Chapter 348

He turned his head to look at Zhang Xianzhong and issued an order that no one could understand.

"Order the vanguard fleet to feign weakness, alternate covering fire, and retreat backward."

"What?!"

Zhang Xianzhong snapped his head around, looked at Qin Hao, and said, "Retreat? We've just engaged! If we retreat now, morale will be completely ruined!"

"This is an order."

Qin Hao's tone left no room for doubt: "Make them think we're no match."

Although Zhang Xianzhong couldn't understand, out of absolute trust in Qin Hao, he gritted his teeth and issued the retreat order.

……

"Vanguard fleet, begin withdrawing!"

"Hahaha! I knew it! This rabble is utterly no match!"

In the Devourer Sub-body's consciousness, there was full of contempt and mockery.

In its view, this war already had no suspense left.

"Chase after them!"

"Crush them! Devour them!"

"Leave none!"

Under the sub-body's order, the massive Devourer Fleet began to frenziedly advance forward, pursuing the United Fleet that was retreating step by step.

The United Fleet's retreat was performed extremely convincingly.

Along the way, warships kept exploding from being "hit" or falling behind after "losing power."

Countless warship "wreckage" drifted in the cold universe.

Meanwhile, the Devourer Fleet, like a pack of sharks smelling blood, grew confident and, without hesitation, plunged into the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy.

This scene, through various channels, spread throughout the Milky Way Galaxy.

Countless civilians who were following the war, upon seeing the news of the front line's "collapse," fell into great panic and despair.

"How could this be? Our United Fleet actually can't beat them?"

"Even the Yanhuang Civilization's fleet is retreating! Do we have no hope left?"

"Run! If we don't flee now, it'll be too late!"

The panic began to spread again.

And in the command room of the "Void Voyager,"

Qin Hao simply stared silently at the huge star map, where a massive red arrow representing the Devourer Fleet advanced step by step into the battlefield he had preset.

A cold curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"They've taken the bait."

Beside him, Zhou Shaoqing and Zhang Xianzhong finally realized.

They looked at the thousands upon thousands of warship "wreckage" that the United Fleet had "discarded" along the star road, and finally understood Qin Hao's intention.

Those weren't wreckage at all!

Each "wreckage" was a disguised, high-power 【space beacon】!

They marked for Qin Hao, with precision, the real-time position and formation distribution of the Devourer Fleet's main force!

"The fish have entered the net."

Qin Hao looked at the star map; the vanguard of the Devourer Fleet had fully entered the sector marked as the "final burial ground."

It was a place that seemed ordinary, but Qin Hao had transformed it months in advance into a deadly trap!

He raised his hand and pressed a red button on the chief commander's console.

The sound transmitted to all the tens of thousands of unmanned devices previously hidden around the trap sector.

"Activate."

"【Space fold generator】!" The moment the order was given.

In all directions around the "final burial ground" sector, tens of thousands of 【space fold generators】 disguised as asteroids or space debris,

were simultaneously activated!

An invisible yet powerful force, strong enough to warp the basic rules of the universe, descended instantly!

"Hum——"

The space of the entire sector let out a groan unable to bear the load.

The Devourer Fleet, which had been high-speed pursuing in this sector, suddenly felt a tremendous resistance.

The space around them was no longer smooth, but like a paper being frantically crumpled, appearing with countless folds, twists, and fractures.

"What's happening?"

"The space structure is unstable, dimensional coordinates don't exist? Our biological jump engines have failed."

"Unable to perform dimensional jumps, we're trapped."

The lower units of the Devourer Fleet fell into chaos.

And the Devourer Sub-body at the fleet's center, that huge purple eyeball, for the first time, showed a hint of bewildered uncertainty.

It could feel that this space was being forcibly "folded" by an external force.

Like a higher-dimensional being taking a two-dimensional sheet of paper and folding it into a closed box.

The sector's boundary was contracting inward at faster-than-light speed!

From the outside, this vast sector with a diameter exceeding ten light-years,

was rapidly shrinking and darkening,

and finally became a floating point in the universe, disconnected from any space, a completely sealed "dot".

One 【Dimensional Pocket】.

A cosmic prison tailor-made for the Devourer Fleet!

"This is…… a rule‑level weapon?"

In the sub-body's thoughts, it bore a solemn meaning for the first time.

It tried to use its powerful will to tear open the boundary of this pocket,

But its mental shock, upon contacting that layer of highly twisted and folded spatial wall, was weakened by over seventy percent, utterly unable to shake this prison in the slightest.

It was trapped!

Along with its subordinate fleet of over one hundred billion, it was tightly trapped inside this tiny dimensional pocket, completely cut off from the outside world!

Just then, Qin Hao's icy voice echoed through every corner of the dimensional pocket.

"Welcome to your tomb."

"Roar——!!!"

The anger of being toyed with completely ignited the Devourer sub‑body.

Its star‑sized massive body began to pulse violently; a terrifying energy capable of destroying a star system gathered in its core, attempting to burst this prison from within by force!

However, Qin Hao gave it no such chance.

"The bait has already fulfilled its mission."

Qin Hao watched the "retreating" United Fleet, which had successfully withdrawn from the trap's range.

He issued the order for a general attack.

"Now, begin the slaughter!"

The order was given.

The Galactic United Fleet, consisting of 130 billion warships that had retreated to a safe zone, abruptly turned its bows in the astonished gaze of all the Devourers!

Behind them, thousands of massive star gates opened simultaneously!

More Yanhuang warships, more subsidiary civilization fleets, poured forth continuously from the star gates, joining the battlefield!

The total number of the United Fleet surpassed two hundred billion in just a few minutes!

Two hundred billion warships, from all directions, tightly encircled that tiny "Dimensional Pocket" without a gap!

All gun barrels were aimed at the Devourer Fleet trapped inside the prison, now as good as fish in a barrel.

"Fire!"

Zhang Xianzhong issued the order for a counterattack.

In the next second, countless attacks imbued with endless fury were launched simultaneously, dyeing the entire expanse of this starry sky with the color of destruction!