Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 271 Halting Pluto (3k)

The Asian Fleet's "Green Grass Era" star-class warship.

"The right-hand electromagnetic railgun has been melted by the laser; the port-hand laser weapon has 37% energy remaining; the nano-armor has been penetrated in four places, including the engine compartment; a nuclear leak is occurring; the warship urgently needs to return to port for adjustments," the weapons officer's voice rang out.
The holographic image representing the warship has shown obvious indentation, and numerous red crosses have appeared in various positions of the holographic image.

The captain of the Green Grass Era did not turn around. He looked at the star map filled with red dots and knew that his idea of ​​leaving the fleet and escaping the solar system would most likely never be realized by him and his warship.

But it doesn't matter, there will be successors to preserve the true flame. The war against the giant ring is only part of the battle to defend the solar system, and the real enemy is watching from afar. He has always understood who humanity's earliest and first enemy was.

Since that's the case, we can't allow the Devouring Fleet to consume more precious Stellar-class warships. Only Stellar-class warships can carry humanity's hopes for long-distance voyages. The captain of the Green Grass Era issued subsequent orders: "Based on the deep space wartime command principle, I have overall command of the entire ship. This ship will not return to port for the time being. Initiate communication with the nearest Stellar-class warship, the 'Lake Baikal,' and detonate the interstellar nuclear mine array in the 062 deep space zone according to the predetermined plan. We need thirty seconds of cover time."

Before the words were even finished, the bridge trembled violently. A beam of gamma laser light, attacking from the side and rear, grazed the hull, shattering the external sensor array into countless fragments. The screen in front of the Green Grass Era captain went completely black, but in the remaining sensor displays, he could see hundreds of orange light trails pressing down from above at an angle—the 100-ton yield interstellar missile swarm released by the devoured "Sword Dragon" class warship.

The Devouring Fleet had also learned to use the initial velocity of the fleet to increase the speed of its physical weapons. All of these hundreds of interstellar missiles were hurtling towards the "Green Grass Era" warship at a speed of 0.01c, approximately 3000 kilometers per second. Under normal circumstances, the "Green Grass Era," which was in [Advance Three] mode, could have entered [Advance Four] mode to evade, but its damaged nuclear fusion engine was no longer sufficient to allow this wrecked star-class warship to accelerate continuously.

300 kilometers away, the rapid-fire electromagnetic cannons of the "Lake Baikal" stellar-class warship, aided by quantum computer calculations, successfully intercepted half of the Sword Dragon interstellar missiles within its target angle. Meanwhile, the "Green Grass Era" warship reached its maximum speed of 2% of the speed of light in [Advance III].

The 'Green Grass Era' evaded most missile attacks within the strike hole safety zone created by its allies, but a 100-ton nuclear missile still exploded at the stern of the warship. The nuclear sphere engulfed the stern area, while intense electromagnetic and thermal radiation rushed in through the gaps in the compartments.

The 'Green Grass Era' had now entered a state of unpowered gliding and eventually flew to a cluster of interstellar mines. These interstellar mines were unable to detonate because their laser sensors had been destroyed, but the 'Green Grass Era', like a lit thread, leaped into them.

A densely packed fleet of predators was passing through the asteroid field. It was this fleet that, in order to conserve firepower, precisely destroyed the laser sensors on the asteroids in advance. However, the dinosaurs soon paid the price for this "saving". The "Green Grass Era" suddenly leaped out from the depths of the battlefield and poured all its reserve energy into the shipborne laser sensor array.

The warship used a dense barrage of low-energy rapid-fire lasers to fire at the interstellar minefield, signaling the order to detonate.

Then, thousands of interstellar mines exploded simultaneously, and a thousand white orbs of light lit up in unison, engulfing a large number of Devouring warships that were passing through them. The intense electromagnetic radiation and nuclear fireballs temporarily blocked the main force of the Devouring fleet from entering this area, filling a small gap in humanity's Kuiper Belt front.

The fleet formation of the Devouring Fleet began to turn. Killing a star-class warship was a huge attraction for the Devouring Fleet. A large number of laser strikes bombarded the dark green nano-armor of the "Green Grass Era". The alarms in the bridge almost lifted the ceiling.

"Captain! A signal has come from the vanguard of the Asian Fleet. One of the main fleets from each of the three major fleets is flanking the Great Ring and preparing to launch a general offensive. The Wallfacers are trying to attack the Great Ring in their own way. They have ordered our frontline Stellar-class ships to hold back the last Tyrant-class main force of the Devouring Empire at all costs." The communications officer's voice trembled slightly.

The captain of the 'Green Grass Era' looked at the radar screen at the new wave of devouring fleets that had been bombed by nuclear mines. There were about eight thousand ships in number. Unlike the widely distributed devouring fleets, this fleet was arranged in a dense arrowhead formation. It was obviously acting as the vanguard of the giant devouring ring. If nothing unexpected happened, the giant ring was behind this fleet.

Looking at the occasional flashes of light in deep space, the captain, a potential member of the Steel Stamp race and an escapist, suddenly smiled. He raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth: "Tell them that the future of humanity will depend on them from now on."

