Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 324 The Sunset of the Solar System Fleet (4k)

The captain of the Deep Space ship's voice drowned out all the alarms.

"Full firepower! Saturation attack! Communications officer, record all weapon data after the strikes, highest priority! Open all communication bands and send everything we see and record back to Fleet International, to the Commander-in-Chief, and to every warship that can receive it!"

“I’m already doing that!” the communications officer roared.

The data stream, like an avalanche, was compressed, encrypted, and then poured towards the rear, towards the unsuspecting international main force of the fleet, through every possible means!

After giving the order, the captain of the Deep Space said to the warship, "Deep Space, send out all the lifeboats. If the warship explodes, how many of us will survive will depend on luck."

[Shipborne AI: Can you do something to save me?]

"It's beyond saving. We're out of ideas. The Enterprise has already blown up. You and the mushrooms in the engine will have to figure it out yourselves."

Meanwhile, feedback from various weapons departments on their strikes also arrived.

"Gamma laser beam cannons have been proven ineffective!"

"High-energy particle beam weapons have been proven ineffective!"

"Directed radiation microwave weapons have been proven ineffective!"

"Macroscopic kinetic energy weapons have been proven ineffective!"

"Interstellar nuclear torpedoes have been proven ineffective!"

The vice-captain gave a bitter laugh: "Even white dwarf matter would have been blasted into a crater. This can only mean that the target is made of neutron star matter. Didn't they say the probe only weighed ten tons? The Trisolarans deceived us."

The engine room keeper shouted, "The mushrooms have jumped out of the engine room on their own, but the temperature in space is too low, they won't survive for long!"

The communications officer shouted, "Critical information has been relayed: The 'Waterdrop' detector appears to be an absolutely smooth surface! It can reflect all energy weapons, but electromagnetic kinetic energy projectiles can significantly reduce the target's flight speed! This indicates that the target still needs to obey the law of conservation of momentum! The above information has been broadcast globally to the fleet!"

Suddenly, a line of text appeared on the large screen.

[Shipborne AI: Deep Space enters Iron Curtain mode!]

The captain shook his head: "I'm afraid the Iron Curtain won't work either. Our relative speed to the target is probably already more than 10% of the speed of light, and the target is immune to gamma rays and particle beams. Its hardness is obviously greater than ours."

[Shipborne AI: Deep Space enters nanotech protection mode!]

"If the Iron Curtain can't stop it, will the nano-coatings?"

[Shipborne AI: Deep Space enters Forward 4 Overload state!]

"You can't escape it. No matter how fast you accelerate, you can't accelerate to 8% of the speed of light."

[Shipborne AI: That's all I know how to do, so what should I do?]
The captain scolded, "Stop messing around and just honestly send real-time updates back to Fleet International. If humanity is lucky enough to defeat these probes, we'll erect a monument in your honor."

The shipborne AI typed the last line of text on the public screen.

[I am fulfilling my responsibility, in the name of artificial intelligence.]
The observer, his eyes fixed on the zigzag line spreading through the fog canopy, shouted, "Attention all units! The target is moving at an extremely high speed and has begun to fly in an erratic zigzag pattern. It is dodging the bombardment of electromagnetic kinetic energy projectiles. Clearly, this thing doesn't want to waste any more time with us!"

"The preliminary calculation results for the trajectory of the 'water droplet' detector are in. The instantaneous acceleration of this thing when making a zigzag turn is over 8000G!"

"My God, 8000G, no wonder the magnetic bottle couldn't hold it."

"The information regarding the droplet acceleration has been uploaded to Fleet International."

"The Asian Fleet has sent a cross-channel communication! They say: We have received data from the 'Waterdrop' probe. The main force of the Solar System Fleet is evacuating. Thank you for your contribution. That's all."

Upon seeing the reply from the Asian Fleet, the communications officer slammed his fist on the table and laughed, "Excellent... I can die without regrets."

"Full firepower! Saturation attack! Don't be stingy with ammunition! It's better to fire it out than to let it explode inside the ship!" The captain's roar echoed continuously.

Even in the final moments, Deep Space did not give up the fight.

