From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 635: God of War? God of Gamblers!
Since the fleet commanded by Amber entered the 'stealth action' mode after only a short acceleration, according to the calculation of the shipboard control personality, his fleet would need to sneak in this way for about 48 hours to reach the approximate coordinates given by Amber.

Although this time is indeed a bit long, Amber believes that if there really is an ambusher, this will be a test of their patience. If the other party cannot sit still and wants to take action, the fleet still has room to maneuver.

But if the enemy is a patient hunter and just waits for Atlas' fleet to enter the ambush circle, then the subsequent battle will definitely not be simple and easy.

At the moment, the fleet has been sneaking for 12 hours according to the approximate coordinates given by Amber. During this period, the fleet has not found anything abnormal. It seems that in the space around the "Pillar of Life", only the Atlas fleet is sailing alone.

At the same time, when the fleet passed a predetermined "checkpoint", it successfully reunited with a spy ship that had infiltrated earlier.

The special mission ship 'Polarized Light' commanded by Tom arrived near the 'Pillar of Life' and lay in ambush at the same time when Amber and her team officially formulated the strategic deception plan and the main fleet began to move towards the edge of the federal controlled area.

After so many days of secret reconnaissance, Tom reported to Amber that no large-scale fleet jumps were found in these days, and the entire "Pillar of All Life" area seemed very "peaceful" and "peaceful". It was as if what was happening outside had nothing to do with the people here.
Such reports also made Amber begin to think that her strategic fraud might really succeed.

Considering that they didn't know what kind of battle would happen after approaching the proton annihilation bomb assembly center, Amber finally decided to temporarily lower the combat readiness level in order to ensure the physical fitness and energy of the crew.

"Attention, all fleets. From now on, the combat readiness level will be reduced to level three. Oxygen will be re-supplied to all cabins. All positions will begin to rotate according to the pre-planned schedule. All HCPs and heavy armored combat boat squadrons will leave out the on-duty personnel and then go into rest and standby mode."

As the order was given, the bridge of the Eternal began to be re-injected with regenerated oxygen, and the crew members at various positions on the bridge lifted up their cabin suit helmets and hung them behind their heads, while they breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the oxygen in the cabin suit is also purified, breathing in the cabin suit is still not as comfortable as breathing after removing the helmet.

Several bridge officers who were going to rest according to the prior plan also saluted Amber and quickly left the bridge. Their posts would naturally be taken over by others, and they themselves had to seize this precious time to go back and get some sleep.

After all, no one knows if they will have time to sleep after entering the battle. If they encounter a "protracted battle", it will be really sour.
As for the situation where they can't sleep due to excitement, tension, etc., it will never happen to them.

The design team had already taken this into consideration and installed a small module that can release sleep-inducing gas on each person's bed and fixed sleeping bag in each lounge.

This module will also determine the user's current state based on the user's physical data, and release sleep-aiding gas of corresponding concentration according to each person's different levels of excitement.

Five hours after the order to lower the combat readiness level was issued, the Polarized Light, which had completed replenishment and a brief rest, was dispatched again.

This special mission ship quickly broke away from the fleet formation through the "kinetic throwing block system". After it had created a sufficient distance from the fleet, the special mission ship would perform several short accelerations to conduct in-depth reconnaissance ahead.

The 'Kinetic Block Throwing System' is a simple device derived from the HCP. To put it simply, it is a system that throws standard alloy blocks in a certain direction to generate a reaction force to allow the ship to adjust its course.

Although the vector thrust generated in this way cannot be compared with that of the attitude control nozzle, the advantage is that the movement of this thing is almost zero. As long as it is not facing the face of the detection device, it is difficult to be detected in the space environment.

As the spy ship was deployed again, Amber also felt the tension in her heart gradually rising like the tide, a feeling that was almost forgotten after a long period of calm.

Every breath seemed to be mixed with unknown risks and challenges. As his heartbeat quickened, his senses became unusually sharp, as if everything around him became more vivid and real at this moment.

For Amber at this moment, this tension was not entirely negative - on the contrary, it brought Amber a long-lost excitement, a wonderful psychological pleasure that freed her from the monotony of daily life.

Every nerve in the body that has been soaked in spiritual energy for a long time has been activated, and every cell is looking forward to the upcoming "plot development".

