Chapter 639: Five‑Dimensional Clash

Boom~——Boom!!!!

After the "Stargate" amplified its power, the energy‑concentrated beam, with a diameter of 400 km, swept everything away, destroying all undead warships along its path.

Even if the green‑glowing protective barriers were deployed, against a beam like a supernova explosion the disparity was obvious, and the result was the barriers shattered and the hulls instantly "evaporated" away.

Moreover, the beam's power did not diminish and struck an isolated island at least one astronomical unit away.

Whoosh~——Boom!!!!!!!

A flash of light erupted, instantly illuminating the entire five‑dimensional space.

Swish~——!!

And not only that, the supernova‑like energy beam—after the Leonida fired its main cannon in an instant—caused the hundred warships of the 1st Battalion to fold‑jump, turning into strands of "white filaments" that flashed directly to the edge of the isolated island behind the front line.

?!

The undead side was clearly bewildered by this sudden blast and the 1st Battalion's "fold‑jump behind" maneuver.

Swish~——Swish~——!!

It was during this brief chaotic gap that the Leonida and the Sparta fleet's main force launched a fold‑jump thrust, charging straight into the midst of the undead fleet.

!!

Now the undead side had to engage in close‑quarters combat with Sparta.

If they wished to maintain their numerical advantage in barrage fire, the undead vessels would have to withdraw from battle, or recklessly continue firing high‑power main cannons at the nearby Sparta ships—though doing so would risk friendly fire on their own units.

Although the undead do not fear death, the various nobles, lords, and overlords care about resource consumption and similar factors for their divisions.

Moreover, given the maneuverability of human ships and their ability to weave quickly among fleets, continued barrage fire would cause them losses far greater than Sparta's, possibly leading to mutual destruction, and more importantly, their World Engine would be unable to deliver strong firepower directly.

This seemed to infuriate Faher beyond measure, yet left him helpless, forcing him to be drawn into Sparta's war tempo.

Immediately after, the Sparta captains and battalion commanders began exploiting their ships' agility, disregarding engine overload, and continuously firing electromagnetic cannons at the undead vessels ahead.

Ri~……

Whoosh!!!!

Countless vibranium and tungsten‑steel projectiles, traveling at 60%–70% of light speed, traced luminous blue trajectories through the black void, piercing every undead vessel in their way.

Bang‑Bang‑Bang!

Piercing a single undead ship was insufficient to stop the projectiles; they streamed through the undead vessels in rapid succession, and in the blink of an eye over a thousand ships exploded, fell silent, or had their engines shut down.

Moreover, the vast majority of human ships, when destroying the undead vessels before them, deliberately adjusted their hull angles, collectively pointing their bows toward the target, allowing the World Engine to fire with minimal fine‑tuning.

Boom‑Boom‑Boom!!

In an instant, the protective barrier released by the World Engine endured a fierce barrage.

Although the barrage was successfully blocked, the moment the projectile struck the barrier, emerald ripples burst outward like lotus petals, and even caused the 10,000‑km‑diameter World Engine to shift, making its metal hull shudder violently.

Electromagnetic cannon…

Humans had already developed a finished version of this device two hundred years ago and installed it in three Falcon‑class escort ships, taking part in the raider interception battle in the Mars domain.

In fact, shipbuilding theory from a hundred years ago to the present simply wraps an electromagnetic cannon in an Alpha‑class titanium alloy shell, then connects it to the engine, seals it, and you have a warship.

Furthermore, electromagnetic cannons of varying calibers and lengths determine a warship's specifications and class; for example, a Kingfisher‑class cruiser is about 1,100 m long, and its electromagnetic main cannon spans 700 m.

After all, to make the projectile more lethal, a longer barrel is needed for magnetic acceleration.

After more than two hundred years of evolution, the Human Empire's electromagnetic technology is truly the pinnacle of physical‑universe engineering; even a Paris‑class escort ship, at full power, can accelerate a five‑ton projectile to roughly 60% of light speed.

As for approaching light speed infinitely, or reaching it…

Empire engineers would never risk doing that, because the projectile, barrel, and hull material would all need a complete upgrade; otherwise, a projectile exiting at 99.9999% of light speed would instantly destroy its own ship, let alone strike an enemy.

