Chapter 286

But the numerical gap is too large.

The simulation lasted half an hour.

Result popped up:

【Enemy unit losses: 91.3%】

【Our losses: Heaven's Punishment Platform damaged 30%, mechs damaged 60%, Houyi Platform destroyed one, Divine Sea-Subduing Needle damaged four, Penglai-2 severely injured】

【Simulation conclusion: The defense can intercept the first wave of attack, but cannot withstand the second. If the Harvesters' main fleet exceeds three thousand units, the human defense line will collapse within 72 hours.】

The command center was dead silent.

"91.3% interception rate..." said the Sakura Province representative Nakamura in a murmur, "That's high."

"But we will lose sixty percent of our mechs." said the White Elephant Province representative Xin Ge, his face turning pale, "That is... 1.8 million units? The world currently only has three million mechs!"

"This is just a simulation; actual casualties could be higher." Chen Guang pushed his glasses.

"Moreover, this is only the first wave. The Harvesters' main fleet could number ten thousand, or even a hundred thousand units."

Feng Yan silently looked at the data.

After a long while, he said, "Qiming, assessment results."

Qiming's voice sounded:

【According to simulation data, combined with historical battle cases of the Gamma-7 Civilization, the frontal combat win rate against humanity is below 5%.】

【Recommendation: Must use vulnerability tactics. Employ artistic weapons to create system chaos, and launch a decisive strike during the window of opportunity.】

【Estimated window: the first 30 seconds after each wave of attack begins. The Harvesters need this time to evaluate the target and adjust tactics. If we can overload their system within 30 seconds……】

"How much can the win rate be increased?" Feng Yan asked.

【Unknown. Gamma-7 has never tried this tactic, so there is no data for reference.】

The command center fell silent again.

Wang Hao suddenly raised his hand: "Let's give it a try! Anyway, we're dead either way, so we might as well die in a flamboyant manner!"

This remark slightly eased the atmosphere.

Feng Yan took a deep breath: "Good. Adjust the plan; all units prepare for mixed artistic and live-ammunition strikes."

"Load the civilization signal shells onto all Heaven's Punishment Platforms; once the enemy enters range, fire the artistic shells first, then the laser cannons."

"What about the mech units?" Li Yang asked.

"Keep dancing with your mechs." Feng Yan looked at him, "But add improvisation; the more random, the better. Let Qiming help you generate unpredictable movement sequences."

"Understood."

"Wang Hao, change all your missiles to 'cursive script' mode. I want each missile's trajectory to be a unique abstract painting."

"Already in production!"

"Chen Guang, perform a final check on the civilization data stream. I want to ensure each signal shell is filled with humanity's most 'useless' beauty."

"99% complete; it can be finally packaged tonight."

Orders were issued one by one.

The command center became busy again.

Late at night, the Dragon Chant cafeteria.

Li Yang, Wang Hao, and Chen Guang rarely gathered together for a late-night snack, if energy bars with nutrient porridge count as a late-night snack.

Wang Hao bit into his energy bar, speaking indistinctly: "Old Li, can your three hundred Yinglong-Omega mechs really dance well? From the simulation video, the movements look like cramps."

"That's art." Li Yang calmly drank his porridge.

"Qiming analyzed three thousand human dance forms, blending martial arts, gymnastics, and even acrobatics."

"No matter how strong the Harvesters' prediction system is, it cannot guess whether the next move will be a ballet grand jeté or a street dance floor move."

Chen Guang pushed his glasses: "According to the data, it's effective. In the simulation, the mech units' survival rate is 18% higher than conventional tactics."

"It's just that the pilots can't take it." Li Yang said helplessly, "During training, several threw up, saying they got 3D vertigo. I had Qiming add an anti-dizziness algorithm, which helped a bit."

Wang Hao laughed: "My missile unit is even worse. The 'cursive script' trajectory requires pilots to make on-the-fly adjustments; some kids shake their hands, and the missile draws a heart and flies off—though it's quite artistic, it can't hit anyone!"

"What about now?"

"Now Qiming has taken over most of the control; humans only need to do the final confirmation." Wang Hao spread his hands, "Art is fine, but we can't just mess around. After all, we're here to kill people, not to hold an art exhibition."

All three laughed.

They laughed and laughed, then fell silent.

Li Yang looked out the window: "One year..."

"There are still three hundred sixty-five days." Chen Guang continued, "But according to deep-space monitoring, the Harvesters' fleet is actually 0.3 light-years closer than expected. They might be accelerating."

"So it might be less than a year?"

"Possibly."

Wang Hao stuffed the entire energy bar into his mouth and chewed hard a few times: "Who cares. If they come early, we fight early; if they come late, we fight late. Anyway—"

He paused, his voice dropping:

"Anyway, we've already done everything we could."

The cafeteria's cleaning robot glided over and took away the empty bowls.

The countdown numbers on the wall jumped by one notch:

【364 days 23 hours 59 minutes】

At 3 a. m., the Moon Base alarm suddenly blared.

Chen Guang was the first to rush into the control room: "What's the situation?"

The on-duty engineer's face turned ashen: "Deep-space radar at 1.2 light-years out detected a large-scale spatial jump fluctuation! Quantity…… at least a thousand units! And it's still increasing!"

On the holographic star map, the previously empty Orion direction suddenly sprouted dense red dots.

"The Harvester main fleet……" Chen Guang murmured, "They arrived early."

"How much earlier?"

"Based on this distance and speed……" the engineer quickly calculated, "The time to reach the edge of the Solar System…… revised to: six months."

Six months.

180 days.

4320 hours.

It is directly half ahead of expectations.

The alarm spread across the globe.

All factories still in operation increased their production line speed again.

Workers already on three-shift rotation began 'four shifts, three days off', machines never stopping, people taking turns to rest.

On the streets, the already sparse traffic completely disappeared.

All vehicles prioritized ensuring material transport.

Schools suspended classes, all students switched to online learning, classrooms converted into temporary production workshops.

Hospitals freed up two-thirds of their beds, preparing to receive casualties.

And in Earth's orbit, the 912 Heaven's Punishment Platforms simultaneously adjusted their angles, aiming at deep space.

The launch safety of the first civilization signal bullet was released.

Qiming's voice sounded over the global communications channel, still calm:

【Detected enemy fleet arriving early.】

【Human civilization, final preparation stage, now begins.】

【Countdown reset: 180 days.】

【Good luck.】

Under the night sky, everyone looked up.

They couldn't see the fleet 1.2 light-years away, but they could see the light of the Heaven's Punishment Platforms, connecting in the night sky into a glowing ring.

Like a ring placed on Blue Star.

Also like a final embrace.

Lao Wu stood at the entrance of the community production point, gazing at the sky.

A young person beside him asked: "Uncle Wu, are you afraid?"

Lao Wu remained silent for a long time.

Then he said:

'Afraid.'

'But what I fear more…… is that all our efforts will be in vain.'

He turned and walked back to the workshop, the mechanical arm restarting.

The welding sparks flickered in the darkness.