Chapter 47: Europa Burns: The Clash of Titans

A blinding blue pillar of light, dozens of meters across, roared out from Europa.

It shot straight toward a massive Klein super warship, rivaling a Human Warstar in size, over 1.72 million kilometers away.

Seconds later…

The beam tore through space unchecked, hitting the warship dead-on.

As colossal and durable as it was—strengthened by special elements—none of it mattered now.

Before the Super Ion Cannon, it was nothing but tofu, pierced straight through.

A gaping hole more than a hundred meters wide opened in the ship’s hull.

Caught off guard, countless Klein warriors were ripped into the void, sucked out with the rushing air.

Free cosmic sightseeing—forever.

That strike was nothing short of spectacular, but there was a catch…

No chance to fire again. Even with more than three hundred reactors powering it, after each shot the cannon needed…

Over ten hours to recharge.

And the Klein fleet now stood just 1.72 million kilometers from the Jupiter defense line—barely more than two hours before they arrived.

In fact, once they’re within 500,000 kilometers, they’ll start sending out wave after wave of raiding ships.

Europa…

It’s definitely at the top of their target list.

Sure, the Human Federation could hold out longer here, using Europa’s orbital defense system to squeeze off a few more Super Ion Cannon shots.

But, there’s no need!

First, if they stuck around, their fleet would end up locked in combat with the Kleins, unable to break away.

Second, the whole point of this Jupiter campaign was never about holding this line.

So after setting every weapon in Jupiter orbit to automatic mode, everyone began boarding ships for an orderly evacuation.

As for the Zhulong…

After that blast from Europa, its sole focus was clear.

And that was…

Strike while the enemy’s down, finish the job!

All four main guns zeroed in, unleashing hell before other ships could move in to shield their wounded comrade.

The already crippled warship was left dead in space within minutes, completely paralyzed.

But Lin Yu still wasn’t satisfied and told Meng Fei to keep up the attack.

His goal was total destruction—not just wounding the ship.

If they only crippled it, odds were the Kleins would patch it up after the battle.

That just wouldn’t do…

Such a dangerous warship had to be destroyed for good.

——

Meanwhile, several hundred light-seconds from Jupiter…

A starship even bigger than a Federation Warstar hung silently amid the stars.

Around three thousand ships of all sizes formed a massive array around it.

But this wasn’t a war fleet.

It was the centerpiece of the Klein Seed Project—a Super Colony Ship.

Packed inside were all the archives of their entire civilization and about five million Klein people.

Most of the surrounding ships were loaded with their best technologies and goods—enough to rebuild civilization fast in a new world, instead of starting from scratch.

So…

This was the true heart of the Klein fleet. The ones fighting the Federation right now? Just escorts for the Seed Project.

And as for that ship the Federation mistook for a Warstar-level super battleship…

It wasn’t even armed all that heavily.

If humans named it, they’d probably call it an aircraft carrier–type command ship.

It carried over five thousand small raiding ships and more than ten thousand carrier-based steam fighters.

The Federation still didn’t realize that hit from Europa…

Actually had a huge impact on the Kleins.

After all, the hole punched through it by Europa’s cannon? That just happened to be the main command center.

——

Top deck of the Klein Colony Ship.

“Chieftain, Omar…”

“I see it. Put Alum in charge!”

“Understood, Chieftain!”

Tumelo’s eyes were full of gloom as he gave the order.

If only Omar hadn’t been sent to the front lines this time…

But even so, his death was a huge blow to the Kleins.

After all…

He’d been a top-ranking commander!

That’s like a Federation Fleet Admiral on the human side.

Once upon a time, in the Klein clan, a high-level commander was nothing special—they had over a hundred of them.

Now? In the whole Seed Project, there were only two left.

The others had died in the last war or stayed behind fighting second-tier civilizations so this Seed Fleet could escape.

So Omar and Alum were the last remaining top commanders of the Klein people.

——

1.7 million kilometers from the Jupiter defense line.

Inside a large Klein warship.

“Hard to believe humans have weapons like that!”

“Pull a column out of the fleet and have them head straight for that armed satellite!”

“Everyone else, stay on course—full speed ahead!”

Alum received the order from the chieftain in the rear and took command.

He paused a moment for Omar’s loss, then immediately issued orders.

Instead of sending the whole fleet, he dispatched a single formation.

Turning the entire fleet would slow their all-out assault on the defense line by several hours—time they couldn’t waste.

Besides, by Klein standards, a formation boasted three hundred warships.

Plenty to get the job done!

No point in risking the main fleet or giving the enemy more chances for long-range strikes.

Soon, about three hundred ships slowed, broke formation, and shifted course.

Then they accelerated again, plunging toward Europa.

The remaining 2,500 warships kept their heading, charging forward at full speed.

At last…

Just over an hour later.

The gap between the two sides had shrunk to only 500,000 kilometers.

That put Europa well within range of the Klein raiding ships.

Alum didn’t hesitate. He ordered the three lead formations to unleash every raiding ship they had!

That was their usual battle tactic.

Send fast raiders to punch into enemy lines, throwing them into chaos.

Then, while the enemy’s distracted and scrambling, the main fleet would close the distance—rushing in to within a hundred thousand kilometers.

That’s when the Kleins rolled out their strangest weapon—one the Federation still couldn’t figure out. It was like a corrosive liquid, but fired like an energy beam.

If the Battle of Nyx had taught humanity anything…

It was that ship armor just couldn’t withstand that horrifying corrosion.

But even before that became a worry, humanity had a bigger problem…

Those tens of thousands of raiding ships streaking out like railgun rounds—

A near-endless swarm, closing in.