In the command center, a huge interstellar map was displayed on the console. Xin Jie and Qu Xiaoqing stared at the screen with serious expressions.
After Lu Qing and the others were sent up, Xing Yi immediately carried the seriously injured Ding Meng to the medical cabin. Su Lingyue helped Liang Yi, who was possessed by the water droplets, to the nutrition cabin. Only Qu Xiaoqing, Xin Jie, Jun Ling, and Lu Qing were left in the command center.
After all, Jun Ling had little interaction with Xin Jie. He did not understand that Xin Jie's expression was so serious. It was obvious that the situation was not small.
"Has the Alliance's fleet caught up?" Lu Qing was smarter. She had already guessed the result.
Qu Xiaoqing did not answer. She just swiped her hand on the console a few times. The real-time reconnaissance image was quickly displayed on the screen.
Lu Qing took a closer look, and her face could not help but reveal a look of shock. In the vast expanse of space, the Conqueror was spewing out multiple blue crystal flames as it sped into the depths of the sea of stars. But behind it, there were three motherships chasing in this direction.
Jun Ling did not think much of it. "The space carriers can't catch up with the comprehensive ship, right?"
Qu Xiaoqing said, "In theory, they can't catch up. However, it's hard to say if they release the assault ships."
Jun Ling also knew this. The role of the space carriers was to carry all kinds of starships, supplies, and energy. This was a mobile fortress in space. No matter how useless the three space carriers were, it was not a problem to release dozens of assault ships at once. The biggest advantage of the assault ships was their speed and firepower.
Jun Ling frowned. "We should be able to hold on, right?"
Xin Jie sighed. "We can hold on. The problem is that we have to use the starship's shield. If the consumption is too high, it will be very difficult to perform the warp mirror transmission. Moreover, they only gave us three minutes to consider. The energy module has not completed its automatic repair."
As soon as he finished speaking, countless rays came down from the sky. The remote real-time communication was generating a mirror image. It was obvious that the fleet commander on the other side had connected.
"Sheng Rulan?" Lu Qing was surprised.
"Is she not the fleet commander of the Alliance?" Qu Xiaoqing was curious.
Lu Qing shook her head. "No, she is the vice president of the Holy War Army. She is the eldest daughter of Towering Sky Peak. She is not qualified to command the fleet."
Qu Xiaoqing said, "Understood. It seems that she has realized that Towering Heaven Peak did not manage to control the situation here."
As expected, Sheng Rulan's face darkened when she saw Lu Qing. "Miss Qu, three minutes are up. It seems that you insist on not stopping, right?"
Qu Xiaoqing said, "It's not up to you whether we stop or not."
It was a smart move because Sheng Rulan had no idea what was happening on the Conqueror. Qu Xiaoqing was betting that Sheng Rulan was still counting on Sheng Tianfeng to control the situation and would not dare to launch a large-scale attack. The Alliance would not destroy the Conqueror unless it was absolutely necessary.
After all, Towering Heaven Peak was so terrifyingly powerful. Who would have thought that it would be turned into ashes by Ding Meng and Liang Yi?
However, Sheng Rulan sneered and said, "Well, since Miss Qu is so confident, let's see if you still have the same confidence."
After saying that, the communication was cut off and the image disappeared. The system immediately sounded, "Warning!
Warning!
High-risk energy scan detected and locked on to this ship. Danger Grade A … "
Xin Jie's hand immediately pressed on the screen and a series of defense commands were activated. The entire command center flashed red.
In space, the three motherships that looked like the Great Wall of Steel opened fire at the same time. Three straight, bright blue beams came in the blink of an eye and accurately hit the tail of the Conqueror.
Qu Xiaoqing had underestimated the opponent's determination. Sheng Rulan had not made a move yet, but the moment she made a move, she fired three orbital beams. Moreover, each beam had a diameter of more than 400 meters. She was going all out to blow the Conqueror into smithereens.
With a whoosh, the Conqueror was immediately enveloped by a large spherical energy shield. The surface of the shield sizzled as it was burned by the railgun. The frequency was so high that the shield flashed into a ball of light, and the real body of the starship could no longer be seen.
The system sounded, "Warning!
Warning!
Energy is decreasing. Storage at 96%! "
Xin Jie smiled. "This woman is not simple. She knows how to use orbital beams."
When he was smiling, it was often when the situation was most dangerous. Qu Xiaoqing instantly understood. Sheng Rulan knew how advanced and powerful the Conqueror was. She did not expect the orbital beams to blow the starship away. Her goal was to use the prolonged burning to force the Conqueror to use the energy shield. Not only would the Conqueror consume a lot of energy, but its speed would also be reduced.
"They've released the assault ships," Jun Ling exclaimed.
On the light beam, the ports on the flanks of the three motherships were opened one after another. More than fifty assault starships flew out and dashed toward Conqueror like a swarm of flies with long crystal flames spurting out of their mouths.
Qu Xiaoqing immediately turned to look at Xin Jie. Her meaning was clear. What should they do now?
Once these assault ships caught up, they would not be able to escape.