Although Amber understood that the road ahead might be full of uncertainty and potential dangers, and might even put the entire fleet in irretrievable ruin, it was moments like these that made him feel the pulse of life and a strong sense of his own existence.

It's a battle of hearts and wills, and Amber is at the center of it.
However, he was surprised to find that his spiritual power, which had been stable for a long time, became active again under this stimulation, just like the protagonist in a martial arts novel who was about to break through some bottleneck.

"No? Is it still possible?!"

Amber subconsciously wanted to ask the "master of psychic energy (academic type) nearby", that is, Saleh, but unfortunately, this old frozen forerunner was currently in the A. Bawa. Ku Fortress thousands of light years away, with a group of technicians "hand-working" on the important parts of the Spectrum Destroyer.

Moreover, after the fleet enters the covert operation mode, it is not convenient to carry out such ultra-long-distance communication. Even quantum entanglement communication may be at risk of being detected.

So Amber didn't need to weigh the pros and cons and just threw away this unrealistic idea.

Fortunately, this feeling of "breaking through on the battlefield" did not last too long, and disappeared after Amber's psychic power increased a little bit.

The unique talent of high-level psychics - 'forced calmness', quickly calmed Amber down from her previous state of mind.
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The entire fleet maintained the 'covert action' mode and passed another tense and boring 10 hours. The spy ship that went forward again for in-depth reconnaissance also sent back a brief message through an extremely short 'interrupted frequency' secret communication.

“The eagle spotted the chick.”

And this information has one and only one meaning in this operation - they discovered the specific location of the proton annihilation bomb assembly center.

Soon, the shipboard control personality of the "Eternity" corrected the fleet's route. Since the fleet was too large to use the "Kinetic Throw Block System" at the same time, the route correction this time would be carried out using the attitude control nozzle.

This also means that there is a great possibility that the entire fleet will be discovered by the enemy after this course adjustment.

Therefore, in the pre-set combat plan, this course adjustment also means that the fleet will turn off optical stealth, deploy combat formation and begin to assault the target.

But before that, Amber still needs to consider one last question.

That is whether to take a gamble and let the fleet adjust its course with vector nozzles without removing the optical stealth and black body coating, and then continue to sneak towards the assembly center.

Doing so would not only greatly reduce the attack distance, but might also create an opportunity for the commandos to break into the assembly center.
It would be a lie to say that Amber was not interested in a strategic weapon like the proton annihilation bomb. After all, it was a "star-level" weapon. But the problem was that if she wanted to use it, she would inevitably deviate from the operational plan, and all subsequent actions would have great uncontrollable risks.

In fact, during the pre-war meeting, Amber and the others had considered taking the opportunity to "light up" the proton annihilation bomb technology, but in the end, everyone believed that this battle was of too great strategic significance to the group, and that the "overall game" could not be affected by such a technology.

So in the end, Amber and the others reluctantly scrapped this plan and chose to completely destroy the proton annihilation bomb assembly center. Since they couldn't get it, they might as well destroy it.

However, at this critical moment, seeing that the technology of proton annihilation bomb seems to be right in front of him, Amber can't help but be greedy. He is not a saint, so it is normal for him to have such thoughts.

It's like if you were planning to burn down a bank and found a high-value bearer bond in the vault, wouldn't you be tempted to take it with you?
However, Amber still knew what was more important, so after hesitating for just a few seconds, he made a decision.

"Cerris, the entire fleet enters the first level combat readiness state. Activate the deflection field generators of each ship, put all weapon systems online, remove optical stealth, quickly adjust the course, and switch to assault formation and begin the attack at the highest speed!"

"Yes, Commander, I will follow your will~"

Under the order of the ship's control personality 'Cerris', the warships one after another lifted their optical stealth, and then the plasma propulsion arrays that were constantly lit up directly illuminated the dark universe.

"All detection components and sensor arrays are turned on to high-power working mode. Intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance have entered the T1 stage. The air defense alert level has been raised. The air defense commanders of each squadron have unlocked the authority to command and fire on their own."

"The first wave of HCPs and heavy armored combat boats carry anti-ship equipment groups, connect to the electromagnetic catapult track, and wait for the attack order. The second wave carries space combat and air defense weapons groups on standby!"

