Chapter 1244
[Immortal Realm Chapter] Cosmic Ruins, Fleet Space Warfare
It felt like I had crashed into the deep sea!
The gurgling sounds echoed in their ears as the entire fleet became one, their dimensional engines vibrating at the same frequency, theoretically allowing them to enter the same mobile dimension.
Within this space bubble, it is rapidly approaching the observation coordinates.
It is located deep within the void of the luminous universe, quite far from all the major worlds, and is not usually passed through by any of the world's shipping routes. It contains countless terrifying things!
It is known as the Dark Forbidden Zone in human civilization.
But after the observatory observed the discovery of cosmic relics, these forbidden zones became nothing to fear. As long as enough resources could be obtained inside, it was worth it to let many people die!
As for what resources each faction needs, that's not something those below can know.
Lin Shan had some vague guesses in his mind, but he would have to wait until the time came to verify them.
"Captain Lin, Brigadier General Bren is calling."
"catch!"
Brigadier General Brun's voice came from the other end of the walkie-talkie, instructing him to look at the three o'clock position on the right.
Upon hearing this, Lin Shan turned his head. It was a still yet dynamic blue membrane that enveloped the entire Fifth Fleet in a space bubble for dimensional jumps. However, there seemed to be another identical bubble outside, lined up parallel to his own.
From this angle, it appears relatively still. However, upon closer inspection, there is another fleet inside that blue bubble, which looks exactly like ours!
Moreover, there were other people on the ship, also pointing and gesturing in their direction, but those people couldn't see clearly and remained motionless like statues.
What is this?
The officers and soldiers on the frigate were dumbfounded, and they all looked tense. Although they were graduates of the aerospace force's affiliated college, they still had a deep awe for the universe. Many amazing things could not be explained by science. Could they have fallen into some kind of time and space curse?
"That was the fourth fleet of the Ether Federation."
Brigadier General Brun's voice came through the walkie-talkie, as if he were joking with him.
"For this expedition to the cosmic ruins, the Federation has deployed its fourth and fifth fleets, which belong to different political parties and are backed by different forces."
"The Fifth Fleet was recruited from ICE and other military units on the orders of His Excellency the President, representing the will of the President and the people. The Fourth Fleet, on the other hand, belongs to the opposition party and is backed by financial oligarchs and the Star Warriors Association, representing the will of the opposition party."
"Although both are part of the Federation fleet, they don't actually share any common goals. Instead, they each serve their own master. In other words, if they encounter each other in the future, there's no need to pay attention to them, unless a conflict of interest arises."
Brigadier General Brun spoke in a stern tone, decisively authorizing the task over the walkie-talkie.
"Then kill them!"
Lin Shan's expression immediately turned serious.
It was born from the same root, why is it too anxious?
This is the cruelty of infighting within the party and government. Although both fleets belong to the Federal Aerospace Force, are both armies funded and trained by federal taxpayers, and have the same equipment and configuration, even their soldiers are from the federal people.
As a result, once on the battlefield, they might kill each other. Those soldiers who don't know this might think they are fighting for their country, but in reality, they are just tools for those in power to profit!
But what does all this matter to him?
Three days later.
The dimensional engine brought the fleet to the vicinity of the designated location. The surrounding space dissipated like bubbles, and then it was as if a glass door had been smashed open.
Clang, clang!
After the crisp sound, the scene before me shifted and changed, and I was suddenly back in the void.
This place represents the primordial darkness and silence of the luminous universe. Looking around, the profound darkness makes one feel insignificant, lonely, fearful, and lost.
Behind me, there were seventy-two points of light flashing, representing the seventy-two worlds of this universe, like lighthouses illuminating the way home.
In front of them, nothing could be seen with the naked eye, but on the radar detection wave, there was a ring-shaped cold hole with an extremely low temperature, which was constantly emitting signals outward.
The cosmic ruins originated there; to explore them, we must first go inside!
Meanwhile, void fleets from all directions were already approaching them, and radar alarms were almost going off incessantly!
In the control room, the adjutant was sweating bullets as he looked at the screen, while Lin Shan next to him remained quite calm.
The surrounding void remained pitch black, clearly indicating that the void fleets of various worlds possessed cloaking coatings, specifically designed for void environments, making vision the least useful element in such conditions.
