The array-type micro-fusion auxiliary thrusters on both port and starboard sides activated simultaneously.
Outside the viewports, two columns of cold-white plasma flare streams abruptly erupted.
Not the fiery orange of the main engines.
These were bluish, blade-shaped light bands formed by cryogenic compression jets.
The light band on the port side of the bow cut backward.
It was forcefully resisting the gravitational pull from the planet ahead, pushing the bow away from the planet.
Meanwhile, the auxiliary thrusters on the starboard side of the stern were doing the exact opposite.
They further leveraged the gravity of Danube Star, pulling the stern toward the planet.
One pulling, one pushing.
Two opposing forces erupted simultaneously on the same warship.
The starship was like a spinning top, struggling to complete its difficult start.
The hull emitted a teeth-grating screech.
The sound came from deep within the keel, passing through layer after layer of decks, reaching everyone's ears.
It was as if the entire battleship were being twisted like a rope by two giant hands.
Zhuang Zhixuan stared intently at the screen.
On the screen, the value representing hull structural stress tolerance was fluctuating wildly.
87%.
91%.
94%.
Still rising.
Still approaching the critical point.
Her heartbeat was almost syncing with those numbers.
But she dared not speak.
Because Qin Bei Wang was not speaking.
He just stood there, watching that screen.
Watching as the icons of the sixteen T5-class battleships on the screen slowly turned.
10°, 30°, 60°…
The bow began to deviate from its original course.
The arc tightly pressed down by planetary gravity was being gradually pulled back.
The stern continued to sink, still being pushed down by gravity.
But the bow was slowly lifting.
Slowly turning away from the planet.
The starship was slowly turning around.
As the rotation angle reached 180°.
The sixteen T5-class battleships completed their turn.
Qin Bei Wang stood there, watching that screen.
Outside the bow viewport, the approaching Blood Locust Fleet was now clearly visible.
Bridge of the flagship Iron Blood Sovereignty, Blood Locust Fleet.
General Knight stared at the sixteen green dots slowly turning around on the tactical screen, pausing for a second.
Then he laughed.
The smile spread from the corners of his mouth, carrying an incredulous, almost absurd tone.
"What kind of show are they putting on for me?"
He raised his hand, pointing at the screen, his voice full of mockery.
"Just sixteen starships?"
He paused, laughing out loud.
"And they dare turn around?"
Low chuckles echoed through the bridge.
His adjutant stood beside him, also staring at the screen, his expression tinged with sarcasm.
"Commander, can they not count?"
He reached out, circling the densely packed red dots on the screen.
"We have a full twelve hundred starships here."
His tone carried an undisguised sense of superiority.
"Sixteen against twelve hundred."
"They're certainly brave."
The laughter on the bridge grew louder than before.
Some joined in agreement.
"That saves us the trouble."
"No need to chase them—they've come to us on their own."
Knight nodded, the smile on his face growing wider.
He raised his hand and gestured forward, his voice filled with decisive confidence.
"Full assault."
"Annihilate them all!"
The order was swiftly relayed.
The remaining twelve hundred warships of the Blood Locust Fleet began adjusting their formation, pressing toward the sixteen isolated Federal T5-class Battleships.
Twelve hundred against sixteen.
No one saw any suspense in this battle.
However, at that moment, the voice of Celestial Pole Star Fleet Commander Lu Chengjun suddenly came through the channel of the Kunlun Mountain Refit-class battleship.
"Commander, sorry to keep you waiting!"
The next moment, the Celestial Pole Star Fleet and two Carrier Battle Groups emerged from the edge of Danube Star.
Under the acceleration provided by the planetary revolution, the speed of the Celestial Pole Star Fleet and the two Carrier Battle Groups increased significantly.
In no time, they had already reached the left flank of the sixteen T5-class Starships.
At the same time.
On the Iron Blood Sovereignty, the Sensor Supervisor's voice erupted, filled with barely suppressed shock.
"Commander!
A large-scale fleet is approaching!!"
Knight whipped his head around to look at the Tactical Screen.
On the screen, at the edge of Danube Star.
From the originally empty shadows, dense clusters of blue dots were now pouring out.
These dots were moving at an astonishing speed.
Their flight paths stretched out from deep within the shadows of Danube Star, like bullets violently flung out by the giant planet's gravity.
Knight's pupils contracted sharply.
"An ambush force?"
He muttered the words, his tone carrying a hint of surprise but far from panic.
The Sensor Supervisor's voice rang out again.
"Report! Enemy ambush force size confirmed—one hundred fifty-two ships in total!"
Knight was taken aback.
Then he laughed.
The smile spread from the corners of his mouth, carrying a sense of relief and even a touch of mockery.
"One hundred fifty-two ships?"
He repeated the number, his voice full of disdain.
He turned to look at the others on the Bridge.
The faces that had tensed up upon discovering the ambush force were now gradually relaxing.
Knight raised his hand and pointed at the screen.
"I thought they'd hidden a Duke-class Fleet."
His tone was light, carrying the relief of a false alarm.
"Who would have thought..."
He paused before continuing.
"It's just a Sub-fleet-sized ambush force."
The Adjutant chimed in beside him, his expression also relaxing.
"Plus those sixteen..."
He quickly calculated.
"That makes only one hundred sixty-eight ships in total."
He looked up at Knight.
"Commander, we have a full eight hundred combat-ready Starships."
Knight nodded.
Eight hundred against one hundred sixty-eight.
Five to one.
This battle was still overwhelmingly in his favor.
The smile on his face grew even wider.
"The Federation..."
He shook his head, his tone tinged with pity.
"They've run out of tricks."
A low chuckle rippled through the Bridge.
The tension that had risen upon discovering the ambush force had now completely dissipated.
Suddenly.
General Knight stared at the Tactical Screen.
The blue dots on the screen were moving at a speed he couldn't comprehend.
That speed...
It was too fast.
Unnaturally fast.
He frowned and shouted to the Sensor Supervisor.
"What's their speed?"
The Sensor Supervisor stared at the readings on the screen, his voice tinged with disbelief.
"Reporting, Commander—at least 170,000 kilometers per second, and still accelerating!"
"What?"
Knight was stunned.
170,000?
He instinctively shook his head.
This wasn't right.
As a veteran with decades of service, he was intimately familiar with the performance parameters of both the Empire's and the Federation's main force Capital Ships.
The maximum speed of a conventional Battleship should not exceed 150,000 kilometers per second.
That was the physical limit of Hull Structure and engine power.
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