He pressed the broadcast button for the entire fleet, and electromagnetic waves spread at the speed of light. His voice gradually rang out through the communication channels of all the warships: "Comrades in Kuiper's fleet, it is a pleasure to fight alongside you. What I want to say is, damn your three main fleets, please aim your stellar hydrogen bombs more accurately and blast a hole in the giant ring. Over."

The captain switched to the ship's communication channel and issued his final order: "Switch the electromagnetic railguns to free-firing mode and fire all the remaining star-shaped hydrogen bombs! Hold out until the very last moment!"

Before the captain finished speaking, five nearby star-class warships all entered forward four-stage mode and converged on the location of the "Green Grass Era" warship. They were obviously warships that had also received orders from their respective front-line commanders. These five brightly lit star-class warships broadcast their positions to the battlefield!
The "Lake Baikal" star-class warship has entered the core battlefield!
The "Silk" star-class warship has entered the core battlefield!
The Statue of Liberty-class starship has entered the core battlefield!
The "Industrial Revolution" starship has entered the core battlefield!
The "Paris Commune" starship has entered the core battlefield!
The playful voices, a blend of four languages, were transmitted to the communication channel of the 'Green Grass Era' warship via the temporary fleet communication channel and simultaneous interpretation.

"I believe the gluttonous dinosaurs won't pass up the opportunity to devour six large cakes at once," said the captain of the Lake Baikal. The warship swept past the damaged 'Green Grass Era' and charged toward the massive, well-organized Tyrant-class warship fleet.

"Little Grass should stay in the back." This was the communication sent by the Statue of Liberty as it passed the Grass Era. "Vegetable, then practice more." This was from the Silk Star-class warship. It was clear that the captain of this warship was a person from the Common Era.

"The future is not a pipe dream, Paris Commune, charge!" This was the last message from the Paris Commune.

"With the brilliance of technology, let these foolish pure dragons see what the true seventh industrial revolution of mankind is!" The "Industrial Revolution" from the European fleet became the last warship to pass by the "Green Grass Era".

"You shameless bunch," the captain of the Green Grass Era cursed under his breath, then launched all the star-type hydrogen bombs toward the Devouring Fleet.

A violent explosion occurred within the Tyrant-class battleship group. The thousands of Tyrant-class battleships forming the tip of the arrowhead were reduced to ashes by the charge of the five Holy Knights, while the Green Grass Era, with the terrifying light of a stellar hydrogen bomb, completely blocked the charge of this arrowhead.

The moment the flames engulfed the "Green Grass Era," its captain seemed to hear the roar of a second nuclear mine detonation. Unbeknownst to him, after the Green Grass Era's destruction, two hundred planetary-level warships were stepping over its wreckage, forming a second, massive counter-attack formation.

Amidst the dust of the Kuiper Belt, a golden banner fluttered above this interstellar war, absorbing the faint light emanating from countless human warship wrecks. From the perspective of the Devouring Fleet commander, the Devouring Fleet's strength had dwindled to only 40% of its pre-war power.

It turned its head to take one last look in the direction of the Devouring Ring, pondered for a while, and then staked out the last reserve of the Devouring Fleet, which included its command flagship.

If this war is destined to leave nothing behind, then let the dinosaurs be the spark struggling in this cosmic storm. Whether the Empire is extinguished or not, they have fulfilled their final responsibility to the Great Ring.

...

On the night of September 15, 203, in the Crisis Era, before the dust had settled on the battlefield of the Kuiper Belt, a new battle had already begun in the deeper darkness.

Near Pluto's orbit, the evacuation operation was nearing its end. The last transport ship spewed pale blue flames from its engine nozzles, sending the last thirty staff officers from the command center toward Jupiter. Only Luo Qing and the seventeen engineers responsible for maintaining the nuclear fusion power station remained on this icy dwarf planet.

"You should all leave now and let MOSS take over your work," Luo Qing said to the engineers.

“Pluto does not have sophisticated industrial robots for MOSS to land and control; some equipment must be operated manually.”

"Alright then." Luo Qing didn't insist any further.

"Your array reinforcement energy has permeated the crust, and Pluto's outer structure has been reinforced." The chief engineer's voice came through the communicator, "But Pluto's geological structure is too unstable. The recent crustal tremor caused seventeen earthquakes. With current technology, we are still unable to reinforce the interior of a dwarf planet."

"It's alright, I'll refine it later."

Luo Qing hovered on the side of Pluto facing away from the sun, surrounded by a pale golden aura of spiritual energy. His divine sense, like a spiderweb, seeped into the core of this dwarf planet. Countless ice crystals and rock fragments, drawn by his spiritual energy, slowly rose and condensed into a spherical magic array two thousand kilometers in diameter on the crust. The runes flowing within the array sometimes lit up and sometimes dimmed, each flash accompanied by the faint gravitational fluctuations of Pluto.

Unlike Eris, the energy source for the array on this Pluto will be provided by him personally.

“Tell the fleet at the front that there’s no need to strive for perfection at the expense of others.” Luo Qing’s voice was as calm as ice. “I will try to move Pluto in three minutes. Before that, I will first eliminate the inertia of Pluto’s rotation and bring it to a complete stop.”

(End of this chapter)