Chapter 3985

The light blue planetary shield emitted a faint glow. Although neither in size nor shape could it be compared to the moon, looking at this huge planet emitting a faint light, it still made people inevitably think of moonlight. People are always particularly homesick at such times.

When the three frigate formations set sail from the shipyard, they still looked like behemoths, but as they got closer and closer to Apokolips, they became incomparably tiny. When they drove into the light of the shield, they couldn't even stir up a ripple on that vast surface, as if a handful of sand had been scattered into the sea, disappearing without a trace in an instant.

The captains all knew that their spaceships might not return, but they still watched the monitoring projection quietly. The only thing they wanted to know was how the opponent intended to deal with the frigate squadron.

A frigate formation has 16 ships; besides the River-class frigates themselves, there are five reconnaissance ships, three supply ships, and seven aerospace fighters. In other words, this is actually a space version of an aircraft carrier fleet. And the River-class frigates going to execute the mission this time are the Hudson, the Niger, and the Ganjiang, with captains who are American, Nigerian, and Chinese, respectively.

These three main ships belong to the second generation of warships among the River-class frigates, which are about two orders of magnitude worse than the Mississippi, the Nile, or the Yellow River.

But this is still a force that cannot be underestimated, at least capable of star system defense level, meaning any one of these three fleets could defend a star system similar to the solar system, and the three combined operations would increase the scope and level of defense exponentially.

The three fleets slowly sailed into the range of Apokolips during directional cruising, but they didn't drive inside the shield, just started patrolling along the surface of the shield. The speed seemed slow, but in fact, it had already reached the maximum speed the frigates could achieve.

Just as they had traveled about 0.7 light-years along the shield—compared to the volume of Apokolips, this was basically staying in place—suddenly, a thin red light appeared out of thin air. At first, it was like an image error, with only a thin line in the middle, and then it suddenly filled the entire screen. The next second, countless alarms sounded in the unmanned cabin.

From the perspective of the aerospace fighter, it was a red laser that suddenly hit the Hudson, and the Hudson's fleet shield lit up instantly, flashing with a "whoosh." But after the light dissipated, the fleet had not suffered any losses.

Everyone watching the monitoring equipment in the base shouted: "Prepare to return, return quickly!"

"No! The fleet shield worked! We can probe again. The opponent will definitely increase their output!"

The three captains hesitated for a moment and did not press the return button. Logically speaking, the shield could still take another hit. But just as they were thinking this, the exact same red laser as before appeared again, only this time, it attacked all three fleets simultaneously.

The screen was white again, and when it ended, the Hudson, which had already taken one hit, remained motionless. From the perspective of other fighters, one could see a large hole burned in its back, and the power system seemed to have been completely destroyed.

The Ganjiang had its entire tail cut off, and the fighters and supply ships beside it exploded all over the ground with a "crackle." When this scene appeared on the screen, all the scientists and generals stood up.

"Good heavens, what kind of weapon is this?! The Ganjiang's shield energy was full, and besides the joint fleet shield, it also had its own frigate shield! Could it be that none of them stopped it?!"

"That laser must have something fishy about it. Has the black box data been sent back?! Organize a team to analyze it immediately! Hurry!"

"Other fleets withdraw as soon as possible, withdraw from the strike range at the fastest speed. Don't drag the abandoned spaceships, come back immediately, right now!"

The surviving Niger headed back with all the remaining reconnaissance ships, supply ships, and fighters. Fortunately, the opponent didn't seem to have any intention of attacking again. After leaving the shield range, the fleet was safe.

The results of such a probe weighed heavily on everyone's hearts like a heavy stone. Just one attack directly scrapped two frigate warships, and one of them was at full status. In other words, the automatic defense system of this planet could directly solve the human side's full-status frigates without any room for struggle.

"What do the superheroes say?" someone asked. "Doesn't someone know this planet is called Apokolips? Then do they know about the laser information?"

"Iron Man provided information," another person said. "This seems to be the Omega Beam, a power similar to divine power used by the Titan race to which the Apokolips Emperor Darkseid belongs—the Omega Effect."

Everyone immediately erupted into intense discussion. Unexpectedly, Batman not only brought Apokolips over but also brought the Emperor of Apokolips directly. However, they also asked Odin for help, so the pot shouldn't call the kettle black.

"Send the video and data to Asgard immediately!" the general said. "Request them to provide a detailed response report... if they are too lazy to handwrite it, recording a sound clip is fine too."

Don't look at the command center having many people, but most of them are technical positions like generals and scientists, with almost no clerks. Because all the tasks of collecting and analyzing data were done by Jarvis. Before the war started, Jarvis had long since taken over all electronic equipment, so even if Batman wanted to perform electronic intrusion, he couldn't do it at all, and the ability for information and intelligence analysis had gone up more than one level.

The information was quickly sent to Asgard. To everyone's surprise, the answer given by Thor was very conservative. He said: "This is a power specialized for attack, meaning this is not a general energy like the divine power of the Aesir, but a power specifically used for attack, and also extremely good at destruction and damage. From its performance form, it can perform precise point strikes across space, and at the same time, if the output is sufficient, it can also directly shatter space. If I were fighting him, I wouldn't choose to use a divine power barrier to take it head-on, the best way is to dodge. If I don't use any barrier and just take full output with my body, it is highly likely to cause serious damage to my body."

