Chapter 51: The Fate of Io: Seven Minutes to Disaster

420,000 kilometers from Jupiter.

One of Jupiter’s five main moons: Io.

Shielded by Jupiter itself, at this moment neither Europa nor the Klein fleet stationed on the far side of the planet can scan what’s happening here.

Right now, no one has any idea what’s unfolding on this side.

Beneath Io’s north pole, a hundred meters underground, over a thousand devices suddenly lit up with red warning lights, all flashing in rhythm.

An instant later—

Boom!!!

Thousands of nuclear warheads, deployed according to precise calculations at different locations but all at the same depth, detonated simultaneously.

The surface layer, hundreds of meters thick, was blasted straight into the sky.

Then, at a depth of roughly 380 meters, 1,500 more high-yield nuclear warheads exploded all at once.

Immediately, a third wave. Then a fourth. And finally a fifth…

From Europa’s vantage in space, it looked as if a bite had been taken out of a perfect sphere.

Compared to Europa’s sheer size, that bite seemed insignificant.

But the terrifying energy released in moments erupted violently into space, pouring forth in a single direction.

The resulting sudden thrust was equal to the combined main engine power of tens of thousands of Warstars. Not even a massive 3,642-kilometer-wide moon like Io could hold its orbit against a force like that.

Io was ripped from its established path.

With its orbit destabilized, Io quickly fell victim to Jupiter’s intense gravity. Its altitude dropped fast—accelerating ever more rapidly as it was pulled in.

And all of this…

The Klein haven’t noticed a thing.

“Report! Io has broken from its orbit. In a quarter Jupiter day, it will crash into the surface!”

“Report! According to new calculations, the impact will occur seven minutes later than planned!”

“Report! The staff has recalculated. Because of the impact delay, the Klein will discover Io’s fall and start to escape sooner. Projected casualties drop from 63% to just 17%!”

Once Io lost its orbit and began falling, seized by Jupiter’s pull, the Federation Fleet command recalculated immediately.

They wasted no time running the numbers again.

But the result—

A problem!

Compared to Science Department’s previous simulations, the ultimate impact was off by seven minutes.

That meant the Klein fleet would detect Io’s trajectory change seven minutes sooner than expected, granting them extra time to flee.

According to the latest assessment…

Even though the Klein fleet would still take heavy losses,

The casualty rate would nosedive from 63% all the way down to 17%.

Everyone was on edge.

“What happened? How could there be such a huge error?”

“Preliminary analysis says: out of the five waves, about 178 warheads failed to detonate. Shockwaves from one batch broke the triggers of some in the next.”

That was the first report from command.

With tens of thousands of nuclear warheads detonating in waves just hundreds of meters apart,

It was almost inevitable that one explosion would shatter the supports for the next, destroying their trigger mechanisms.

Someone had even flagged this concern before.

Science Department claimed they’d fixed it by reinforcing and redesigning the detonators.

They said that would solve everything.

But looking now…

Not even close!

The three Federation Fleet leaders all looked grim.

How could they have trusted those guys, believing this problem was solved for good?

But now, there’s no point complaining.

What matters is finding a solution—fast.

“Our only option is to pull back some of our main fleet to the rear and, before the Klein reach the crucial zone…”

“Hold them off for seven minutes!”

A hush fell.

The speaker was Mu Qingxue.

After she spoke, the bridge fell into stunned silence.

What did Mu Qingxue mean by that?

Once the Klein fleet crossed a certain point, they’d be able to scan Io’s drop.

So if you could intercept and keep them outside that zone for seven minutes,

In theory, it would work.

But the catch—

Who would take the job?

It was truly a suicide mission.

If the Klein didn’t get them, the energy blast from Io smashing into Jupiter would.

Certain death…

No chance of survival.

Cruel, but inescapable.

There really was no other way.

“What do you all think?”

Mu Xingchen looked to Vladimir, then to Ryan.

And asked.

“What’s there to debate? Send Sergei’s unit. With his 27 warships, seven minutes is guaranteed!”

Vladimir was the first to speak up.

“Nonsense! Their mission is to carry on as the seed for rebuilding the Fourth Fleet. You want the entire fleet wiped out?”

“This is the Homeworld defense line. Second Fleet always holds this post. If someone must stay behind, it’s their job—not the battered Fourth!”

Ryan snapped, then made his own suggestion.

Previously, the Federation had five fleets total.

Second, Third, and Fourth all had nicknames.

Second Fleet was called the North American Fleet, Third was the Yanhuang Fleet, and Fourth the Slavic Fleet.

It’d been that way since the start of the Federation.

First Fleet, meanwhile, was a global force formed from all Earth nations. Still…

Even so, the top fleet commander was always picked by the three major powers in rotation.

This rotation’s commander, Stephen Campbell, was from North America.

After Stephen was removed, Mu Xingchen let Ryan pick the replacement—because it was North America’s turn.

So even after Stephen was gone, his successor was from the North American side.

That’s just how the upper echelon handled things.

Fifth Fleet was a special case.

It only existed because of Mu Qingxue.

Otherwise the Federation would still have just four major fleets—no Fifth.

Now Vladimir and Ryan argued furiously, red-faced.

Finally Mu Xingchen broke in.

“Enough arguing. Let’s draw lots!”