Before this, I had been curious about one question: How powerful were the escaped experimental subjects? Was it worth it for Emperor Halan to send more than half of his remaining army to hunt them down, and even caused the defense of several of his border worlds to be so weak that they were easily breached by the Empire Army? No matter how I looked at it, our operation was a little too smooth. The three borderline scientific research worlds were unsurprisingly dealt a heavy blow by the Imperial Army. Yes, I admit that these three universes were severely damaged. The spatial rift that pierced through space and time forced the local garrisons to divert most of their energy from their defensive facilities to mathematical correction equipment to desperately mend the rift. That was why our three B Fleets could successfully destroy the remaining research centers of these worlds. However, it was undeniable that the Imperial Army's operation was still a little too smooth. The resistance we encountered was less than half of what we expected, and most of the resistance came from fixed sentry posts. The cunning Fallen Apostles actually did not deploy enough mobile troops near their nests. If it didn't actually happen, I wouldn't believe it no matter what.
Now the situation seemed to be clear at a glance. Halan had sent out half of his army (this half of the army was probably pieced together by him after the battle in the ruined world because all the signs showed that these spaceships were very new — as new as our Sixth Fleet) because the magical berserk experimental turned out to be — leading a rather large fleet away.
That's right. When the Empire's fleet maintained the highest level of stealth and carefully approached the best firing point to launch a surprise attack on those Fallen Apostles, the image sent back by the scanning probes was that two fleets of Fallen Apostles were facing each other at a distance of 200,000 kilometers.
Oh, for the cannons of the motherships, perhaps we should say it was a close range confrontation.
"Who are they …" Looking at the two fleets on the radar screen that were obviously going to fight each other in the next second, Sandora clutched her head in pain. "Ah Jun, your clone is really a weirdo. I can be sure now."
"His mobility is beyond imagination." Lin Xue's voice came from behind.
"Didn't you go back to rest?" I looked at the missy behind me in astonishment. Her complexion wasn't very good, but she was slightly more spirited than before. It seemed that the mysterious interference was still there, but missy was getting used to it soon …
The young lady was in a bad mood as if she had just woken up from bed. "I felt ill at ease, and I had all kinds of bad intuitions. Lying there, I saw all kinds of bizarre pictures as if I were watching a movie. I felt like I was dreaming about Silent Hill. Could you have fallen asleep if you were me?"
"Alright, then take a look. Between the two groups of people in front, who is the one being captured and who is the one running away?"
I spread my hand and gestured with my chin at the two Abyssal fleets on the holographic projection.
They had the exact same ship type, 100% identical array formation, and the same mirror-like paint. Other than a slight difference in numbers, these two fleets were almost identical twins. Of course, the difference in numbers was not enough for us to determine who was the one running away and who was the one chasing after them. There was another reason that caused great trouble in identifying them, and that was that both fleets had implemented communication controls. Since both parties might have been on the same side not long ago, it would be extremely easy for them to crack each other's communication. Hence, the commanders of both fleets wisely limited the communication between their spaceships. Perhaps the only way for these two Abyssal fleets to communicate internally was through the mental link between their respective crew members — this was something that could not be intercepted.
In all the monitoring channels, the two opposing Fallen Apostle armies were absolutely silent.
Hence, facing these two seemingly silent black and red fleets that were looking at themselves in the mirror, all of us were going a little crazy.
Lin Xue glanced at the image and instantly rubbed her forehead in distress. "Don't count on me. I don't know what's going on, but the interference is very strong right now. That annoying clone seems to be a rather special fellow. As long as I try to analyze the information related to 'it', I will accidentally trigger a bunch of interference. Right now, we are too close to each other. I can't see anything."
