Chapter 59: The Trap at Sector E9-3

Sector E9-3.

The tactical star map in front of Lin Yu highlighted a region that looked downright bizarre.

Because there was nothing there at all.

It was one of those rare hollow pockets buried inside the Asteroid Belt—at its widest, it spanned around 500,000 kilometers.

Around it, layers upon layers of asteroids and countless fragments formed a thick shell.

That shell was over a hundred kilometers deep, wrapped around the hollow like heavy armor.

Forget about warships crawling through, even a fighter—

—would barely find enough room to squeeze by.

There was only one way in or out of this whole hollow zone.

A single tunnel, just wide enough for a large warship. It stretched 300 kilometers, long and narrow, like a corridor.

When George saw the layout, his first thought was: dead end.

Yeah, from a military perspective, this place was nothing but a death trap.

Right then, George realized exactly what Lin Yu planned to do.

——

About four hours later.

Eighty-seven Klein warships appeared outside the E9-3 hollow.

“You sure the humans are hiding in there?”

“Yes, Commander! The tracker is still active and it’s right in that hollow!”

“What do you all think?”

The Klein fleet commander nodded,

then connected to another commander over comms.

“What is there to think about? There’s no way out. This is the only place to hide. You can’t even scan the inside from out here. If we didn’t have the tracker, maybe they really could have slipped past us.”

“I think the same. Should we just charge in?”

“Do it!”

The two commanders came to instant agreement.

Eighty-seven warships lined up, one after another, and started squeezing through the not-so-big entrance, driving straight into the hollow.

——

“Heh, they really fell right into the trap!”

“But Lin Yu, what if they found us by pure luck instead of picking up the tracker readings from those asteroids? What if they get suspicious and don’t come in at all?”

George asked curiously.

After all, Lin Yu had only guessed that there was a tracker stashed in one of the asteroids. He couldn’t be a hundred percent sure.

So, for all they knew, the Klein fleet might just ignore those asteroids and never take the bait.

If they didn’t step in, then all the planning would go down the drain.

Lin Yu just smiled at that.

“Doesn’t matter. If it isn’t the tracker and they just stumbled onto us by chance, well, that’s fine too.”

“If there really isn’t a tracker, it’s not hard for us to slip away from their pursuit in the Asteroid Belt.”

“So, if they enter the trap, we hit them. If not, no big deal—we’ll cut and run.”

“If they won’t bite, we just leave. Simple as that.”

……

……

George blinked.

But a moment later, he realized Lin Yu was right.

“George, how’s Jiang Kai’s side coming along?”

“He needs about two more hours.”

“Let’s buy him those two hours. Move the fleet! Set up a crossfire formation at the entrance to E9-3. We block them in, no way out!”

“Yes, sir!”

——

Meanwhile.

Inside the tunnel.

The passage was so tight that the Klein fleet had to crawl forward at less than 20 kilometers a second for safety.

A few seconds later, the ships suddenly slowed to a halt.

“What happened?”

“The tunnel ahead is blocked. We can’t move forward.”

The Klein commander looked stunned.

“Blocked?”

“Yes sir. Looks like space mines—all packed together, sealing off the entire pathway.”

“Can’t we just blast our way through?”

“No sir, the passage is way too narrow. If we start firing on that many mines and they have enough power, they’ll shatter nearby asteroids. We might get buried along with the mines!”

“Damn it! Is this another human trick, trying to keep us from getting deeper? Relay to the fleet—fall back, now!”

“Yes, Commander!”

The whole fleet shut off their main engines and switched to secondary thrusters, slowly backing out of the tunnel.

Luckily they hadn’t gotten too far in. Just ten minutes later, the last ship’s stern popped out the other side.

But as soon as it was clear—

—it was caught in a deadly crossfire.

Over a hundred ion beams, plus a barrage of railgun projectiles, blew it to pieces in a blink.

Klein warships were tough, but not even they could stand up to that much fire—especially with the Zhulong’s 168 secondary ion cannons hammering away.

And at such close range, the railguns couldn’t miss.

Forget a small ship—even big ones would be crippled by a single volley.

When a fleet moves, especially in a single column inside a narrow corridor, it’s not like you can stop on a dime.

So even with the lead ship having been blown apart, those behind could only grit their teeth and try to back out until the third ship went up in flames—

Finally, the entire fleet ground to a halt.

But just because you’re stuck inside doesn’t mean I can’t hit you.

Far from it!

Right in the middle of the formation, aiming straight down the entrance, the Zhulong’s four main guns roared, blasting fire straight into the tunnel.

A beat later, all 168 secondary guns opened up too.

They rained fire into the tunnel without a second thought.

As long as they aimed down the center, their shots would almost always hit.

After all, the enemy ships would be cruising down the tunnel in single file through the middle.

Even if they tried hugging the walls, there was barely any room to avoid a direct hit. The corridor was that tight.

Of course, these attacks could only reach the ships closest to the entrance.

As mentioned before, Klein warships were like little asteroids themselves—packed with rare elements, as sturdy as celestial bodies.

So, Federation weapons could destroy a Klein warship, but seldom obliterate it outright.

That meant the wreckage would stick around—huge chunks that blocked the line of fire.

And that wreckage—

—in a single file, would act like a shield, protecting the ships behind.

So after blowing up three ships that backed out, plus the one nearest the entrance in the tunnel, Lin Yu couldn’t do any more damage for now.

But he’d already counted on that.

Now it was time for Jiang Kai’s part of the plan…

“Until Jiang Kai is ready, keep the blockade in place. Don’t let your guard down for a second!”

“Yes, Major!”