Chapter 183: Quantum Bombs and the Fall of Two Kingdoms

Even though the Houyi didn’t destroy more than a hundred enemy warships in this attack,

Taking out the flagship and following up with a string of shocking maneuvers sent the entire Totran Kingdom fleet into disarray and crushed their morale.

Some ships even broke formation and fled on their own, racing toward the interstellar current leading to the capital region.

A whole fleet couldn’t escape together, but right now, whoever ran first had the best shot at reaching the current ahead of the rest.

Maybe even the capital itself would fall in a few months.

In these times, living one more day is as good as it gets.

With the legion commander gone, the fleet was already in chaos. Now, with ships starting to flee in all directions,

The confusion reached its peak in an instant.

Everything that happened next was predictable—it would play out just like what happened to the royal court of the Blue-Eye Tribe. The ending was already set.

Thirty-seven days later.

The Battle of Kodo was over.

It wasn’t that the Totran Kingdom’s fleet held out for thirty-seven days—in reality, they lasted just a few hours.

The next thirty-seven days were spent with the Xitoris Kingdom’s fleet giving relentless pursuit, all the way to the mouth of the current leading toward Totran’s capital region.

In the end, not even a thousand Totran warships escaped into the current.

That meant the forces defending Totran’s capital—including the routed ships—totaled fewer than two thousand warships.

Meanwhile, the Xitoris Kingdom still had over ten thousand Seawolf-class warships at the ready.

So, they didn’t waste any time.

After just a few hours spent regrouping, leaving three hundred ships for cleanup and garrison duty,

They sent wave after wave into the current, kicking off the battle for the capital region without delay.

By this point, these two civilizations—the Blue-Eye Tribe and the Totran Kingdom—were basically finished.

Maybe they could cobble together a few scattered ships somewhere, but even then, there’d never be more than five thousand left, scattered across different star systems, never again able to stop the armies of the Ziyang Empire and the Xitoris Kingdom.

Their destruction…

Was now only a matter of time.

As for the Wasteland Alliance’s joint fleet, they’d never be able to arrive in time.

Though the territory conquered from the Blue-Eye Tribe and Totran Kingdom all went to the Ziyang Empire and Xitoris Kingdom, that didn’t mean the Human Federation got nothing out of it.

First off, both powers would cede several stars from their original territories, allowing the Federation’s borders to link into the heart of the Desolate Star Region.

Second, Parlo and Tuoba would certainly order more arms from the Federation, paying for them with resources from these newly won lands.

So even if the territory went to them, a huge chunk of resources produced there would still end up in the Federation’s hands.

And through the whole thing, the Federation didn’t need to send troops or make any major effort.

All they had to do was lay back at home and rake in enormous resources—and new territory to boot.

This time, Lin Yu only stepped in because he wanted to test quantum bombs in real combat and try out new tactics with them.

Otherwise, the Federation wouldn’t have intervened at all.

Of course, while the Federation wouldn’t get involved for now, that would change in the next phase. After they got access to the inner passage of the Desolate Star Region and finished their military buildup,

Then it would be a whole different story.

Whether it was to train their troops or speed up the overall strategy for the Desolate Star Region,

It wouldn’t be enough to just sit back and watch from the rear any longer.

——

Just over twenty days later.

A report reached the Federation Fleet’s Lunar Headquarters.

It was written by Lin Yu, detailing quantum bomb performance in live combat and all the tactics suited to the weapon.

Some of those tactics were already battle-tested, supported by detailed combat logs and video footage.

Others were still just Lin Yu’s ideas, not yet tried in real action—he’d used simulations and theory to back them up.

So, calling it just a report was underselling it. It was more like a complete tactical data package.

It offered the very first strategic framework for making the most of quantum bombs.

Mu Xingchen was extremely satisfied with the report. After some discussion among the top brass, it was distributed to every fleet commander.

At the same time, they officially approved plans for mass-producing the quantum bomb.

Naturally, large-scale production of the special railgun batteries needed to launch quantum bombs was also scheduled.

It was decided that, going forward, every Seawolf-class warship and Warstar would be armed with this weapon. The only difference would be—

Seawolf-class ships would get four sets of launchers, with two thousand rounds each.

As for Warstars, a fifth of their railgun arrays would be converted for quantum bomb firing, carrying at least fifty thousand rounds apiece.

But there was one exception among the Warstars.

That was the Houyi.

It was a special Warstar, after all—it never had any railgun batteries installed. The twenty-four used before were makeshift, cobbled together by removing a few secondary guns.

So, the Houyi would have more secondary guns taken out, eventually upgrading its quantum bomb launcher count from twenty-four to ninety-six.

According to Fleet Headquarters’ evaluation,

Once this retrofit was complete, the Federation’s defenses at the interstellar current mouth would become utterly unbreakable.

Even fourth-tier civilization warships would have to cower before quantum bombs.

Of course, that’s assuming—

These fourth-tier civilizations go crazy and, instead of using their jump drives, decide to come through the current for some reason.

So that’s a question for another day. At the very least, second- and third-tier civilizations would never break the Federation’s current defense line.

All of human society would become vastly more secure.

With that foundation in place, Fleet Headquarters decided to pour more resources into the Desolate Star Region.

Other than the four fleets defending the Barnard Perimeter, and the First Fleet stationed outside the Solar System, the Second through Fourth Fleets would all be sent to Proxima.

At the same time, the Federation Fleet officially established two main battle zones: Proxima and Barnard.

Lin Yu took command of Proxima as theater commander, overseeing the Second, Third, Fourth, and Sixth Fleets, with a total force of four Warstars and many warships.

That included seventy-two hundred ships in the Sixth Fleet and thirty-six hundred in each of the other three.

All overall strategy for the Desolate Star Region would be under his command.

As for the Barnard theater…

Although it was now officially set up, they still hadn’t decided who would lead as theater commander.

If Mu Qingxue hadn’t left the military for politics, she’d be the obvious choice. But right now…

The Federation really didn’t have a third candidate that the Fleet Headquarters’ three leaders all agreed on—not like Lin Yu or Mu Qingxue.

Even after several meetings, they still couldn’t reach a consensus.