Shallow Shallow suddenly muttered, "… Ah Jun … How did that clone do it …"
I knew that she was referring to how a runaway Experiment could actually bring along such a large Fallen Apostle warship. What did this mean? This meant that the miraculous fellow had instigated an entire army! Instigated an army formed by the Shiring Apostles to defect! That's right, those Shiring Apostles had already gone crazy. They had become cunning and cruel. It was as though they had taken more than 40 kilograms of ecstasy. Furthermore, they were extremely interested in destroying everything. However, this wasn't a reason for them to defect. Even the Fallen Apostles were impeccable in terms of loyalty. But now, half of the unlucky Emperor Halland's army had actually been instigated to defect …
The big sister said faintly, "When we encountered them in the ruined world, we lost most of their main forces. They didn't even have time to catch their breaths before they met with an experimental accident. The rampaging Experiment destroyed quite a number of spaceships. After that, quite a few of the garrisons in the research world were also crippled. In the end, half of the surviving troops were instigated to defect. This is the first time I've realized that someone can be so unlucky without the need for a curse. That Emperor Halland … Why don't we take this opportunity to directly destroy his headquarters?"
Of course, no one took this seriously. Perhaps that Emperor Halland had already lost a lot of vitality due to a series of unfortunate accidents, but he still had the entire Fallen Apostle camp behind him. This was not the time to poke this hornet's nest.
The two opposing Fallen Apostle fleets did not differ much in terms of strength, so their commanders were extremely cautious. A distance of 200,000 kilometers was an unbelievable distance for any weapon on Earth, but for psionic warship cannons, this distance did not even require hyperspace strikes to hit. The two fleets chose very similar tactics: the large spaceships would form a powerful combined shield at the front, while the smaller warships would constantly warp and change formations at the back to disrupt the enemy's direct targeting radar. The goal of this was to allow a small portion of the light warships to circle around the edge of the battlefield without anyone noticing and set up gravitational traps or other hidden mines. This universe with a dark red spectrum seemed to be filled with a thin air mass. Thus, even though the combined shield formed by the motherships flickered like a planet, it was impossible for the fleets to see each other with the naked eye. However, just the radar view and the formation scanned was enough to make one feel an atmosphere so tense that one's brain would surge at any moment.
No one knew when they would break the stalemate. Actually, the Empire fleets had a second option that could change the situation, and that was for us to suddenly come out from our hidden state and decide which of the two Abyss spaceships would open fire first. However, I did not dare to say this idea out loud. Even someone with an IQ higher than a tabletop would think that it was a bad idea, even though it could indeed change the situation …
My sister was just guessing that if we could confirm the identities of the two fleets, then if the Imperial Army attacked the Fallen Apostles, the out-of-control clone would not take the initiative to stand on our side. After hearing this, I had to admit that it was a very tempting hypothesis, but no one was willing to take the risk. In this kind of environment, the enemy of my enemy might not be my friend, especially when they all carried the Abyss Reaction. I did not know if my clone also had the Abyss Reaction, but "it" was leading an entire army of Abyss fleets. Perhaps this experimental body hated the Fallen Apostles who used it as a tool, but that did not mean that "it" was not a member of the Abyss faction. I did not expect it to calmly jump from the hands of one group of controllers to another group of controllers. Perhaps in its eyes, the New Empire and the Fallen Apostles were the same thing. After all, "it" had just been born, and everything it knew was a negative influence.
But just when I thought that the stalemate would continue for a while, one of the opposing Abyss fleets suddenly moved. Their small and medium-sized spaceships suddenly lined up in a very orderly formation. Some of the spaceships turned off their lights, while the others started flashing their lights to the left, indicating that they wanted to overtake … I have to admit, this scene was very strange.
The other Abyss fleet, of course, noticed this strange scene. They thought that the enemy was about to attack and quickly took action. But just as they were about to change their formation, they realized that the enemy who had taken action first was only neatly lined up and flashing their lights. So, they suddenly stopped in place in shock.
We were also shocked because we found that the fleet that suddenly changed their formation and flashed their lights had actually arranged their spaceships into a huge liquid crystal screen, and the lights on the screen formed a pattern of symbols!
"Oracle bone script! Ah Jun, it's the Oracle bone script! And the Great Seal Script and Inscription! And the Cuneiform Script! "
Shallow Shallow excitedly grabbed my arm and swung it back and forth. She was no longer sleepy because she saw something that she was familiar with since she was young — ancient human script. Don't forget what Uncle Xu did for a living. Shallow Shallow's father had been digging up ancestral graves since thirty years ago, and it was said that he had even dug up the ancestral graves of foreigners. Under the influence of her father-in-law, Shallow Shallow's grades in every subject were always red lights, but she was especially talented in ancient culture. It was said that before she could recognize the numbers one to nine, she could already write her name in hieroglyphics. Usually, when Dad Xu wrote notes to her, he would use the Oracle bone script to communicate — just how amazing was that?
