Chapter 248: Pearl Platform Under Attack

At exactly 10:00 a. m., two historic images were broadcast simultaneously worldwide.

At the northwestern launch site, a heavy-lift launch vehicle rose into the sky trailing an orange-red flame, and the characters on its body reading 'For humanity to gaze into deep space' were clearly visible amidst the flames.

Meanwhile, on the second image, the East Sea Pearl Platform, the first missile launched from an old Eagle Country destroyer, trailing white smoke, hurtled toward that silvery-white maritime energy hub.

"'The Heavenly Punishment base module, launch successful.' Li Yang's voice came through the communications channel from the launch control room, with the roar of the rocket lifting off in the background."

"'First-stage separation normal, orbital parameters correct, expected to reach the planned orbit in six hours.'"

Almost simultaneously, the Pearl Platform's alarm echoed through the control center.

"'Incoming missiles! Quantity……three hundred twenty!' The platform commander stared at the radar screen, his voice still relatively calm."

"'Activate the Stabilizing Mountain-I System at full power!'"

The thirty-six laser turrets on the platform's summit turned simultaneously.

Hum—

In the low hum of charging, the emitters atop the turrets glowed with a pale blue light.

Then, they opened fire rapidly.

Three hundred sixty laser beams formed a three-dimensional interception net, weaving around the platform into a curtain of deadly light.

The first missile had just entered range.

The laser beam precisely struck the warhead.

Only a dazzling white flash was seen in the air as the missile's fuel and warhead were vaporized instantly, leaving no debris, directly turning into a mass of high-temperature plasma that dissipated in the air.

Then came the second, the third……

The sky seemed to be putting on a silent fireworks display.

Each incoming missile was met by a laser beam, then the missile vanished, leaving only a faint burnt smell in the air.

"'Interception count: 47, 48, 49……' the system AI calmly announced, 'Interception success rate: 100%.'"

The live-stream comments went wild:

"'Holy shit! What kind of defense is this?!'"

"'Taking down three hundred missiles in one minute? You must be cheating!'"

"'Those missiles didn't even get within five hundred meters of the platform before disappearing.'"

"'Why keep fighting? Go home, wash up, and sleep.'"

But the tri-nation alliance clearly had no intention of surrendering just yet.

On the sea, 47 warships began a second volley.

This time they were not missiles but old-fashioned rocket projectiles—low cost, high volume, fired in a single burst of thousands, covering the sky like a steel rain.

The Stabilizing Mountain System was activated again.

The laser emission frequency was increased to twenty times per second, weaving a denser net of light in the air.

The rocket projectiles exploded and dissipated one after another, like insects hitting an invisible wall.

However, just as everyone's attention was drawn to the sky.

Underwater, three Foot Basin Chicken Parent Tide-class submarines had already slipped beneath the platform.

Depth fifty meters.

"'Only five hundred meters to the target.' Submarine commander Colonel Yamada stared at the sonar screen, his hand trembling."

The executive officer's face turned ashen: 'Colonel, we really……'

"'This is an order.' Yamada closed his eyes, 'For the sake of our country, we have no choice but to carry it out.'"

Yamada recalled the mission assigned by his superiors before departure: 'Yamada, all the units deployed this time are merely feints; you are the key to this operation.'

"'That bastard Davis initially wanted to use our three Parent Tide-class submarines to physically ram and destroy the Pearl Platform Control Center, but now that it's come to this, it's all up to you.'"

Yamada opened his eyes: 'Full speed ahead—ram straight into it.'

The submarine's engines ran at full power, like a steel beast charging toward a cliff.

The submarine's bow ram was aimed at the platform's central pillar.

"'Speed fifteen knots, impact countdown……sixty seconds.'"

Pearl Platform Control Center.

The underwater sensors suddenly emitted a piercing alarm.

"'Detected high-speed underwater target! Distance five hundred meters, speed……still accelerating!'"

The commander snapped his head around: 'Torpedo?'

"'No! It's a submarine! What are they doing? Are they going to ram it directly with a submarine?'"

"'Activate underwater defense!'"