Therefore, even the protective barrier generated by the World Engine, after being hammered by the electromagnetic main cannons of three thousand human warships, is still heavily depleted.

At this moment, the matrix terminal emitted by the Leonida was also undergoing transformation.

Metal pillars rose around the Leonida, forming several diamond shapes, which were then wirelessly powered by the artificial sun of the inner world, and subsequently these diamonds linked together…

Ri……

Whoosh~——Whoosh~——!!!!

The matrix emitted countless high‑energy rays glowing teal, continuously bombarding and slicing every undead warship, undead carrier aircraft, and the Leonida's true target, the World Engine.

To resist the high‑energy rays, the World Engine kept generating protective barriers nonstop and launched a cannon counter‑attack against the Leonida.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

At that point, the entire five‑dimensional space erupted into an ever‑intensifying naval battle, filled with dazzling explosions, trajectories, and barrages, the most concentrated zone being between the Leonida and the World Engine.

It was indeed spectacular, but deadly.

Not only ship versus ship, both human and undead vessels released swarms of carrier aircraft.

These point‑size units zipped between warships at extreme speed, dogfighting while also escorting attack and bomber aircraft, attempting to strike weak spots on enemy vessels to help thin the opposing fleet.

Yet the Human Empire, in naval combat, does not simply engage cannon versus cannon or aircraft versus aircraft.

When the battle grew desperate and it became impossible to tell where the electromagnetic cannons originated or where Gauss ray bombardments came from, the Sparta Corps' warships of all grades released massive formations of "carrier aircraft".

However, these "carrier aircraft" were far heavier than speed‑and‑fire‑focused strike fighters, and bore a single, possibly parallel‑linked, thermal‑melt cannon atop the fuselage.

Some carrier aircraft even placed the hatch at the nose, with wings and cockpit at the rear, forming an "open" shape.

In fact, these carrier aircraft were assault boats carrying Sparta auxiliary troops.

A formation of three assault boats broke away from a Resolute‑class escort ship and immediately surged toward a diagonal‑front undead pyramid.

During the voyage, an undead carrier aircraft formation attempted to block them, but…

Ri~Bzzzz‑——!!!!

Yet a dense, silent barrage arrived, instantly annihilating the attempting undead carrier aircraft.

After all, the assault boats had only just left the hangar and were still within the Resolute‑class's close‑in weapon system range.

Thus those undead carrier aircraft were essentially courting death; even with individual protective barriers, facing a six‑tube 120 mm CIWS that fires 17,000 armor‑piercing spikes per minute would only turn them into a honeycomb.

Of course, the Empire navy could crank the CIWS rate up to 60,000, even 70,000 rounds per minute, but firing faster and more isn't necessarily better.

Firing 17,000 armor-piercing spikes per minute, combined with the close-defense gun array already achieves full coverage, so there's no need to excessively consume durability and ammunition.

However, among the main factors for the Imperial Navy reducing the rate of fire of close-defense guns, they indeed considered the complaints and reports from ground and logistics personnel against the crew members who only needed to operate and fire.

Even with machines like sentries assisting ground and logistics, the Human Empire clearly does not wish for everything to be 'mechanized' or 'automated'.

Return to the present.

After three assault craft drifted away from the Steadfast-class, they again encountered undead interception, but either the onboard shields directly blocked the attack or friendly fighter squadrons assisted in eliminating the threat.

En route, they also merged with assault craft launched from other ships, forming a medium-sized formation.

As they were about to approach the flying pyramid, all assault craft began to increase speed while also conducting thermal melt energy storage.

They were about to collide with the green-light-emitting defensive position.

Whoosh!!!

Thermal melt beams fired in unison.

Hum!!!

The thermal melt and the defensive position clashed fiercely, even producing lightning-like aftereffects, but while under concentrated point-blank attack, the defensive position was still successfully torn open a gap.

Taking advantage of this, the assault craft formation smoothly passed through the defensive position.

Although during the voyage, this mixed formation lost several assault craft, crew members and passengers inside the hull all sacrificed and dissipated together with the assault craft.

However, after the mixed formation pierced the defensive position with thermal melt beams, leveraging momentum, it also successfully breached the pyramid's metal hull, allowing the formation to charge straight into its interior, making all efforts and sacrifices worthwhile.

