ATPnovel Chapter 289 Shifting the Blame Eastward, Cleverly Disrupting the Battle
Chapter 289 Shifting the Blame Eastward, Cleverly Disrupting the Battle
"Fire!"
Accompanied by Hermon's roar filled with tyrannical will, tens of thousands of biological plasma projectiles, seemingly composed of rotting flesh and venomous souls, were launched.
Trailing long, ghastly green trails, like a dense swarm of locusts, they swept over the Earth fleet in an overwhelming manner!
Each shell contains malevolent energy sufficient to contaminate and corrode the ship's hull.
"Evade! All ships, disperse and evade at the maximum angle!"
Chen Zhou shouted the command almost reflexively. His mind was blank, with only muscle memory formed from countless simulations remaining.
The engines of the Pangu overloaded instantly, and the powerful thrust forced everyone on the bridge to their chairs.
The ship narrowly missed the edge of the hail of shells at an unbelievable angle.
But the other frigates in the fleet were not so lucky.
Despite their best efforts to evade, they were still grazed by several shells.
Where it was hit, the thick alloy armor melted away rapidly, like plastic splashed with strong acid.
Thick, foul-smelling smoke billowed out, and the energy shield proved to be completely ineffective, easily penetrated.
"The USS Thor's shields have been breached! The ship is 15% damaged!"
"The Nuwa spacecraft's engine is damaged! Power reduced by 30%!"
The piercing sound of damage control reports kept ringing in the channel, making everyone's hearts sink to the bottom.
This is only the first salvo!
The difference in strength between the two sides is simply too great!
"Master! They're recharging again! The next attack is imminent!"
Oghus's soul orb flickered rapidly:
"We can't hold out! Their goal is clear: to devour us as quickly as possible, and then compete with the other two for the shipping lanes!"
"I know."
Su Chen's voice remained frighteningly calm.
He looked at the Thousand Devouring Legion on the radar, which was rushing towards him like sharks smelling blood, without the slightest panic in his eyes.
This is exactly the effect he wanted.
Being treated as the weakest target was part of his plan.
"Chen Zhou, obey my orders."
Su Chen's voice was clearly transmitted to everyone's ears through the captain's channel.
"exist!"
"I will temporarily divide the command of the fleet in two. You will lead the 'Nuwa', 'Zhurong' and five destroyers to form the first squadron."
Su Chen spoke extremely fast, but every word was exceptionally clear:
"Ogus, your soul is temporarily attached to the flagship of the first squadron to assist Chen Zhou in command."
"Yes, Master!"
"Your mission is not to fight, but to harass and delay. Use your mobility to lure away a portion of the Devouring Legion's pursuers! Lure them as far as you can!"
Chen Zhou was stunned for a moment, then instantly understood Su Chen's intention.
Is this a case of a brave man cutting off his own arm?
Use a portion of the fleet as bait to buy time for the main force?
"Advisor! This is too dangerous!"
Chen Zhou said urgently, "We should concentrate our forces to break through!"
"Execute the command!"
Su Chen's voice left no room for argument: "This is the only way."
"...Yes!" Chen Zhou gritted his teeth. He knew that now was not the time to hesitate.
He chose to believe Su Chen unconditionally.
"Ougus, you know the Star Eater Cult's tactics best. You know how to provoke them to the greatest extent possible, making them chase you like mad dogs."
Su Chen turned towards the ball of soul fire.
"Understood, Master!"
Oghuz's voice carried a hint of excitement and cruelty:
"Those guys in the sect are all arrogant and conceited. They'll lose their minds if you provoke their 'faith' even slightly. Leave it to me!"
The moment the order was given, the Earth fleet immediately split into two parts.
Chen Zhou led a small fleet and suddenly turned around. Instead of fleeing, he charged toward the flank of the Ten Thousand Devouring Legion.
While firing to harass them, they also broadcast at maximum power Ogus's carefully recorded remarks mocking and blaspheming the Star Eater Cult's beliefs.
"Hermon! You worm who climbed to your high position by devouring your own kind! Does the flagship beneath your feet still echo with the wails of your brothers?"
"The Devouring Legion? I'd say the Rice Legion is more like it! A bunch of idiots whose brains are all muscle!"
These vicious words instantly ignited the fury of the Star Devouring Cult.
"Damn it! Seize them! I'll extract their souls and make them into war drums!"
A portion of the sect's warships immediately split up and roared as they chased after Chen Zhou's decoy squad.
The battlefield was instantly divided into parts.
While everyone's attention was drawn to the chase,
Su Chen's fleet, consisting of the "Pangu" and the remaining main force, made a move that surprised everyone.
"Prophet, activate the Ghost Protocol."
"Energy signal camouflage, activated."
"We will use data simulation to overlay all of our own signals onto the energy signatures of the 'Reaper' warships we previously captured!"
An invisible energy field rapidly unfolded on the surface of the "Pangu" ship.
All the signals it emitted, whether energy fluctuations, curvature characteristics, or material composition, instantly transformed into a... standard "Reaper" capital ship!
After doing all this, Su Chen turned his gaze to the cold, mechanical empire fleet composed of countless perfect geometric shapes.
Tianheng Empire
A cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"All fleet, target: Tianheng Empire fleet! Charge!"