Underwater laser beams shot out quickly, blasting several large holes in the submarine.

Seawater rushed in frantically through the cracks into the submarine's compartments; although it had been hit by several laser blasts and could no longer be controlled, its inertia still carried it forward, and it struck the platform's pillar.

Boom——!!!

A muffled roar came from beneath the sea surface.

The entire platform shuddered, all screens in the control center flickered simultaneously, and several standing operators collapsed to the ground.

The monitoring feed showed: the central alloy pillar eight meters in diameter had been slightly deformed by the submarine's ram.

"'Pillar damage rate 27%!' the engineer shouted, 'Structural stress exceeds limits! We must cut power immediately to carry out repairs and ensure power safety!'"

"'Cut power?!' the commander widened his eyes, 'Our energy platform supplies sixty percent of the electricity to Coastal City. Hurry! Immediately notify Coastal City to switch to its backup small-scale power supply, then rush the repairs.'"

No sooner had the notice been sent than the fusion core atop the platform automatically triggered its safety protocol.

The humming sound abruptly ceased.

The lights went out.

Almost simultaneously, the coastal city's power grid monitoring center also tripped.

The city's skyscrapers went dark one after another.

Yanjing, Lao Wu's barbecue stall.

Although it was only just past ten in the morning, today was special—with the Heaven's Punishment launch and the standoff in the East Sea, Lao Wu directly set up the projection screen in front of his stall, and dozens of regulars gathered to watch the live broadcast.

When the Dingyue system intercepted three hundred missiles in one minute, the whole crowd cheered.

"Awesome! This laser is like swatting flies!"

"Come on, cheers! Let's celebrate!"

But when the footage came in of the platform shaking, lights going out, and the coastal city losing power, the cheers abruptly stopped.

"What's going on?" a bespectacled youngster froze, "Was the platform hit?"

Lao Wu flipped the meat skewers with his mechanical arm, not looking up: "See? This is a cornered dog jumping over the wall. Since we can't win head‑on, we're playing dirty now."

"Then what do we do if we lose power?"

"What's there to fear?" Lao Wu grinned.

"We're using Xuanming-2 batteries right now; over there it's just a matter of switching power."

Before he finished speaking, the high‑rise buildings of Linhai city on the screen lit up again, one after another.

In a certain high‑rise office building in Linhai, the office was pitch black.

But only three seconds later——

Pop, pop, pop.

Emergency lights came on one by one, the light coming from the Xuanming-2 battery units on the wall.

"Don't panic!" the administrative supervisor held up his phone as a flashlight.

"Our building has its own fusion power system; the backup power has already kicked in and will be restored within three seconds!"

Sure enough, before the phone flashlight could be turned on, the lights came back on.

In the office, the employees were just about to turn on their phone flashlights when they saw the power return, looked at each other, and suddenly someone burst out laughing:

"You scared me! I thought we were going back to primitive society."

"We've got Xuanming batteries—what's there to fear about a power outage?"

"Exactly! Just wait and see what happens to those who attacked us!"

That's what they said, but social media had already exploded.

The top three hot searches were all taken up by related keywords.

The comment section's mood was complex:

"Linhai city lost power for just three seconds and then recovered?"

"Are these people crazy?"

"Isn't our laser defense invincible? How did they pull it off?"

"I heard they used a submarine to physically strike from underwater, knocking askew one of the platform's pillars."

"So even high‑tech can't stop someone who's willing to die?"

"You up there, don't boost their morale! Just wait and see our counterattack!"

Longyin Control Center.

Feng Yan stared at the tilted Mingzhu platform on the screen, his face grim.

Damage data for the platform popped up line by line:

【Pillar structural integrity: 73%, urgent repair needed】

【Fusion core safety shut down, cannot restart until 24 hours later】

【The coastal city has switched to backup micro‑energy devices; power was restored after only a three‑second outage, but the energy platform still needs urgent restoration to avoid power】

【Estimated direct or indirect economic loss: 20 million dragon coins (mainly the bulk is the pillar repair cost and the indirect economic loss from the three‑second blackout)】

Feng Yan spoke slowly, his voice loaded with unprecedented anger: "Have we given them face?!"

