Section 256: Where Does Fate Lie?
The dark-red Flower Gentleman was like a slumbering dusky shark abruptly startled awake, suddenly baring its terrifying fangs. Countless laser emission devices flipped outward in an instant. All the pilots from the Free Alliance who had pursued them felt a sudden, blinding brightness before their eyes, the dazzling radiance stinging their vision painfully.
A rain of light formed by thousands of laser beams illuminated this stretch of space as bright as day. It bloomed like a flower, yet was as brilliant as fireworks.
The pursuing pilots, however, had no leisure to appreciate this rare and beautiful sight; they were utterly terrified. In their eyes, these slender laser beams were lethally deadly. Under normal circumstances, laser beams of such power would hardly mean anything to them—even taking a few hits wouldn't be a big deal.
Indeed, a laser beam of this caliber would only leave a shallow dent on their mechas, posing minimal threat to the overall integrity. But the density of the laser beams before them far exceeded anything they had imagined.
No matter how sturdy a mecha was, it couldn't withstand firepower of such density. Moreover, the accuracy of these laser devices was shockingly precise, almost never missing their marks.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Even as the afterimages of these laser beams still lingered on their retinas, countless mechas exploded violently. The spectacle of dozens of mechas exploding simultaneously was so grand that even these elites within the Alliance, accustomed to major scenes, were momentarily stunned.
The rain of light did not cease; explosions erupted one after another. These continuously illuminating fireballs became the heavily struck notes in this symphony of destruction.
Three seconds!
It took only three seconds! Every mecha that had entered the firing range of the laser emission devices was utterly annihilated.
For a moment, the entire battlefield fell into a brief lull. The remaining mechas at the rear dared not advance. In their minds, this dark-red warship now resembled a primordial behemoth, arrogantly looking down upon them.
These were clearly just ordinary laser beams—how could they possess such immense power?
With such a vast number of laser emission devices and such astonishing accuracy, just how many master marksmen were inside this warship?
All the pilots were horrified.
In the very instant everyone was stunned, the Flower Gentleman abruptly accelerated, fleeing outward. Although it seemed the Flower Gentleman held the upper hand, everyone inside the warship understood they were not yet out of danger.
After all, this was the enemy's stronghold. If the opponent only had this level of strength, they wouldn't be qualified to be mentioned in the same breath as the other three major powers, especially since the enemy also had warships. If the Flower Gentleman were held back by these mechas, and the enemy's warships arrived as reinforcements, the Flower Gentleman would undoubtedly face certain death.
So, Mu chose to retreat without hesitation.
"Not good, enemy warships!" A trace of panic actually surfaced in Mu's voice.
Dozens of small black dots were magnified on the holographic screen, making everyone on board gasp in shock.
"Number: eighty." Mu obtained the exact count at the fastest speed.
Everyone, including Ye Zhong, was stunned. This couldn't be happening, could it? Eighty warships? Deploying eighty warships against their single vessel? This was just too exaggerated!
Watching the enemy maintain a complete combat formation charging straight towards them, the densely packed warships presented an extremely spectacular sight, delivering an unparalleled visual impact. Eighty warships? What kind of concept was that? Their minds short-circuited for an instant.
Everyone's bodies jerked backward abruptly—the Flower Gentleman was accelerating! Even a fool knew now that staying behind meant certain death. However, Ye Zhong never imagined the enemy would deploy eighty warships. Glancing at Qiu Man lying on the floor, he couldn't help but feel suspicious: Just what was her status? For her, the Free Alliance actually dispatched eighty warships!
"They're trying to encircle us!" The sharp-eyed Zhu Ling couldn't help but cry out in alarm.
Ye Zhong quickly looked up. Dozens of mechas were already flying out from several directions far away. Judging by the situation, they intended to perform a pincer movement ahead of the Flower Gentleman.
Thirteen in total, Ye Zhong counted carefully.
