Rebirth of the Super Battleship-Chapter 596: Survival or Death

Inside the Galloping Pegasus spaceship, the leader sat there, his face pale, staring at the latest battle report data in front of him. In front of him stood many senior military commanders with solemn expressions. In the office, a heavy, oppressive atmosphere was spreading, as if it were pressing down so hard that people could not breathe.

After a long time, the leader slowly raised his head. In that moment, he seemed to have aged by several decades.

“What, what on earth is going on? Clearly just now everything was going smoothly, but what on earth is going on? Where did that Specter of the Specter Race come from, and why is he helping the Divine Ark Civilization? What exactly is his relationship with the Divine Ark Civilization?”

“If not for this fellow, our Level 5 Civilization Alliance definitely could have been promoted smoothly to a Level 6 Civilization. It was him, he destroyed our hope of advancement.”

The leader collapsed limply into his seat. Then, the senior military commanders were shocked to see that the leader who, in their hearts, always had victory within his grasp no matter the situation and always wore a confident smile, actually shed tears in this moment.

Murky tears traced down his aged face. With a trembling voice he said, “He destroyed our hope of advancing to a Level 6 Civilization. We are defeated, we are defeated, and we no longer have the ability to change the current situation. Our strength is enough to deal with the Divine Ark Civilization, and also enough to handle a peak Level 3 Specter, but our strength cannot possibly be a match for the union of those two. We are defeated, utterly defeated, and there is no more hope.”

In that moment, it was as if something left the leader’s body. It was the thing he had upheld for thousands upon tens of thousands of years. For that thing, he could endure any hardship, any setback. He had indeed seen the hope of realizing his dream, but just when he was closest to success, his dream shattered, shattered into billions of fragments that simply could not be pieced back together.

The leader despaired.

The situation on the battlefield was exactly as the leader perceived. Although the alliance’s warships were exerting the fiercest combat strength, with not a single person retreating, not a single person afraid, and not a single warship fleeing, none of it was of any use. Under the coordination of the Divine Ark Civilization and the Specter Race, any resistance seemed so small and laughable.

A certain military leader suddenly turned and left the office. He went to the flagship of the legion he commanded. It was a Continent-Class spaceship. Within the Level 5 Civilization Alliance, the combat strength of this Continent-Class spaceship was second only to the five warships including the Galloping Pegasus. After coming aboard this Continent-Class warship, he calmly issued his order, “Sky warship, depart, support the front line.”

The Sky warship left the core defensive circle and set out, entering the forward battlefield. A Province-Class warship of the Divine Ark Civilization discovered this distinctive warship and immediately led an escort fleet of roughly ten thousand warships over to launch a fierce attack on the Sky warship.

This military commander’s expression remained unchanged throughout. Under his command, various tactics were displayed to perfection. He directed his fleet in an orderly manner, splitting the enemy Province-Class warship formation before him one by one and then destroying them individually. After finally destroying that Province-Class warship as well, he faced his next enemy.

A Nation-Class spaceship formation arrived before him. He still displayed his mastery of warfare to perfection. Good military education and extremely high talent made his tactics mesh perfectly with this Continent-Class spaceship formation, drawing out the greatest possible combat power. As with the previous enemy, this Nation-Class spaceship formation was ultimately destroyed by him.

He wanted to continue advancing, but he could not. Because a deep, shadowy figure had already wrapped itself around his flagship, the Sky spaceship. Streams of data surged into his mind. He saw that the Sky spaceship’s energy reserves were rapidly draining, that the engines on the ship which supported the protective shield were burning out one after another due to excessive load. He saw the Sky spaceship’s protective shield finally disappear without a trace.

He knew that his time had come. In the moment before he lost consciousness, he thought with some regret, “I really want to know how powerful a Level 6 Civilization warship is. I really want to know what it would feel like to command a Level 6 Civilization warship. What a pity, what a pity.”

“Be careful not to damage the hull structure of this Continent-Class warship.” Right at the moment when the Specter had just finished devouring this Continent-Class warship, Xiao Yu’s message arrived, “A Continent-Class spaceship is a fine thing. Many instruments inside it contain the most precious technological crystallizations of the Level 5 Civilization Alliance. By analyzing them, I can harvest a great deal of technological data.”

“Alright, I will leave it for you.” The Specter companion discarded this Continent-Class spaceship as if tossing away garbage and continued pouncing toward the next target. Xiao Yu, meanwhile, piloted some ships and, braving the roaring artillery fire, towed this Continent-Class spaceship away from the battlefield.

