Rebirth of the Super Battleship

Chapter 450: The Radiance vs The Meson!

After comprehensively analyzing the current situation, assessing the strength of the Divine Ark Civilization and the possible motives and capabilities of the Taihao Civilization, and combining it with the intelligence he had received during this period, the Marshal made his judgment with great decisiveness and issued a very clear order.

“…Marshal, are you really sure you want to besiege the Taihao Civilization’s Meson starship?” another voice asked cautiously.

“Set out.” The Marshal’s voice was extremely decisive, leaving not the slightest room for reversal. “I suspect this is another scheme. The Divine Ark Civilization cannot possibly possess such capabilities, which means it can only be something plotted by the Taihao Civilization. Hmph, using a death ray to attack us? If we had not already found a temporary method to resist the death ray, our fleet would already have suffered heavy losses by now. As for that experimental product, it is very likely the Taihao Civilization has long had contact with this Divine Ark Civilization and set up this trap for us together. There must be follow-up methods to this trap. Now that the Taihao Civilization has not taken the next step, we must use this time to take the initiative, strike first, and disrupt their plan.”

“At your command, Marshal.” the other voice answered crisply.

The colossal Radiance shuddered sharply, then vanished without a trace, entering curvature flight. At the same time, the several thousand other large starships traveling within curvature space, some equivalent in size to Xiao Yu’s Province-Class starship and some equivalent to Xiao Yu’s City-Class starship, moved in concert with the Radiance.

A distance of three hundred billion kilometers was only a short stretch for the Guardian Civilization. After roughly two and a half hours, the Radiance had already arrived beside the Meson. Of course, such a massive target as the Radiance could not be completely concealed from the Taihao Civilization. The same was true in reverse for the Meson with respect to the Radiance. It was certain that the Taihao Civilization had noticed as soon as the Radiance stirred. Yet for reasons unknown, the Meson neither evaded nor sent any inquiry.

It simply hovered quietly in the void, watching in silence as, fifty million kilometers away, the colossal Radiance suddenly emerged from curvature flight into the visible universe. About three thousand other starships of various models followed behind the Radiance.

The two enormous starships thus confronted each other in silence, gradually narrowing the distance between them. A solemn and murderous air began to permeate the void.

There was only this one Meson. The Taihao Civilization seemed to have brought only this single starship, with no other escorting forces. Because up to this very moment, with a great battle on the verge of erupting, no other Taihao Civilization starships had appeared. On the Guardian Civilization’s side, the strength was far greater. Not only was there the Radiance, a starship no less formidable than the Meson, there were also several thousand other starships of various models.

“Begin the attack.” the Marshal ordered calmly. “We must teach the Meson a lesson and hold them here. At the same time, strengthen surveillance of the Divine Ark Civilization. According to my assessment, the eruption of that peculiar death ray requires the Taihao Civilization to coordinate with the Divine Ark Civilization located inside the star system in order to deploy it. Therefore here, we need not fear being struck by a death ray. Besides, even if we are hit by a death ray, we are not afraid. What we are facing is, after all, not the death rays released by the Neutron War Star. With the defensive capabilities of these large starships of ours, we are sufficient to withstand death ray attacks of this magnitude.”With the Marshal’s order, these more than three thousand starships, together with the Radiance, once again vanished without a trace. The next time they appeared, they were already less than one million kilometers from the Meson. Countless spatial rift attacks had already been unleashed, but before these spatial rifts arrived, the Meson also disappeared without a trace.

It also entered curvature flight.

“Hmph.” The Marshal gave a cold snort and issued a new order. “All starships, activate all tachyon detection modules and space fluctuation detection modules. Search for the Meson’s traces with full effort. Switch to free attack mode.”

At that instant, a portion of the Guardian Civilization’s starships also vanished from the visible universe, destination unknown. Of the ships that remained, some began to spread out and advance forward, while another portion stayed here to guard the Radiance.

