Chapter 160

Whoosh——!

Three straight blue beams shot from the oblique side toward the marauder fleet.

Those small bio-warships at the fleet's front, upon being hit by any of these three blue beams, were vaporized and disappeared completely.

In an instant, the three blue beams unhindered reached the fleet's center.

Immediately afterward, the three blue beams successively pierced two 300-meter-long and three near-kilometer-long large bio-warships.

Boom—boom—boom!

Piercing them produced explosions and firelight, flashing in this region of space.

After destroying these five large warships, the blue light's invincible momentum suddenly waned.

Even so, the three blue beams still contacted that mother ship, successfully piercing its biological outer hull and the internal metal bulkheads.

But this time, the blue light did not cause penetrating damage.

In fact, all of the above happened in less than three seconds.

And this blue light came from the electromagnetic main gun of the Azure Hawk-class, a luminous trajectory generated by ten-ton tungsten-iron alloy shells.

It turned out that, within Mars' gravitational sphere, the Umbrella fleet positioned on the other side of Deimos had been waiting for the marauder fleet for some time.

When the marauder fleet entered the optimal position, the three Azure Hawk-class vessels fired a salvo of their main guns.

Initially, Sui Bian learned from the system that the marauder fleet would enter Mars' gravitational range within 1440 hours after January 1, 2003, i. e., within 60 days.

Once the marauders completed their reconnaissance of Mars, Earth would face their invasion in just ten days.

To prevent Earth from being devoured and assimilated by the marauders, Umbrella needed to utterly destroy them here at Mars!

DawnGuardian's bridge.

"Captain! The main gun is charging; it will be ready in about seven minutes to coordinate a salvo with Hope Vessel and the Destroyer!"

"The plasma cannons are locked on target! Fire!"

"Boom~! Boom~!"

As the crew reported, the roar of the eight plasma cannons firing in unison transmitted through vibrations into the bridge.

Looking toward the forward viewport of the bridge, one could still see eight masses of greenish light, like huge meteor-like plasma bolts, shooting swiftly at the enemy fleet.

At the same time, Hope Vessel and the Destroyer also fired a salvo of their plasma cannons.

The dazzling plasma bolts, though slower than the electromagnetic shells, still succeeded in hitting their targets.

Kaise, seated in the captain's chair, could likewise see with the naked eye the bio-warships blown apart by the high-temperature plasma bolts.

From the outset, the battle showed a one-sided trend, since the marauders' bio-warships had yet to mount any effective counterattack against Umbrella.

But Kaise's expression was grim, as if he were waiting for something.

"Captain!" At that moment, a crew member on the bridge's right side shouted a report:

"We've detected enemy warships not completely destroyed that still have mobility… and… severely damaged warships are beginning to splice together!"

As the crew reported, Kaise, via the holographic screen on his right, witnessed the situation they described.

All that could be seen was the bio-warship pierced by the electromagnetic shells continuing forward almost unaffected.

Most astonishing, the severely damaged hulls drew near each other, then grew leech‑like tentacles at the breaks, which intertwined and combined to restore the ships to wholeness.

The mother ship with three breaches was also patched up by small bio-warships.

In less than ten-odd seconds, the marauder fleet was almost back to its original state.

Having lost interest in Mars, they turned their course and locked onto the nearby Umbrella fleet.

Seeing that the salvo's effect was minimal, all crew members turned their gaze to Kaise at the center of the bridge.

"Proceed as planned." Kaise gave the order calmly.

"Yes!"

"We've notified the other two captains, and Original Body Shengjilesi is accelerating forward; our fleet is now closing in on the enemy fleet!"

"All pilots have boarded; the first and second squadrons can be launched in about thirty seconds!"

Everyone on the bridge showed no panic at the marauders' warships' strange behavior, as if they had expected it all along.

The Umbrella fleet accelerated forward, charging head‑on into the marauder fleet.

The distance between the two sides rapidly shortened.

At this moment, the marauder fleet opened its bio‑like hatches and released a great number of "carrier craft".

These "carrier craft" varied in form, resembling huge insects with two or four wings on their backs, emerging alongside the marauders' small warships to swoop on the Umbrella fleet.

Looking out the viewport.

The crew felt that the marauders possessed an endless swarm of bio‑carrier craft, forming a vast net in space that seemed about to engulf them.

Although they had been mentally prepared before the battle, the moment they saw the scene outside the viewport, a tense atmosphere instantly enveloped all crew members.

However…

A Divine Body, its pure white wings fluttering, flashed forward from the front of DawnGuardian at just the right moment, appearing in the crew's field of view.

Key parts of this Divine Body were coated with deep‑red α‑type titanium alloy armor, the head likewise covered, leaving only the glowing eyes exposed.

In its right hand it gripped John's Spear of Fear, in its left hand Robert's Flame‑blazing Sword, and it advanced to the vanguard of the Umbrella fleet.

This is the Divine Body controlled by Shengjilesi.

With the armor's support, its originally slender frame became somewhat sturdier.

Witnessing the Divine Body, angel‑like in appearance, greatly eased the tension of all crew members.

As soon as all Divine Bodies finished testing, the company armed Shengjilesi's Divine Body, for the test results showed that only his could move freely in zero‑gravity.

Even so, it could never reach the Azure Hawk‑class speed of 52.8 kilometers per second in space.

Thus, Shengjilesi's Divine Body, curled up, barely managed to enter Hope Vessel's hangar, and together with the fleet sailed into Mars' gravitational sphere.

Robert and John even volunteered to lend their weapons to Shengjilesi, but this was done with Sui Bian's tacit approval; otherwise Shengjilesi could not have used those two weapons.

And Kaise, who remained calm from start to finish, shifted his gaze away from the holographic screen on his right and, through the porthole, observed the distance between the two fleets.

"Captain! The first and second squadrons have disembarked! The third and fourth squadrons are expected to disembark in fifteen seconds!"

"The plasma cannon is about to finish charging!"

"The plasma shells are ready, Captain!"

Upon hearing the report, Kaise first issued a solemn order: "Fire the plasma shells immediately upon entering range, observe whether the plasma shells are effective; if not…"

He then sternly said: "Then we'll blast through their defenses and create an opportunity for OriginalBody and MTF to jump aboard the enemy mothership."

"Yes!"

(End of chapter)