I imagine Howard will notice the issue with the Golden Flame.

If you’re concerned about it, you can always tell him directly.

Yang Ying was also aware that the situation with that Laurel-class ship was peculiar.

Despite being hit by two iodized missile barrages, Pol's analysis indicated the warship retained substantial combat capability, far exceeding the combined strength of Yang Ying’s three heavy cruisers.

Yet, it simply hung there silently, confounding everyone.

Having voiced his doubts, Quentin cut the communication.

The distance between him and the fleet wasn't negligible—two million kilometers—a journey that would take nearly an hour even for the Phantom fighters at full throttle.

The Commodore Captain, observing a progress bar on a monitor, smiled upon hearing Yang Ying’s question. "Sir, you’ve asked at the perfect time.

We are in the final stages of line debugging, at ninety-nine percent completion.

Just a few more seconds." After about five or six seconds, the Commodore Captain announced, "Done." He pressed a red button on the control panel, and a screen descended from the ceiling with a soft beep, displaying the image of the Golden Flame. "This is firsthand visual data transmitted from the observers on the battlefield," the Commodore Captain stated. "Another Laurel fleet is approaching.

We initiated the engagement early to save time before the signal lines were fully debugged.

Rear Admiral Howard still needs to coordinate with frontline commanders to grasp the battle situation, but once these lines are operational, he can see it with his own eyes." "That is excellent," Yang Ying nodded.

For Rear Admiral Howard, the absence of a visual feed didn't significantly impact his command capabilities; he could acquire the necessary information through various means.

However, for Yang Ying, having a physical image to view offered a more intuitive understanding of the battlefield, a sensation entirely different from receiving information secondhand through communications.

The second wave of Phantom fighters entered the combat zone, dispersing as they headed toward the crippled, surviving dreadnoughts.

Due to their different objectives, the munitions carried by this wave differed slightly from the first.

The previous wave primarily carried agile dogfighting missiles to engage the Caesar Mercenary Group's fighters.

This wave, however, was tasked with sinking the now-immobilized warships, carrying high-velocity, high-penetration anti-ship missiles.

Anti-ship missiles were a new product recently manufactured at the base.

Their tips were exceptionally sharp, and the material used possessed extreme hardness.

Launched from a considerable distance, these missiles could accelerate to nearly a thousand kilometers per second during flight, driving straight into the hull of a warship with immense kinetic energy, piercing the outer alloy armor, and then detonating inside.

These missiles were designed specifically to counter Void Dreadnoughts, thus sacrificing aerodynamic considerations for appearance.

Using them within an atmosphere would inevitably lead to catastrophic failure! Previously, Phantom fighters were only equipped with dogfighting missiles, often requiring hundreds or even thousands of missiles to destroy a single warship.

Now, with the anti-ship missiles, efficiency had drastically improved.

During the previous attack wave, a single salvo of anti-ship missiles from one Phantom squadron could easily obliterate a destroyer whose defenses surpassed those of an Ancient Legion's Triceratops.

In contrast, destroying a Triceratops back then had required three full squadrons of Phantom fighters executing multiple attack passes.

This clearly demonstrated the overwhelming power of the anti-ship missiles.

According to Rear Admiral Howard’s plan, the Laurel-class battlecruiser was the primary target in the second wave, with a full twenty Phantom squadrons assigned to it.

Meanwhile, Kozmo had arrived in the main engine room.

Many engineering personnel were operating equipment around the core with tense focus.

Since the bridge was destroyed, Kozmo had rapidly promoted several temporary staffers to ensure his commands were carried out.

The noise from various tools made the entire room deafening. "How long until the power and weapon systems are restored?" Kozmo shouted. "The power system is close; the thrusters will be operational in fifteen minutes at most.

However, the weapon system will likely only recover to fifty percent capacity.

We have too many damaged components, and spare parts are insufficient.

We can only integrate the remaining circuits to extract whatever potential the system still holds," replied the lead engineer, sounding rather pessimistic. "Fifty percent?" Kozmo fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Never mind that.

How is the 'Net'?" "The 'Net' itself was undamaged by the Taguchi shockwave, but the 'Node-Small' launchers were affected.

