Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 986 Is it now?
Seeing the enemy's strength increase further, everyone in the cockpit, except Alice, began to feel the pressure. Through the big screen, Linger saw that the arrow formation in front of him suddenly began to split, and the red magic flow ejected by the Lancers spread to both sides, just like the tide hitting the sharp reef, but the machines still maintained a consistent distance between each other, and the dispersion, acceleration, and dive gliding postures were all smooth and without any delay.

A sea of ​​​​flaming fire parted in front of everyone, spreading to both sides of the darkness. Obviously, the enemy commander had seen through the only weakness of the Arus binary starship, which was that it was too large, so its mobility was relatively backward, and it seemed to lack tracking killing methods. It was impossible to completely contain the offensive with only the [Black Hole Collapse Device] and [White Hole Expansion Device]. From this point of view, even the Lancer body, which was the most cumbersome of all the constructed mechas, could easily control this giant whale of steel with its own mobility.

If the Lancers were allowed to disperse and fight, the fighting methods would become more diversified, not limited to firepower coverage, but also harassment, guerrilla warfare, cover, support, and even medium- and short-range melee combat, which they are best at. Can a thousand ants tear a wound on a whale? Fisher thought it was worth trying. After all, the Lancers were not ordinary ants, and the Arus binary starship was far less flexible than a whale in the sea.

"Just trying to be clever!"

Gloria curled her lips and said, "Yieta, prepare to activate the [Meteor Propulsion Device]..."

If it was the former Sky Giant, the Arus, it might be really helpless against this kind of guerrilla tactics, but the Sky Giant, the Arus binary starship equipped with the [Meteor Propulsion Device], its instantaneous burst of speed might overturn the opponent's cognition.

"Wait, Gloria." Ling Ge, who had been observing the battle silently, suddenly spoke up and interrupted her order: "I don't think it's a good idea to keep fighting like this. If we delay until the enemy troops come to support us, it will be even more disadvantageous for us."

"Oh? So do you have any better suggestions, dear Mr. Ling?" The gray-haired girl turned her head and glanced at the young man, her eyes intriguing: "Also, remember to call me captain next time. This is the rule. On the sea, those who don't know how to abide by the rules will eventually be thrown into the sea to feed the sharks. In fact, I quite like you, Mr. Ling, but I don't want you to become a delicious meal for sharks, okay?"

"Thank you for your reminder. I will pay attention next time."

Lingge replied expressionlessly, and then went straight to the point: "My idea is that maybe we can use this opportunity to win the game in one fell swoop. The current situation is that in order to implement guerrilla tactics, the enemy has dispersed the formation of the Lancers, exposing their rear front. We have the [Meteor Propulsion Device], and mobility is actually not a weakness. The enemy does not know this information yet, and it is also the key to our victory. If we only use it to fight with the Lancers, it would be too wasteful. Once the enemy comes to their senses and finds a way to deal with it, I am afraid it will be difficult for us to find such a good opportunity a second time."

"You mean beheading?"

Gloria glanced at the big screen. Just as Linge said, when the arrow formation of the Lancers was dispersed into countless small-scale guerrilla formations, the fleet cluster in the rear was also exposed to them without reservation. If they used the [Meteor Propulsion Device] to break through to the enemy's formation in one fell swoop and disperse their fleet cluster, they could indeed directly establish victory.

However, if the mobility of one's own side is exposed, the enemy will become alert and be prepared for their surprise attack at any time, which is not a good choice.

"First, show weakness to the enemy and paralyze them; then, while the enemy is off guard, break into the enemy camp and decapitate them. It would be best if we can directly destroy the warship that the enemy commander is on. In this way, the remaining troops will not pose much of a threat." Linger stated his plan calmly, in a concise, clear, and decisive style.

Sparks of fire had already flickered on both sides of the Arus binary starship. At medium and short distances, a number of Lancer machines raised their lances towards the steel armor of the giant ship, charging like knights of the classical era. A series of red-starred light spears streaked through the darkness, and every time they hit the ship, they would produce extremely dazzling flames. Although it was a heavy and bulky machine, the blades were as precise and sharp as a scalpel, trying to cut this deep-sea whale from the outside, cutting through the flesh and bones.

