The Angel Fleet regrouped in the void five light-years away. After several rounds of extreme warp strikes, all the Mecha attached to the warships had been deployed. Of the original five thousand Raider Mechs, fewer than a thousand remained operational.
The Mecha losses were severe, and total annihilation was imminent.
Yet the results were equally staggering—four thousand Mecha had traded at a near three-to-one ratio, eliminating over a thousand of Katon's warships.
Now, the Second Legion of the Katon Fleet had tightened their formation, clustering together for mutual protection. Further strikes of this nature would prove far more difficult.
"But it's fine. The testing phase is over. Now, it's time for the harvest!"
Liu Hai observed the densely packed formation of the Katon Fleet in the projection, then glanced at the special armament recently delivered by a transport ship.
"Space Oscillation Wave Bomb—effective damage radius of one light-hour, optimal kill zone of ten light-minutes."
A spatial area-of-effect weapon.
This was why Irina had called Liu Hai's plan mutually destructive—the blast radius was too vast, encompassing both fleets within its lethal range.
But now, things were different. After Liu Hai led the Angel Fleet in repeated warp strikes, eliminating over a thousand capital ships, the Katon Fleet's pursuit had slowed significantly.
After hours of skirmishing, the distance between the Transport Fleet and the Katon Fleet had widened to fifteen light-minutes.
At this range, deploying the Space Oscillation Wave Bomb would still affect the Transport Fleet, but the damage would no longer be fatal. At worst, it would disable some systems on a few ships, while personnel in the Safety Pods would likely remain unharmed.
Liu Hai opened a comm channel to Irina and warned, "Irina, the moment has come. Take all necessary protective measures."
Neither Irina nor Elena had encountered such a weapon before—or perhaps they lacked the clearance to know of its existence—so they harbored some skepticism about the data Liu Hai provided.
Yet, considering he had already produced a batch of Tier-5 Warships, they chose to trust him fully and hurriedly tightened their formation to minimize exposure.
Eleven Fortresses formed a shield at the rear, with transport ships huddled in their shadow, followed by the warships.
All crew members entered their Safety Pods. Energy Shields and Deflection Fields were activated at maximum capacity. For added safety, the ships switched to backup Energy Blocks for power, shutting down the Antimatter Reactors and consolidating all Antimatter under strict containment.
These measures had been in place since Liu Hai first proposed the plan, while the fleet maintained a sublight speed of 40% under inertial acceleration.
"Liu Hai, be careful. Try to drop it right into the heart of the Katon Fleet's formation. There are still hundreds of thousands of your employees here," Irina said, genuinely worried he might accidentally wipe them all out.
Liu Hai acknowledged and began issuing orders for hyperspace deployment.
For this weapon delivery, due to the Katon Fleet's intensified spatial disruption, he even needed two Angel Frigates to execute the warp deployment. Once they warped in, the Angel Frigates would have no chance of returning—they would be obliterated alongside the bomb's detonation.
After evacuating all Clone Soldier crew members, two Angel Frigates were taken over by intelligent AI for operation. Equipped with Space Oscillation Wave Bombs, they initiated a short-range precision Warp under the forced stabilization of space fluctuations by the Angel Fleet's Space Stabilizer.
The two Angel Frigates were each enveloped in Space Bubbles, and as the surrounding space twisted to its limit, the vessels vanished without a trace.
They reappeared within the formations of two Katon Fleets. Though not at the absolute core positions, this did not hinder the impending strike.
Just as the Katon Fleets were adjusting their turrets to sink the Angel Frigates in one fell swoop, the frigates suddenly emitted spatial fluctuations far more intense than their earlier Warp, with data curves skyrocketing.
Before the Katon side could comprehend what was happening, the Angel Frigates detonated the Space Oscillation Wave Bombs and were instantly shattered into metallic atoms by the violently distorted spatial ripples.
The high-frequency spatial oscillation ripples spread instantaneously, coinciding with the activation of the Katon Fleets' Space Disruptors. Space within fifteen light-minutes was kneaded like putty, resembling the use of ultrasonic waves to clean dust off clothing.
Amidst terrified screams, the Legion-scale warships of the two Katon Fleets were gradually disintegrated from their centers into atomic mist by the spatial oscillations, rapidly expanding outward.
The uncontained Antimatter erupted once more, annihilating the remaining atomic fog of the Katon Fleets until only an abundance of elementary particles drifted and recombined freely in the cosmos.
The nearby Transport Fleet was also affected, though fortunately, it was outside the primary kill zone. Shielded by the Fortress's Energy Shield, which absorbed most of the residual waves, the Transport Fleet survived.
However, internal systems were severely damaged, with the Energy Shield's glow flickering erratically, as if on the verge of collapse.
"We... we survived!" Irina exclaimed excitedly, clutching Elena's hand.
Watching the projection of the Katon Fleets being erased bit by bit in the distorted space had nearly made her heart explode. The sheer terror had triggered an overwhelming physiological response once survival was confirmed.
Beside her, Elena suddenly turned and embraced Irina tightly, nearly suffocating her. "We made it... That was horrifying. Is this the technological might of a fifth-tier civilization?"
A suffocating kiss?
Recalling the spatial data she had just witnessed, Elena's fear reached its peak. No wonder no fourth-tier civilization dared resist the conscription of a fifth-tier one. Against such widespread devastation, no amount of warships would suffice for a fourth-tier civilization to withstand.
"Quick, assess fleet casualties," Elena urged after finally calming down from the embrace. Not even bothering with personal hygiene, her first priority was to check the fleet's status.
Several minutes later, after replacing and repairing some systems, fleet communications were restored, internal power systems resumed normal energy supply, and the ecosystem was temporarily deprioritized for repairs.
"Three hundred and seventy-six people were killed in the incident, over one hundred thousand were injured and are receiving emergency treatment, fifteen spacecraft engines are severely damaged and temporarily irreparable, and the warship's Energy Shield has sustained forty-one percent damage, rendering it incapable of supporting any combat operations."
A series of statistics were laid out before Irina and the others. The sight of over one hundred thousand injured sent a chill down their spines, fearing Liu Hai might hold them accountable. She immediately ordered all efforts to be directed toward treatment, ensuring at least their lives were out of danger first. With the Federation's medical technology, as long as they hadn't died on the spot, it wasn't an issue.