Chapter 121: Breaking Through the Defense Line (1)
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Pluto-Mothership.
Moro and a few team leaders stood next to the gravity detector, their eyes glued anxiously to the screen.
“The charge has begun…”
On the screen, Shuttle 10 moved like a fish with Parkinson’s—left, then right, up, then down, shaking non-stop.
But the expressions of those present were extremely serious, the atmosphere tense.
“We must succeed!”
Someone murmured.
On the screen, no energy attacks could be seen. Even though laser beams have mass, they are too small and too far away to be detected by the gravity wave. But based on the shuttle’s movements, one could infer how critical the situation was.
“It’s almost there…”
On the screen, the curve representing Shuttle 10 was nearing the Pluto line.
The closer it got to the Pluto line, the harder it was to dodge, especially within a range of 300,000 kilometers. It required preemptive evasion, and it couldn’t repeat its path, or it would easily be hit.
“It’s hit!”
Suddenly, someone exclaimed.
Everyone’s eyes widened in alarm. Indeed, the shuttle seemed to pause momentarily during its flight, but then quickly resumed its movement.
“Thank goodness for the energy shield, but it can’t withstand many hits…”
At the shuttle’s highest speed, the power of the energy shield would drop. Faced with this kind of laser beam attack, it could only withstand a maximum of five hits.
“Damn it, what the hell is Seth’s team doing? They need to support us now!”
Someone cursed nervously.
“Look at the Pluto line!”
Just then, someone else, who had been watching the defense base points near the Pluto line, cried out.
Everyone turned to look. An important base point near the Pluto line exploded, followed quickly by a second, then a third.
In just one second, more than thirty base points had been breached.
“Well done!”
Moro clenched his fist, visibly exhilarated, “Next, we’ll drain their laser defense ships…”
The screen zoomed in, revealing more than a thousand battleships filling in the space behind the Pluto line.
Taking advantage of this gap, Shuttle 10 surged forward a hundred thousand kilometers in an instant. It was now less than a hundred thousand kilometers away from reaching the Pluto line—a distance that could be covered in just 16 seconds at the shuttle’s current speed.
Everyone’s eyes were glued to the screen, staring intently at the thousand plus battleships, trying to deduce the state of the battle from their damage.
1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds.
For a full five seconds, all the battleships remained intact, causing a lump to form in everyone’s throat.
Finally, at the 6th second, the image representing a battleship’s gravitational wave detection became unstable, turning into a mess of chaotic lines.
“It’s exploded!”
Everyone cheered happily. The appearance of such lines meant that the battleship was no longer whole.
This was not an isolated case. With the arrival of the 7th second, the curves representing the battleships on the screen started to ‘blossom’ at multiple points. The number of battleships still maintaining their mass sharply declined.
By the 10th second, the screen only showed a hundred or so battleships with intact curves.
“Beautiful!”
Everyone was overjoyed, eager to see the remaining ships completely obliterated.
Unexpectedly, even when Shuttle 10 reached the Pluto line, over a hundred battleships still stood intact.
“This should be when the kinetic cannons hit, right?!”
Even though they couldn’t see the actual situation, everyone had an imagined scenario in their minds.
In a universe filled with the chaos of war, billions of kinetic cannon bullets were pouring towards the remaining hundred battleships.
Moro’s gaze darted between the position of the shuttle and the state of the hundred or so laser defense ships.
Finally, at the 16th second, Shuttle 10 reached the Pluto line, instantly passing through a gap in the defense line.
Not far from him, over a hundred battleships stood like statues, unmoving.
“It made it through!”
Just as Moro and the others were cheering, about half of the hundred-plus battleships turned around, seemingly launching an attack in pursuit of Shuttle 10.
On the screen, Shuttle 10 was seen darting up and down, dodging left and right. Even though everyone couldn’t see the bullets, at this moment, they could visualize the scene of countless attacks being launched.
“Just ten more seconds, and we’ll have succeeded…”
These passing ten seconds were the most dangerous. The distance was the closest, making it the hardest to dodge.
“Hit again!” A sharp-eyed captain noticed that Shuttle 10 paused for a split second while evading.
“Only three more chances…”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Shuttle 10 paused again.
People stopped talking, their full attention on the screen.
“It exploded!”
Suddenly, someone cheered.
On the screen, the curves of a dozen or so out of a hundred battleships crumbled, turning into chaotic tangles.
But the next second, everyone’s worry returned.
In the image, the remaining few dozen battleships all turned around, facing the direction Shuttle 10 was escaping. They seemed to have received some command to attack the invader with all their might.
“Thump! Thump!”
Two heart-stopping moments in quick succession. Unconsciously, Moro crushed the model in his hand.
One more hit, and Shuttle 10’s energy shield would shatter!
At this moment, the dire consequences of those few dozen battleships focusing only on attacking Shuttle 10 became evident.
“Pop! Pop! Pop!”
No one knew who was making sound effects, but on the screen, the curves of the remaining few dozen battleships exploded almost simultaneously.
“We won!”
Cheers filled the room.
Joy filled Moro’s face, but as a captain, he did not relax at this moment. He quickly instructed to further enlarge the image.
Battleships from neighboring bases began to divert to provide support as soon as they realized what was happening.
But they were too slow and too far away to intercept Shuttle 10.
“Are you sure they can’t catch up?!”
“No problem, once we’re past the Pluto line, they can’t stop our shuttle!”
On the screen, within a few seconds, Shuttle 10 had already traveled more than 300,000 kilometers away from the Pluto line.
At this distance, it would be extremely difficult for laser attacks to hit the agile shuttle.
However, Shuttle 10 did not relax its vigilance. It continued to shimmy, each step charting a new course to avoid incoming laser attacks.
Another 30 seconds passed. Shuttle 10 was getting further and further away. The ships still trying to chase it from the first defensive line were left far behind, and the distance was increasing over time.
Only then did Moro finally let out a sigh of relief.
“We did it!”
Overjoyed, Moro laughed heartily, “Let everyone know that to celebrate Shuttle 10’s victory, the entertainment room is free today! Everyone can go and enjoy themselves!”
The faces of everyone in the room lit up at this. The entertainment room, built after the capture of Voyager 1, offered music, movies, and games.
“I want to watch that black-and-white silent film, it’s so interesting….”