novelraw Chapter 432: No Holding Back
Chapter 432: No Holding Back
Every charge and movement of a Star Beast, every activation of gravity-related equipment, would cause a certain impact on the gravitational environment in this solar system.
Millions of "gravity sources," combined with his own gravity weapons and the gravity of natural celestial bodies, created an overall "gravitational environment," and this gravitational environment was advantageous to the Star Beast side.
In the specific battlefield environment, this manifested as a greater proportion of his own energy cannon projectiles always being in a state of gravitational retrograde, like against the wind, naturally weakened by the gravitational environment.
Conversely, the Star Beasts’ energy cannon projectiles were like being with the wind, naturally strengthened.
The same applied to interstellar missiles; his interstellar missiles always consumed more fuel and time to accelerate to the predetermined speed, leading to a reduction in overall range and accuracy, and his Gravity Cannons were always weakened by this gravitational environment.
Furthermore, as time slowly passed, the construction of this gravitational environment became more complete, the Star Beast side’s combat power grew stronger, while his own became weaker. This was why, despite no change or apparent improvement in specific tactical details, his own battleships’ attrition rate continued to rise.
"This tactic..."
A slight sense of powerlessness welled up in Tom’s heart.
He knew very well that even though he had understood the details of this tactic, he was still powerless to counter it and unable to replicate it.
The reason was simple: the control over gravity required to create this gravitational environment was too profound and precise, a level of technology he simply could not achieve.
Compared to the "gravitational disturbance" combat system he had witnessed in the past, while the combat power was similar, there was no doubt that this current tactic had a higher technological content!
It could even be said that once control of the gravitational environment was seized and a gravitational environment suitable for their side was created, a vast net had already been cast. Subsequently, it would only tighten, and his tactical space would shrink, eventually becoming like fish in a net, truly caught and captured, with no resistance being of any use.
"This is the combat power of true gravity-pinnacle technology... This tactic, perhaps even the Cloud Civilization did not master it; perhaps only civilizations of similar technological level or higher-level civilizations can counter it..."
The situation had truly reached a critical moment of life or death.
So...
Having seen through the opponent’s true intentions, it was finally time to reveal his trump card!
Under Tom’s command, the Electromagnetic Life once again took action.
Tom specifically dispatched a part of his fleet to escort the Electromagnetic Life, guiding them to the star. Afterward, the star’s surging energy was gathered and, from a distant billion kilometers away, bypassing the main battlefield, directly projected to the edge of the battlefield.
At this moment, the star still appeared to be of normal brightness to Tom and the intelligent life forms located on the gas giant and its surrounding moons. However, once one moved away from the planet, the star’s brightness instantly surged.
Endless heat and radiation surged forth, ceaselessly.
The edge of the battlefield was the Star Beasts’ domain. Tom’s battleships simply couldn’t project into that area.
Thus, every time the Star Beasts maneuvered, every time they shaped the gravitational environment, because they needed to temporarily leave the battlefield and go to the edge, they would suffer a weakening from the star’s power. The situation was like a cold-weapon army holding a fortified city facing a highly mobile army besieging them, directly triggering a continuous heavy rain.
The muddy ground would obviously have a significant impact on highly mobile units. However, his side was holding a fortified city and did not need to maneuver much, so they were almost unaffected.
The participation of the Electromagnetic Life almost immediately brought visible effects. Tom saw that the Star Beasts’ maneuvering efficiency instantly decreased, and the rate of deterioration of the battlefield’s gravitational environment instantly slowed down.
"Next, the Star Beasts should besiege the star and attack those Electromagnetic Life. This will surely be a fierce battle, but...
Closer to the star, the Electromagnetic Life’s combat power will be even greater. Coupled with my escort fleet, the final outcome is hard to say, but at least there’s a fighting chance."
Tom mentally prepared himself for another fierce battle near the star. But soon he found that he had overthought things.
These Star Beasts completely ignored the Electromagnetic Life near the star, not even dispatching a single Star Beast there.
This...
Tom gradually understood, and the heaviness in his heart deepened.
"As expected... they are just testing the limits of my combat power, not truly trying to defeat me, at least not at this stage.
They could clearly adopt more flexible tactics, such as penetrating the planets, establishing strongholds, and using the environment to entangle me, but they did nothing, merely clashing head-on with me on the main battlefield;
Just like now, they clearly had the potential to deal with those Electromagnetic Life on the star, but they completely ignored them..."
The fact that he could temporarily withstand the attacks of these gravity-pinnacle Star Beasts did not mean that his combat power was truly on par with theirs.
If all tactics could be used without restraint, and both sides truly fought to the death, using every possible means, not to mention these Star Beasts currently at the pinnacle of gravity, even with the fourth wave of Star Beasts before, it was uncertain whether he could have won.
"You may hold back, but I will not!"
Tom gritted his teeth: "My goal is not to defeat you either; my goal is merely to escape from here! What are honor and dignity worth in the face of this life-or-death crisis?
Only by defeating you can the next wave of Dark Energy level Star Beasts arrive, only then can the star potentially be destroyed, and only then can I hope to escape with my life!
Since you ignore the Electromagnetic Life, then perfect, strike while the iron is hot, Universal Force Field!"
Taking advantage of the favorable reality that the rate of gravitational environment deterioration was slowing down, Tom did not hesitate and immediately brought out his biggest trump card.
A full one hundred billion clones were once again in position. Hundreds of thousands of giant supercomputing bases also cleared their previous tasks, preparing for the data torrent that was about to come.
"Activate!"
In an instant, one hundred billion reserve clones all perished, and all the painstakingly accumulated Universal Force Field components exploded due to energy overload. Infinite super-high-energy protons and helium nuclei fiercely impacted, instantly colliding with those grotesque Star Beasts, immediately generating tiny black holes.
The micro black holes disintegrated the next moment due to Hawking radiation, releasing a large number of gravitons. Before they could decay into virtual particles, numerous X and Y bosons surged forth, using the wondrous effects brought by these gravitons to forcibly convert the mass before them into energy.
In the vast emptiness of space, billions of flashes appeared in an instant. It was as if timed bombs had been pre-placed on those colossal Star Beasts, and at this moment, these timed bombs were simultaneously detonated.
Numerous grotesque Star Beasts simultaneously twisted, struggled, and roared in pain, and the gravitational environment originally created by these Star Beasts was instantly shattered.
Seizing this rare strategic window, with the remaining approximately 60 Jupiter-class battleships as the vanguard, Tom and the Moraise civilization’s allied fleet launched a full-force charge.