amaotonovel Chapter 3996 MU Superbody Major Event (76)
Chapter 3996 MU Superbody Major Event (76)
Chapter 3996 MU: The Superbody Incident (Seventy-Six)
The pale blue planetary shield emitted a faint glow. Although it was incomparable to the moon in both size and shape, looking at this enormous planet emitting a soft light still inevitably brought to mind moonlight. People always feel especially homesick at times like this.
The three escort fleets, which had seemed enormous when they set sail from the dock, appeared incredibly small as they drew closer to Apokolips. As they entered the shield's glow, they didn't even cause a ripple on its vast surface, vanishing like sand scattered into the ocean.
The captains knew their ships might not return, yet they still silently watched the monitoring projection. Their only question was how the enemy planned to deal with the escort squadron.
A frigate flotilla consists of 16 ships, including the River-class frigates themselves, five reconnaissance ships, three supply ships, and seven aerospace fighters. In other words, this is essentially a space-based version of an aircraft carrier fleet. The River-class frigates deployed for this mission are the USS Hudson River, USS Niger River, and USS Ganjiang, commanded by an American, a Nigerian, and a Chinese captain, respectively.
These three main ships are second-generation warships among the River-class frigates, about two orders of magnitude inferior to the USS Mississippi, USS Nile, or USS Yellow River.
However, this is still a force not to be underestimated. It can at least reach the level of star system protection. In other words, any one of these three fleets can protect a star system similar to our solar system. When the three fleets operate together, the scope and level of protection increase exponentially.
The three fleets slowly entered Apokolips's range during directional patrols, but instead of heading into the shield, they began patrolling along its surface. Their speed appeared slow, but it was actually at the maximum speed achievable by the frigates.
Just as they had traveled approximately 0.7 light-years along the shield—equivalent to barely moving in place compared to the size of Apokolips—a thin red light suddenly appeared out of nowhere. At first, it seemed like an image error, appearing as a thin line in the middle, before abruptly filling the entire screen. The next second, countless alarms blared in the deserted cabin.
From the perspective of the spaceplane, it looked like a red laser suddenly struck the USS Hudson, and the Hudson's fleet shields instantly lit up with a loud "whoosh." But after the light faded, the fleet was unharmed.
The group watching the monitoring equipment at the base shouted, "Prepare to return to base! Return to base now!"
"No! The fleet shields are working! We can still probe further. The enemy will definitely increase their efforts!"
The three captains hesitated for a moment, not pressing the return-to-base button. Logically, the shields could still hold out. But just as they thought this, the exact same red lasers reappeared, only this time, attacking all three fleets simultaneously.
The screen went blank again, and when it ended, the Hudson River, already damaged, remained motionless. From the perspective of other fighter jets, a large hole could be seen burned through its back, and its power system appeared to have been completely destroyed.
The Ganjiang was completely severed from its stern, and nearby fighter jets and supply ships exploded in a series of cracking sounds. When this scene appeared on the screen, all the scientists and generals stood up.
"My God, what kind of weapon is this?! The Ganjiang's shields are fully charged, and in addition to the fleet's combined shields, it also has its own frigate shields! How could it not have stopped it?!"
"That laser beam is definitely suspicious. Has the black box data been transmitted back?! Immediately organize a team to analyze it! Hurry!"
"Other fleets, withdraw immediately and get out of the attack range as quickly as possible. Do not attempt to tow any abandoned ships; return immediately!"
The surviving Niger River, along with all the remaining reconnaissance and supply ships and aircraft, headed back. Fortunately, the enemy didn't seem to intend to attack again. Once out of the shield's range, the fleet was safe.
This result weighed heavily on everyone's minds. A single attack had rendered two escort warships obsolete, one of which was at full strength. This meant that the planet's automated defense system could easily eliminate a fully-equipped human escort warship, leaving it no room for resistance.
"What did the superheroes say?" someone asked. "Didn't someone know that this planet is called Apokolips? Do they know anything about lasers?"
“Iron Man provided the information,” another person said. “It looks like Omega rays, from the Omega effect, a power similar to divine strength used by the Titan race, including Emperor Darkseid of Apokolips.”
A heated discussion immediately erupted among the crowd. Unexpectedly, Batman not only brought Apokolips, but also its emperor. However, they had also enlisted Odin's help; the eldest brother was no match for the second.
"Send the video and documents to Asgard immediately!" the general said. "Demand a detailed response report from them... If they're too lazy to write it by hand, an audio recording will do."
Despite the large number of people in the command center, most were in technical positions such as generals and scientists, with almost no clerical staff. This was because Jarvis handled all the data collection and analysis. Before the war, Jarvis had already taken control of all electronic devices, making it impossible for Batman to electronically hack into them, and significantly enhancing his information and intelligence analysis capabilities.
The message was quickly sent to Asgard. To everyone's surprise, Thor's reply was quite conservative. He said, "This is a power specialized for attack. That is to say, it is not a general energy like the divine power of the Aesir, but a power specifically designed for attack, and it is also extremely adept at destruction and destructiveness. Judging from its manifestation, it can carry out precise, pinpoint strikes across space, and if the output is sufficient, it can also directly shatter space itself. If I were to fight him, I would not choose to use a divine barrier to withstand it head-on; the best approach would be to dodge. If I were to withstand the full output with my bare body without any barrier, it would most likely cause serious damage to my body."