The strange behavior of the fleet that was using the fleet as a screen to display symbols — we temporarily referred to them as the First Fleet — confused their enemies. Perhaps the enemy mistakenly thought that the First Fleet was trying to bait them into attacking first, and so the opposing spaceships became even more cautious. At that moment, Shallow Shallow was translating the symbols that the First Fleet was displaying to us at the same time.
"… 'The enemy is a bunch of idiots,'" Shallow Shallow explained as she looked at the screen. "The Oracle bone script doesn't have the word 'idiot,' so it was translated using the Cuneiform Script. The next sentence appeared … 'They don't understand these ancient characters,' and the next sentence, 'These bastards have no flanks. Wait for the right opportunity to ambush them when the battle begins.' 'I'll give you an identification code. When the battle begins, do not attack the spaceships with this identification code. It took me a lot of effort to bring them out.' 'The identification code is a motto.'"
Just as Shallow Shallow finished her translation, the intelligence officer reported that he had received a highly encrypted message from the abyssal spaceships. The message was indeed a motto: 'Mussolini, you're an idiot.' — Hitler's masterpiece.
And it even had dashes!!
Everyone was confused by this strange development. It was obvious that the First Fleet's strange behavior was actually a show for the Imperial Army. They had set up a screen in space and brazenly displayed subtitles because the Fallen Apostles did not understand the ancient hieroglyphics on Earth — because the Fallen Apostles had never studied such things. There was no doubt now that if the escaped experiment was in one of the two fleets, it would definitely be the First Fleet, although no one could explain why: why "it" knew about hieroglyphics, why "it" knew that the Imperial Army was here, and why "it" appeared to be very familiar with us and Earth's civilization.
"Detected an increase in energy level!"
The mainframe's notification rang out on the bridge. The two opposing fleets finally broke the silence, and the one who fired the first shot was the group of subtitles that were behaving strangely.
Dense black and red energy beams instantly crossed a distance of 200,000 kilometers and heavily struck the Fallen Apostles' combined shield.
In a situation where both sides were fully aware of each other's strengths and were prepared for each other, and their side was still at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, firing the first shot was an extremely risky move. No normal commander would do such a thing, as it meant that they would be facing the enemy's long-prepared counterattack in the next second with their sluggish bodies. Any spaceship of medium size and above had to face this situation: when your main cannons completed a volley, the strength of the spaceship's shield and reaction speed would inevitably decrease a little, unless you did not use the massive energy reserves and only used the secondary cannons during the attack.
The two fleets instantly began to exchange fire. The concentrated volley of main cannons pierced through the dark red haze in outer space. Even the already fragile space began to destabilize. The enormous spaceships began to turn and maneuver at a speed that did not match their size. They adjusted their positions in a group manner, leaving behind pieces of shattered space where they originally stood. Micro-wormholes and cracks filled the dark space like spider webs. This reminded us, who were watching the battle, that when fighting in the territory of the Fallen Apostles, it was best to pay attention to moving at all times. Their world was built on fragments, so it wasn't very stable.
"Alright, looks like this isn't a prank."
Sandora looked at the holographic projection on the officer's platform. "Half of the spaceships on both sides are shouting that Mussolini is an idiot, and in the name of Hitler, that crazy clone is serious."
I felt a deep sense of sorrow for the fascist leader who had been dead for many years. He was shot while lying down, and he was shot by nearly ten thousand spaceships of various sizes. Those who were shot in the knee can now rest in peace. There's another one here who died decades ago, yet his corpse was hung on top of another universe. Compared to this fellow, do you still feel hurt?
Nearly ten thousand spaceships whipped Mussolini's corpse as they charged and opened fire. This scene was very dark and humorous. We needed to make a decision. Should we follow the other party's request and help eliminate the other half of the fleet that didn't think that Mussolini was an idiot?
