Chapter 381: Cosmic Gambits

The captains hadn’t even had a chance to celebrate before the second wave of Negative Matter Space Mines vanished.

Shortly after, the warship was pushed along again by its reverse engine.

Clearly, the Negative Matter ammunition had struck that White Dwarf, robbing it of some mass and thus altering its gravitational pull.

However, the effect was minimal; the 100 warships soon resumed their course toward the marker.

Fortunately, Rin Feng and his fleet arrived just in time.

They maintained a safe distance to prevent their vessels from falling prey to the unseen gravitational grip of the White Dwarf.

Rin Feng commanded his fleet to halt 15 million kilometers away, then launched the Negative Matter ammunition toward the marker.

Earlier, Rin Feng had noticed that the Negative Matter ammunition fired by those 100 warships was barreling toward the wormhole marker at a speed far exceeding their launch velocity.

It was clear that the strong gravitational force was behind it.

Especially since those 100 warships had been caught in a gravitational pull about 6 million kilometers away, meaning the White Dwarf was now even closer to the wormhole entrance.

Under these conditions, its gravitational reach might have expanded to beyond 8 million kilometers.

Thus, launching the Negative Matter ammunition from 15 million kilometers away ensured safety while still striking the wormhole entrance.

Even before that ammunition was fired, Rin Feng’s flagship had already launched its first salvo from 15 Negative Matter Cannons.

As soon as the Negative Matter ammunition had been launched—before it could even obscure the flagship’s attack path—the second round was fired.

When these two waves of Negative Matter torrents crashed into the marker, the front 100 warships seemed to pull away a bit further.

Rin Feng barely had time for a third salvo as all main vessels had just launched their Negative Matter Interstellar Missiles, which now blocked the flagship’s firing corridor and were being accelerated by gravity toward the wormhole marker.

If he fired the Negative Matter Cannons now, the superluminal Negative Matter would instantly catch up with the missiles and annihilate them.

This barrage of Negative Matter Interstellar Missiles came from 900 warships – a daunting number indeed. Less than half a minute after they disappeared at the marker, those 100 warships suddenly surged outward.

They had somehow broken free from the White Dwarf’s gravitational shackles!

“Commander, we’ve successfully escaped the gravitational hold!”

All 100 warships reported back to Rin Feng.

“Return to formation immediately!” Rin Feng ordered, urging all 100 ships to accelerate back to the fleet.

At that moment, Sun Chunyi suggested, “Commander Rin, something’s off. That White Dwarf might be about to reappear. We should pull back a bit.”

Rin Feng agreed at once, ordering the fleet to retreat rapidly until they were 30 million kilometers from the marker.

Here, after the Negative Matter Space Mines from all warships had collided with the wormhole, he would order another barrage from the Negative Matter Cannons.

Meanwhile, the Negative Matter Space Mines were accelerating toward the marker.

Since the 100 warships had escaped the White Dwarf’s gravitational influence, a collective sigh of relief went up.

Then, suddenly, all warships’ alarms blared.

“Beep beep! Extreme High-Temperature Alert! Extreme High-Temperature Alert!”

“Beep beep! Level-1 Gamma Ray Radiation Alert! Level-1 Gamma Ray Radiation Alert!”

Without hesitation, Rin Feng ordered, “All ships, accelerate and get out of here!”

The fleet immediately hit full throttle and sped away. Twenty-eight minutes later, they were about 0.5 astronomical units away from the marker.

Only then did the warships’ AI downgrade the extreme high-temperature alarm to a level-1 alert—comparable to being as close to the Sun as Mercury.

The gamma ray radiation alert remained, though fortunately, the ships had been specially modified to withstand level-1 gamma radiation; otherwise, everyone on board would have perished.

Sun Chunyi shouted to Rin Feng, “Commander, this intense gamma radiation isn’t from a White Dwarf—it must be a Neutron Star! We have to find a way to intercept it!”

Rin Feng replied, “We can’t stop it. We must call in reinforcements from the rear!”

