Combat Arbitration Zone
The spectators watched as the two starships sailed toward each other, knowing that the clash between the two vessels was about to begin.
"Look! It's the laser main cannon of the T2 White Eagle-class Light Interstellar Cruiser! It's about to fire!"
"That Zhao Chen fellow better pray for himself. I reckon that scrap-metal starship of his might not even withstand a single shot from that."
"Look at Zhao Chen's whatever-that-is starship. What are those weapons on its hull? Just a few dozen point-defense guns and five T2 laser cannons. With that kind of firepower, how is he supposed to fight a T2 White Eagle?"
The audience was clearly in a mood to watch a spectacle.
Sitting in the corner, Zhao Wan'er clenched her fists anxiously, her eyes filled with worry.
"The firepower of the T2 White Eagle-class Light Interstellar Cruiser's laser main cannon isn't that terrifying. At this range, a direct hit would at most cause heavy damage. As long as your brother knows when to yield and surrenders in time, there won't be any real danger," Senior Su Lan said beside her.
She no longer believed Zhao Chen could win; she only hoped he would have the sense to surrender and admit defeat. She didn't care about the man's fate; she just didn't want to see her good friend heartbroken and distressed.
"Stubborn brother, you mustn't get hurt! As long as the green hills remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood!" Zhao Wan'er muttered to herself.
From the broadcast feed, everyone could see that the T2 Medium White Eagle Laser Main Cannon mounted on the bow of Zhang Haoran's T2 White Eagle-class Light Interstellar Cruiser was already crackling with electric currents—a sign it was about to fire.
A few seconds later, a laser beam shot forth, streaking directly toward the target starship.
But then, something unexpected happened.
On one side of the broadcast feed, there was a display monitoring some data of the dueling starships, including their speed records.
The Zero Blizzard, which had been sailing at 40 knots stellar speed, suddenly began a right turn and accelerated.
In less than three seconds, its speed surged from the original 40 knots stellar speed to 80 knots stellar speed.
Its trajectory traced an arc along the edge of an imaginary circle centered on the T2 White Eagle.
This directly caused the laser beam to miss, failing to hit the Zero Blizzard.
The spectator stands erupted in an uproar.
"What just happened? Was that my imagination, or did that Zero Blizzard suddenly accelerate so much?"
"A coincidence! It must be a coincidence! Or maybe our monitoring instruments malfunctioned. How could that junk starship possibly have an 80-knot stellar speed? That's impossible!"
"Even the T2 White Eagle only has a 65-knot stellar speed!"
"But... how did it dodge that main cannon laser from the T2 White Eagle?"
Faced with this question, the crowd that had been dismissive of Zhao Chen fell into silence.
"What... just happened?" The twin-tailed loli Xue Xiaoxiao stared wide-eyed at her two friends.
"Eighty knots stellar speed... this... how is that possible..." Zhao Wan'er swallowed hard.
Senior Su Lan's gaze also turned serious at this moment, fixed intently on the live broadcast screen.
Having completed its arcing maneuver, the Zero Blizzard turned left again, once more setting its sights directly on the T2 White Eagle-class Light Interstellar Cruiser, while its speed continued to climb further.
85 knots stellar speed... 90 knots stellar speed... 95 knots stellar speed...
Everyone stared intently at the data column displaying the speed of the Zero Blizzard.
Finally, the speed settled at 100 knots stellar speed!
Unbelievable!
Incredible!
That was the thought in everyone's mind.
Even the instructors on the Judging Panel showed expressions of astonishment.
It wasn't unheard of for a T2 Starship to reach 100 knots stellar speed, but those were either exceptionally rare models or specially modified ones.
Yet that unremarkable-looking assembled starship had managed to hit 100 knots stellar speed.
How... was that possible?
At this moment, Zhao Chen on the Zero Blizzard had no mind to entertain the audience's curiosity.
His breathing was slightly hurried. Just moments ago, his eyes had been fixed on the radar star map, watching the laser's attack trajectory skim past the tail of the Zero Blizzard.
Although it seemed like a considerable distance.
According to the starship system's calculations, if they had been just one second slower!
Their Zero Blizzard could have been hit. While it wouldn't have been destroyed in one shot, hull damage would have been unavoidable.
"Now it's time to return the favor.
Show them our 1200mm caliber cannon! Let's blast them!" Zhao Chen, his emotions running high, stood up abruptly, one foot planted on the captain's chair, pointing forward!
Deputy Captain Charlotte issued the command: "Target the enemy vessel, full speed ahead. Simultaneously activate the T2 Heavy 1200mm Devil Crocodile Cannon."
"Understood! Proceeding at full speed!"
"Activating T2 Heavy 1200mm Devil Crocodile Cannon. Ten seconds required... 10..."
At the bow of the Zero Blizzard, a hatch suddenly appeared. The hatch opened, revealing a dark, gaping cannon barrel.
Instantly, everyone in the spectator stands could no longer remain seated; they all rose to their feet.
Even several instructors stood up in disbelief.
A middle-aged instructor exclaimed in shock, "That... that's... the 1200mm caliber cannon from the T2 Devil Crocodile-class Medium Interstellar Battleship? How could... it appear on this starship?"
"Retrieve this student's Academy records for me!" the head judge ordered someone beside him.
Soon, a record was pulled up.
Looking at the retrieved record, the head judge suddenly understood: "T2 Gray Wolf... T2 Devil Crocodile... T2 Hyena... It all matches up!
This guy actually assembled a starship using these three models and even installed... the T2 Devil Crocodile's bow main cannon onto his ship!"
Some sharp-eared audience members and students in the stands behind overheard this.
"My heavens! It's actually the bow main cannon from the T2 Devil Crocodile-class Medium Interstellar Battleship!"
"T2 Devil Crocodile-class Medium Interstellar Battleship? What kind of starship is that?"
"You never pay attention in class. It's a T2 starship battleship released a century ago. Back then, in pursuit of heavy firepower, they directly installed the largest caliber cannon of the time—this very 1200mm bow cannon—on this interstellar battleship, and it was still a cannon!
Legend has it that its power is such that no T2 starship could withstand a single shot from it."
"1200mm caliber... isn't that a configuration only found on T3 starships? Then why haven't we heard of this starship model nowadays?"
"Because it has a major design flaw. While focusing on firepower, it didn't consider whether the other system modules of a T2 starship could support such a powerful weapon system, often resulting in various malfunctions.
Additionally, its construction cost is too high, several times more than a typical T2 interstellar battleship. Ultimately, it was discontinued less than thirty years after its release."
Senior Su Lan was visibly moved at this point. She looked at Zhao Wan'er and said, "You didn't mention earlier that your brother installed this cannon on a starship, did you?"
"I... I'm not too sure either..." Zhao Wan'er's expression was equally strange at the moment. What on earth was her brother up to?
"Giant cannon! Giant cannon! I love giant cannons the most!" The twin-tailed loli Xue Xiaoxiao was now hopping up and down, her eyes sparkling with excitement!
Senior Su Lan and Zhao Wan'er could only look on helplessly. Xue Xiaoxiao was having another one of her episodes.
She suffered from a severe 'giant cannon obsession,' and her favorite combination was interstellar battleships paired with large-caliber cannons!