The edge of the solar system.
The Xingcha vessel dodged with all its might, taking the shelling from four black ships with minimal damage and successfully destroying one enemy vessel.
Gong Yiding switched targets and continued firing.
However, the Xingcha, having finally destroyed an enemy ship, was already riddled with scars. To cover the main ship, three of the four auxiliary ships exploded, leaving only the last auxiliary ship accompanying the main ship.
The enemy ships once again concentrated their fire into the smoke screen. The Xingcha shook violently. The propulsion ship was pierced by enemy fire, and its output power rapidly decreased. Not only were the thrusters about to shut down, but the performance of the onboard computer also declined due to insufficient power supply.
It's beyond saving!
Gong Yiding's heart was devoid of any ripples as he immediately made the most rational judgment.
He issued a series of commands and quickly withdrew his thoughts, returning to his body.
Artificial gravity had failed. Gong Yiding stood up. Several small nozzles popped out from his back, and he flew off the bridge with extremely agile movements.
At the same time, the hatches on both sides of the warship opened, revealing rows of missiles. The next second, all the missiles were launched.
Whether they hit or not was no longer Gong Yiding's concern. His goal was to prevent a single missile from being wasted on a sinking warship!
The scattering missiles threw the enemy ships into a frenzy. By the time they destroyed the missiles flying everywhere, Gong Yiding had already ejected from the ship in a life pod.
As soon as it flew out, the warship exploded behind him.
It wasn't an enemy ship hitting the Xingcha, but Gong Yiding activating the self-destruct system.
Fragments of all sizes flew everywhere in the explosion. The life pod, shaped like a piece of debris, blended in with the real fragments and successfully evaded enemy scans. Fortunately, Gong Yiding had switched to a mechanical body; otherwise, the detection of life signs would have surely attracted further pursuit from the enemy.
The enemy did not waste time on Gong Yiding. They opened a wormhole and left the battlefield.
Only after the enemy ships were gone did Gong Yiding sigh and proactively send a signal: "Xiao Ou, I'm fine."
At Starship Base, Ou Zhanpeng was on the verge of an outburst. Xu Qing was also worried about Gong Yiding's situation, but she still had to placate Ou Zhanpeng and urge him not to act impulsively.
On the projection in the center of the cabin, more and more warships exploded and sank. Ou Zhanpeng's clenched fists trembled slightly from the excessive force, and his knuckles made a soft cracking sound.
His breathing grew more rapid, and his eyes burned with an unquenchable rage.
The projection suddenly changed again. Three black ships arrived, bringing the total number of black ships to eleven. They continued their advance, clearing the remaining human warships. Six octopus ships remained behind, arranged in a regular hexagon.
For reasons unknown, the enemy forces split their forces. Zhou Guangyi seized the opportunity and ordered the Earth Fleet to attack, while simultaneously ordering the Mars Fleet to provide urgent reinforcements.
Success or failure hinged on this!
Thirteen starships appeared on the battlefield. Apart from three modified warships, the remaining ten Flame-class ships all deployed their auxiliary ships and launched a powerful offensive against the alien fleet.
Upon discovering a large number of Flame-class ships among the human fleet, the aliens paid them high attention. The eleven black ships split into two groups: three continued to clear the remaining warships of the United Fleet, while the remaining eight turned their direction to engage the Earth and Mars fleets.
The Xingcha's performance was remarkable. Without it, the enemy would never have dispatched so many warships to deal with these two fleets.
The fleets could only repeat Gong Yiding's tactics, launching smoke bombs and creating a smoke screen tens of kilometers wide in the void. Both sides fired fiercely across the smoke.
Humanity had more warships, but the enemy ships were faster, had stronger firepower, and better protection. For a time, it was a fierce but even battle.
However, humanity had the advantage of terrain. Even through the smoke screen, they could accurately locate the enemy ships.
The thirteen warships, aided by satellites, concentrated their fire. With just two volleys, they successfully destroyed one enemy vessel.
There was no time to cheer or celebrate. The fleet immediately locked onto the next target.
The other side was not a weakling that only took hits. They immediately retaliated. A black ship in the Earth fleet suddenly lost control and opened fire on its allied ships to its left and right.
The allied ships were completely unprepared. The white ship's shields were penetrated, and three auxiliary ships were destroyed by the black ship, while one Flame-class main ship was heavily damaged.
Fortunately, only the energy weapons had gone out of control. If the missiles, loaded onto the warships later, had also gone rogue, the two fleets would have been reduced to dust.
The bridge officers on the black ship desperately tried to stop it, but it was useless. The captain immediately broadcast to all allied ships: "Fire on me, fire on me!"
Nearby warships immediately turned their cannons and bombarded the black ship.
In this critical moment, there was no time to ask what had happened. The only thing they could do was to stop the out-of-control warship as quickly as possible, otherwise, it would not just be the loss of one black ship, but the loss of the entire campaign, and consequently, the fate of Earth and humanity!
At a crucial moment, a soldier in the engine room sacrificed himself by destroying the propulsion core, successfully stopping the black ship from firing further.
The allied forces, unable to stop in time, ceased fire immediately upon discovering the explosion, but they had still fired dozens of rounds before stopping.
The black ship was heavily damaged, but it had narrowly escaped destruction.
The soldiers gritted their teeth in frustration and bombarded the enemy ships with even fiercer fire.
Because of this lesson, from then on, the military dismantled all alien warships. Even purchased warships were dismantled and rebuilt.
More and more black ships met their demise on the battlefield, and the scales of victory gradually tilted in favor of humanity.
Finally seeing a glimmer of victory, Zhou Guangyi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Everything was improving.
However, the six octopus ships presented a problem. Streaks of flashing electric light connected them, forming a giant hexagon in the void.
A voice suddenly appeared in the human fleet's communications: "Stop them, quickly!"
It was Misha's voice. At this moment, her flagship had passed through a wormhole and appeared outside the orbit of the moon.
Realizing what she meant, the center of the hexagon was already replaced by a continuously expanding patch of pure black.
Everyone who witnessed this scene was stunned – it was an expanding wormhole!
Were the enemies trying to open a giant wormhole? That hexagon had sides nearly a kilometer long!
Misha's voice appeared again: "That is a wormhole leading to the Black Horn people's home planet. Once their main fleet passes through, unless the Empire's main fleet is here, no one will be able to stop the Black Horn warships!"
This statement was translated at lightning speed. Upon hearing it, Zhou Guangyi was almost plunged into despair.
Stopping the black ships was already the limit of the human fleet. Where was the extra strength to stop a wormhole?
The United Fleet was even less capable. Those three black ships were rampaging, and without external intervention, the United Fleet could be disbanded today.
From the direction of the moon, broken ships ascended. The particle disintegration cannon fired, instantly destroying a Black Claw Octopus.
But all efforts were in vain. The wormhole did not stop despite the loss of one corner.
Misha despaired: "Let's go, Earth is finished." In the face of the Black Horn army, she, an Imperial Duke, was no stronger than a common citizen. It was better to leave as soon as possible.
But was Earth truly finished?