Super Mothership
"As expected of the Ghost Captain. Even with such a disadvantage in numbers, he can still fight the Gemini to a standstill.
And this combination-type battleship is terrifyingly powerful! It’s suppressing the enemy Sea Tribe fleet so much that they don’t even dare to show their faces, let alone approach!
And this rate of fire… I can barely understand what's even happening…"
As Yuri commented, he kept his eyes locked tightly on the battlefield, afraid to miss even the smallest detail.
The three warships of the Earth Defense Force were in very safe positions, and fire support was naturally being handled by gunners and subordinate commanders. This was also a great opportunity for real combat training, so the three main commanders didn’t interfere, becoming the most relaxed people inside the virtual control room.
"Hmm... Based on the Ghost Captain’s Hobby Almanac, he has a preference for silver. In the Ghost Series weapons, silver paint often represents stronger weapon power and performance.
These silver warships we're seeing right now... I’d say they’re the elite forces secretly developed by the Ghost Captain," Old Hu analyzed confidently.
The Ghost Captain Hobby Almanac was actually a popular entertainment program on Earth that focused on the captain’s personal preferences—and surprisingly, it had very high viewership!
"Aside from the silver fleet, the forces the Ghost Captain has developed in the Proxima Star System are even more astonishing. I really don’t know how he managed to pull this off in such a short amount of time," Yuri said admiringly.
The Immortal Fortress, the Sea Tribe’s flagship, the Kala Civilization—every single one of them was of immense value.
It was precisely thanks to these powers that Nie Yun was able to quickly build enough strength in the Proxima System to stand against the Gemini, rather than being immediately driven back to the Solar System the moment he emerged from the wormhole.
"Heh... If you calculate how quickly the Ghost Captain rose to power on Earth, you wouldn’t find this so surprising," Old Hu chuckled.
The other two, hearing this, nodded in agreement.
Since the Ghost Captain first showed signs of activity, it had taken him less than a year to become the dominant force on Earth. So repeating the same feat in the Proxima System didn’t seem all that shocking anymore.
It had to be said: after constantly having their worldviews shattered by the Ghost Captain, the people of Earth had become much more thick-skinned.
"Hey! Have you noticed? Ever since the Ghost Captain went to war with the Gemini, the tech items in the Infinite Coin Exchange List have exploded in quantity...
Even the weapons and equipment we’ve been buying—many are clearly derived from the same origins as the Gemini’s weapons.
For example, these standardized warships we’ve procured—they’re basically unmanned modifications of Sea Tribe warships! What do you think that implies?" Schneider asked, eyes gleaming.
Nie Yun’s abnormal technological advancement always left subtle traces that leaked to the outside.
Increasingly advanced spacecraft, increasingly powerful energy weapons—even the colonies within the Solar System were changing at a stunning pace. Anyone with a functioning brain could sense something was up.
Unless Nie Yun imposed strict technological isolation, such signs were impossible to hide forever. It was only a matter of time before some observant person pieced it together.
But what Nie Yun needed was a technologically advanced parent civilization that could continuously provide him with inspiration and assistance. Naturally, he would never do something as foolish as shutting himself off.
The other two weren’t surprised by Schneider’s pointed observation. Clearly, their own nations had already guessed as much.
"It means the Ghost Captain is rapidly assimilating Gemini technology through this war… He’s literally fueling the war with war," Yuri said in a low voice.
Old Hu nodded silently in agreement.
Thanks to connections like Old Yu and the others, he actually knew a bit more than the others—though not by much.
Basically, those people were constantly busy, with an endless backlog of technology decryption and analysis work waiting for them...
"I don’t know how the Ghost Captain’s doing it, but it’s definitely a good thing for us. The stronger he becomes, the more advanced tech and weapons we’ll be able to purchase.
A year ago, who would’ve thought we’d be in command of a space fleet today?
Sure, it’s small now, but if we keep growing like this, even the Gemini Civilization—I’m confident we’ll be able to fight them one day!"
Yuri’s spirited words instantly struck a chord with the others.
As long as they clung tightly to the Ghost Captain’s coattails, they were sure they’d have fleets like the ones before them in the future too!
Their eyes lit up with ambition as they imagined themselves leading an invincible fleet, dominating the stars one day…
"Hey! That guy—what’s going on over there? Why are you getting so close? Back off!"
"…"
So… what's going on with those three warships?
Isabel stared at the image of the Earth Defense Force fleet huddled near the wormhole, occasionally firing a long-range shot into their own air units, and felt puzzled.
It wasn’t even about coordinating with the rest of the fleet—couldn’t they at least move a bit less cowardly? The moment there was even a hint of danger, they immediately shrank back.
And whether it was their paint, design, or command style, these three warships were clearly out of place compared to the powerful silver fleet. They looked almost like a third-party faction entirely…
Wait—third-party faction?
Could it be that the fleet on the other side… was actually a coalition between the All-Unity Society and the Ant Empire?