“The total number of alliance ships has already dropped to fewer than ninety million. The planetary war stars have already been reduced to fewer than sixty. Good, good, victory is right before our eyes. Only, this blow is still a bit insufficient.” Xiao Yu pondered silently. “Then continue the attack. Only if the Level 5 Civilization Alliance is hurt badly enough will they accept their outcome.”

“Specter, be careful not to attack those residential planets and residential ships. The Level 5 Civilization Alliance’s scientists are basically all there. These people are of great use to me.” Seeing that the Specter companion was attempting to attack a Continent-Class residential spaceship, Xiao Yu hurriedly sent a message to stop the Specter companion.

“Understood, I get it.” The Specter companion very straightforwardly abandoned the target before it and continued attacking the other warships.

At this moment, inside the Galloping Pegasus spaceship, the leader wiped away his tears with a trembling hand and said weakly to his aide, “Convey my order. From now on, all ships, whether warships or civilian residential ships, whether for transport or industrial use, all of them are to begin fleeing. If some can escape, let them, it is better than being annihilated here. The Galloping Pegasus is not allowed to flee. I will remain on the Galloping Pegasus and command our civilization’s flagship to fight to the very last moment. However, the soldiers or logistics personnel on the ship may choose to flee. Inform them that those willing to remain on the Galloping Pegasus and fight with me to the last moment may stay. Those unwilling to stay will have a ship come to pick them up in one hour. That is all.”

The leader feebly waved his hand.

“Their warships have begun to withdraw. Hmm, there are ships fleeing. The intensity of the strike is already sufficient.” Xiao Yu quickly discovered this and immediately made a decision. “Now I can begin my plan to demand surrender.”

Thus, a message transmitted on the Level 5 Civilization Alliance’s communications band was instantly delivered across the entire battlefield, “Intelligent beings of the Level 5 Civilization Alliance, I believe you already understand the current situation on the battlefield. You have been defeated and have lost any possibility of turning the tables. The war between our Divine Ark Civilization and your Level 5 Civilization Alliance, which has continued for several centuries, is finally about to draw to a close.”

“As the victor of this war, since I have already won, I do not wish to continue the killing. Therefore, I hope you can surrender to me. I can guarantee that after surrendering to our Divine Ark Civilization, you will obtain good material conditions no less than what you have now. I can give you everything you want. All I want are only two things, namely all your current scientific and technological data, and your scientific research capacity. In fact, I have said this countless times already. My goal is only these two things. Before we even began the war, I even wished to obtain these things through exchange, but very regrettably you chose to refuse, which led to the subsequent war.”

“As the victor, I have the right to decide your life and death. But I do not wish to cause excessive killing. Therefore, surrender to me. As long as you surrender, you can obtain everything I have promised. Those who refuse to surrender, I do not mind killing more people or destroying more ships. Do not attempt to flee. Any ship that attempts to flee will be regarded by me as intending later revenge, and I will destroy you without hesitation. Believe me, the maneuverability of your ships is inferior to mine. You cannot escape.”

“I will now choose to temporarily cease attacking you. I will give you three hours to think. After three hours, present your decision. Whether it is survival or death, the choice is entirely yours.”

After issuing this message, all of Xiao Yu’s fleets, as well as the Specter companion, withdrew from the battlefield. The Level 5 Civilization Alliance’s fleet also returned to within its own defensive line. The two sides began a silent standoff.

At this time, Xiao Yu issued another message. The difference was that this message was sent directionally, and only the Galloping Pegasus could receive it.

In this message, Xiao Yu said the following, “To my respected opponent, I am the leader of the Divine Ark Civilization. I now issue you the following message. Firstly, as the leader, you must surrender to me and issue an order for the populace and the military to surrender to me. For the lives of your people, I believe you will agree to this suggestion. Secondly, All scientists must surrender to me. If even one scientist refuses to surrender or chooses suicide, I will kill an additional one million of your people in retaliation. As for how specifically to do this, I believe you know.”

“From your opponent, the leader of the Divine Ark Civilization.”

[T/N: I was wondering how Xiao Yu would ensure the scientists wouldn’t commit suicide out of despair. This is a brutal solution but if I was the leader and each scientist was worth a million lives I would make sure each one would be heavily restricted. What would you guys do differently?]