As the two fleets closed in, the cloaked Ghost fighters were first unleashed, numbering nearly twenty thousand. Howard had not deployed his entire air wing, but Yang Ying sent six avatars, including Blade, to join the initial assault.

This first wave of attack was primarily for probing purposes.

Blade guided his fighter to the front of the rebel fleet when he suddenly felt the distinct sensation of being watched. His mind alerted him instantly. He immediately activated his radar, and following the instinctual pull, he soon identified dozens of strangely shaped spacecraft within the rebel formation. These vessels were angular and sharp, resembling coffins floating in space, and they gave him an intense feeling of being scrutinized.

Upon seeing the shape of these spacecraft, a realization flashed through Blade’s mind. He instantly recalled a memory concerning the origin of these specific vessels. In his memory banks, he had data on these reconnaissance craft. He broadcast over the communication channel, “Attention everyone. The enemy possesses wide-area stealth detection equipment. It comes in the form of spacecraft shaped like coffins; there are forty-two in total. I am sending you their appearance now. Locate them immediately and destroy them with maximum speed!” “Yes!” the Ghost fighter pilots responded in unison.

In the bridge of the Jushou (Behemoth), Howard stared at the image of the strange spacecraft displayed on his screen and murmured to himself, “What is that?”

“That is a Kusta reconnaissance craft; in the Kusta language, it is called a Gulachig,” Yang Ying explained. “I once tasked the Shadow Blade assassin organization with investigating any equipment within the Orion Arm capable of seeing through our stealth capabilities. Although this involved many military secrets from various races, and the collected data may not be complete, the Kusta reconnaissance craft is indeed on that list. We must handle them with care.”

The Ghost fighters’ cloaking wasn't merely optical; it was all-encompassing. To break this stealth, one needed to utilize specific exotic particles that the stealth field could not block. These particles were also extremely difficult to observe, requiring highly advanced technology to integrate into reconnaissance equipment—a level of technology possessed by the Kusta.

While the Gulachig was not the Kusta’s most advanced reconnaissance vessel, it possessed wide-area stealth detection capabilities, comparable in technological sophistication to the Observer.

However, the Observer also utilized Progenitor stealth technology, capable of shielding against the acute intuition of a Tier Three Peak expert. A Tier Three Peak individual could sense being monitored but could not discern the source; yet, the Gulachig could not hide from Blade’s intuition, evidenced by how quickly he found them. In terms of concealment, the Observer was superior to the Gulachig.

Blade resolved to eliminate the Gulachig first. He immediately charged out of formation, leading his five other avatars, and dove toward the Gulachig hidden within the fleet. Upon spotting the massive assault by the Ghost fighters, the rebels immediately launched a large number of their own fighters, totaling around two hundred thousand—far outnumbering the Ghosts!

Every single Gulachig was heavily guarded by rebel fighters. The rebels deployed forty-two thousand fighters, establishing triple-layered, dense protective formations around each of the forty-two Gulachig units—an average of one thousand fighters per reconnaissance vessel—not to mention the protective cover provided by the surrounding fleet. This demonstrated how highly they valued their stealth detection capabilities.

Soon after, the six specialized Ghost fighters engaged the rebels first.

The rebels unleashed their full firepower. Two thousand warships, large and small, projected dense anti-air barrages. Tens of thousands of anti-air missiles streaked out from the warships like scattered blossoms, their guidance systems linked directly to the Gulachig, which directed their paths, ensuring they were not fooled by the stealth fields.

Blade saw the radar showing countless missiles approaching from all directions. He raised his right hand and swiped it through the void like lightning; twelve floating turrets immediately detached from their launch ports and positioned themselves around his fighter.

The fourth-generation specialized Ghost fighter differed significantly from the third generation in its operation. Control was no longer managed through joysticks and consoles but through the pilot's gestures and direct mental commands, achieving a state where the machine moved as one with the pilot's will.

Inside the cockpit, more than a dozen 2D light screens and 3D holographic displays were arranged systematically before Blade. Hull status, combat data, radar, and communications were all displayed. Blade could open or close them with simple hand gestures.

As the floating turrets deployed, Blade focused his mind, and they opened fire simultaneously. A net of light beams, numbering over a hundred, formed before thousands of incoming missiles. Although the net looked loose, it exemplified the saying: Heaven’s net is vast, yet it misses nothing. Every beam struck true. Blade exerted his Tier Three Peak mental energy to its limit, causing the turrets to fire ceaselessly. A series of brilliant sparks flashed across space, and the number of missiles visibly diminished.

However, immediately following this, the dense swarm of enemy fighters ahead poured countless beams toward him. Blade’s hands moved rapidly, maneuvering the Ghost fighter through an array of high-difficulty evasive actions. He dodged the beams left and right, his movements linking with textbook precision and artistic perfection, flowing seamlessly without hesitation.