Since the main ship had not issued a command to activate the energy shield, he, as the captain of the escort ship, could not easily activate it too early, as that would be tantamount to revealing his coordinates.
In the dark void, whoever exposes themselves first will become the target of all the fleets' concentrated fire!
"Don't stop, accelerate at full speed, and get into the cold cave first."
Commodore Brun's orders were steady and powerful. His men obeyed his commands. When the flagship moved, all the ships behind it had to move as well. The entire fleet stayed firmly together and quietly glided through the darkness.
Finally, the oval-shaped hole on the screen gradually drew closer, and in an instant, the entire ship began to frost over!
Ka Ka Ka Ka
The white frost on the inner wall instantly became clearer, and even the breath of the officers and soldiers inside the ship began to carry ice crystals, and the lights began to dim.
"Tap tap tap tap."
The alarm blared, and Lin Shan immediately gave the order.
"Activate the heating cycle, start the ship's insulation system, balance the internal and external pressures, and prevent heat loss!"
When each Void-class ship leaves the factory, its outer armor is made of heat-insulating material. However, once it enters the Void Forbidden Zone, strange things often happen, and it is not surprising that technology malfunctions. Therefore, it is necessary to make several preparations.
This is why very few humans venture here; the danger is too great. If the rewards didn't outweigh the risks, who would be so foolish as to rush in?
噗噗
Gases erupted inside the cabin, and chemical temperature control was used to overcome the obstacle.
Even so, everyone was freezing, their teeth chattering and their nasal passages dry and painful.
Looking out the window, the surrounding environment suddenly turned deep purple!
Within the vast, cold cavernous space, countless free-flowing, worm-like lines flickered aimlessly, interspersed with white electric filaments amidst the colorful and obscure, and occasionally a burst of lightning would flash.
The void fleet of fourteen warships traversed the passage. The flight control system was extremely unstable, and the intelligent agent took over most of the authority, striving to ensure a safe departure from the area. The captains were also frequently communicating, providing each other with their own data, and covering for one another to overcome the difficulties.
Suddenly, the captain of one of the battleships cried out in alarm, claiming that he had been attacked!
Through the shared screen, it could be seen that the battleship on the left behind was swaying and suddenly seemed to malfunction, losing its bearings and convulsing violently as it tried to leave the fleet.
"Activate the traction system. Your unit must immediately relinquish flight control and hand over the ship to nearby vessels!"
The two assault ships immediately moved closer, holding the battleship in place and using tow to stabilize the hull before pulling it forward together.
If anything goes wrong here, the people up there will be no chance of survival; they will never be able to live in the cold cave!
This is a complex cosmic spectacle with numerous causes, which even modern science cannot fully explain. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator like Lin Shan found it somewhat troublesome.
Fortunately, half an hour later...
The Fifth Fleet passed through the cold cave without incident and arrived at a place that emitted a hazy glow. Here, the sky was a dark purple hue, no longer pitch black, and the ground below was covered with all sorts of colorful stone spots.
These pebbles all reflected the faint light from the sky, with tiny purple dots flashing back and forth; they were all plants that had lost their life.
Verification has shown that all of these plants died hundreds of thousands of years ago.
This is a deathly silent world!
A cosmic relic appeared. It had been sealed for countless years, and finally, under certain circumstances, it sent out its own unique message to the outside world, which was noticed by the major forces of the Microcosm.
It's not just the Steel Furnace World's Aether Federation that's coming in to explore now; if you look closely, you'll find that some places have already been trodden, with engineering vehicles and robots collecting soil materials below.
"We'll also leave the sampling drones and robots here temporarily, and bring them back when we leave!"
Commodore Brun ordered the Fifth Fleet to drop detection equipment as well. This was a sideline civilian scientific mission, something many countries do, and since it was insignificant, they just dropped it there and that was it.
The fleet then chose a direction and headed deep into the ruins.
We passed by many strange landforms, but found no signs of life. The plants and animals had disappeared long ago, leaving only a strange dead zone.
Wherever they go, they leave behind detection and sampling vehicles. These things don't cost much; they just drop them off wherever they can.
Until they came to a huge rift valley ahead, with many hollows in the middle of both sides, which looked like they were made by humans or animals.
Thick smoke was billowing out from one spot!
"There is a situation!"