Because…

"Papapap!!!" Explosive bolts barrage.

"Tap tap tap!!!" Laser salvo.

Because, upon the formation's sudden entry into the pyramid's interior, they immediately opened the hatch and released the passengers.

Only see that the interior of the undead pyramid differs little from the internal structure of surface tombs, with a pale green light as the main hue, containing many spacious burial chambers used to carry out the undead units' resurrection agreements.

And the mixed formation happened to charge into one such burial chamber.

The assault craft had not yet stabilized; its powered armor painted mainly black, accented with dark green and bronze, the Spartans and auxiliary troops surged out of the cabin into battle.

"Brothers! Follow me in!!"

"Die! Metal alien!!"

This group of super-soldiers forged by the Human Empire at countless cost of money and resources, like imperial civilians playing games, especially shooters, who give their controlled characters speed and aim hacks, continuously fire, causing the undead warriors gathered here to fall one after another, and then rush deep into the pyramid's interior at extreme running speed.

Furthermore, the Spartan squad's personnel configuration is six members, two responsible for shield-bearing charges, the remaining four for firepower output.

As for firearms, they choose according to personal preference, after all they are the elite battalion fighting alongside the Original Body, with far more available funds than other battalions, but each squad must possess a heavy explosive bolt gun to ensure firepower suppression of the enemy.

Likewise, the auxiliary troops, who have dealt with all kinds of livestock, follow the Spartans forward, dealing with those who wish to sneak attack, or providing fire cover when the Spartans change ammunition.

After nearly three months of engagement, humans are no longer as helpless as when they first encountered the undead; instead, after understanding the enemy, they become increasingly adept.

Even in the midst of a reckless charge assault, these hundreds of warriors endured the undead's concentrated fire blockade, casualty numbers began to appear, yet they still managed to maintain a 1:30 kill ratio against the undead, or even better.

One must know that the reason the Human Empire can dominate the multiverse lies in many factors, but the most crucial point is that the Human Empire possesses millions of Astate and over a billion auxiliary troops.

"When in doubt, just jump assist."

Since we have super soldiers, we must make the most of this advantage.

The scene switches.

Leaving the interior of the pyramid that had encountered the Sparta and auxiliary forces' jump-assist assault, we come to the exterior where a fierce naval battle is still underway.

Already, many undead warships, due to human jump-assist actions, have had their engines shut down, or even been internally detonated, forcing them to withdraw from combat.

But this only alleviates part of the pressure on the fleet; the undead side's total warship count remains overwhelming.

Furthermore, to enable the 1st Battalion to carry out its mission more smoothly, the fleet must also try to hold back the undead as much as possible, preventing them from diverting more forces to block the 1st Battalion.

And the main source of this pressure is that planet-sized world engine.

At this moment.

Only the celestial-class warship Leonidas can contend with the world engine; seeing these two vessels vastly different in size, they are expending all their firepower in a barrage, attempting to blast through each other's shields.

Furthermore, while these two celestial-class warships exchanged fire, the three battalion commanders of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Battalions had once dispatched a flotilla of assault craft carrying elite veterans, and also arranged for each battalion's centurions and naval-type mechs to provide escort.

But the result was naturally being shot down by the world engine's dense anti-aircraft fire.

And using Terminators for teleportation…

The battalion commanders will not waste the lives of veteran soldiers pointlessly on this risk.

A hegemony-level undead tomb possesses the ability to block universal-type teleportation devices, and only a legion-level artificial intelligence can directly lift the shield.

Then a world engine belonging to a God-Emperor would inevitably have an even stronger blocking effect; if one rashly attempts a jump-assist teleport, the Terminator veterans would either be repelled outside, or their bodies and armor would get 'stuck' into the walls or decks.

So after attempting once and ending in failure, the battalion commanders no longer unilaterally advocate sending elites to jump-assist the world engine.

However, just when the battle situation was deadlocked…

"All battalion commanders, hear my order: dispatch your surplus ground forces, board the assault craft, and follow me to storm that world engine."

On the battalion commanders' exclusive communications channel, however, came the voice of their OriginalBody.

At the same time, the battalion commanders also discovered on the holographic star map a green point indicating a friendly unit sailing out of their homeworld.

And the annotation information given by that green point is——

DivineBody.

(End of chapter)