The control room was dead silent.

Nobody had ever seen Feng Yan lose his temper.

This dean, who always smiles, now had icy eyes.

Over the comms channel, Li Yang's voice came through: "Feng bro, the Heaven's Punishment base module has successfully entered orbit and is deploying, but I suggest……

"What do you suggest?" Feng Yan interrupted.

"I suggest pausing further module launches, recalling Penglai, and first dealing with the East Sea issue." Li Yang's voice was calm.

"The deep‑space threat still has four years and eleven months left, but the enemy right now has already made a move on our doorstep."

Wang Hao also chimed in: "Exactly, Feng bro! They're already slapping us in the face, and we're still burying our heads in building Heaven's Punishment? How can that be justified?!"

Chen Guang didn't speak, but he pulled up a set of data—this was a simulation from Torch Dragon‑3: if we get held up by the opposition, the Heaven's Punishment project will be delayed by at least six months.

And six months later, the Harvesters' countdown is reduced by another six months.

Feng Yan closed his eyes.

Three seconds later, he pressed the highest‑level communications key.

"Connect to the highest conference."

Five minutes later, the holographic projection lit up.

No pleasantries, no small talk.

"The situation is already clear." Only then did the chief in the middle of the projection speak directly.

"This is a pre‑planned joint operation. What do you all think?"

The military representative spoke first: "Hit. And hit hard, crush them, make them dare not harbor ill intentions for thirty years."

The diplomatic representative frowned: "But public opinion…"

"Public opinion?" another leader coldly laughed, "They attacked our energy platform—did they consider public opinion?"

We should have taken the initiative to defend earlier, but because we hesitated for the sake of international influence, we gave the opponent an opening.

Moreover, civilian facilities are prohibited targets under international law—they were the first to cross that red line.

"But if we go to all-out war, the Heaven's Punishment Plan will inevitably be delayed." The tech representative worried, "The deep-space threat is the true civilizational crisis."

"So." Feng Yan suddenly spoke, "We need to be quick."

Everyone looked at him.

"To secure the outside, we must first pacify the inside." Feng Yan said, word by word.

No matter how terrifying the enemies beyond the solar system, we must first resolve the troubles within it. Otherwise, when we build Heaven's Punishment, someone will always stab us in the back.

He pulled up their data: "47 outdated warships, 400 patchwork mechs, three submarines—one already sunk by laser. With that pitiful stash, they dare to try to extort us?"

"You mean…"

"One week." Feng Yan raised a finger, "Within one week, we will settle it completely—no lingering threats, no leeway, no illusion that they could ever recover."

The meeting room fell silent at once.

After a long while, the chief leader slowly nodded: "Yeah, the earlier border victory also made us a bit complacent."

"I didn't expect them to dare come after their previous crushing defeat, but if so, we'll first secure the interior and then focus on the deep-space crisis."

"But remember not to affect civilians, and after it's over, immediately return to the Heaven's Punishment Plan—the deep-space countdown won't wait for us."

"Understood."

The communication was cut off.

Feng Yan turned, facing everyone in the control room, his voice icy and clear:

"Let the Island of the Immortals return from the moon quickly."

"Notify the Dragon Cavalry Guard to ready all units—every model of Responding Dragon, Litigation Beast, and Black Tortoise mechs—enter combat status."

He paused, then added the final line:

"This time, no leeway."

The moment the order was issued, the entire Longyin Research Institute sprang into action like a precision machine, suddenly accelerating.

Wang Hao darted to the missile control console, beginning to program combat instructions for the Fire Bird and Sun-Chaser missiles.

After Li Yang returned from the Moon Base, he immediately boarded the Island of the Immortals.

Chen You marked the coordinates of all the enemy's key nodes, from the command center to the energy hub, not missing a single one.

The massive silhouette of the Island of the Immortals slowly rose from the moon, swiftly flying toward Blue Star.

On the bridge, Li Yang gazed at the radar screen showing the 46 enemy ships still launching missiles, a cold smile curling his lips.

"Come on, let Grandpa teach you a lesson."

"What is a generation gap?"