The speed of these thirteen mechas greatly exceeded everyone's expectations. Two of them were even comparable to Zhu Ling's Guo Yi in speed. As for the remaining eleven, they were certainly no slower than Ye Zhong's Guardian. These thirteen mechas were all murderously imposing and aggressive.
If Qiu Man were awake, she would definitely recognize these thirteen mechas. Eleven of them belonged to the famously renowned thirteen Department Leaders within the Free Alliance. The other two were even more famous, though far fewer people knew them—Qiu Man was one of those who did. They were the rarely deployed Feng Zhang within the Alliance. The Free Alliance's Feng Zhang were equivalent to the Aces of the other three major powers. This time, the Free Alliance had truly deployed all its elites. If they still couldn't detain the Flower Gentleman, they would truly lose all face.
One of these two mechas was a non-humanoid model, a scorpion-type mecha, though vastly more advanced than the Wind Sand Worm Ye Zhong had used before. These two mechas were the fastest, flying at the very front.
However, these thirteen mechas were clearly quite wary of the Flower Gentleman's laser emission devices, having to take a wide, arcing route.
"Everyone, please take your seats. Preparing for space jump." Mu's voice was full of calmness.
Ye Zhong's heart skipped a beat. A space jump? A space jump required a relatively long acceleration process, and during this process, it must not suffer any interference; otherwise, it could be extremely dangerous.
But Ye Zhong quickly calmed down. Mu's choice must be the optimal one derived from calculations.
Zhu Ling's face showed surprise as she glanced at Little Stone, then quickly settled into calm. Little Stone's expression was placid; his calculations had yielded the exact same result as Mu's. Only Lian Yue was as pale as a sheet, hands clasped together, muttering incessantly under his breath.
Back when they flew to Minghong Star, Mu had already selected several space jump points as potential escape routes. Their current flight path was headed directly toward one of them.
Suddenly, Ye Zhong remembered the time he sat in Mu's cockpit escaping from the garbage planet. Similarly uncertain of the future, similarly filled with peril, yet Ye Zhong's state of mind now was incredibly calm. After the initial surprise, he quickly accepted this reality.
Countless brushes with death had taught him to cherish life more, yet he held no fear of death itself.
The destination of this space jump point was a location within the Chebixiny Star Domain. Once they passed through this jump point, these people would be safe.
No one dared to be careless with space jump calculations. The slightest error could send you to an extremely distant and unfamiliar place. Perhaps you would never find your way back in your entire lifetime.
The vastness of the universe is something humanity can never fully explore. As large as the Five Major Star Domains are, within the entire cosmos, they are but a speck of dust.
Everyone is exceedingly cautious when calculating space jump points. For someone like Little Stone to calculate the opponent's space jump point in such a short time placed him among the geniuses.
Time passed extremely slowly. Moments that usually slipped by in the blink of an eye now felt unnaturally drawn out. The atmosphere inside the warship was suffocating.
Everyone prayed the enemy mechas hadn't discovered the Flower Gentleman's intention. All eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the holographic screen. Those thirteen mechas continued flying forward, attempting to pincer from ahead. From the current situation, they seemed unaware of the Flower Gentleman's plan.
Time trickled by. The space jump point drew closer bit by bit, and everyone's hearts rose to their throats. Little Stone clenched his fists, his face flushed red. Even Zhu Ling's breathing grew heavy. Lian Yue was in an even worse state, sweating profusely yet too tense to remember to wipe it away.
Almost there... almost there... nearly there...
"Not good!" Everyone on board except Ye Zhong exclaimed simultaneously, their faces changing color as one.
The scorpion-type mecha's dark brown tail suddenly streamed with a dazzling red light—a sight very familiar to Ye Zhong. The first thing that came to his mind was the pale blue glow emitted during energy accumulation before an electromagnetic cannon fired.
This time, even Ye Zhong's face changed.
A deep red beam struck the Flower Gentleman accurately.