Xin Jie said, "How much time will it take for the energy module to repair itself?"
The system sounded, "Commander Xin Jie, the remaining time for the energy module repair is 18 minutes and 24 seconds. The enemy's flying units will catch up to this ship in 11 minutes and 13 seconds."
Xin Jie closed his eyes and took a deep breath. At this moment, his brain entered a high-speed calculation mode.
After a long time, he finally opened his eyes. "Open the warp mirror engine and send the precise coordinates of the Norse Empire's frontline. Prepare for a space jump."
The system sounded, "Authorization complete. Prepare to execute."
Qu Xiaoqing was shocked. "Xin Jie, we can't do a space jump at our current speed. We're too slow. We can't withstand the cosmic storm in the four-dimensional space."
Xin Jie nodded. "These three orbital beams have seriously slowed down our speed. There's only one way to speed up now. We have to split the body immediately."
The so-called separation of the body simply meant that the Conqueror Starship would be split into two. The front and rear sections would be separated, and the rear section that was attacked would be abandoned. This way, the enemy's railguns would focus on a fake target, while the bridge section in front would break free and rush into the wormhole.
Even though the Conqueror was built with this design, Qu Xiaoqing still could not believe it. Xin Jie's operation was too risky. "If the body is split, the energy source will also be split into two. 48% of the energy reserve won't be enough to reach the frontline of the Norse Empire, right?"
Xin Jie nodded calmly. "Yes, we won't be able to reach the precise coordinates. So, everyone, enter the escape capsule immediately. After flying into the wormhole, the starship will soon disintegrate. Before that, I'll jump out of the four-dimensional space and use warp mirror transmission to send everyone's escape capsule to the frontline as much as possible. As for whether we can survive, I can't guarantee it. It'll depend on everyone's luck."
It was actually such a crazy escape plan. Qu Xiaoqing, Jun Ling, and Lu Qing were all dumbfounded. The starship would first perform a space jump in the four-dimensional space and then let the escape capsule do a long-distance transmission in the three-dimensional space. Which statistician would dare to do this?
Lunatic!
A real lunatic!
The three women came to the same conclusion at the same time!
However, there was always a fine line between a lunatic and a genius. Xin Jie's expression was calm. He said calmly, "We have less than five minutes left. Everyone, let's move quickly. This is the only way to increase our chances of survival!"
The starship was still speeding forward, but space was already distorted. A long and narrow space-time rift suddenly appeared in front of the Conqueror. In the middle of the rift was a faintly glowing black hole.
This change could not be hidden from the command center of the mothership. A staff member exclaimed, "CEO Sheng, the enemy has opened a wormhole."
Sheng Rulan snorted disdainfully. "Dream on. Flying into the wormhole at this speed is suicide."
The staff member exclaimed again, "We seem to have hit a fake target."
Sheng Rulan looked at the surveillance image and was furious. The Conqueror's shield was too strong, causing its butt to glow like a ball of light. The railgun had indeed been attacking, but now the ball of light seemed to have deviated from its course and was slowly falling.
The Conqueror had separated into two sections. The front section, which looked like a dragon's head, looked like a small swallow. It was flying towards the glowing wormhole at lightning speed.
"Assault ships, open fire! Don't let them get away!" Sheng Rulan shouted.
In this high-speed flight, the railgun and cannons could not lock on to the target. They could only fire manually using the particle lasers.
Ten seconds later, the fifty-six assault warships formed a V-shaped echelon. Then, the space was immediately illuminated. It was almost as bright as day because more than six hundred turrets on the fifty-six warships opened fire at the same time. The particle lasers were as splendid as fireworks in the night sky, and like layers of rain, they directly covered the 'little swallow' that was flying in the storm.
This might also be the only chance for the Alliance. The huge net formed by the particle lasers rolled towards the Swallow starship. However, the starship dodged left and right as if it had eyes. It was like the Flash Step of the light speed system. No matter how it dodged, it just couldn't hit. It should be known that this was an "area attack" mode. The Swallow starship was so agile that it stunned the hundreds of workers on the mothership.
This was definitely not the system's autopilot mode. It was definitely manual operation. Was it still human?
Seeing the large net of fire sweeping past, the Swallow starship became faster and faster. It was like a beam of light.
At this moment, beside the control panel of the command center, Xin Jie was drenched in sweat. He was extremely nervous. His hands were multitasking, operating four screens at the same time. The speed of his hands was amazing. Luckily, Qu Xiaoqing and the others had already gone to the escape pod. Otherwise, they would have been shocked to see this scene.
Compared to the defying dodging of the Swordfish, this was an epic escape.
Five minutes later, a white light flew into the glowing wormhole vortex. The light of the space-time rift immediately dimmed and turned into specks of light in a few seconds.
The specks of light disappeared, and the starry sky returned to normal. Xin Jie wiped the beads of sweat off his forehead and murmured, "My mission has been completed. The rest will depend on everyone's luck. If the heavens want us to die in the depths of the sea of stars, then there's really no other way. I've done my best …"