Rebirth of the Super Battleship-Chapter 669 - 670: Return
The unknown threat is the most terrifying. As for Xiao Yu's spatial rift attacks, this Great Emperor Civilization fleet had no concept at all. They did not know the initiation principle, did not know the mode of attack, did not know how to prevent it, knew nothing.
Boundless panic was spreading throughout this fleet. A Level 5 Civilization already counts as a fairly advanced civilization, yet the dark universe still held too many mysteries unresolved for them. It was as if a ferocious beast, unseen and lurking in this dark void, was ready at any time to choose a target to devour, killing them all.
Under such terrifying psychological pressure, many soldiers of the Great Emperor Civilization were severely tested mentally. Tens of thousands of years of smooth sailing had established in them an absolute psychological advantage, arrogance, and disdain for any civilization. Only now did they suddenly realize that they too were fragile.
Under the immense psychological pressure, some deserters even appeared in this fleet. Some ships chose to break away from the main force and attempted to flee elsewhere. Unfortunately, after traveling some distance, all these fleeing ships once again encountered that inexplicable strike and were destroyed in an instant.
Staying here meant they might be struck at any moment. If they ran, they would be destroyed at once. Such circumstances were enough to make a person mentally collapse and fall into madness.
Xiao Yu did not cut off communication between this fleet and their capital star system, so all information here was transmitted without obstruction to the Great Emperor Civilization's base camp. At this moment, countless scientific institutions were operating at high speed. Everyone was under intense strain, trying to devise countermeasures.
"We have discovered that this method of attack is unlikely to be a natural phenomenon. Its initiation appears to follow some kind of pattern. It is being controlled. We speculate that an extremely powerful existence has arrived here and is playing with us in this way…" a scientist said, face pale. "Moreover, we found that the attack we are suffering now has a certain similarity to the God of Space's methods, both being attacks originating on the spatial level. Therefore, we believe that this may be the God of Space returning…"
"The God of Space… has returned?"
These words were like a curse. As soon as they were spoken, the atmosphere in the hall dropped to freezing point, and countless people felt despair rising in their hearts.
"I do not believe it. So what if the God of Space has returned? In these twenty thousand years, our Great Emperor Civilization's technology has made great strides. Our Great Emperor Civilization is no longer what it once was. We even possess nearly twenty million powerful warships, and our flagship-grade ships number one hundred. We also have dozens of subordinate civilizations. The number of intelligent beings under our direct control has already exceeded two trillion, and more than one hundred star systems are within our sphere of influence. So what if it is the God of Space? I do not believe the God of Space can still crush us directly as before. Although we have also received favors from the God of Space, now is the critical moment of our civilization's life and death. No sentiments can be entertained."
"My order. All military forces within the civilization, as well as all subordinate civilizations' military forces, are to converge on the capital star system. Strengthen the capital star system's defenses to the utmost, then wait here for that thing's arrival. Whether it is the God of Space or not, I want it to remain here. Whatever it is, it will be destroyed by our Great Emperor Civilization."
On the rostrum, an intelligent being resembling a leader was roaring hoarsely. With his order, countless fleets and ships began to converge on this star system. All arms factories entered an emergency state. Large quantities of military equipment were produced. Innumerable star system defense weapons were distributed throughout the system. In a very short time, the strictness of this star system's defenses even surpassed that of the Pegasus Civilization's capital star system in the past.
The Great Emperor Civilization's technological level already did not differ much from that of the Pegasus Civilization back then, but the resources and population under the Great Emperor Civilization's control far exceeded those of the Pegasus Civilization at that time. If it had been Xiao Yu of that era facing the Great Emperor Civilization, he would certainly have suffered a disastrous defeat.
But the current Xiao Yu was no longer the same. At this moment he was watching with great interest the various reactions of the Great Emperor Civilization fleet before him. Any ship attempting to flee would be mercilessly destroyed by Xiao Yu. Ships remaining in the main formation would suffer Xiao Yu's periodic strikes. During this time, roughly another one hundred thousand ships were destroyed by Xiao Yu. As the side being struck, the Great Emperor Civilization still had not found Xiao Yu's shadow, nor had they figured out the principle of this attack method.
"This is too wasteful." At this moment, the Specter companion sent a message to Xiao Yu. "Rather than letting these intelligent beings die under space weapons, better to let me devour them. Although the number of these soldiers is a bit small, it is better than nothing. As an appetizer before the main course, it is not bad."
"Very well. I will leave the remaining four hundred thousand ships to you." Xiao Yu said. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
"No problem." The Specter companion agreed, quickly left the small universe, and charged ahead.
The intermittent low-intensity spatial weapon strikes had never ceased. Every moment, ships of the Great Emperor Civilization were being destroyed, so their soldiers were in constant panic. While conversing with the Specter companion, Xiao Yu temporarily halted these attacks, and all the Great Emperor Civilization's soldiers breathed a sigh of relief.
"Has the storm finally passed? Has it finally stopped? Too frightening… Has the Academy of Sciences' research report come out? What does the Supreme Council say? What are our current losses?" The fleet commander, after slightly calming his fluctuating emotions, fired off a string of urgent questions into the communicator.
Contrary to his expectations, his questions received no answer. Forced to, he suppressed his anger and repeated these questions once more. Still, he received no answer.
A bad premonition suddenly arose in him. Only at this moment did he sense that the atmosphere was somewhat eerie.
It was too quiet. The public communication channel, usually noisy beyond belief, had at some unknown time fallen silent. No one was sending any messages. He raised his head and looked through the porthole at the pitch-black universe outside. There was no sound. He lowered his head and looked at the ship's communication instruments. There was also no sound. He walked out of the command room and saw no soldiers moving about. No sounds. No movement.
"Where has everyone gone… What is going on…" he muttered. But his doubts never received an answer. In the next instant, he too suddenly lost consciousness.
"Roughly one hundred million intelligent beings. The number is a bit small, but the taste is not bad." At this moment, Xiao Yu received the message transmitted back by the Specter companion.
"Very good, then continue toward our objective." Xiao Yu said, dispatching some ships to collect part of the Great Emperor Civilization's warships for future research, and then continued on the journey.
"So this is the strength of the Divine Ark Civilization? No losses at all, not even the smallest Village-Class warship suffered any damage. The Great Emperor Civilization's fleet did not even discover our whereabouts. A colossal fleet sufficient to sweep an entire galaxy was destroyed just like that. Such power… is probably not much inferior to the God of Space…" At this moment, within the small universe, countless intelligent beings of the alliance member civilizations echoed this thought in their hearts.
Meanwhile, in the Great Emperor Civilization's capital star system, an intelligent being with a pale face rushed into the conference room. "Report… we have lost all contact with the Expeditionary Army. None of the messages we sent received any response. We suspect the Expeditionary Army has been completely annihilated."
"From the moment the Expeditionary Army was attacked until now, less than one hour has passed. Only one hour. One million warships, gone just like that… Has the Academy of Sciences' research report come out?"
"No. The Academy of Sciences still cannot determine what attack the Expeditionary Army encountered. They cannot even fully determine whether this is a natural phenomenon or something else. They only suspect that the God of Space has returned. This situation is probably something that only the return of the God of Space can explain."
"Has the God of Space truly returned? Is the God of Space meting out punishment upon us?" The leader muttered, and suddenly his expression turned ferocious. "We have no retreat left. So what if it is the God of Space. Then we can only fight it. Our Great Emperor Civilization will not sit and wait to die. Hear my order. Raise the star system's defense system to the highest alert level. Once the God of Space is discovered, open fire at once. Let that bastard witness the combat strength of our Great Emperor Civilization."
