Space Odyssey from Abandoned Mining Space Station

Within the Star Gate Star System of the Mechanical Race, the Star Gate designated as Number Seven by the Empire was in the process of activation.

A mirror-like membrane was slowly spreading to cover the circular area inside the Star Gate’s frame.

And near the Star Gate, the Mechanical Race Fleet was deployed in full battle readiness.

When Chen Ming’s Insect Race gathered to attack the Mechanical Race colonies, they had already taken up position here, clearly having anticipated Chen Ming’s next move.

This did not stop Chen Ming from continuing to execute his plan.

He simply watched that fleet, at least composed of four Mother Ships, a hundred and thirty thousand Cruisers, and an even greater number of Destroyers and Frigates.

He suddenly realized he had misunderstood the Mechanical Race, or rather, misunderstood the power of industry.

Previously, Chen Ming’s estimate of the Mechanical Race’s number of warships had been based on data he normally had access to, extrapolated from the readiness levels of different Star Realms.

He had thought that after the earlier battle with the Black Mist Insect Race, the Mechanical Race Star Realm should have almost exhausted its Cruiser-level strength.

But clearly, reality was nothing like what he had imagined.

Those figures, in a real war, would obviously continue to climb.

The war between the Mechanical Race and the Empire had already been going on for several months if counted from the very beginning.

They must have deduced the Empire’s intentions quite early and begun an industrial transformation within their territory long ago.

Leaving aside the Main Ships, at the very least Cruisers were certain to be mass-produced.

The forty thousand he had previously guessed was only their peacetime baseline.

In a war that could truly lead to annihilation, the most likely scenario is that all productive capacity is thrown into manufacturing tools of war.

Regardless of who the opponent is.

Still, a total of one hundred and thirty thousand Cruisers was an enormous number even for a Star Realm of the Mechanical Race.

They had probably deployed every Cruiser produced in the most recent period to this location.

Logically, after the previous engagements, the Mechanical Race should already understand that in the face of the Insect Race, every non–Main Ship vessel is nothing but cannon fodder—some slightly tougher, some slightly weaker—so why prepare so many Cruisers?

Wouldn’t it be better to use these Cruisers in the war against the Empire, or even to raid Imperial colonies, instead of stationing them here?

There were two possible reasons for the Mechanical Race’s choice.

One was to have them serve as meat shields for those few Mother Ships and the Star Gate itself, so that in the early phase of an offensive the Mother Ships would not immediately face the concentrated fire of a million Insect Race warships, thereby buying them a window to rapidly clear out the Insect Race Fleet.

This possibility was quite high.

The firepower of the Mother Ships, especially when engaging dense battle lines, was terrifying; a casual sweep of their guns could engulf dozens or even hundreds of warships.

The power of Main Level Weapons was such that a single hit was almost invariably lethal.

This was a situation the Insect Race Fleet simply could not avoid during an offensive.

Just like moments ago.

Although the Black Mist Insect Race Fleet managed to drive off three Mechanical Race Mother Ships, its own losses had also been immense.

If the Mechanical Race had an even greater number of Cruisers, then by relying on the delaying effect of cannon fodder, they really might have dragged things out long enough for the Mother Ships to rack up sufficient battle damage.

Of course, that presupposes that the Mother Ships actually have enough war reserves to destroy that many Insect Race warships.

The other possibility was that they had some follow-up arrangement tied to this deployment.

However, whichever it was did not significantly affect the situation.

Chen Ming was not going to abandon his plan over mere speculation.

Moreover, in his eyes, all Mechanical Race Destroyers and Frigates were nothing but cannon fodder.

All Cruisers, facing the Insect Race Fleet, were merely mantises trying to stop a chariot.

The only thing that truly demanded caution was the Mechanical Race Mother Ships.

The appearance of these four Mother Ships instantly raised the total number of Mechanical Race Main Ships to twelve.

And more troublesome still, this time, among the Mother Ships guarding the Star Gate Star System, two were each outfitted with a Psychic Spine Peak Cannon.

Furthermore, trailing behind Chen Ming’s Insect Race Fleet, there were still four or five Mother Ships that could catch up at any time.

Just three Mother Ships, with over ten thousand Cruisers as meat shields, had already managed to annihilate hundreds of thousands of Insect Race warships in barely over ten minutes.

If the Mechanical Race were allowed to assemble seven or eight Mother Ships, or even more, within a single Star System, then the number of Insect Race warships he would lose could not be estimated by simply doubling previous figures.

The fact that the Mechanical Race had deliberately concentrated so many Cruisers in this Star System could well be related to this.

Chen Ming knew he could not afford to delay any longer.

Especially with the Star Gate inside the Star System still in the process of activation.

Just counting the Mother Ships he knew the Mechanical Race could deploy, there were already eleven, and there were likely more behind the Star Gate.

The Insect Race Fleet, under Chen Ming’s order, immediately began long-range attacks on the Star Gate itself.

The Star Gate was a massive structure, but in Chen Ming’s view, it was also highly fragile.

To sustain the Star Gate’s core function of long-range transit, there had to be a vast number of high-precision systems built into it, which meant its own defensive capability was certainly weak; directly destroying it was clearly the best way to stop the Mechanical Race from continuing to send reinforcements through.

And even if the Star Gate were damaged, it would not be a serious problem; at worst, it could be repaired.

Even though Chen Ming did not understand the operating principles of the Star Gate, his abilities could still be brought to bear on it.

However, Chen Ming’s plan did not succeed.

Because just as the Insect Race warships launched countless spheres of acidic plasma at the Star Gate, and those bright green globes drew close to the structure...