This was largely thanks to the sixth sense granted by transcending time, which allowed him to carve out paths through the dense beams. Fortunately, his craft was fast enough, moving with lightning-like agility. The vast majority of the rebel fighter beams missed their mark entirely, forced to chase the Ghost fighter's tail, leaving only a small fraction that posed any real threat.

At this moment, the two fleets closed within ten light-seconds of each other. The crimson light pillar of the Yamato Cannon erupted across the void, spanning over three million kilometers, and slammed toward the Gulachig. Upon realizing the threat posed by the Gulachig, Howard spared no expense, treating the task like using a cannon to swat a fly, determined to destroy them as quickly as possible.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The orange-red light beam tore through the rebel defense fighters. The resulting explosions resembled a string of candied haws, with the light pillar acting as the wooden skewer. The fighters caught directly in the path of the Yamato Cannon met a swift end; none survived more than half a second before being reduced to cosmic dust.

However, in this initial volley launched by forty-two battlecruisers, only five Gulachig were struck by the Yamato Cannons; the other thirty-seven managed to evade the blasts.

“Sigh, we closed to ten light-seconds, but it was still too far. Although the Yamato Cannon’s power remains effective at this distance, the light pillar takes ten seconds to traverse the void to the target. Calculating the lead compensation is incredibly difficult; a low hit rate is expected,” Yang Ying commented.

Howard remained composed, raising his hand. “Order the second volley, prepare!”

The staff immediately relayed the command to the thirty-seven battlecruisers.

“Fire!”

Thirty-seven more light pillars shot forth. Ten seconds later, three Gulachig were eliminated.

“Thirty-four remaining. The efficiency is indeed a bit low,” Howard shook his head slightly, then raised his hand again. “Third volley, prepare!”

“Let me handle this one.”

Yang Ying rose and moved to the gunner’s control station, instructing the current gunner before taking the seat himself.

“Is the Commander showing off his gunnery skills?”

“The Commander’s gunnery is always one hundred percent accurate!”

The staff members clearly held immense confidence in Yang Ying; Howard saw it but remained silent.

The Jushou had not fired during the previous two volleys, meaning its Yamato Cannon energy was fully charged. Yang Ying felt the guidance emanating from his mental world while aiming the cannon barrel toward the opposing rebel fleet.

“Fire!”

As Howard gave the command, crimson energy began to coalesce in the Jushou’s forward superstructure, forming an ever-growing ball of energy. With a sharp, drawn-out roar, the energy ball transformed into a crimson light pillar and was launched!

Ten seconds later, the light beam accurately struck a Gulachig, incidentally obliterating over forty nearby fighters. Simultaneously, the other light beams eliminated three more Gulachig.

“Thirty remaining.” Yang Ying paused, then raised his hand, a flash of golden light preceding the summoning of six avatars. He instructed the avatars to immediately proceed to the other battlecruisers that had yet to fire their Yamato Cannons and take over the gunner positions.

The time interval between the first and second Yamato Cannon shots on a Jushou-class battlecruiser was five minutes, but after the second shot, the interval extended to fifteen minutes. Every minute was precious on the battlefield, and Yang Ying did not wish to waste any time waiting for the Yamato Cannons to recharge.

He explained his plan to Howard, who agreed it was the best approach under the circumstances.

Just as the third wave of cannon fire concluded, the Ghost fighter wing finally engaged the rebel fighter contingent. Beams and missiles flew back and forth in a chaotic exchange, intensely destructive. The six specialized Ghost fighters had been entangled with the rebel fighters for quite some time, remaining completely unscathed thanks to their superior evasion and plasma shielding, which infuriated the rebel command. They dispatched dozens of their most elite ace fighters to hunt them down.

These ace fighters were piloted by psychics, though Yang Ying’s other avatars were piloted by Tier Two aviators.

Consequently, the six specialized Ghost fighters counterattacked without hesitation, weaving webs of death with their floating turret beams to trap and destroy their targets, or using their beam deflectors to fire a curving beam that could disintegrate an ace fighter in a single shot.

After the fierce engagement, the rebels not only suffered heavy losses among their ace fighters—with many renowned masters shot down and killed—but the surrounding regular fighters were also caught in the collateral damage.

The standard fighters were mostly equipped with only Tier One pulse cannons, and their shields had low power output; only those prioritizing attack capacity might possess Tier Two pulse cannons, and even then, their shield power remained low. The physical limitations of fighter size and technology meant that these standard craft were as fragile as paper against the devastating firepower of the specialized fighters.

Everyone, please check if you still have any monthly tickets! Today is the last day of August; if you don’t use them, they’ll go to waste!