Chapter 247

10:00 AM, the Dragon Chant Control Center's large screen displayed three images simultaneously:

The top left was the Northwest launch site, where the Heaven's Punishment base module was undergoing final checks;

The top right was real-time East Sea monitoring, with dozens of light points gathering in international waters;

And the center was Torch Dragon-3's deep space monitoring interface, where Proxima Centauri's spectral curve was slowly but continuously dropping.

"Seventh emergency report from the military," Chen pulled up the latest communication record.

"The three-nation joint fleet has completed assembly in international waters at 128 degrees East longitude and 26 degrees North latitude, totaling 47 ships, including 2 retired Eagle Country aircraft carriers, 15 destroyers, and 30 frigates."

Feng Yan stared at the satellite imagery of the fleet, saying nothing.

The two Nimitz-class aircraft carriers were like two moving steel islands, surrounded by a mixed bag of escort ships, some with peeling paint, clearly just unsealed stock.

"Average ship age is 28 years," Li Yang pulled up the data.

"The oldest Perry-class frigate entered service in 1987, and it wasn't even scrapped."

Wang Hao leaned over and laughed: "Good heavens, are they here to open a maritime museum?"

"Can this thing fight? I bet fifty yuan that those two aircraft carriers will break down halfway to the battlefield."

"They don't need to reach the battlefield," Chen Guang adjusted his glasses.

"They just need to attract our attention from a safe distance."

"What about the three submarines?"

"Still submerged, distance to Pearl Platform is three hundred nautical miles, speed is very slow, as if waiting for orders."

Everyone knew that this surface fleet was just bait, and the real killer move was the submarines underwater.

But knowing was one thing; with 47 warships parked at the door of the East Sea, no one could completely ignore them.

"President Feng, the Navy Command is requesting instructions again," the communications officer turned.

"Should we send ships to monitor? Or let Penglai..."

Feng Yan interrupted: "All units stand by. The Heaven's Punishment base module launch window is 10:00 AM this morning, and we are now entering an eight-hour countdown. Everything is prioritized for the launch mission."

Li Yang wanted to say something but stopped.

"Lao Li, what do you want to say?" Feng Yan asked.

"The number of mechs is wrong," Li Yang pulled up another set of images, the satellite thermal imaging of the White Elephant border area.

"Intelligence from three days ago showed White Elephant deployed 120 assembled mechs in the Eastern Military Region. But now..."

He zoomed in on the image, and dense heat sources appeared on the screen.

"At least 400 units, and still increasing."

Wang Hao's eyes widened: "Are they scraping together all the junk in the country?"

"Pretty much," Chen accessed the military intelligence database.

"Torch Dragon-3 just decrypted White Elephant's logistics system and found that they unsealed all their stock of old mechs in the past 72 hours, and even..."

The screen switched to a surveillance camera at a border base.

A dozen civilian engineering mechs were being modified, with workers welding steel plates onto the cockpits and mounting old machine guns on the mechanical arms.

The most exaggerated one even carried something like a gas tank, with "Self-Destruct Device" scrawled on it.

"Even excavators?" Wang Hao laughed until he slapped his thigh.

"Can this thing fight? Is it going to hit people with the bucket?"

Li Yang said seriously: "The quantity itself is a threat. 400 mechs, even if each only has 30% combat effectiveness, charging together is enough trouble."

Feng Yan walked to the large screen, his gaze moving between the three images.

Launch site, East Sea fleet, border mech cluster.

And the fourth one, Proxima Centauri slowly dimming in deep space.

"Give them," Feng Yan said, "but they have to pay for it themselves. The institute is not a military factory, after all; we have to account for costs."

The missile early warning radar network deployed by Longguo on the border was activated, and the high-precision scanning beam crossed the border line like an invisible hand, gently brushing over those steel creations.

Five minutes later, "Holy crap..." Wang Hao stared at the screen, his expression like he'd eaten a weird bean, "These things... are too absurd."

He pulled up the scan, marking the problem areas in red:

"This one, the left leg joint uses a hydraulic part from a 2015 excavator, the right leg is a 2020 tractor gearbox; the rotation speeds are different on both sides, it'd be a miracle if it didn't limp."

"This one is even crazier, the control system was stripped from our ten-year-old export version 'Chengshan' mech, and it's a pirated system. The code is full of bugs; I suspect if the pilot presses forward, it might do a handstand."

"The most awesome one is this one," Wang Hao zoomed in on a particularly bloated mech.

"They welded an iron box on its chest and stuffed twelve car batteries inside, calling it an 'extra energy reserve'."

"The problem is these batteries are all different models, the voltages don't match; if they really connect them, it'd be a miracle if they didn't explode."

Chen Guang looked at the scan and said: "The average effective combat time of this batch of assembled mechs won't exceed 2 hours. The failure rate is probably around 47%."

Li Yang shook his head: "They are playing with the lives of their soldiers."

Feng Yan looked at the rough modification footage and said slowly: "They are using their last bit of capital to gamble on a game they cannot win."

Before he could finish, Torch Dragon-3's alarm sounded.

【Proxima Centauri brightness anomaly update: dropped 0.5% in the past 24 hours】

【Cumulative drop: 2.1%】

【Spectral characteristic analysis: stellar core reaction rate slowing down】

【Revised Harvester arrival time in Solar System: 4 years 11 months】

4 years 11 months.

