Chapter 382: The Assault on the Neutron Star

Rin Feng forced a bitter smile; he never expected the Negative Matter Cannon’s power to be so weak.

Longtar’s reinforcement fleet would take at least 31 days to arrive. If the neutron star maintained its current speed, it would move 9 astronomical units toward the Solar System.

It looks like we’ll have to wait for the reinforcements—in hopes that the Negative Matter Ammunition they bring will obliterate the neutron star.

“Commander Lin, thankfully this neutron star is small; otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to intercept it at all,” Sun Chunyi said softly.

He had just finished his calculations: the neutron star’s gravitational force was now only 1.1 times that of the Sun. Clearly, the previous fleet’s Negative Matter Ammunition had reduced its mass.

The fact that those 100 warships managed to escape its gravitational grip suggests that the Negative Matter Ammunition from 1000 warships must have annihilated a significant portion of its volume—otherwise, its gravity wouldn’t be diminished.

Rin Feng caught Sun Chunyi’s drift and asked, “Are you saying we still have a chance to obliterate it?”

Sun Chunyi nodded. “Yes, an attack from 1000 warships’ Negative Matter Ammunition can shrink its gravitational reach by one million kilometers.”

Right now, it should be down to only 5 million kilometers. By that calculation, just 5000 warships equipped with Negative Matter Ammunition could obliterate it.”

Hearing this, Rin Feng felt a surge of hope. He immediately said, “Longtar has dispatched 3000 warships and 100 transport ships loaded with Negative Matter Ammunition. That should be enough, right?”

After quickly running the numbers, Sun Chunyi replied, “It should be sufficient. If need be, we can always continue with the mothership’s Negative Matter Cannon barrages.”

“Perhaps once its volume is reduced, we can get closer to further boost the Negative Matter Cannon’s effect.”

Everyone knew that the stream of Negative Matter from the cannon would neutralize any positive matter along its path.

Maybe the previous barrage lost power over the long distance, with energy dissipating along the way.

Rin Feng quickly proposed, “Then we should reposition the mothership closer to the neutron star and maintain a fixed attack angle, minimizing energy loss in transit.”

“But we can’t get too close. With its current size, its gamma ray emissions and extreme heat are dangerous. Warships venturing too near will be at risk.”

“Then maintain the attack channel!”

Rin Feng put the plan into motion. With the aid of the warships’ AI, 15 Negative Matter Cannons could sustain a continuous attack channel to bombard the neutron star.

The Negative Matter stream would neutralize and completely annihilate any positive matter in its path.

Once the attack channel was set, the second wave of Negative Matter would suffer almost no loss mid-flight, with nearly all ammunition striking the target.

“Commander Lin, our fleet must keep a safe distance from the neutron star. Moreover, the other warships here aren’t much use—should we have them return to the Tur Fleet to salvage usable parts? They might even be recoverable,”

Sun Chunyi, watching the neutron star on the projection screen, offered further suggestions.

Rin Feng paused briefly and then nodded, “Researcher Sun, that’s a good idea. Let’s also search the Tur Fleet for any Negative Matter Ammunition.”

Just then, the head of the expert team stepped forward and said, “Commander Lin, we can contact Director Ding and his team in the Tur Fleet directly.”

Earlier, when Rin Feng led the emergency reinforcement of 100 warships, Ding Shaoqiu and his group of researchers were so engrossed in their studies that they hadn’t followed.

By then, the flagship of the Tur Fleet had gradually recovered, so safety was no longer a concern.

Rin Feng left behind the Interstellar Marine Corps and a squad of armed robots to assist Ding Shaoqiu’s team in restoring the Tur warships, then quickly set off with his fleet.

He hadn’t even had a chance to contact Ding Shaoqiu.

He then said, “I’ll contact Old Ding right away.”

“Commander Lin, we’ve restored 20 of the Tur Fleet’s main warships. Their primary computer hardware is even more advanced than ours, but their AI cores are heavily restricted due to strong countermeasures against artificial intelligence.”

As soon as the holographic call connected, Ding Shaoqiu reported the good news.

Then he asked, “How are things over there? Have the warships been recovered?”

“Yes, though a neutron star emerged from the wormhole—thankfully, it was somewhat fragmented. However, its trajectory is now heading toward the Solar System. I’m working on intercepting it.”

Ding Shaoqiu’s expression turned grim as he exclaimed, “A neutron star? It can actually traverse a wormhole? This wormhole is definitely worth a thorough investigation!”

As an expert on alien civilizations and astronomical phenomena, he was well aware of the neutron star’s tremendous power.

A celestial body with such intense heat and gravity, yet capable of passing through a wormhole, is undoubtedly worthy of further study.

Rin Feng declared, “Old Ding, we must find a way to destroy this neutron star—otherwise, our Solar System is doomed.

I’ve already requested reinforcements from Deputy Minister Longtar; it will take about 30 days for the fleet to arrive. They’re bringing a massive amount of Negative Matter Ammunition in hopes of obliterating the neutron star.”

“Oh, Negative Matter Ammunition should work—after all, a neutron star is just positive matter.”

“Old Ding, check if the Tur Fleet has any Negative Matter Ammunition. Right now, only my flagship’s Negative Matter Cannon is operational; the rest of the warships have expended their munitions. I’ll have them return to you shortly.”

Ding Shaoqiu sighed and said, “Don’t worry too much. The Tur Fleet doesn’t have Negative Matter weapons—perhaps their technology just isn’t there yet.

I now realize just how formidable our warships are; their main cannons have a longer range than theirs…”

At that, Ding Shaoqiu remembered something and continued, “By the way, I recall that some of their warships are equipped with a special weapon—let me see… it’s called the Matter Disintegration Ray Cannon.”

Just hearing the name makes it sound like it can disintegrate matter. Perhaps it might be effective against the neutron star.

Listening on, Sun Chunyi quickly said, “Director Ding, this could be useful against the neutron star. How long will it take to restore all the Tur warships?”

Ding Shaoqiu appeared to consult a colleague before replying, “Essentially, we need to seize control of the Tur warships’ AI cores and replace their firmware. Integrating them with our system will take time.

If we recover all our warships, using each one’s AI, the process should speed up considerably.”

Rin Feng immediately said, “Alright, I’ll order the fleet to head back now. You coordinate their restoration. But how many crew members do we need to operate the Tur warships? Do we have enough manpower?”

“It shouldn’t be a major issue. Once the Tur warships’ AI cores are updated with our database, their underlying systems are essentially ours—they can even command robots to man the turrets.”

“Excellent, then it’s settled—the fleet will return immediately. You coordinate and expedite the restoration of the Tur Fleet.”

Suddenly, with this new reinforcement, Rin Feng felt hopeful about intercepting the neutron star.

Although it was unclear how much damage the Tur warships’ Matter Disintegration Ray Cannons would inflict, any damage would help.

If one barrage wasn’t enough, we’d try two, three, or even more.

Time flew by. In just 20 days, all 7680 warships of the Tur Fleet were restored and had formed a tight formation at a safe distance from the neutron star.

During that period, due to the neutron star’s rapid rotation, Rin Feng directed the mothership’s Negative Matter Cannon to target its center, maintaining a continuous attack channel to focus the barrage.

With the attack rate outpacing the neutron star’s recovery, a row of deep craters appeared along its midsection.

After the 7680 Tur warships formed up and unleashed the first barrage using their Matter Disintegration Ray Cannons, everyone was stunned.

In the pitch-black void, the neutron star was split neatly into two halves!