"What?"
This order left everyone on the bridge of the "Pangu" ship, except for Su Chen, completely dumbfounded.
This is insane! The consultant must be insane!
Instead of running away and seeking an opportunity to break through the shipping lanes, we're deliberately colliding with another equally terrifying top-tier power? Isn't that courting death?
But an order is an order.
Under Su Chen's will, this Earth fleet disguised as the "Reapers" became like a sharp dagger.
Without hesitation, they charged fiercely into the Tianheng Empire's impenetrable formation!
The Tianheng Empire's reaction was faster than anyone could have imagined.
Almost the instant Su Chen's fleet turned, their central AI, "Sequence One," had already made its judgment.
[An unknown fleet has been detected approaching at high speed.]
[Signal analysis...matching database...]
[Match result: 'Reaper' civilization, Threat level: Highest.]
[Judgment: Hostile behavior.]
[Command: Initiate the 'formatting' protocol to remove the threat.]
For the Tianheng Empire, an absolutely rational mechanical civilization, their logic contains no "probing" or "communication," only "identification" and "elimination."
In their database, "The Reaper" is one of the most chaotic and disorderly viruses in the universe, and a priority target that must be eliminated.
So when they saw a Reaper fleet daring to charge their formation, their first reaction was... to fight back!
"boom--!"
The Tianheng Empire's fleet instantly transformed. Countless warships combined and spliced together to form a massive orbital cannon array that stretched across the starry sky.
A beam of light, brighter than any star and composed of pure physical laws, tore through space and shot precisely toward... the Star Devouring Cult's Legion of Ten Thousand Devourers!
In the calculations of the Tianheng Empire, the Star Devouring Cult, a chaotic and disorderly biological civilization, is also considered a "virus".
The trajectory and target of the charging "Reaper" fleet seemed to be to join forces with them to attack the group of flesh-and-blood monsters!
This sudden attack completely stunned Hermon, who was chasing Chen Zhou.
"Tianheng Empire! You bunch of scrap metal! Have you gone mad?!" Hermon roared in fury.
His flagship was grazed by that terrifying beam of light, and half of its flesh and armor were instantly vaporized!
Logical judgment: Eliminate all sources of chaos.
The cold, icy thoughts of "Sequence One" echoed throughout the universe.
In its view, it would be better for these two "virus" civilizations to die together.
"Fine! Very well! Since you want to fight, then I'll fight you!"
Enraged, Hermon completely abandoned the "easy" task of hunting down the Earth fleet and unleashed all his fury on the Tianheng Empire.
Suddenly, on the outskirts of the eye of the storm, two top civilizations broke out into a fierce and brutal battle without warning!
Blood and flesh flew everywhere, and light spears darted about!
The entire battlefield instantly turned into a boiling pot of porridge!
Meanwhile, Su Chen's fleet, the instigator, moved like a slippery fish in the gaps between the two major powers' battles.
Silently, they rushed towards that one and only path of light!
"Well done, Advisor!"
"My God, this...this has already mixed them all up?"
On the bridge, barely suppressed cheers erupted. Everyone looked at Su Chen with the eyes of someone looking at a god.
This is no longer a scheme, this is art!
However, there was no sign of relaxation on Su Chen's face.
His gaze remained fixed on the golden figure sitting cross-legged in the void, who hadn't moved an inch from beginning to end.
The Uncrowned One, Carlos.
This man saw through all his tricks from the very beginning.
He was neither enraged by the roar of flesh and blood, nor bound by mechanical logic.
He simply watched quietly, like an outsider, observing Su Chen, this little butterfly, flapping its wings and stirring up a monstrous wave.
Just as the bow of the "Pangu" was about to touch the Path of Light.
Carlos moved.
He slowly extended one finger.
Gently tap the space in front of the "Pangu".
There were no energy fluctuations, no earth-shattering noise.
The space in front of the "Pangu" was like a piece of water with a stone thrown in it, creating ripples.
Then, that space began to... fold.
Layer upon layer, like origami, it is endlessly folded and compressed.
The entrance to the shipping lane, which was originally so close, suddenly seemed farther away than the diameter of the Milky Way.
"The laws of space have been rewritten!" the radar officer screamed in terror. "We...we can't get through!"
No matter how fast the "Pangu" accelerated, it could not cross that folded space and could only spin in place.
Su Chen's pupils suddenly contracted.
This is... a direct interference with the most fundamental rules of the universe!
This Carlos, his strength has transcended the realm of energy and matter, reaching an inconceivable level!
As Su Chen watched the golden figure slowly retract its finger, a sense of powerlessness welled up in his heart for the first time.
He understands.
There are limits to stratagems.
Faced with absolute, overwhelming power, any ingenious calculation seems so pale.
The first round of confrontation ended with neither side being able to enter the shipping lane.
After paying a certain price, the Myriad Devouring Legion and the Tianheng Empire temporarily ceased their fighting and resumed their standoff.
But now, everyone's perspective has changed.
The look in their eyes when they looked at that small Earth fleet was no longer one of contempt and disregard.
Rather, it was a deep... apprehension.
Su Chen, the seemingly weakest "player," has proven himself to everyone in his own way.
He is the most unstable variable, capable of stirring up the entire game.