He did not finish his sentence.
But Knight understood.
The capital ships were the true heart of the problem.
He nodded, preparing to issue the order.
The navigator's voice suddenly rang out, interrupting his train of thought.
"Commander!"
Knight turned his head.
The navigator was staring intently at his screen, his expression grave.
"The direction the enemy fleet is advancing in…"
He paused, looking up.
"...is counter to Danube Star's orbital revolution."
His fingers moved swiftly across the screen, pulling up a set of data.
"If we follow them in recklessly, we will also be affected by Danube Star's planetary gravity."
"At that point…"
He raised his head, looking at Knight.
"...our navigation speed will be severely restricted."
The bridge fell silent for a moment.
All eyes were fixed on Knight.
Knight stared at the screen, silent for two seconds.
Then he smiled.
The smile spread from the corner of his mouth, carrying a hint of disdain, a touch of mockery, and a ruthless determination to burn his bridges.
"Will be affected by planetary gravity?"
He repeated the navigator's words.
Then he shook his head gently.
"So what?"
His voice rose, filled with an unquestionable resolve.
"Full speed pursuit."
"Target: the Federal capital ship fleet ahead."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.
"We will be affected by planetary gravity…"
"What about them?"
No one answered.
Because the answer was obvious.
"They will be too."
Knight's voice echoed through the bridge, carrying a ruthless, all-or-nothing edge.
"We're all in the same gravitational field. No one gets an advantage."
He turned around, facing the tactical screen once more.
On the screen, those T5-class Federal warships were slowly cutting into Danube Star's orbit.
He watched those points of light, silent for a second.
Then his voice sounded again, this time laced with a complex mix of anger and helplessness.
"If we don't bring back some achievements…"
He paused.
"...how do we explain ourselves to the higher-ups?"
The bridge fell silent again.
No one spoke further.
Because everyone knew Knight was stating a fact.
The Blood Locust Fleet had sortied with three thousand warships.
Now, only twelve hundred remained.
Admiral Scott's order was: "Even if only three hundred are left, you must hold onto them."
They had pursued. They had followed them here.
If they stopped now, fearing planetary gravity…
How would they explain themselves upon returning?
What explanation could they possibly give?
The Pluto Direct Fleet and the Tiankui Star T5-class Fleet Group.
The fleet was cutting diagonally, approaching the front-facing side of Danube Star.
The massive gas giant now occupied half the view outside the viewports.
Its surface churned with banded cloud layers of orange-red and milky white. Enormous storm vortices slowly rotated within the clouds, casting shadows large enough to cover a small planet.
The starship's speed began to drop.
At first, the drop was slow, almost imperceptible.
But soon, everyone felt it.
The sensation was akin to a ship being slowly pushed into an unseen sea.
As the fleet continued to plunge deeper into the gravitational field of Danube Star, the resistance of that sea grew increasingly intense.
On the Bridge, everyone was fixated on their screens.
On those screens, the number representing Navigation Speed was visibly plummeting.
One hundred and fifty thousand kilometers per second.
Zhuang Zhixuan watched that number, her fists involuntarily clenching.
One hundred and thirty thousand.
A faint tremor ran through the hull, as if some invisible force was squeezing the leviathan from all sides.
One hundred and ten thousand.
Someone drew in a sharp, quiet breath.
It was a long, drawn-in breath, laden with barely suppressed tension.
Ninety thousand.
The Bridge fell so silent that only the low hum of instruments remained.
No one spoke.
All eyes were locked on that number.
The number continued to drop.
Zhuang Zhixuan turned her head to look at Qin Bei Wang.
Qin Bei Wang stood motionless before the Command Console.
His gaze was fixed on the Tactical Screen, on the planet growing ever larger upon it, on the arc being gradually etched into existence by the fleet's flight path.
His face betrayed no expression.
It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Impossible to tell if he was tense, calculating, or simply waiting.
If the deceleration continued at this rate...
An image involuntarily surfaced in Zhuang Zhixuan's mind.
The fleet's speed, slower and slower, until finally—
A standstill.
They might even become sitting ducks for the pursuing Blood Locust Fleet.
However, the Blood Locust Fleet was not faring much better at this moment.
They, too, were affected by the planetary gravity, their starships' speed likewise decreasing.
This irritated General Knight immensely.
He barked into the channel to his Gunnery Chief.
"Are we in range yet? I don't want to play this tortoise-and-hare game!"
Soon, the Gunnery Chief's voice came through the channel.
"Reporting, Commander! The distance between the enemy fleet and ours remains over 1.9 million kilometers.
We are not within firing range!"
Upon hearing this, General Knight cursed angrily.
"Damn them! What are they trying to do?!"
Even if the enemy was utilizing this gravitational field, they couldn't shake off the pursuit.
It was merely buying time.
"Could they be waiting for reinforcements?"
A terrifying thought flashed through General Knight's mind.
Meanwhile.
At the forefront of the Pluto T5-class fleet group.
The face of Danube Star now filled the entire Viewport.
The gas giant's clouds churned, storm vortexes swirled, and its gravitational field pressed down upon every warship like a giant hand slowly tightening its grip from dead ahead.
Speed had fallen to thirty thousand kilometers per second.
The trembling of the hull was more violent than at any moment before.
This wasn't the shudder of an impact, but a deeper, more fundamental groan from the structure itself.
Metal was being stretched, welds were being strained, every Armor Plate was enduring the pull of gravitational forces measured in hundreds of millions of tons.
Zhuang Zhixuan gripped the handrail tightly, her knuckles white.
She looked at Qin Bei Wang.
Qin Bei Wang stood there, unmoving.
His gaze remained on the Tactical Screen, on the virtual marker of the turnaround point slowly drawing nearer.
Then, he spoke.
His voice was as steady as the dead calm at the eye of a storm.
"All personnel, attention."
Every spine on the Bridge straightened simultaneously.
"Starboard stern auxiliary thrusters!"
He paused, then continued.
"Port bow auxiliary thrusters!"
"Maximum power."
His voice rose slightly.
"We're going to execute a Dragon Tail Sweep."
The command spread across the sixteen T5-class battleships.
The next moment.
There was no deafening roar like that of the main engines firing.
Instead, a deeper, more terrifying sound emerged.
It was a low-frequency tremor seeping from every inch of the hull's skeleton.
Like the bone-cracking sound of a giant beast tensing its sinews.
Dull and heavy, it hammered against the chest.
So oppressive it stole one's breath.