Rebirth of the Super Battleship

Chapter 456: Harvest

“A Level 6 Civilization really does possess detection methods whose principles I still do not know. Such methods can actually ignore even the effects caused by violent events like the collision of a neutron star and a white dwarf. That was truly beyond my expectations. Then there is no other way. All I can do is pray, pray that these methods are subject to certain limitations and cannot be used without limit, for example that detection becomes impossible beyond a certain distance.” Xiao Yu thought silently, making arrangements for his next actions.

Xiao Yu did not take the pursuing fleet of the Guardian Civilization seriously. The power of the death ray sphere had already been verified, and Xiao Yu had sufficient confidence to wipe out this fleet.

“Divine Ark Civilization, give up running. Your position has been exposed. You cannot escape.” At this moment, Xiao Yu received a message from the fleet chasing from the rear.

“Oh, is that so?” Xiao Yu sneered inwardly. “Then I will eliminate you, and continue to hide. If you can still find me, then I will accept my bad luck.”

This time, Xiao Yu did not use the method of having an ultra-miniature starship approach and then detonate a Sphere of Death to attack the Guardian Civilization fleet, because an ultra-miniature starship would be easily destroyed, which was something Xiao Yu could not tolerate.

Xiao Yu understood very clearly that the Guardian Civilization’s greatest goal was to capture him, so before the last resort, the Guardian Civilization would not directly annihilate him. That was an opportunity.

“Very well, things have come to this point. It is indeed impossible for me to flee. I surrender. I hope that after I surrender, you can give me decent treatment.” Xiao Yu said.

“Good. Being able to see the current situation clearly is what a smart person does. As long as you are loyal to our Guardian Alliance, you will certainly receive good treatment. Now, to avoid misunderstandings, I hope you can disarm your fleet and lower your shield system to the most basic state needed to sustain life.” The Guardian Civilization side fell silent for a moment, then sent Xiao Yu this message.

“That request is entirely reasonable. I will show my sincerity, and I hope you will also keep your word.” As Xiao Yu spoke, he piloted his starship and reduced the power of the shield system to its lowest setting.

“Very good. Next, you need to open your data channel and let us take over your fleet…”Xiao Yu saw that after his starship’s shield power fell to the minimum, the Guardian Civilization fleet’s starships had already dispersed and were faintly surrounding Xiao Yu’s fleet.

At this moment, there were roughly more than one million five hundred thousand starships left in Xiao Yu’s fleet, while in the Guardian Civilization fleet there were only a mere few thousand starships. Using only a few thousand to encircle more than one million five hundred thousand would normally be a joke. But Xiao Yu knew the Guardian Civilization could do it. The vast technological gap was right there.

“Excellent, all have entered the kill zone. Then, Sphere of Death, detonate.” Seeing that the current situation had reached his expected threshold, Xiao Yu decisively issued a new order.

In one unremarkable City-Class starship among Xiao Yu’s vast fleet, inside a specially made detonation device, intense radiation and a strong magnetic field appeared simultaneously. Under the influence of these two external factors, some inexplicable changes that Xiao Yu still could not understand occurred inside the sphere. When this series of changes reached its end point, intense death rays erupted, sweeping through all space within a range of one light-hour.

Xiao Yu’s fleet was naturally also within the kill range of the death rays. However, the death rays had no effect on Xiao Yu himself, and the intelligent beings who would have been affected by the death rays were at this moment in deep cryostasis. Therefore, the only ones left to be killed by the death rays were the biological beings of the Guardian Civilization.

Just like the last time they were struck by the Sphere of Death. After the Sphere of Death detonated, the Guardian Civilization’s fleet instantly fell silent. No more information came through, and no more tactical encirclement maneuvers occurred. Xiao Yu knew that these starships had at this moment lost the control of intelligent beings. Right now, under the action of automated instruments, they were continuing to proceed quietly along their original trajectories.

“Very well, in accordance with your will, I have opened my data channel. Please take over our fleet.” Xiao Yu tested the waters by saying this, then waited quietly for the Guardian Civilization fleet’s response.

The result did not surprise Xiao Yu. He waited a full five minutes but still received no reply.