It was a vague "about five years" before, now...

"It actually accelerated again..." Wang Hao muttered.

Chen marked the curve: "According to this acceleration, the actual time might be even shorter. If the Harvesters have jump capability..."

He didn't finish, but everyone understood.

"So Heaven's Punishment must launch on time," Feng Yan turned, his voice resolute.

"Lao Li, the launch site is up to you, ensure it's foolproof. Haozi, continue monitoring the East Sea. Guangzi, synchronize deep space data to all relevant departments in real-time."

"What about the East Sea fleet?" Li Yang asked.

"47 warships, 400 mechs, and three submarines... we're really not going to do anything?"

"As long as they don't cross the line, we don't do anything," Feng Yan walked to the window, looking at the brightening sky in the east.

"We cannot be dragged into their rhythm. They want us to panic, to be chaotic, to divert our defense forces from deep space to homeland defense."

He paused: "And the crazier they are, the more it shows we are on the right path."

8:00 AM, new news came from the border.

White Elephant's mech cluster began to move forward, but because they were all cobbled together, the speed was very slow.

But they were still moving slowly toward the disputed border area.

At the same time, the East Sea fleet began to change formation.

The two aircraft carriers were surrounded by escort ships, and the whole fleet moved twenty nautical miles to the northwest.

"They are testing us," Chen analyzed, "to see if we will react."

Longguo's military made no move.

The border line was quiet, with only patrol mechs on routine duty.

On the East Sea, Longguo's fishing boats went out to sea as usual, and the warships were all resting in port.

A posture of "I didn't take you seriously at all."

This calmness made the opponent even more panicked.

9:00 AM, an argument broke out in the three-nation joint command channel.

"Longguo hasn't reacted at all! Our fleet is right under their noses, and they haven't even sent a reconnaissance ship!" This was Davis from Eagle Country.

"The mech cluster has approached within ten kilometers of the border, and the other side hasn't even played a warning broadcast!" This was Singh from White Elephant.

"What are they doing?" Yamamoto's voice carried a hint of unease.

"According to the plan, they should at least have sent an aircraft carrier battle group to confront us..."

"Unless..." Davis suddenly thought of something, "they have something more important."

"What could be more important than 47 warships pressing on the border?"

No one answered.

But everyone remembered the intelligence: Longguo had a major space launch today, codenamed "Heaven's Punishment."

9:30 AM.

The Northwest launch site entered the final thirty-minute preparation.

The Heaven's Punishment base module, a giant ring structure fifty meters in diameter and weighing eight hundred tons, had been erected on top of a heavy-lift rocket.

A line of striking characters was sprayed on the rocket body:

"Watching the deep space for humanity"

Li Yang was in the launch control room, wearing a communication headset, checking the data over and over.

"Propellant loading complete."

"Navigation system self-test passed."

"Ground telemetry link normal."

"Weather conditions: good."

Every confirmation made his heartbeat speed up.

This wasn't an ordinary satellite launch; this was the core component of humanity's first orbital defense weapon.

If it succeeded, the Solar System defense network would have its first pile driven.

If it failed...

It cannot fail.

"Director Li, latest situation in the East Sea," the assistant whispered.

"The three submarines have started to accelerate, speed increased from 5 knots to 15 knots, depth maintained at 200 meters, heading straight for the Pearl Platform."

Li Yang looked at the time: 9:45 AM.

Fifteen minutes until launch.

"Does President Feng know?"

"The President said... proceed as planned."

Li Yang took a deep breath and returned his gaze to the launch console.

On the large screen, the countdown numbers decreased one by one:

00:14:37

00:14:36

00:14:35...

And on another screen, the three red dots representing the submarines were pouncing like vipers toward the blue dot representing the East Sea energy hub.

The distance was closing rapidly:

250 nautical miles...

Two countdowns were approaching their end simultaneously.

One rushing toward the stars.

One rushing toward the abyss.

9:55 AM.

The launch site entered the final five-minute preparation.

Everyone held their breath.

And at this moment—

The East Sea monitoring footage changed drastically.

The 47-ship joint fleet, which had been maintaining formation, turned in unison as if pushed by an invisible hand.

Not a tentative move, but a full-speed advance.

Thick black smoke poured from the chimneys of the two old aircraft carriers, and the tracks of the escort ships drew long white lines on the sea.

Heading straight for the Pearl energy platform in the East Sea.

At the same time, the 400 assembled mechs in the border area started their engines simultaneously, kicking up dust that filled the sky, and charged toward the Longguo defense line.

The most critical part was the three submarines; they suddenly surfaced to a depth of 50 meters, all torpedo tubes opened, and they entered combat status.

"They've made their move!" someone shouted in the control room.

Feng Yan stood before the large screen, looking at the threats pouncing from all directions, his expression terrifyingly calm.

He pressed the communication key and said only one sentence:

"Heaven's Punishment launch, proceed as planned."

Then he switched to another channel, his voice as cold as ice:

"All units, prepare for battle."

Outside the window, in the direction of the Northwest launch site, the tail flame of the heavy-lift rocket began to ignite.

And on the eastern horizon, the first rays of sunlight shone on the ships pouncing toward the Pearl Platform, as if it were the murderous intent before dawn.