"The flanks of the Fallen Apostles are indeed weak. They would never have imagined that the Imperial Army had already been lying in ambush in this universe with the help of the prophet. Therefore, they are completely in a pursuit formation." Sandora didn't know whether to laugh or cry as she pointed at the radar view. "Our golden opportunity to attack will be in a few minutes. Ah Jun, what do you think? That's your clone. Do you think it's reliable? "
Alright, I didn't know what my clone was thinking. In fact, I had initially thought that if I got close enough to the clone, I would be able to develop the legendary telepathy or something. However, it turned out that I couldn't sense anything when I got close enough. Therefore, I had no idea why the other party would take such a strange action. However, this didn't affect my decision to cooperate with them.
"Start charging the main cannon slowly. Super heavy hidden bombardment slowly circle to the back of the enemy. It seems that the army led by the clone will be able to hold the enemy back for a long time. We must strive to kill them in one strike."
This was the tactic I could think of. However, in this chaotic situation where the enemy was in the open and I was in the dark, there wasn't a need for any brilliant tactics. The frontline commanders would settle everything on the battlefield. I only needed to tell them the method I wanted to use to end the battle. As the Royal Fleet's spaceships slowly dispersed in their hidden state, I nodded at Sandora. "Actually, I really want to know how a clone who came out of the Fallen Apostle's laboratory knows how to write Oracle Bone Script, and how he knows that Mussolini is an idiot."
Sandora silently turned her head, her shoulders twitching.
The frontline commanders were cautiously waiting for an opportunity because both sides of the battle were still in the probing stage. Although the number of the rebel army led by the clone (I think we can call it that now — to the Fallen Apostle, it was a rebel army) was slightly smaller, and they had also lost a lot of advantages when they took the initiative to attack, it was still not a small fleet. On a battlefield where the situation between both sides was almost completely transparent, unless you had an absolute advantage or a trump card that was guaranteed to succeed, a steady and steady battle was the only wise choice. Furthermore, although the "strange behavior" of the rebel army had left the Fallen Apostle scratching his head, it had also put the Fallen Apostle on high alert. A considerable portion of the main battleships had not left their position. These battleships' close-in cannons covered their flanks and rear two-thirds of the area. The Imperial Army's heavy hidden bombardment had no choice but to hover around this area. Otherwise, once they launched an attack, they would be exposed, and there was a possibility that they would be wiped out in an instant.
"If we don't attack now, Pandora and Visca will have circled around 300 times." Sandora used her chin to point at the holographic image. On it, she could see two dots the size of sesame seeds hanging behind the Fallen Apostle's fleet, circling around in circles. This time, the two little lunatics had even brought along a killer weapon — the five Olympic rings drawn by her sister on a daily basis. Each person had 100 of them, and if they were to be thrown out, even gods and ghosts would not be able to survive.
At this moment, the situation was once again broken, and it was by the rebel army. Among them, a few giant aircraft carriers suddenly broke away from the protection of the battle fleet. Their entire bodies glowed with intense blue light. This was a sign that they were going to forcefully break through the gravitational trap and jump into the Void!
All of a sudden, the Fallen Apostle finally became anxious. They could not just watch the fugitive leave this world. After all, in order to capture the other party, they had allowed three scientific research worlds to be massacred by the Imperial Army! This price was enough to prove the importance of the artificial Void creature!
The high-speed spaceships of the Fallen Apostle immediately broke away from the formation and rushed forward. All the heavy spaceships accelerated as they prepared their main cannons. In order to increase the efficiency of their cannons, their flanks and rear guards began to break away from the formation.
At this moment, a violent explosion occurred behind the Fallen Apostle and at the border of the fleet.
The sudden attack caused the Fallen Apostle's formation to become slightly chaotic. They began to release powerful energy pulses, and in waves of blue light, grayish-black warships that looked like stooped seeds emerged from the darkness. These malevolent and strange warships were the culprits of the explosion. They were famous for their extremely large yield and slow space-shrinking lightning. Moreover, they had a name that was much more eye-catching than their wretched silhouette: Heavy Stealth Bombardment Ship, or Heavy Stealth Bombardment for short, or Boom for short!
Clearly, this was both a noun and an adjective …
The Admiral of the Empire received another encrypted message, and this time, it was from the mysterious replicant. "Damn, they finally made their move. I'm sweating all over my head … Go back and make me something delicious to calm me down."
Everyone was speechless.
The entire bridge fell into a strange silence.
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