The Deep Space battleship, like an enraged hedgehog, frantically fired its quills at the enemy. However, all its attacks were rendered futile and dazzling fireworks before the absolutely smooth and hard mirror-like tail.

As the "droplet" approached, an overwhelming electromagnetic suppression enveloped the entire Deep Space, and Fleet International immediately lost all 'vision' of the Deep Space.

Prior to this, Fleet International had already received all the information transmitted back by the Deep Space vessel. This included, but was not limited to, full-process video recordings from high-precision optical sensors, including the droplet's sharp-angled zigzag maneuvers and reflected lasers, as well as velocity change curves and acceleration estimates. The effects of the kinetic energy impact were specifically highlighted, emphasizing that while the target was seemingly indestructible, it was still bound by the law of conservation of momentum.

Three million kilometers!

Two million kilometers!

One million kilometers!

As death loomed, the space officers and crew inside the spacecraft became surprisingly calm.

"If only antimatter cannons could be mass-produced." The weapons officer smiled wryly as he watched the target getting closer and closer.

"The dinosaurs might have a way, but they're already crippled."

"Human warships have an overwhelming advantage over the large ring, while the droplet detectors have an overwhelming advantage over human warships. It's a matter of one thing overcoming another."

"The solar system fleet is dangerous. Most warships would need a very long time to accelerate to 8% of the speed of light... unless they start running in all directions right now."

"It's coming."

In this final, brief exchange, the water droplet reached the 10,000-kilometer red line.

On the scale of cosmic warfare, this is practically face-to-face.

The captain of the Deep Space closed his eyes; he had done everything he could.

next moment!
A beam of judgment from beyond the heavens, like cosmic thunder, struck without warning from directly behind the droplet, precisely piercing the slightly damaged head that the droplet had been carefully protecting.

The timing of this attack was extremely precise, ruthless, and cunning!
It happened to be in that tiny, fleeting physical gap where all of the droplet's perception and computing resources were focused on the ancient warship fighting desperately ahead, and it had just completed an extreme sharp-angle turn, with the old force exhausted and the new force yet to be generated!

It's the "Natural Selection"! It's Zhang Beihai!

A surprise attack spanning 6000 million kilometers!
Using the speed advantage provided by its chemical thrusters, the Natural Selection spacecraft calmly observed and calculated as it moved away from the solar system.

In the midst of the chaotic battle, amidst the turbulent reflections of countless electromagnetic waves, the "Natural Selection" detected an "abnormal gap" in the radar reflection. Combining this with the fact that the Droplet consistently used its tail to face the enemy, it made a crucial deduction.

The head is an attackable target!

Although it is just speculation, it is worthwhile for the "Natural Selection" spacecraft to make a bold attempt.

Because the "Droplet" was constantly performing zigzag maneuvers, Natural Selection had no chance of hitting it with a single shot. It could only aim its cannon at the "Deep Space" in advance, and then take advantage of the "Deep Space's" tendency to collide with the nuclear fusion engine. It calculated the "Deep Space's" speed and the expected impact time, and fired the shot after a delay of several minutes.

After the gamma laser beam cannon bombardment ended, Zhang Beihai showed no hesitation and immediately urged the entire ship to continue forward, without even bothering to observe the results of the shell's impact.

Just like the shots he fired two centuries ago!
"Zi——!"

There was no explosion.

The ultra-high-energy gamma-ray laser beam, which contained the full force of the main gun of the "Natural Selection" ship, pierced through the fingernail-sized hole that Ding Yi had desperately smashed out with incredible precision, almost at zero distance!

Inside the "water droplet" shell, the atomically precise force field generator and control system suddenly overloaded, collapsed, and disintegrated under the instantaneous impact and energy spillover of this violent energy!
This once invincible droplet, which destroyed five star-class warships in succession and ultimately 2015 star-class warships in other timelines, was eventually destroyed prematurely by "natural selection".

The absolute smoothness of the water droplet shimmered for one last time before fading away permanently.

After the internal strong interaction force generator was destroyed, the entire outer shell of the droplet shattered instantly. Relying on inertia, it continued to slide forward for a negligible distance before crashing headfirst into the side armor of the Deep Space, which had activated its Iron Curtain protection.

The water droplet was destroyed!