“They should all be dead.” Xiao Yu thought with slight uncertainty. “Judging by the past performance of the Sphere of Death, this can basically be confirmed. Then let us take these starships away. Starships of a Level 6 Civilization are good things.”

“Consider it a bit of compensation from your Guardian Civilization to me.” With this thought, Xiao Yu piloted his own starships and began to approach cautiously.

Xiao Yu did not know what kind of control methods Level 6 Civilization starships used, or whether these starships could still operate after losing intelligent beings, but there was one thing he could be certain of. These starships could not possibly lack an automatic defense system.

This did not constitute an insurmountable obstacle. A complete artificial intelligence program was unlikely to exist on these starships. Without the manipulation of intelligent beings, relying solely on these cold instruments, Xiao Yu did not believe they could oppose him.

One starship cautiously approached a Guardian Civilization starship. This Guardian Civilization starship remained quiet, without the slightest movement. The glow lingering around it and the still-bright shield system proved that its internal instruments were still operating well. This brought a new problem. If he did not break the shield, Xiao Yu had no way to enter this starship, but if he attacked, it would certainly trigger a counterattack from the automatic defense system.

“At this point, there is no way I am giving up something this good right in front of me. I will take the risk.” Xiao Yu clenched his teeth, first piloted the China to lead some escorting ships away from here for a distance, then used the remaining starships to begin the attack.

Almost immediately, as soon as Xiao Yu’s starships began their assault, those Guardian Civilization starships launched a counterattack. It seemed their evaluation routines had determined that Xiao Yu’s offensive posed a relatively low level of threat, so their counterattack was not particularly fierce. At least those terrifyingly powerful space bombs were not employed. Most of what they used were Fractured Space weapons.

The power of these weapons was comparatively lower, but they still caused Xiao Yu some trouble. In that instant, as many as several thousand of Xiao Yu’s starships were destroyed by these attacks. However, Xiao Yu quickly discovered the weaknesses of these attacks.

They seemed mechanical. They seemed unable to accurately judge Xiao Yu’s next intended move. Moreover, there was no such thing as coordination among these several thousand Guardian Civilization starships. Controlled by automated systems, they appeared to know only how to fight on their own, with no understanding of what cooperation was.

Under the control of automated programs, they had another notable weakness. Their movements were clumsy and highly regular. This meant Xiao Yu could accurately predict their next actions. For example, where they would attack in the next moment, and after he performed a given maneuver, what actions these starships would take in response. All of this could be forecast. Most important of all, these starships seemed not to know how to allocate resources reasonably.

This meant Xiao Yu had many loopholes he could exploit. He quickly formulated his plan of action.

“Let us first drain your energy.” With this thought, Xiao Yu piloted his starships and began continuous harassment. After each strike, his starships would immediately evade the next incoming attack according to his predicted data, using this method to maximize the Guardian Civilization fleet’s energy consumption and reduce his own losses.

That was the theory. In practice, the difficulty increased greatly. A Level 6 Civilization is, after all, a Level 6 Civilization. Although these programs were merely products of automation, they were created by a Level 6 Civilization. They still possessed many aspects Xiao Yu had not yet mastered. This battle remained full of variables. In fact, when facing these three thousand Guardian Civilization starships that had lost the control of intelligent beings and could only fight relying on automated programs, Xiao Yu invested more than four hundred thousand of his own starships before he finally suppressed them.

A larger number means a higher frequency of accidents. Xiao Yu did not wish to destroy these starships. He only wanted to capture them, so he could obtain the technology contained within. But in such a chaotic battlefield, many things were beyond his control. Thus, Xiao Yu regretfully witnessed the following scenes.

Some Guardian Civilization starships were directly destroyed by his side by mistake during the melee. Some Guardian Civilization starships seemed to have determined something and actually self-destructed. More often, it was Xiao Yu’s side, with starships continually being destroyed by the automatic defense systems of these Guardian Civilization starships.

This melee cost Xiao Yu a full three hours. The final results were that Xiao Yu obtained fewer than five hundred Guardian Civilization starships, and most of them were small Town-Class or Village-Class starships. There were only two County-Class starships, and not a single City-Class starship.

“This harvest is already enough. Now getting away quickly is the proper course of action.” Xiao Yu swiftly stowed these starships away and once again set off on the road of flight.