Rebirth of the Super Battleship

This fuel collection brigade was only the vanguard of Xiao Yu’s broader plan. In the future, countless additional fuel-collection starships would be manufactured.

At that time, three distinct battlefields would emerge across the entire Aquila three System. The first would be the frontline battlefield, where the largest and most direct engagements between the two forces would take place. The second would be the planetary surface battlefield, where both sides would fight for control of individual moons. The third battlefield would be for fuel collection.

Planet three was a mutual source of fuel for both sides. Along the routes between Planet three and Satellites 3A, 3B, and other moons to come, both sides would struggle to destroy the opponent’s fuel-collection fleets while protecting their own. After all, fusion fuel was the foundation of all operations—without fuel, nothing else could function.

For now, Xiao Yu had emerged victorious in the first fuel collection battle. But he did not believe for a second that the Swarm Queen would sit idly by. It would surely create more powerful, specialized Swarm types for fuel collection. The road ahead promised to be a brutal, blood-soaked struggle. Xiao Yu even estimated that in future conflicts, if one hundred ships set out to collect fuel, it would be a miracle if fifty returned.

The Swarm Queen had not yet given up on reclaiming control of Satellite 3B. Under its direction, an endless tide of Swarm bugs surged toward the moon, but every time they were repelled, stopped cold by Xiao Yu’s fleet, composed of 70,000 large ships and five billion ultra-miniature starships deployed in two waves.

Time passed slowly. Xiao Yu had held the position for over a month. Under the fleet’s protection, Satellite 3B now showed signs of flourishing. A vast number of buildings had been constructed on the surface: mining bases, smelting factories, foundries, processing plants, robot production lines, and workshops for building ultra-miniature starships. The moon was gradually transforming into a fully self-sustaining world.

But Xiao Yu’s plans were far more ambitious. Up until now, he had never had an opportunity to launch a direct attack on the Swarm Queen itself. This meant he had no idea of the Queen’s actual defense or offensive capabilities. In this situation, Xiao Yu had to consider the possibility that the Swarm Queen might personally advance, ignore the firepower of ground-based turrets, and simply swallow Satellite 3B whole.

To guard against this, Xiao Yu implemented an extremely ruthless contingency. He ordered the excavation of over a dozen deep shafts, each several hundred kilometers deep. Inside each of these shafts, he planted a giant hydrogen bomb with a yield of one hundred billion tons. If such a scenario occurred—or if Satellite 3B could no longer be defended—then he would simply detonate the bombs and destroy the entire moon. If he couldn’t have it, then the Swarm Queen wouldn’t either.

Underground detonation would greatly amplify the destructive power of hydrogen bombs. For instance, Xiao Yu had previously prepared a single quadrillion-ton bomb to blow up Satellite 3A. Satellite 3B was only slightly smaller than 3A, so placing a dozen or so one hundred billion-ton bombs within its interior would be sufficient to shatter it completely.

Under these conditions, Xiao Yu noticed that the Swarm Queen had dispatched a force of about ten billion bugs—maneuvering around his defenses and heading toward Planet two.

“A feint to save the besieged? Attacking my main base… heh.” Xiao Yu let out a cold laugh and decisively ordered his fleet to depart from Satellite 3B.

At Planet two, Xiao Yu had stationed around fifty thousand large starships and just under one billion ultra-miniature starships. Though not as strong as the force near Satellite 3B, Planet two was his stronghold. He had deployed a vast network of space turrets and ground-based artillery there. Overall, its defensive capabilities were immense. There was no need for Xiao Yu to return for a full-scale defense.

In truth, the primary goal of returning was not reinforcement—it was logistics and the seizure of control over the next moon. Reinforcement was just a convenient excuse.

The construction work on Satellite 3B was nearly complete. With its growing self-defense capabilities, Xiao Yu’s fleet no longer needed to remain there.