Humanity, through its own strength, destroyed the Trisolaran world's first strong interaction force detector during the grand opening ceremony of the apocalyptic war!
It had nothing to do with a Nascent Soul cultivator who was trying to escape the pursuit of Light Amber. The perfect cooperation of ordinary Wallfacers, ordinary scientists, and ordinary soldiers made this god-slaying feast possible!

Everything happened so fast.

An eerie silence fell over the Deep Space, as everyone stared blankly at the shattered water droplet on the screen.

The Natural Selection saved us.

The captain of the Deep Space looked in the direction in which the faint star had fled.

"Then... should we still pursue them?" asked a vice-captain who wasn't quite right in the head.

The old captain kicked his second-in-command far away, a complex mix of emotions welling up inside him.

Someone shouted, "Bring back those deserters! Tell these mushrooms they'll be severely punished by the Solar System Military Court!"

The captain of the Deep Space sighed and gave the order: "Collect the 'Droplet' wreckage immediately and return to port!"

"Are we really going to turn back?" a member of an ancient space force from the Common Era suddenly asked.

The captain of the Deep Space was taken aback.

The ancient soldier pointed to Jupiter.

A greater despair was approaching from the direction of Jupiter at the speed of light.

The highest emergency announcement from the fleet's international provisional command, accompanied by countless chaotic, desperate cries for help and explosion signals, flooded their communication channels like a burst dam.

"...Warning! Warning! Not just one! Repeat, the attacker is not just one droplet! A total of... five! At least five droplets are simultaneously attacking the main fleet!" "...Jupiter orbit... It's over... It's all over..." "...Escape! The Commander-in-Chief has ordered! All surviving star-class warships, immediately flee! Forward four! Move quickly!" "...The European Fourth Fleet has collapsed!" "...The American Seventh Fleet requests support..." "...We are surrounded! They premeditated this..." "Four more droplets are hunting on the outer perimeter, and a large number of pursuing fleets have been destroyed!"

The information is noisy and fragmented, and a dark picture of despair slowly unfolds.

At least one hundred flames are being born in Jupiter's orbit, and at the same time, at least one thousand star-class warships have entered [Advance 4] mode.

One ship, ten ships, a hundred ships, a thousand ships...

Ultimately, more than four thousand surviving star-class warships simultaneously pushed their fusion engines to their limits—the "Forward IV" state!
Four thousand beams of light, as intense as miniature stars, erupted in the frigid vacuum of space! Their brilliance was so dazzling that they could be faintly observed from light-years away, forming a vast sea of ​​light! It was the sea of ​​light of humanity's solar system fleet! It was a sea of ​​light containing all of humanity's power! Or perhaps, it was a golden sea of ​​despair!

The massive nuclear explosions, representing the devastation of warships, erupted one after another, expanding and then fading away without pause. Each nuclear explosion meant the instantaneous annihilation of tens of thousands of compatriots, the extinguishing of hundreds of glowing ships, and the utter destruction of a vessel representing the pinnacle of human ingenuity and industrial achievement.

And this was just ten drops of water splashed out from the outdated First Fleet of the Trisolarans.

Amidst this destructive frenzy, smaller, more agile points of light could be vaguely seen—planetary-class warships. Like moths drawn to a flame, they relentlessly rushed towards the droplets of death, using their own mass and weapons, or even their hulls, to ram the waters, attempting to slightly hinder the reaping of death and buy more time for other star-class warships to accelerate.

Their sacrifice seemed insignificant compared to the self-destruction of a starship, yet they were so numerous that they lit countless tiny candles in this fleet funeral.

In the vast sea of ​​stars, the sunset over the solar system fleet is magnificent and poignant.

...

At the boundary between the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud, a 'warship' resembling a 'full moon' traversed several light-years and teleported to this location.

"Xiaoqing, is this your home?"

"So many beautiful carbon-based life forms..."

"Wait, why are they fighting?"

"Wait, what's Guangbo doing here?"

"Wait, is it God's fleet?"

"Wait a minute, Shi, what brings you here too?"

"I've come to find my Xiao Huan."

The poem points into the distance, revealing the enormous, consuming ring that now floats serenely and beautifully in the asteroid belt of the solar system.

(End of this chapter)