Nie Yun’s carefully arranged "friends" were clearly having their intended effect. They were sending a signal to the Gemini—that behind the All-Unity Society, the shadow of the Ant Empire loomed faintly…
The enemy's silver warships were even more advanced than Gemini’s own. As hard as it was to accept, Gemini had no choice but to acknowledge that fact.
If these silver fleets were already this sharp, then based on just this glimpse, how powerful must the Ant Empire behind them be?
Now Isabel was even more worried: the fact that the enemy was occupying the wormhole—could it mean the Ant Empire was preparing for a massive invasion of Gemini?
And the All-Unity Society… was clearly the collaborator, the guide.
The expansion of the Wolf Civilization through wormholes was already a foregone conclusion. If they now provoked the Ant Empire—clearly not a force to be trifled with—even if Gemini could survive a two-front war, the cost would be unimaginable.
Unacceptable! The wormhole must be reclaimed!
And not just reclaimed—it must be heavily defended!
This was the final conclusion Isabel came to.
However, the battlefield would not shift according to her will. The many preparations Nie Yun had made for this battle were starting to show their effectiveness…
At the center of the battlefield, the air forces on both sides were still locked in a brutal dogfight. The two sides were now so tightly entangled that fire support from the rear fleets had become almost useless.
And as time went on, some things were becoming increasingly clear.
For instance… the rapidly dwindling number of unmanned drones on the battlefield.
The Gemini drones weren’t equipped with shields, and on such a chaotic battlefield full of stray fire, they were nothing more than fragile "paper units"—one hit and they were gone.
What’s more, under Nie Yun’s communications jamming, they had lost centralized command. Their tactical patterns were slowly being deciphered by him.
No matter how well their onboard AI had been designed, it was still just data—lifeless, reactive data!
To an average person, the drones’ movements might seem precise, sharp, and flawless… but to Nie Yun, whose computational power was beyond ordinary limits, these were nothing but predefined combat templates.
Without the flexible, real-time command of Gemini officers, the drones’ tactics became predictable—rigid and formulaic. With enough computing power, it was entirely possible to reverse-engineer their combat logic!
The flood of battlefield data gave Nie Yun a massive reservoir of samples to analyze. The progress bar of his analysis was visibly ticking toward 100%.
Then, using that decoded combat template, Nie Yun wrote a counter-program on the spot and uploaded it to the control chips of all the Sword Immortal mechs.
What followed was a shocking transformation on the battlefield.
Sometimes, an Earth mech would fire a seemingly random shot—yet a moment later, a Gemini drone flying past would explode mid-air, as if it had deliberately flown into the blast.
These Sword Immortal mechs, also under intelligent control, now seemed possessed by a sword deity, suddenly capable of executing the legendary predictive sword technique known as Yijian Style—anticipating enemy evasions with uncanny accuracy and sniping ahead of time!
The battlefield buzzed with blue floating gun turrets zipping around like swords, launching rapid laser strikes with a crisp “shoo shoo shoo” sound.
When engaging Gemini's manned mechs, their performance was decent—nothing extraordinary. But once they faced Gemini’s drones, they became like pros playing against novices—never missing a single shot, with hit rates rising steadily!
In drone warfare, it often isn’t about who has the better machine—it’s about who can crack the opponent’s code first.
This was the inherent limitation of unmanned combat: once your logic is fully analyzed, and you can't adjust tactics fast enough, your units are no better than target dummies.
So, in this lopsided battle between AI-controlled units, Gemini’s drones were being utterly crushed.
On the battlefield, the number of Gemini drones was now dropping at a speed visible to the naked eye...
The Gemini side quickly noticed the shift in the battle situation.
“Lord Isabel, over 10% of our drones have completely lost signal in a very short time. The rate of loss is astonishing. We suspect the enemy has already cracked our drones’ tactical patterns!
Due to communications jamming, we’re unable to update their tactical instructions. According to simulations from the main AI, if this continues, all of our drones will be wiped out in less than half an hour!”
This bad news from the adjutant made Isabel even more anxious.
She had known, from the moment their communications were blocked, that this moment would eventually come—but the fact that the enemy had deciphered their drone combat logic so quickly still exceeded her expectations.
Her mind raced to come up with a counter-strategy.
If their drones were no longer a threat to the enemy, and both sides had roughly equal numbers of mechs, then considering the difference in mech performance, their air combat forces would likely be at a disadvantage!
And if the battle in the central warzone ended in defeat, then their fleet would be forced to face both the remaining enemy mechs and the fortress’s firepower at the same time. The losses would be unbearable!
It seemed that the plan to press forward head-on with overwhelming strength would no longer work. In that case...
Isabel’s gaze shifted to Nie Yun’s rear formation.
There, a pentagram-shaped combination battleship stood out vividly—continuously pouring out tons of firepower...
TL Note- Warfare?
Comments
Post a Comment