and detonates the system’s star?

Note that because of maneuverability limits, the Alliance fleets cannot run too far. A stellar explosion in the Death Flower Star System would most certainly affect them to the maximum extent.

The Alliance cannot make such a mistake. Obviously, they would split their strength in two. One part would take all the planetary war stars, or most of them, to flee first. The other would leave a small number of planetary war stars and many ships behind to defend the Death Flower Star System. Once the escape fleet got far enough away, the fleet here would decisively abandon the planetary war stars left on guard and use curvature travel to chase after the main force. In this way, they could seize a chance to live at the smallest cost.

It sounds wonderful and reasonable, but this plan still has a major flaw. Where should their strength be tilted? Should the escape fleet be made stronger, the rear-guard defensive fleet stronger, or should the two be split evenly?

Xiao Yu’s total fleet strength is inferior to the Alliance’s, but it is definitely stronger than half of the Alliance’s strength. In other words, if the Alliance tilts its strength toward the escape fleet, then the rear-guard defensive fleet will not be Xiao Yu’s match, and he will break their defense and detonate the star. The exploding star will annihilate the planetary war stars that have not yet escaped the range of effect, rendering the Alliance’s efforts useless. If they tilt strength toward the rear-guard defensive fleet to ensure the star’s safety, then the escape fleet will not be Xiao Yu’s match, and he will strike decisively, surround the escape fleet, and eliminate vast quantities of their living strength.

This is a dilemma. No matter which road they choose, the Alliance will suffer heavy losses.

Alternatively, the Alliance could detach a mobile force composed entirely of highly maneuverable ships to shuttle between the escape fleet and the rear-guard fleet, supporting whichever side Xiao Yu attacks. But this approach has two holes. First, it works when the two fleets are close; what happens when the distance grows too great? How do they support in time? Second, a mobile force by definition would not include planetary war stars, because planetary war stars have terrible maneuverability. Then how could such a fleet possibly be a match for Xiao Yu and the Earth?

Xiao Yu would love for the Alliance to adopt this plan. In that case, he could operate the Earth like a tiger among sheep and annihilate great numbers of their fleets.

In short, from the moment Xiao Yu acquired the technology to put a star into curvature flight, the Level 5 Civilization Alliance fell into absolute passivity. They fell into a situation in which nothing they did would be appropriate and every course of action had fatal flaws.

Flight is unsuitable, remaining is even more impossible, both fleeing and defending is unsuitable, and forming a mobile force to shuttle between the two is also untenable.

All possibilities were blocked. What else could the Alliance do?

This is why Xiao Yu had such a premonition. This is why, once he possessed the technology for stellar curvature flight, all his pressure evaporated.

“As for Xu Junpo… hmm, continue to observe. If we win this war, the greatest meritorious contributor will be him. But his origins are too bizarre. Surveillance on him cannot be relaxed. Still, the honors and treatment due to him must be delivered in full, even above standard.” Xiao Yu pondered silently. “I must not let him feel he is being treated unfairly.”

Right after this star entered curvature flight, within the Death Flower Star System, aboard the Galloping Pegasus spaceship, a tall figure stood before the cabin window, gazing at the outside scenery.

All that met the eye was boundless blackness studded with points of light. He stood there in silence, making no movement, yet a faint aura radiated from him as if everything lay within his grasp.

At this moment, a man hurried into the room. He was so rushed he even neglected basic etiquette and spoke urgently, “Leader, the tachyon detector has observed that the nearest star to us suddenly began approaching us rapidly at 0.3 times the speed of light. It will arrive at our system in fifteen years. According to projections, this is a new offensive method of the Divine Ark Civilization. They now already possess the technology to put a star into curvature flight.”

“Hm?” The leader’s eyes flickered, and a grave look surfaced. His mind began to race. Countless countermeasures flashed through his thoughts and were then discarded one by one.

His expression became more solemn than ever. He had a premonition that this would be the most serious challenge he had yet faced.

“Immediately give me the detailed data. I need to know the situation in greater detail.” he said slowly.