Time passed minute by minute.
More and more Zerg clung to the surface of the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser, like bees drawn to honey.
The firepower of the close defense cannons could no longer clear these Zerg off the starship armor.
Stellar drones began to fall one by one.
Stellar missiles were gradually depleted.
Even some T2 Spiked Serpents started attacking the starship's gun emplacements.
"Warning! One close defense cannon position has been destroyed!"
"Warning! Star shield energy is continuously decreasing... 46%..."
"Warning! Starship armor is under sustained attack."
The teachers and students in the hangar were now shrouded in an atmosphere of death, but every crew member at other starship stations remained steadfast at their posts. They could even hear the impact of Zerg colliding with the ship hull, yet they remained unmoved.
On the bridge, the crew members performed their respective duties.
Deputy Captain Charlotte handled various combat data with a stern expression.
Zhao Chen maintained a leisurely posture leaning back in the captain's chair, his expression calm and composed, as if what lay outside were not tens of thousands of Zerg Swarm, but a bunch of ants.
In the external image feed on the bridge, only dark, swarming Zerg shadows could be seen now, along with the debris and 'bloodstains' left by Zerg impacts on the ship hull.
Soon, the third round of main cannon fire reset its cooldown and fired again, blasting open the dense swarm of Zerg before the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser.
"Sixty seconds left!" Zhao Chen counted the number in his mind.
This was the reset and charging time for the bow cannon.
And these sixty seconds, to some extent, determined whether the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser could survive within the Zerg Swarm.
Now it was a test of the hull strength of the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser.
Stellar missiles were depleted.
The four 2500mm cannons entered cooldown again.
Forty seconds...
Sixteen medium pulse laser secondary guns, three damaged by attacks from T3 Self-detonating Beetles and T3 Corrupted Wyverns.
Thirty seconds...
Nearly one-fifth of the seventy-two medium close-in defense guns were damaged and unusable, and this number continued to rise.
Meanwhile, the massive bow cannon located at the bow of the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser began emitting a blue glow, as if some energy was accumulating within.
Some Zerg that strayed into it were instantly reduced to dust.
Twenty seconds...
All fifty Blizzard Stellar Drones had fallen.
Ten seconds...
It seemed this prey could no longer escape from this abyssal maw.
"Report, the Blizzard-class Heavy Cluster Laser Bow Cannon is ready!" The crew member's shout seemed audible throughout the entire bridge.
Zhao Chen and Charlotte roared the same two words almost simultaneously.
"Fire!"
...
Outside the seventh planet of the Water Lily Star System
An intense interstellar battle was raging, with the combatants being a T3 Interstellar Battlecruiser and a Zerg fleet!
If anyone had been observing, they would have seen that within just five minutes, this T3 interstellar warship was engulfed by the Zerg Swarm.
The entire Zerg Swarm resembled a black vortex, 'wrapping' that T3 interstellar warship within it.
Just as everything seemed to be coming to an end, a massive blue beam pierced through the black vortex, annihilating countless Zerg within its brilliant light.
Simultaneously, the blue beam shot straight toward a T3 Nest Mothership ahead.
Perhaps sensing the danger, this T3 Nest Mothership, unlike its unfortunate predecessor, reacted with remarkable agility. It launched a cluster of spherical larval spores and executed evasive maneuvers.
These were T1 Zerg Troop Types deployed by the T3 Nest Mothership, functioning similarly to jamming shells on a starship—designed to intercept enemy attacks and protect the mothership.
Under the impact of the blue beam, the larval spores exploded one after another.
Finally, the blue beam struck the biological armor on the side of the T3 Nest Mothership, which had been forced into an emergency turn.
The collision of spear and shield unfolded like a comet crashing into a planet.
The entire T3 Nest Mothership began to tilt sideways, its biological armor gradually "melting" away.
The T3 Nest Mothership opened its massive maw, as if roaring in agony, and released even more Zerg units from its body. They flung themselves recklessly into the beam, attempting to neutralize the attack.
At the same time, a blue-and-white starship surged out from the dense Zerg Swarm, following the trajectory of its bow cannon's attack.
"Don't stop! Full speed ahead!" Charlotte urgently shouted.
The beam laser from the bow cannon of the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser soon dissipated.
On the side of the attacked T3 Nest Mothership, a gaping hole had been torn open, its biological armor completely breached, revealing the grotesque Zerg organs within.
However, the beam had not fully penetrated the T3 Nest Mothership's body.
The T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser, having broken through the Zerg Swarm, flew right past the heavily damaged T3 Nest Mothership.
The once imposing T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser now appeared diminutive beside the colossal T3 Nest Mothership.
Hangar
The faculty and students from both academies watched the images projected through the viewport.
They could clearly see the breach in the T3 Nest Mothership's biological armor, which offered a direct view into one of its Zerg Hatcheries. Inside, densely packed Zerg Eggs were piled together, numbering at least in the tens of thousands!
The sight alone was enough to send shivers down one's spine.
Due to the sudden attack, some of the Zerg Eggs had ruptured prematurely, and struggling Zerg units could be seen crawling out.
In other areas within the interior, large numbers of Zerg could be seen roaring at them. However, these Zerg seemed incapable of flight in space and could only watch helplessly as the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser passed by, utterly powerless to intervene.
"Gulp... This might be the closest I'll ever get to a T3 Nest Mothership in my lifetime," muttered a professor specializing in Interstellar Zerg research, his voice trembling with a mix of excitement and awe.
The T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser did not launch another attack on the severely wounded T3 Nest Mothership. Instead, it soared past and continued onward into the distance.
Behind it, a massive swarm of Zerg, like a tidal wave, continued its relentless pursuit.
However, having lost the advantage of encirclement, they could no longer catch up with this Stellar Battlecruiser.
A few Hive Motherships fired Biological Plasma Cannons from behind, with only a handful of shots hitting the star shield, which had been adjusted to the rear of the starship.
"We... escaped?" The teachers and students from both academies looked at each other, finding it hard to believe the outcome.
They had actually survived!