However, we have finished debugging the launchers, and they are ready for immediate use," the engineer said, sounding excited about the 'Net'. "Good, launch the 'Nodes' immediately!" Kozmo exclaimed, overjoyed. "Yes!" A temporary staffer manipulated the controls a few times and nodded. "The 'Nodes' have been launched!" Although they couldn't see the situation outside, Yang Ying, two million kilometers away, witnessed through the visual feed as the bow and stern of the Golden Flame opened launch ports, releasing hundreds of dense, unknown flying projectiles. "Zoom in and magnify those unidentified flying objects," Yang Ying instructed his aide.

As he spoke, the image on the screen continuously magnified until those unknown projectiles filled the entire display.

They resembled large, golden spheres bristling with spikes.

No visible propulsion devices were attached to their surfaces; they drifted silently in space. "Have any of you seen anything like this?" Yang Ying glanced at them without comprehension, then turned to the others on the bridge. "No," they answered in unison. "I haven't either, but I have a faint recollection, perhaps I saw something similar somewhere," Yang Ying patted his head, still unable to identify them.

He was certain he had seen something akin to them while rapidly reading through technological data recently, but his memory then was far inferior to his current state.

Much of that hastily absorbed knowledge had faded quickly. "That...

could that be a..." Pol, among the crew, carefully examined the spiked orbs, then his eyes widened, and he shouted, "I see now!" He slammed his hand onto the communication switch on the console, connecting to the flagship.

A holographic screen appeared before Pol, displaying Rear Admiral Howard's face. "Howard, we have a major issue! The device released by the Golden Flame is no trivial matter.

Order the Phantoms to attack immediately before it activates! Once it starts up, make sure they do not approach that warship under any circumstances.

This Caesar Group is formidable; the Laurel-class battlecruiser has this trump card!" Pol bombarded him with a rapid volley of information. "Confirmed?" Howard asked succinctly. "Confirmed!" "Understood." Howard terminated the communication and immediately contacted the second wave of Phantom fighters on the front line, stating, "Attack immediately." "But we haven't reached optimal firing positions.

Due to the target's size, we sent half our force to attack from the opposite vector," the captain of the second wave, a Lieutenant Colonel pilot, reported their status. "Attack immediately; that is an order," Howard said sternly. "Yes, sir, we obey the command." After cutting the communicator, the Lieutenant Colonel shouted into his headset, "Brothers, command says attack now! Don't worry about not being in position!" Consequently, the ten fully positioned Phantom squadrons immediately launched their missiles.

Two hundred and forty anti-ship missiles, trailing meteor-like fiery plumes, streaked toward the Golden Flame.

Whoosh! Whoosh! "Enemy attack alert!" Kozmo darted to the radar screen, his blood turning to ice as he saw over two hundred missiles converging on the warship.

After all, even a Laurel's defenses had limits.

He seized the engineer by the collar and demanded, "Is the 'Node' network deployed yet?" "Almost!" the engineer yelled back. "Hurry, there's no time!" Kozmo strode to a control console displaying a holographic view of the Golden Flame's exterior.

On the screen, small red dots drifted toward the midsection of the warship.

Occasionally, a red dot would fix itself in place, as if it had reached its destination, and would then turn green.

By this time, the fixed green dots had enveloped the forward and aft sections of the warship; the remaining red dots continued to move toward the center. "Once all the 'Nodes' surround the ship, the 'Net' can be activated." Kozmo glanced at the screen, then at the missiles on the radar. "They must form the encirclement before the missiles hit, or it will be too late!" During this critical moment, Kozmo felt time stretch agonizingly slow.

He kept flicking his gaze between the radar and the holographic display, wishing he could split his eyes to monitor both simultaneously.

Finally! "Good, the 'Nodes' are locking faster!" Kozmo saw that all the red dots had turned green while the missiles were still closing in, and he grinned widely.

He slammed his finger onto the largest button on the console, shouting, "Mercenary Group Tran, let them know the Laurel isn't just a title claimed by Caesar!" Instantly, a holographic screen erupted in golden light! Golden lightning, as thick as a man's waist, shot out from the Golden Flame's dorsal armor, striking one 'Node'.

It then split into six bolts, striking six other 'Nodes', before continuing to branch out until a vast net composed of countless golden hexagons and pentagons enveloped the entire Golden Flame! The two hundred and forty missiles reached the golden net just then.

The net suddenly discharged hundreds of lightning strikes, impacting the incoming missiles! Every missile was struck by one or several bolts of lightning, causing immediate, violent explosions upon impact.

Fragments embedded themselves into the Golden Flame's outer armor, but they no longer possessed any destructive force.