The atmosphere became even more tense. Even the Aesir couldn't withstand it; no wonder two of their escort ships were destroyed in a single attack.
But at this moment, the atmosphere in the Apokolips command center was even more tense than on Earth. The main universe's Batman looked at Darkseid and said, "So, a 50% output Omega ray can't even penetrate the shields of the enemy's mass-produced ships? It needs to be at 75% output?!"
“Their shields are very special,” Darkseid said, tapping his fingers on the armrest of his seat. “Clearly, Earth in this universe is very skilled in shield technology. I’ve never seen such a powerful shield. This shield has a special ability: as long as the attack it receives does not exceed a certain threshold, it becomes completely immune and doesn’t even consume much energy. So you have to increase the output and concentrate it on one point to destroy the shield and the ship’s hull in one go.”
The main universe's Batman understood his meaning. It's simple: using a game analogy, other civilizations' ordinary shields reduce damage, so 100 attack power only deals 60 damage; while humanity's shields are immune to damage below 100. Your 100 attack might deal zero damage, and your 200 attack might still only deal 60% damage. Therefore, the best method is to increase your attack power to 800 and then deplete the opponent's health bar in one hit. That's exactly what Darkseid did.
However, it is clear that the power of Omega is not inexhaustible. Although it can be replenished in the Apocalypse Domain, some must be reserved for defense. Otherwise, if the enemy launches a massive attack, you can't rely on superheroes to fight against spaceships, can you?
"How many of these ships do they have?" the main universe's Superman asked. "Perhaps I can give it a try, but my laser output isn't enough. I might only be able to temporarily repel them, not destroy them."
The main universe's Batman is also pondering this. From the previous footage, it's clear the escort fleet was a well-organized unit, proving they definitely don't only have those few ships. The fact that they were used as cannon fodder for probing suggests these ships aren't particularly valuable, perhaps even outdated versions nearing obsolescence. They possess far more advanced, larger, and more powerful spaceships.
"Hal, what do you think?" Batman from the main universe asked Green Lantern.
The Green Lanterns stood together, their discussion not as lively as Batman's or Superman's. When asked a question, they all turned to look at one person: Hal Jordan, the Emerald Prince from Bruce's universe.
“This battle doesn’t necessarily have to be fought in the conventional way of interstellar warfare,” Hal said. “The spaceships we create using Green Lantern energy may appear to have a physical form, but they can be converted into Green Lantern energy at any time. So we just need to pretend to be spaceships, drive over, and then detonate the Green Lantern energy for a suicide attack. Although it’s a bit of a waste of energy, as long as it can cause effective damage, it will make the enemy hesitant to act.”
The main universe Batman nodded, agreeing with this approach. They now had two types of ships: one was a virtual ship powered by Green Lantern energy, which, although identical to a normal ship, had proven to be far inferior to the enemy's properly manufactured fleet after testing, thus rendering conventional combat methods obsolete.
Another option is the spaceships of Apokolips, but Apokolips itself is not good at interstellar warfare. They rely on large-scale Parademons to carry out surface landing operations, which means that someone has to help them clear out the escorting fleet before they can carry out landing operations.
"Green Lantern Fleet, prepare," said the main universe Batman. "They sent three teams, so we'll send five. Green Lanterns will follow behind and coordinate the operation, but be careful not to get too close. If any unusual energy fluctuations are detected, retreat immediately."
Hal nodded and pointed out several Green Lanterns from behind him, including the Green Lanterns from the main universe and himself, about a dozen people in total, to come to the hangar to retrieve the spaceship.
The spaceship here was built back in their hometown and brought over through a portal. Its structure is already very stable, and because it is essentially powered by green light energy, people do not need to perform complex operations inside the spaceship and can control it as easily as using their own limbs.
The Green Lantern Fleet's organization is not complex, consisting only of capital ships and secondary ships. One capital ship leads about 5 to 6 secondary ships, forming a squadron, and five squadrons comprise about thirty ships.
Furthermore, Hal had already organized training for them before their arrival, with impressive results. Their combat style was completely different from that of the Marvel universe: if Earth in the central universe was fighting a traditional interstellar war, then theirs was essentially a scaled-up version of ground warfare. The Green Lanterns' deployment with the Green Lantern Fleet wasn't based on aerial combat, but rather more like combined arms warfare.
This is actually extremely difficult, even unimaginable, because the size difference between humans and spaceships is simply too great, making any coordination impossible. Perhaps only an organized and disciplined superhero like Green Lantern, who has spent years in space combat, could use this tactic with his self-created spaceship.
So, many people in the command center on Earth in the central universe were dumbfounded when they saw people and spaceships emerge together. But the generals who had survived since World War II had a sudden flash of inspiration: "We're experts in tank warfare!"
"Bring in Iron Man's mechanical army!" a general shouted, standing up. "Immediately set up trenches on the Eastern Front and make sure to keep this tank force 20 light-years away!"
The Iron Man crew, anxiously awaiting orders at the outpost, sprang to their feet. Stark, in the central universe, immediately shouted, "Don't panic! Calm down! Now retrieve the equipment according to the warehouse pickup numbers. Jarvis will point out the target location from inside your suits. Once the equipment is set up, return immediately. Don't linger! Avoid direct confrontation!"