He immediately sent an emergency distress signal to the main fleet and to Longtar, reporting everything that was happening.

At that point, only the flagship’s Negative Matter Cannons could still fire; all the other vessels had exhausted their Negative Matter Ammunition.

Then, out of the void, an object suddenly flashed into view at the wormhole marker!

Almost simultaneously, the Negative Matter Space Mines disintegrated under immense gravitational forces, their torrents scattering and colliding with the object.

Under normal circumstances, it would be extremely difficult to discern an object 80 million kilometers away with an ordinary telescope.

After all, this region is far from any star and lacks sufficient visible light.

Moreover, this wasn’t an ordinary celestial body—it was a Neutron Star with immense gravity!

Fortunately, its temperature was sky-high; its surface reached 10 million Kelvin, compared to the White Dwarf’s 100,000K and the Sun’s mere 5770K.

Thus, the fleet’s infrared sensors could roughly outline its form.

Furthermore, Dream Technology’s special super-magnetic imager allowed Rin Feng and his team to view a holographic projection from the warships’ AI.

When the object first appeared, it looked like an irregular ellipse, with a long axis of 6 kilometers and a short axis of roughly 2.6 kilometers.

However, as it rotated 150 times per second, its irregularities began to smooth out.

“Those irregularities were likely caused by our earlier Negative Matter ammunition!” Sun Chunyi suddenly shouted.

Everyone instantly realized that although the Negative Matter torrent from the disintegrated space mines hadn’t dramatically changed its size, it had caused a loss of mass.

The object was pitch black, and its immense gravity even bent the light from distant stars.

“My God, our Negative Matter ammunition is repairing the mass loss almost too quickly!”

“What a sight—to witness a Neutron Star up close. It’s unforgettable.”

“Look at it, moving at only 500 kilometers per second. Not too fast.”

“Are you kidding? The Sun orbits at just about 220 kilometers per second; after all, a Neutron Star is what the Sun becomes.”

“I still can’t figure out how it entered the wormhole. And with such massive gravity, why hasn’t the wormhole collapsed?”

“The mysteries of the universe are endless…”

…

Experts on site began discussing the footage excitedly.

“Commander Rin, the trajectory of this Neutron Star is changing. I predict it will speed toward the Sun, as the mutual attraction between these massive bodies intensifies.”

Sun Chunyi reminded Rin Feng from beside him.

Rin Feng glanced at his command pad. Longtar had already replied.

“I can deploy 3,000 warships and arrange for 100 Transport Ships loaded with Negative Matter Ammunition to depart in an hour!”

Rin Feng immediately ordered an all-out barrage from the Negative Matter Cannons on the flagship. Although some Negative Matter would be wasted due to the distance, as long as it struck the Neutron Star, it could reduce its size.

The flagship’s Negative Matter Cannons were Du Qiu’s replication of the Dominant Civilization’s design, incorporating a Negative Matter Generator that also produced Antimatter.

Otherwise, if additional Antimatter were needed as raw material, Du Qiu wouldn’t have been able to replicate the Negative Matter Cannons. After all, Dream Technology had only just acquired the capability to produce and store Antimatter for a limited time.

It was because the Dominant Civilization used ordinary matter—in fact, the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen—as the raw material for their Negative Matter Cannons.

This allowed the Negative Matter Cannons to have endless ammunition. As long as their components held up, they could keep firing indefinitely.

Thus, before Longtar’s reinforcements could arrive, Rin Feng planned to have the flagship’s 15 Negative Matter Cannons relentlessly pummel the Neutron Star.

Although this interception fire might not completely obliterate the Neutron Star, it should at least shrink it further.

Previously, when the Negative Matter ammunition attacked the Neutron Star in the wormhole, no one could tell the effect.

But this time, when the Negative Matter torrent struck the Neutron Star, everyone noticed 15 depressions forming on its surface.

Yet each depression was only about 200 meters deep and would soon self-repair.

“This… the power of the Negative Matter Cannons is too weak, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, how many more salvos will it take to annihilate it?”

…

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