Something was definitely wrong, so everyone stopped immediately.
Brigadier General Brune ordered his men to stand by and was just about to send someone down to check when suddenly an alarm sounded from ahead, booming across the sky!
"The Kingdom of Luke is exploring the Tianxian World. Your fleet is requested to detour. Any attempt to interfere will be considered a provocation and will be met with severe retaliation according to the terms of hostile nations."
The group finally came to their senses. They couldn't see anything through the huge glass viewing window, but the radar detected that there was indeed a fleet hovering above the Great Rift Valley ahead, waiting there to provide cover.
The warning we just received was issued by the other party.
On the walkie-talkies, all the ship captains were waiting for orders, to see whether Commodore Bren, commander of the Fifth Fleet, was prepared to attack or to take a detour.
After all, they had only just arrived at the cosmic ruins and hadn't even had a chance to familiarize themselves with the area. Rushing in like this would probably not be a good thing for them as a whole.
Not only would you make enemies for no reason, but you'd also risk being stabbed in the back.
To everyone's surprise, Brigadier General Brun was extremely decisive and immediately gave the order:
"Attention all units! Complete coordinated deployment within three seconds, prepare for combat, launch a surprise attack, commence firing, and begin artillery barrage!"
The main ship took the lead and raised its gun turrets without hesitation. Then, a huge and overwhelming firepower network was put into operation, and a barrage of fire swept across the sky!
The opposing fleet was still thinking about how to negotiate when, unexpectedly, these people started fighting without warning.
The Annihilation Bubble was incredibly powerful, blasting the opponent out with just one strike!
Then the overall formation was revealed, which turned out to be a fleet of sixteen warships. The two at the front were the Ironclad Frigates. The countless secondary turrets hit the defensive barrier above as if they were just tickling it, with only a few waves exploding.
Other ships in the Fifth Fleet also opened fire with crossfire, but the first round of attacks failed to break through the enemy's defenses.
Immediately following the enemy's counterattack, their two escort ships simultaneously activated energy shields, intercepting thousands of enemy shells.
At the same time, laser cannons and electromagnetic railguns also came crashing down, causing the two frigates to shake violently, but fortunately, the damage was minor and they managed to block them all.
Then, tens of thousands of kinetic missiles from both sides began to fire at each other!
This autonomous guidance system can change course mid-course and withstand extremely high overload maneuvers. Once it locks onto a target, it is impossible to shake it off. Equipped with high-strength alloy propulsion, even an energy shield cannot withstand it for long.
Just thirty seconds later, both sides' external energy defense systems completely collapsed!
In the blink of an eye, the air battle was over in an instant. The decisive moment was not as long as one might imagine. The next step was to test firepower and armor.
With the decks opened, a large swarm of drones and missiles began to emerge, each launching a suicidal charge along red lines based on intelligently calculated routes!
Various laser cannons and ion beam weapons intercepted in bulk, while close-in weapon systems and microwave weapons provided backup for large-scale destruction, instantly entering a brutal strangulation phase.
Many soldiers on both sides were fighting for the first time. Faced with such intense confrontation, their hearts were in their throats, their bodies were trembling, and their palms and soles were sweating.
Meanwhile, the clash of information was taking place simultaneously!
Full-band electronic warfare serves as another means of determining victory or defeat. Once the enemy cuts off your sensors and communications, you become deaf and blind, and can be crushed by the enemy!
Interfering with optical radar detection, creating massive numbers of false targets, cutting off enemy fleet communication links, and even having specialized information and electronic warfare units hack into enemy unmanned weapon systems to manipulate frontline drones to defect.
This unique battle involved dozens of confrontations, large and small. Although each side only had a dozen or so ships, there were thousands of troops on board engaged in a fierce and controlled battle, which was far more dangerous than hand-to-hand combat!
Both sides unanimously focused their offensive tactics on the replenishment ships at the rear of the fleet.
Because the main ship has thick armor and numerous interception systems, it's not easy to destroy it in a short time. It's better to take out the enemy's logistics support support, and then the continuous attrition war will definitely be won by our side.
At this moment, a voice came through Lin Shan's walkie-talkie, and Brigadier General Bren gave the order:
"The Star Warriors team is preparing to forcibly descend and explore the cave to see what they're up to down there!" (End of Chapter)