Chapter 64: The Imperial Expedition
Each projectile weighed 6 grams and left the barrel at one kilometer per second, giving it three kilojoules of kinetic energy. They were fired at a quarter of their maximum rate—a furious 500 rounds per minute.
At that rate, a single Mercury-class Warship could fire one thousand rounds per minute.
With 480 Warships still operational, that meant 480,000 rounds per minute.
The Machine Guns roared as well. Their heavier, higher-velocity shells took aim at the mothership and its combat ships from over a hundred thousand kilometers away, flying toward them one after another.
Over a thousand Interstellar Missiles, trailing long plumes of fire, accelerated to a top speed of 20 kilometers per second as they hurtled toward the enemy mothership and its Warships.
Not only that, but they also adjusted their trajectories in mid-flight, keeping a firm lock on their targets.
Even for weapons from the gunpowder age, such a ferocious assault was unbearable for the enemy.
So, when the Mercury-class Warship fleet drew closer and intensified its assault—after all, closer range meant greater accuracy, shorter projectile travel time, and a higher difficulty for interception—the enemy Warships could finally take no more. Another twenty or so ships flew out, attempting to annihilate the Mercury-class fleet.
Li Qingsong didn’t hesitate. He decisively cranked the engines to maximum power and shut down the ships’ attitude control systems. He even harnessed the recoil from the guns, firing wildly without any regard for hitting the targets, all while executing a full retreat.
In this state, the 480 Mercury-class Warships’ reverse acceleration reached unprecedented levels.
Although another thirty-odd Warships were destroyed, the remaining 450 or so managed to escape.
At that point, Li Qingsong was in no position to launch a second wave.
The reason was simple: the ships had run out of fuel.
Not only the Warships, but even the supply freighters were empty.
But that didn’t matter.
The first wave of supply containers had just arrived.
The Warships swarmed toward the containers, resupplying directly while still in high-speed flight. Then, like a disturbed hive, they began another suicidal charge toward the mothership.
They attacked the mothership while simultaneously strafing the surface of Enemy God Star.
When the number of Warships dropped below 400, a new wave of freshly supplied Warships arrived as reinforcements. The fleet’s numbers finally stabilized and began to climb, and the intensity of their harassing attacks increased once more.
After a few rounds of this, the enemy seemed to catch on. They realized Li Qingsong was just trying to harass them, baiting them into counterattacks to deplete their already dwindling supplies. So, they changed their tactics.
They stopped attacking Li Qingsong’s Warships and instead began intercepting the supply containers flying in from Ceres!
’If we don’t have supplies, we’ll destroy yours! Let’s see you try to harass us without any supplies!’
But Li Qingsong simply stayed put, letting them destroy the supply containers that had just traveled over 40 million kilometers. He acted as if he couldn’t care less.
’Are you kidding me? What was my original goal?’
’Wasn’t it to make you waste what little fuel you have left?’
’Forcing you to attack my Warships burns your fuel. You think flying out to intercept my supply containers doesn’t?’
’Go on, intercept them. Let’s see how many you can get.’
’It’s not like I’m worried you’ll take the fuel for yourselves.’
’Can your sophisticated ships even use gunpowder rounds? Or gunpowder shells? Can they stomach "coarse grain" like chemical fuel?’
’Sometimes, being technologically inferior is an advantage.’
After destroying over a thousand supply containers, the enemy seemed to catch on again. They started staying put around their mothership, no longer flying out to intercept.
’Oh? Not intercepting anymore? If you’re not going to stop me, I’ll just go ahead and resupply.’
So the Mercury-class Warships brazenly flew up to the supply containers. After refueling, restocking on rounds and shells, and refilling their missile racks, they launched another suicidal charge. Then, facing the inevitable counterattack, they made another desperate retreat.
But this time, something seemed different.
Normally, they would have turned back after a short pursuit. This time, however, while all the other enemy Warships returned to base, one of them kept charging recklessly, accelerating desperately, as if it wouldn’t stop until it had destroyed its target.
Li Qingsong was overjoyed.
’It’s finally cracking under the pressure. The crew of this Warship has snapped. The others can’t be far behind, can they?’
Li Qingsong showed no mercy. He ordered his ships to press on, braving the fierce bombardment of Electromagnetic Cannon Projectiles and returning fire with their own Machine Guns.
After sacrificing a dozen more Warships, Li Qingsong finally claimed his first victory.
One enemy Warship destroyed!
While his forces swarmed the lone vessel, all the other enemy Warships remained by the mothership, not moving an inch.
No rescue attempt, no covering fire, nothing.
They just watched, helpless, as the warship was destroyed.
An air of bleak despair began to spread across the battlefield.
For the enemy, that is.
Li Qingsong, on the other hand, was full of vigor and fighting spirit.
Sensing the enemy’s morale was on the verge of collapse, Li Qingsong finally made the most significant decision since the war began.
He would lead the charge himself!
It was time to reap the rewards!
Ten of the newest Warships formed a squadron. Li Qingsong’s consciousness transferred into one of the Clones aboard them, and they set off toward Enemy God Star, 40 million kilometers away.
By the time Li Qingsong’s physical presence finally arrived, the enemy’s fleet had been whittled down to just five remaining Warships, all of them battered and scarred.
The mothership, however, remained largely intact, as Li Qingsong had intentionally held back his forces from destroying it.
With Li Qingsong’s arrival on the scene, the communication delay that had plagued him for so long finally vanished.
And so, with their combat effectiveness greatly enhanced, the Mercury-class Warship fleet didn’t take long to eliminate the last five enemy ships, which had been fighting a losing battle.
At last, one of the Warships reached the mothership.
After blasting open a hatch, fully armed Clones stormed inside.
Ahead of them, an intelligent being covered in silver-white scales and with a roughly humanoid form was prostrated on the floor, a clear gesture of submission.
Li Qingsong wasted no time in restraining it.
Thousands more Clones flooded in behind, searching every room of the vessel and capturing all of the 300-odd surviving aliens.
The aliens who had been hiding in the underground base on Enemy God Star—those lucky enough to have survived the bombardment—were also rounded up. In total, only about 1,000 remained.
They chittered and squawked, but Li Qingsong couldn’t understand a word.
It didn’t matter. ’Every language, written or spoken, has an internal logic and structure,’ he thought. ’With enough samples, I can decipher their entire linguistic system.’
Li Qingsong dedicated the processing power of over 1,000 minds to analyzing their language and writing. After just a few short days, he had completely mastered it.
Now, the interrogation could begin.