The atmosphere became even heavier. Even the Aesir couldn't take it, no wonder two frigates were scrapped in one hit.

But at this moment, the atmosphere in the Apokolips command center was heavier than on Earth. Main universe Batman looked at Darkseid and said: "So, the Omega Beam at 50% output can't even penetrate the shields of the opponent's mass-produced spaceships, it must be 75% output?!"

"Their shields are very special," Darkseid said, tapping his fingers on the armrest of his seat. "Obviously, the Earth of this universe is very good at shield technology, I have never seen such powerful shields. This kind of shield has a special ability, that is, as long as the attack received does not exceed a threshold, it is completely immune, and will not even consume much energy. So we must increase the output and concentrate it on one point to destroy the shield and the hull at once."

Main universe Batman understood what he meant. It's simple to talk about; using a game as an analogy, other civilizations' ordinary shields are damage reduction, 100 attack can only deal 60 damage; while human shields are immune to damage below 100, you hit with 100 attack, the damage caused is very likely 0; and you hit with 200 attack, it might still only deal 60% damage. So the best way is to increase the attack to 800, and then empty the opponent's health bar in one hit. That's what Darkseid did.

But obviously, the Omega Force is not endless, or rather, although it can be replenished within the Apokolips domain, some must be reserved for defense, otherwise if the opponent presses the border with a large army, they can't rely on superheroes to fight the spaceships, right?

"How many such spaceships do they have?" Main universe Superman asked. "Maybe I can go try, but my laser output is not enough, I might only be able to repel them temporarily, but not destroy them."

Main universe Batman was actually thinking too. From the previous images, it's not hard to see that the frigate squadron is organized, which proves they definitely can't have only these few ships, and being used as cannon fodder for probing proves these ships can't be very precious, perhaps they are old versions about to be phased out. They have more advanced, larger, and stronger spaceships.

"Hal, what do you think?" Main universe Batman looked at Green Lantern and asked.

The Green Lanterns were all standing together, their discussion was not as intense as Batman or Superman's. And when asked, they all turned to look at one person, that is Hal Jordan, the Prince of Emerald from the universe where Bruce is.

"This war doesn't necessarily have to be fought in the conventional interstellar combat way," Hal said. "The spaceships we simulate with Green Lantern energy, although they seem to have substance, can be converted into Green Lantern energy at any time. Then we just need to disguise ourselves as spaceships and drive over, then directly detonate the Green Lantern energy for a suicide attack. Although it's a bit of a waste of energy, as long as we can cause effective damage, we can make the other side hesitate."

Main universe Batman nodded, and he also approved of this method. They now have two types of spaceships: one is a spaceship simulated with Green Lantern energy, although it's the same as a normal spaceship, after probing, main universe Batman understood that this kind of spaceship is not as strong as the fleet produced by the other side, so the usual combat method can be abandoned.

The other is the Apokolips spaceship, but Apokolips itself is not good at interstellar combat, they rely on large-scale Parademon armies for surface landing battles, meaning someone has to help them clear the escort fleet before they can conduct landing operations.

"Green Lantern fleet prepare," main universe Batman said. "They sent three squadrons, we'll send five. Green Lanterns follow behind to coordinate combat, but note, never get too close, once you detect abnormal energy fluctuations, retreat immediately."

Hal nodded, pointed out several Green Lanterns from behind, including the Green Lantern of the main universe and himself, about a dozen people in total, and came to the hangar to take the spaceships.

The spaceships here were already prepared in their hometown, brought over through the portal, the structure was already very stable, and because it is essentially Green Lantern energy, people don't need to perform complex controls inside the spaceship, and can also use it like an arm.

The establishment of the Green Lantern fleet is not complicated, only divided into main warships and secondary warships. A main warship carries about 5-6 secondary warships, which is a squadron, and five squadrons have about thirty-something ships.

And before coming, Hal had also organized them for training, and the results achieved were quite gratifying. Their combat style is completely different from Marvel's: if the Earth of the central universe is fighting a traditional interstellar war, then their side is actually an enlarged version of ground warfare. Green Lanterns following the Green Lantern fleet to attack is not the air combat set, but more like the infantry-tank coordination of the army.

This is actually very difficult, even unimaginable, because the size difference between humans and spaceships is too large, and there is no possibility of any coordination at all. Probably only superheroes like Green Lanterns, who are organized and disciplined and have been engaged in space combat for years, can use this tactic with the spaceships they pinch out.

Therefore, many people in the command center of the central universe Earth were stunned when they saw people and spaceships flying out together. But those generals who had survived from World War II to the present had their eyes light up: "We're familiar with tank battles!"

"Let Iron Man's mechanical army enter!" a general stood up and shouted. "Build trenches on the eastern front battlefield immediately, must block this tank unit 20 light-years away!"

The Iron Men who were anxiously waiting for orders at the outpost stood up with a "whoosh." Stark of the central universe immediately shouted: "Don't rush, stay calm! Now go get the equipment according to the warehouse pickup number. Jarvis will point out the target location in your mechs. Return immediately after the equipment is set up, don't stay too long! Don't have a head-on conflict with them!"