The Radiance did not remain idle. With nothing but void on all sides and no trace of any enemy, it kept firing spatial rift attacks into the emptiness. From time to time, one or two things like black curtains would be released, and occasionally objects resembling bombs appeared, continually detonating in the void. After these bombs exploded, they released no energy burst and produced no light. The moment such a bomb went off, a large swath of black space would appear out of thin air and persist for several minutes before fading.

The Radiance’s assault was not fierce. All of its attacks fell into the void, as if striking nothing at all, as if it were wasting ammunition for nothing. Yet every Guardian Civilization warrior knew very well the role the Radiance was playing at this moment.

There is one major difference between wars among Level 6 Civilizations and those among Level 5 Civilizations. Because of the introduction of spatial weapons and short-range curvature flight, wars between Level 6 Civilizations are more like invisible battles. There are two battlefields in a Level 6 war, one in the visible universe, and another in curvature space. These starships alternated between curvature space and the visible universe, appearing and disappearing as if teleporting.

The Meson had already entered curvature space, but by means of the tachyon detection modules and space fluctuation detection modules, the Radiance could grasp its movements and position in real time. Those attacks from the Radiance that seemed to fall into the void were in fact the very footholds where the Meson was preparing to emerge from curvature space into the visible universe. Every attack from the Radiance that landed on empty space would force the Meson to abandon its plan to appear in the visible universe.

This entire expanse of cosmic space had become truly perilous. Starships kept appearing out of nowhere and then vanishing again. Now and then a thin black line would slash across this region, or a large, mysterious mass of blackness would materialize from nothing.

There were not many flashes, none of the violent flares seen in wars between Level 5 Civilizations. Wars between Level 6 Civilizations are quiet and calm.

But the degree of danger was on an entirely different level. The war was unfolding simultaneously on two battlefields, normal space and curvature space. The Meson raced about, a large group of starships tight on its heels, while the Radiance held the center and kept launching one long-range strike after another. Occasionally the Radiance would briefly enter curvature flight to adjust its position, but the battlefield remained beside that eerie binary system and would not stray far.

Without obtaining the Neutron War Star, the Radiance refused to leave. Without achieving its objective, the Meson would not depart either.

In the midst of these exchanges, a starship suddenly appeared out of thin air in the void. The instant it emerged, it split cleanly down the middle and became two halves. Before it had time to explode, another spatial bomb engulfed it. A vast swath of annihilated space, like a mass of black mist, wrapped the ship completely. In the next moment, it vanished without a trace, swept off into some chaotic turbulence of spacetime.

Casualties finally appeared in this battle. The Taihao Civilization had no escort fleet, only the single Meson, so the damaged starships naturally belonged to the Guardian Civilization. By Xiao Yu’s classification, the destroyed vessel roughly fell into the City-Class category.

The Guardian Civilization City-Class starship that had tied down Xiao Yu’s entire biological army was like a discarded, broken toy on this battlefield. Its destruction drew no attention at all.

This battlefield had become a true kill zone, packed with hidden perils. Any single hazard here could destroy a powerful starship of a Level 5 Civilization. If the China were thrown into such a battlefield, even with no starship targeting it, it would not hold out for ten minutes. Even a Four-Dimensional Shield would be useless.

The battlefield’s position shifted constantly, gradually drawing near to a dwarf planet. This dwarf planet had a diameter of about two thousand kilometers, with a volume comparable to that of the Meson and the Radiance. It had originally been quietly rotating along its own orbit, but because the Taihao Civilization and the Guardian Civilization brought their battle so close to it, it suffered an extinction-level calamity.

Its demise was bizarre. Around it, starships kept appearing and disappearing. Thin black lines, black curtains, or black fog kept appearing. When a thin black line sliced past, a large chunk of the planet was cut away. When a black curtain flashed by, a great mass of matter vanished out of thin air.

This planet was like an apple, and the Taihao Civilization and the Guardian Civilization were the ones gnawing at it again and again. Under the spillover of vicious attacks from both civilizations, the volume of this apple shrank rapidly, until it simply vanished from the visible universe without leaving a single scrap of debris.

The disappearance of a planet caused no ripples on this battlefield, drew no attention at all, and seemed utterly insignificant.