Age of Cosmic Exploration - Page 376/477

Chapter 377: Demolition!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Go big or go home!

This was something Yao Yuan said in central command. What he meant was that since this solar system was not going to survive and they were not going to return to this place, not to mention it was the aliens' fault for making human beings to show their hand, then why show mercy? While it might not be honorable to kick them while they were down, if they waited for the level 3 space civilization to recover, then humanity would truly be dumb.

Therefore, go big or go home!

The shot from the Gravity Cannon as well as strafe firing from the Space Combat Jet Prototype 011s were still unable to ensure the alien civilizations stayed in the Shelter's ruin obediently. When the level 3 space civilization's spaceship poked its head out, Yao Yuan finally gave the final order, which was to reinitiate the Genesis cannon on the Hope!

After all, that was the property of the plasma shield. No matter whether it was a physical or energy attack, as long as its strength was unable to surpass the plasma shield, or more accurately, unable to exhaust the energy of the plasma shield, then the attack wouldn't be able to reach the spaceship protected by the plasma shield. In other words, as long as the attack power surpassed the defense of the plasma shield, then the plasma shield was like anti-bullet vest… Who has seen an anti-bullet vest survive a rocket launcher before?

This was obvious through the shot of the Gravity Cannon. Any ship over a certain size, even if it was a level 3 space civilization's ship, was twisted and torn. The remaining ships were almost the size of the Hope, small to mid sized.

In reality, there was another misconception here, and that was due to the technology within the Hope. Its energy was not at the same level as that of alien spaceships of the same size… the reality was the complete opposite.

This was because since most other alien spaceships of the same size were used for defense and combat, if it carried too much reactors, be it hydrogen atomic fusion reactors or cold agglutination reactors, the moment the ship was attacked or there was internal error, the scale of explosion would be huge and it might cause friendly damage.

Therefore, if one had a mothership, the energy storage of these small to mid-sized spaceships would not be huge.

However, the Hope was completely different. This was humanity's only and last defense. It was not only used for combat, but also to support the life in the endless cosmos for tens and hundreds of years, so the more internal energy storage it had, the better. In contrast, the Hope was humanity's mothership. Even though it was miniscule compared to a normal mothership, the pool of energy storage could rival the energy storage of a large or even super large mothership.

Therefore, after they had confirmed that all the large spaceships of the level 3 space civilization had been destroyed and thus the Hope would not be surrounded by them, Yao Yuan had already decided to combat the level 3 space civilization's spaceship that still remained!

In the empty space, a chopstick-esque ship flicked in and out of existence. A layer of sparks appeared on the ship's surface, and it shone brightly like a new sun. Next, a large pillar of light shot out of it. Before that, Yao Yuan had commanded all the Black Star Troopers to evacuate the area through Xi Kong. Therefore, only the level 3 space civilization's spaceship and the mess of other alien spaceships behind it were caught in the ray of light!

In the blink of an eye, other than the level 3 space civilization's spaceship, all the other alien spaceships exploded. Their electromagnetic shields were no match for the Genesis' energy attack!

Only this level 3 space civilization's spaceship survived the plasma ray. However, the plasma shield on its surface rippled violently and its thickness had greatly decreased. About 10 seconds later, following an explosion of sparks, the plasma shield was shattered by the continuing light ray, and at the next second, this level 3 space civilization's spaceship was fireworks…

This was not all. The Genesis fired directly on the Shelter's ruin. Without the protection of plasma shields, how could the normal metallic structure resist the Genesis' power? It melted instantly and, following a series of explosions and after the Genesis had finished firing, a giant hole appeared on the surface of the Shelter. It was as if the shot had almost pierced through the Shelter's ruin.

The people on the Hope were not shocked by this attack. After all, they had survived the trip to the cursed planet and the indescribable Song of Destruction. This was nothing compared to the terror they had seen.

On the other hand, the various space civilizations who were trying desperately to escape the Shelter were on the brink of despair… Just what kind of civilization was this human race? They dared to declare war on a whole Shelter with just one spaceship, and not only that, they had managed to dismantle the whole Shelter. Furthermore, they were not going to capture any materials or lifeforms after victory but demolish the Shelter indiscriminately using large scale weapons like the Genesis… Could it be that humans really did not want anything but destruction?

No one knew the answer. With the whole area covered by the creator's particle, they could not ask even if they wanted to. All of the civilizations' spaceships could only escape the Shelter desperately like headless chickens even though they knew that stepping out of the Shelter meant destruction. They had to get out because… behind them was the Shelter's ruin that could explode at any moment!

"…In other words, the reactors inside the Shelter are acting up, and due to matter of mass, a giant fusion reaction might occur from within at any given moment?"

10 minutes after firing the Genesis, the Hope was beginning another round of checking and maintenance. The indiscriminate attack outside of the Shelter by the Space Combat Jet Prototype 011s was still going on. Unless there was another level 3 space civilization's spaceship, the Hope would remain hidden in the dark using the ECS system.

However, at the same time, several energy reactor experts were called to gather at a small meeting room close to central command. This was because Blue 6 had raised an interesting proposition when the Genesis was fired to explain why the level 3 space civilization's spaceship was in such a hurry to escape the Shelter.

"A Shelter has many differences compared to a normal spaceships or even a mothership. Any spaceship and mothership would be operated by one's own race; at most they would have vassal races to act as cannon fodder. However, a Shelter is a half public place; it is a home for many civilizations and many other civilizations may enter and leave it at any time. Therefore, for the sake of security, its central energy core, be it a nuclear type or a cold agglutination type, would be placed in the center-most area of the Shelter. Due to it being the heart of the Shelter, the creator of the Shelter would normally choose to have a large reactor. Normally, it would a reactor large enough to supply the energy of the whole Shelter…"

10 minutes were spent to process the words Blue 6 said. The various experts and calculations from the AI came to the same conclusion…

Following the usage of the Gravity Cannon, the Shelter had been completely torn open, and this should include the reactor as well, and the possible tragedy of that was… a large nuclear explosion from within this Shelter was imminent. To put it simply, this Shelter had become a ticking nuclear bomb. An H-bomb the size of a planet, its power would be strong enough to vaporize all spaceships within its range. Plasma shield? No plasma shield would be strong enough to withstand such an explosion!

In other words, humanity could have really destroyed this Shelter…

Because of that, the original 24 hour plan was immediately changed. About half of the Black Star Troopers were commanded to return to the Hope, while the rest of them continued the assault. The Hope would be responsible to pick off the spaceships that escaped the attack of the Space Combat Jet Prototype 011s…

As time passed, the number of spaceships that came out of the Shelter slowly decreased, but the amount spaceships of the level 3 space civilization increased and humanity started to suffer fatalities as well. So far, already 12 Black Star Troopers had lost their lives…

Finally, when the races inside the Shelter had lost their minds and the spaceships coming out of it were mostly level 3 spaceships, the human Diviners had sensed the great danger percolating inside the Shelter. It was a danger that would wipe out everything. The Hope fired another shot from the Genesis and called back all the Black Star Troopers. Then they escaped as fast as they could. Behind it, thanks to the attack from the Genesis, no alien spaceships dared to show themselves yet…

Next, in this piece of quiet space, against the black background, only the Hope was flying away at maximum speed. Behind it, in a large ruin, a blinding light exploded, amplifying the darkness of the cosmos. At the center of the light, a fireball steadily grew in size. Finally, it grew at an exponential speed until it ultimately became a fiery planet, and the Shelter…

Had completely disappeared, swallowed by this giant ball of fire…