"Fleet-level adaptive electronic countermeasures units have begun networking. All shipboard controllers should pay attention to the allocation of computing power."

Amber issued a series of instructions one after another, and Gatheris, the shipboard controller of the "Eternity", quickly broke them down and conveyed them to the entire fleet.

At the same time, Amber said to Lilith in her mind: "I'll ask you to assist in the electronic warfare. After all, this is Cerise's first time on such a big scene. I'm afraid she doesn't have enough experience."

"Master, you really don't trust me~"

Lilith's coquettish voice rang in Amber's ears, and on a small virtual screen in front of him, a Q version of Lilith's cartoon figure appeared and waved her pink fist at him.

"Before Ceris was officially loaded onto the 'Eternity', I personally trained her and debugged her many times. Her iteration time is also the longest among the three super-flagship control stats, even surpassing the level of 'Century Veteran'. It's just that Master, your current instructions are too detailed, so there is no room for Ceris to perform."

"Can I not be more careful and meticulous about this? This is just the assault force of this fleet, and it's an '80% new' fleet. If I don't think about it, if something goes wrong, we'll be doomed!"

Amber said to Lilith helplessly, and at the same time couldn't help but sigh in her heart.

In the end, he did not get greedy and gave up the plan of letting the commandos break into the assembly center first to obtain the proton bomb information. Instead, he planned to follow the combat plan and let the fleet fire several rounds of salvos to complete the "demolition" mission.

After all, once the commotion here starts, the Federation Navy will definitely take action. That will be the main part of the battle plan. Who knows if the Federation Navy will follow Amber's idea and send a suitable fleet to pursue.
And this decision, 10 minutes later, made Amber feel lucky but also felt a chill on her back.

"Report! The 44th Reconnaissance Squadron has detected a large number of warships removing their optical stealth from the G area!"

"Report! The rear guard fleet detected a fleet-sized warship appearing in the R39 area!"

"Report! The 14th Reconnaissance Squadron has engaged in a firefight with the enemy and has now withdrawn under the cover of friendly forces. Based on the characteristics of the enemy warships, it has been determined to be the First Fleet of the Federal Navy!"

The fleet commanded by Amber discovered the federal fleet approaching rapidly from three directions almost at the same time, and even identified the first fleet of the federal navy.
"What the hell, we were ambushed?!"

This was Amber's first reaction after hearing the emergency investigation report.

Then, he frowned in confusion again, because according to previous intelligence, the First Fleet of the Federation Navy should be playing a game of "staring at each other" with the Atlas combat fleet on the confrontation line.

"How come they suddenly appear here? Could it be that the fleet over there is pretending to be other warships? But where did the Federation Navy get so many warships?"

However, Amber did not have the time to think about the answers to these three questions at this time, because he had already drawn the "bad luck" of this operation - he was ambushed by the Federal Navy or Trafalgar.

On the tactical star map that suddenly lit up, the red triangular arrows representing the three fleets of the Federal Navy suddenly came straight at them from three directions. This sophisticated arrangement, which was based on experience and predicted the Atlas fleet's track in advance, instantly blocked the fleet's emergency evacuation route.

The interstellar dust cloud of the 'Pillar of Life' also provided them with good cover. After entering the 'stealth action' mode, they would be difficult to be discovered as long as they did not move around.

Therefore, in order to ensure the stealth effect, the Atlas fleet, which had only activated the minimum air surveillance, did not discover the ambush fleet, and followed the "worst outcome" described by Amber and Ramos and other young officers, and sneaked into the ambush circle.
"It's impossible for this plan to leak out. Lilith has basically been keeping an eye on everyone who knows about this plan."

"The deployment of the fleet was kept strictly confidential. No one even knew where they were going before departure."

"The feint on the confrontation line has almost reached its peak, and can even be transformed into a real attack at any time. Even Trafalgar cannot help but be vigilant about this."

"But he ambushed three fleets. He had ambushed them even before the Polarized Light came."

Thinking of this, Amber suddenly felt as if an electric shock had passed through her eyebrows, and her thoughts opened up instantly.

"This old fox, is he going to gamble again?!"

(End of this chapter)