Of the five billion ultra-miniature starships, two billion had already been lost in battle. Xiao Yu took another one billion with him upon departure, leaving Satellite 3B with fewer than two billion. However, the moon still retained two hundred million ground combat robots and countless land-based artillery emplacements—enough to make up for the reduction in starships.

Under the command of the Hebei and Yanjing, Xiao Yu’s fleet blasted a bloody path through the dense Swarm and began its return voyage to Planet two. With those ships gone, the dam was broken. The Swarm surged toward Satellite 3B like an unimpeded tidal wave.

The moon’s surface, already cratered and scarred by previous hydrogen bomb and energy cannon bombardments, was a rugged battlefield filled with peaks hundreds of meters tall. Amid this terrain stood densely packed artificial bases.

There were tens of thousands of bases in total, each protected by powerful Energy Shields and well-armed. However, their primary function was logistics. The true instruments of war were the omnipresent ground-based turrets scattered across Satellite 3B.

These land-based turrets were everywhere. In one crater alone, dozens of hidden emplacements lay in ambush. On a single mountain, from the base to the peak, Xiao Yu had installed a forest of turrets. The entire moon had become a literal porcupine—bristling with spikes.

And that was just part of the defense network. Inside the bases were hundreds of millions of ground combat robots specially designed for Satellite 3B’s surface environment, alongside complete systems for maintenance, resupply, and—most crucially—production. These bases could continuously manufacture more robots, turrets, and even ultra-miniature starships to replenish the forces at any time.

Through surveillance systems installed on Satellite 3B, Xiao Yu—aboard the departing Hebei—witnessed the following scene.

In the pitch-black night sky, stars glittered like dust. Suddenly, from between those stars, a flood of flame-spewing, demonic bugs descended—endless in number. In an instant, the glow from their propulsion overwhelmed the light of the stars. The swarm’s radiance merged into one and illuminated the heavens.

As these demonic entities fell from the sky, the land-based turrets roared to life. Xiao Yu saw a barrage of shimmering blue energy shells streaking upward, intercepting the Swarm and detonating in brilliant explosions. Invisible beams of high-energy lasers joined the fray, slicing through the darkness. Missile silos opened, and countless hydrogen bomb-tipped warheads launched into the air, blazing with searing white light.

In the blink of an eye, the entire moon became a war zone.

Yet even such intense firepower couldn’t completely halt the Swarm. Pushing through the barrage, many bugs still landed on the moon’s surface. Immediately, they began wreaking havoc—destroying turrets and laying siege to Xiao Yu’s bases.

Each of the tens of thousands of bases was protected by high-capacity Energy Shields and could hold for now, but the turrets—exposed to the elements—were easily damaged.

At this critical moment, Xiao Yu’s Ground-Type Mark II combat robots came into play. Like swarms of ants, they poured forth from every base, racing across Satellite 3B’s surface. With their coordinated charges and tactical flanking, they engaged and slaughtered every Swarm creature that set foot on the ground.

The moon’s gravity was extremely weak, and these robots had been optimized for that environment. Xiao Yu had equipped each one with micro thrusters. These allowed them to leap hundreds of meters and glide across kilometers with ease, making them incredibly agile.

Their firepower was just as formidable. The low gravity allowed for larger builds, which in turn meant more space for weapons and supplies. As a result, their energy and laser cannons were far stronger than those of the robots used on the Arrow Beast homeworld.

In addition to their combat prowess, they also had the ability to repair damaged turrets. Wherever a turret had been destroyed, they would appear. After eliminating nearby bugs, they used the spare parts they carried to repair the installation and refuel it. As soon as they finished, the turret would come back online, lock onto its targets, and resume firing under the centralized control of the Supercomputing Center.

With the appearance of the combat robots, the remaining nearly two billion ultra-miniature starships also launched. Though designed for space combat, they excelled in near-ground warfare as well. Operating from altitudes of hundreds of meters to several kilometers, they weaved through the skies, doing everything they could to wear down the Swarm’s strength.