Xino listened attentively for a moment, then said in a serious tone, "They are attacking the weak points of the armor layer. Their strength and accuracy are...amazing."

The knights of House Gustave used a word to describe the fighting style of the Lancers.

"It doesn't matter." Linger said, "Before the power plant of the Arus binary starship is exhausted, this layer of armor will not be broken, so we have enough spare energy to camouflage. As long as we make the enemy believe that we have been trapped in guerrilla tactics and cannot move forward, they will relax their vigilance, and the possibility of a successful surprise attack will be greater."

"Swoosh~" Captain Gloria whistled, with a playful smile on her face that lacked tension: "It's a good idea, Mr. Ling, but the only problem is--"

She looked up at the seemingly defenseless fleet, her eyes suddenly becoming grim: "How can you be sure that the enemy will not be able to stop our decapitation? Or do you think that fleet is just an empty shell and has no other means of combat except for the lancers?"

This is of course impossible. The enemy commander probably feels that the Lancers alone are enough to deal with the current situation, so he did not use other combat methods.

"But we have to do this." Ling Ge said, "This is the only way if you don't want to get into a war of attrition."

"It seems so." The captain sighed softly.

Now, they are the ones who have no choice, while the other party is the one who can counter the opponent's moves.

"What if," a voice suddenly interrupted the conversation between the two, and it sounded particularly clear in the suddenly quiet cab: "What if our real goal is not to behead people?"

Everyone looked over and found that the person who spoke was actually Saint Shallia. The shepherdess always adhered to the principle of specialization and never made rash comments on areas she was not familiar with, which was in sharp contrast to a certain golden-haired maid who liked to speak out.

"Not beheading?" Linger frowned slightly when he heard this: "But besides this, is there any other way to get out of this predicament?"

"some."

Saint Xia Liya nodded slightly, and although the movement was not large, she seemed very confident. She pointed to the big screen and said, "Didn't you notice that the fleet actually stayed at the border between the outer star field and the initial star field, and did not cross the border."

This sentence made everyone look up at the same time, and found that it was true. The battlefield where the two sides were now was actually not in the scope of the initial star field. It was just a relatively desolate and desolate planetary belt. Even the two closest stars were millions of kilometers apart, but at least there were planets, and there were also some broken meteorite belts intermittently distributed in the middle. It was not like the initial star field, which was completely deep, completely empty, and completely dead. The enemy's fleet stayed at the junction of this planetary belt and the initial star field, blocking their way. From the beginning of the war to now, no matter how the situation changed, it seemed that there was no intention to retreat, and it seemed that it was afraid of something.

"Could it be that..." Ling'er's expression changed slightly, and he thought of the key point.

"That's right." Saint Shallia nodded gently, confirming his guess: "The Initial Star Region is the holy land where Mother was born. It is also the origin of the universe and the most divine and lawful region. Therefore, the supreme law in the dark stipulates that any fight should not affect this place. Those who violate it will be abandoned by the entire universe. I think the enemy is probably concerned about this."

Linger quickly responded: "On the other hand, we can also take advantage of this!"

Gloria's lips curled up slowly, as if she found this idea very interesting. "It's a lie that the Arus twin starships are not very maneuverable, and it's another lie that they want to break into the enemy camp and execute a decapitation tactic. They use two lies to cover up their true purpose and rush directly into the initial star field when the enemy is careless... The possibility of success is indeed very high."

As the captain, she immediately made a decision: "Let's follow this plan!"

No one objected, so, at Gloria's instruction, Yieta did not activate the [Meteor Propulsion Device] for the time being, but instead controlled the Arus binary starship, directly ignoring the Lancers who were launching fierce attacks from all directions, and approached the enemy fleet cluster with an awe-inspiring and unstoppable momentum, as if she wanted to break through head-on.

Fisher in the command ship frowned when he saw this. As an experienced commander, he naturally judged the other party's intentions, but he couldn't guess where their confidence came from. Did they think that as long as they got closer, the size of the whale ship would be enough to disrupt their formation? If so, it would be too naive.

