Chapter 648: Critical Moment

"How is it, Yixian sis, what did the Dean say?" Ninghai nimbly dodged the Siren warship's shells ahead, turned his head, and said to Yixian, who had stopped communicating beside him.

"The Dean said to hold her off as much as possible; she'll be here soon." Yixian told Ninghai.

"But the Dean's position is now on the center line; it'll take seven or eight minutes to get here. What should we do in the meantime?" Ninghai said.

"No matter what, we must hold this place; if we fall here, the Sirens can directly flank us, and then the entire Commander Academy will be destroyed." Yixian shook her head, saying this while using her own ship's guns to attack the Siren whose deck had been exposed after Ninghai's barrage.

"I know, but we…" Ninghai glanced at the earnestly firing Yixian, and his words trailed off.

"The Breaker is about to fire—watch out!" Not far away, Ping Hai, who had been watching the Breaker, shouted loudly.

Understood.

After receiving Ping Hai's signal, Ninghai and Yixian began to evade. Although they successfully dodged the Breaker's attack, while evading they were hit by a nearby Siren mass-produced heavy cruiser, striking Ninghai.

"Sis, how are you?" Ping Hai noticed Ninghai's condition and immediately shouted into the communicator.

The water column fell, revealing Ninghai's appearance; his ship equipment clothing showed obvious scorching, and his face was also somewhat smeared with black.

"It's fine, Ping Hai; the shells were too dense, I couldn't dodge in time." Ninghai said to Ping Hai.

"Everyone, pay attention—our main goal now is to hold them off; we need to focus on evasion." Yixian said anxiously from afar.

"Yes, Yixian sis." Ninghai and Ping Hai said in unison.

Although that's what they said, as time passed, the pressure on the three of them only grew. Furthermore, the opposing commander began to rage, unleashing a dense barrage from her guns, making the already dire situation even harder to sustain.

The three had already been hit directly by shells more than once, and their battle supplies had been exhausted; each was in a moderately damaged state, as if the next attack would be when they fell.

"We can't hold out, Yixian sis." Watching the enemy Siren launch another wave of carrier aircraft and the gleaming gun muzzles, Ninghai said somewhat dejectedly.

"Sis…" Ping Hai, standing beside, looked at his sister and was momentarily speechless.

"Everyone has done their best; perhaps this is our end, but being able to sink together with you is, for me, a very fortunate thing."

"Just that I'll never again see the smiles of those shipgirls and students—it's a slight regret." Yixian smiled, glided over, and said to Ninghai.

"Yixian sis…"

"It's alright; you've done well enough. In this final moment, let's charge together. Born for war, then to fall in the gunfire—perhaps that is our fate."

"I hope the Dean can arrive in time; then we'll have no regrets." Yixian said.

"Yeah, let's charge together!" Ninghai nodded, then turned his gaze to Ping Hai beside him.

At that moment, Ping Hai smiled and said to Ninghai, "Sis, I've always been by your side."

"Yeah."

No more words were needed; the three frail figures, undaunted, charged toward the Siren fleet's gunfire.

And at that very moment, the Siren fleet, which had been about to fire, suddenly seemed to freeze, simultaneously losing the ability to act; even the fully charged shells were not fired. However, some shells still shot off, heading toward Yixian and the two others.

Then, in the sky above, a large formation of carrier aircraft suddenly appeared; in an instant, aerial bombs poured down like rain. And just as those earlier shells approached Yixian, Ninghai, and Ping Hai, a smooth protective layer suddenly appeared on them.

The shells striking the shield made a booming sound, but did not harm the three in the slightest.

"What is this?" Yixian and the other two halted, their forward steps frozen in place, as they gazed at the sudden change on the battlefield.

The aerial bombs had made contact with the opposing Siren fleet, and a massive explosion spread, with the black mist on the Siren ships' hulls gradually dissipating as the explosion progressed.

Immediately thereafter, shells emitting fire and blue light appeared instantly behind the Siren fleet, destroying those Siren ships with exposed decks as easily as snapping twigs, utterly annihilating them.

In the blink of an eye for Yixian, Ninghai, and Ping Hai, the Siren fleet that had previously held overwhelming advantage, forcing the three to fight desperately, had become wreckage floating on the sea, burning with fierce flames.

"What is going on? Could this be reinforcements? But do we even have such strong reinforcements right now?" Ninghai said, looking at the scene with some astonishment.

"I don't know, but someone has come over." Yixian looked at the burning sea of fire and said to the two beside her.

As soon as Yixian's words fell, three figures instantly shot through the burning sea of fire and swiftly glided to stand before the three of them.

"Phew, finally caught up. Long time no see, Miss Yixian, Miss Ping Hai, and Miss Ninghai! Belfast, acting on behalf of the master, greets you; seeing you're safe is truly wonderful." A shipgirl in a maid outfit smiled, bowed, and said to the trio of Yixian.

"You are... Belfast? Your master is..." Yixian, not recognizing her at first, asked somewhat embarrassedly.

"My master is Qin Ge; you should remember him, Miss Yixian." Belfast smiled.

"Qin Ge! So it's you—how did you come here? Didn't the Dean say you were already headed to Guandao?" Yixian exclaimed in surprise.

"That's a long story, but now isn't the time to talk. The master has ordered us to sound the counterattack horn; if possible, Miss Yixian, please follow us, and someone will naturally explain everything to you later." Belfast smiled.

"All right." Although Yixian didn't understand the current situation, she still agreed, because the Siren fleet they needed to deal with had already been annihilated, so this place wasn't that important anymore.

"If that's the case, then let's go together." Belfast said, taking three emergency repair tools from his ship equipment space and handing them to the trio of Yixian, then turned and glided toward the sea of fire.

"Yixian sis?" Ninghai still held the emergency repair tools, looking at Yixian with a surprised expression.

"Now isn't the time to ask questions; anyway, we're saved—let's just follow them, trusting they'll tell us the answers." Yixian smiled.

"Yeah." Ninghai and Ping Hai nodded, followed Yixian's steps, and glided in the direction Belfast had gone.

After several people had left, only the burning wreckage of the Siren fleet remained on the sea surface, a testament to the decisiveness of that very moment.