The Star Cruiser Force does not only have the Lancers as their only combat method. The enemies they usually face are all violent and barbaric extraterrestrial beasts that have no idea of ​​tactics and strategy. They already have rich experience in how to resist the head-on collision of large enemies.

Fisher calmly gave the order into the communicator: "Lance Troops, Columns 1 to 6, approve the activation of the gravity anchor launcher, turn on the maximum power to contain the enemy's actions; Power Room, overload the magic engine, prepare to activate the magic protection field."

Under his command, the Lancers, who were launching a fierce attack on the Arus binary starship, scattered their stars and rearranged their formations in an area far from the battlefield. They looked down from a high place, and the stern and cold magic projection device reflected the trajectory of the steel battleship moving forward, like a huge whale slowly swimming through the dark and deep abyss. They raised their left arms in unison and aimed their giant lances at the weak parts of the outer armor.

The next moment, with Commander Fisher's brief and powerful command coming from the communicator, they activated the gravity anchor shooting device installed on the Lancer body without hesitation, which was used to contain the activity space of large enemies. In an instant, the giant lances connected to the left arm broke free from the restraints of the body and shot out, like heavy barbed hooks fired at full speed from a whaling ship, bringing up a large area of ​​creepy cold light, pressing towards the Arus binary starship, and accurately inserted into the weak point of the armor. The muzzle at the end of the gun spurted out blazing magic flames in the flesh and blood of the whale, turning into a barb that firmly stuck to the wound.

The magic furnace was overloaded, and the magic flow behind it was gushing out. Countless red star flames gathered together to form a huge jet of thousands of yards. The lancers exerted their body performance to the extreme, slowly and firmly pulling the giant ship backwards. The terrifying force even tightened the magic chain connected to the end of the lance. The magic flow torn by gravity appeared almost transparent, and even gave people a feeling that it would break at any time.

Hundreds of hooks were wrapped around the surface of the giant ship, with tiny figures connected to the ends. The scene was spectacular and easily reminded people of the fishermen at sea who fought whales with their flesh and blood in the Middle Ages. For survival and profit, they even dared to jump onto the back of the whale and tear open the rock-thick skin with the sharpest serrated scimitars, letting the red and smelly blood gush out. The giant beast churned the sea water in pain and let out a withered wail. The scene gave people a shocking and poignant feeling.

"The speed of the Arus binary starship has begun to decrease!"

Yieta stared at the data displayed on the operating screen. The heavy burden on her shoulders made her swallow her saliva. "The speed is about to drop to 19 knots, and the gravity from the outside is still increasing."

"It's okay." Gloria stared at the big screen, her face unchanged. "Keep sailing in this state, try to get closer to the enemy fleet, and be prepared to activate the [Meteor Propulsion Device]. When the speed drops to about 15 knots, I will give you instructions. Don't miss it, ok, Yieta?"

"Mm!" Miss Angel swallowed again and nodded solemnly: "I will pay attention!"

Gloria nodded with satisfaction and said no more.

Yieta followed her instructions, ignored the gravitational interference from the outside, and drove the Arus binary starship to continue approaching the enemy formation. At this time, Fisher was also ready. If the Lancers could not stop the enemy's forward steps, he would give the order in time to activate the second layer of protection measures.

The Lancers pulling the magic hooks burst out with even more terrifying force, but the giant whale still ignored it and slowly approached forward, its momentum seemed unstoppable. Every time it swam a distance in the dark abyss, the line of data on the operating screen that symbolized the sailing speed would drop. Although the magnitude of each drop was not large, in a space voyage with a range of millions of kilometers, the changes brought about were visible to the naked eye.

Eighteen knots.

Seventeen knots.

Sixteen knots.

Fifteen knots... finally reduced to the threshold she had determined, Gloria estimated the distance between her and the enemy fleet cluster, a glimmer of light flashed in her gray eyes: "Now, Yieta!"

"Activate the [Meteor Propulsion Device], Arus Binary Starship——"

"Go at full speed and break through the enemy line!"

Give me some meow