More than one hundred thousand Strong Core Level warships advanced in a disciplined formation.
Li Qingsong saw clearly that among the more than one hundred thousand warships, the largest was only equivalent to his own Venus-class. Not a single Earth Level warship had been deployed, to say nothing of the Mars-class, which for him existed only in the planning stages—not one had yet been built.
But this fleet of just over one hundred thousand small and medium-sized warships exerted an unprecedented and immense pressure on Li Qingsong.
Back in the Solar System, the Blutuk Fleet had failed to project such an imposing presence, even when facing his charge as a mere fledgling of the Electroweak level.
For Li Qingsong saw that even before entering his forces' attack range, a pale yellow, shield-like layer had materialized over the hulls of the more than one hundred thousand warships.
Li Qingsong had seen this before, through the clones he had left behind in the Solar System.
Energy Shields!
One of the hallmark technologies of a Third-level Strong Core Civilization!
The ability of a Strong Core Civilization's Interstellar Fleet to travel at seventy to eighty percent of the speed of light was also thanks to this very technology!
A sense of gravity heavier than any he had ever known settled over Li Qingsong.
When the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet closed to within a few million kilometers of Li Qingsong's defensive line, a range where his current weaponry could score reasonably accurate hits, Li Qingsong initiated his attack.
In an instant, countless Unmanned Warships, Manned Warships, ground-based and orbital defense installations, Interstellar Cannon Platforms, and more roared to life simultaneously.
Refined through round after round of technological optimization, Electromagnetic Cannon Projectiles howled forth with muzzle velocities exceeding 150 kilometers per second. Weighing a mere two grams, each projectile carried over ten thousand kilojoules of energy, rushing forward like a tempest with enough force to pierce steel and rock.
Beams of laser carrying unimaginable amounts of energy traveled at the speed of light, striking the enemy warships in mere seconds.
Pre-positioned jamming bombs detonated with a roar, turning the electromagnetic environment in this Star Domain unbearably hostile.
Li Qingsong knew that Strong Core Level civilizations had mastered long-range communication technology. However, as he understood it, such equipment would be incredibly advanced and massive, meaning it could only be fitted onto large vessels.
Smaller ships would likely still rely on conventional electromagnetic waves for short-range communication.
'In that case, the jamming bombs should be affecting you, too.'
In that instant, every weapon in his arsenal was unleashed.
At that moment, the pale yellow glow enveloping the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity vessels intensified, growing so bright that it completely obscured the warships within.
The Electromagnetic Cannon Projectiles, powerful enough to shatter mountains, only managed to create small dents in the shields upon impact. An instant later, the indentations smoothed out, as if the shields were elastic.
According to Li Qingsong's calculations, these Energy Shields should primarily defend against kinetic weapons. Their effectiveness against light-based weaponry was supposed to be poor.
This had been corroborated by the trap in the Oriental Star System: the heat and radiation from a Hydrogen Bomb could be considered a form of light-based weaponry, and a large number of their ships had been destroyed in that ambush.
By that logic, his laser beam weapons should have achieved considerable results.
And yet, Li Qingsong watched as a warship, clearly struck by dozens of high-energy lasers at once, continued to maneuver with fluid agility, seemingly unaffected.
Evidently, this was another defensive measure he had been unaware of.
'Perhaps... defense against light-based weapons really is a weakness for Strong Core Civilization warships. But could it be that even their weakness is beyond the power of my current attacks to exploit?'
The gravity of the situation weighed even more heavily on Li Qingsong.
Facing his ferocious offensive, the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Warships responded in kind.
Li Qingsong's high-speed scanning radar detected massive swarms of minuscule objects, similar to Electromagnetic Cannon Projectiles, hurtling toward his forces.
Their velocity even exceeded 300 kilometers per second!
Such high velocity surpassed the defensive limits of his warships' high-speed scanning radars, rapid-traverse turrets, and defensive Electromagnetic Cannons.
Their velocity was too high; his forces' ability to intercept them would be drastically reduced.
But there was no other choice. They had to try to intercept them, even if it seemed impossible.
With a single thought, Li Qingsong's Clones, distributed throughout the Supercomputing Base and the Mercury-class Warships, immediately issued an order to all friendly warships and automated combat systems: intercept at all costs.
In an instant, the defensive Electromagnetic Cannons opened fire with everything they had, unleashing a furious barrage of interceptor rounds.
But this barrage only intercepted a small fraction of the projectiles. The rest broke straight through his defenses and slammed into his weapon platforms and warships.
In that instant, countless fireballs erupted across his lines.
Li Qingsong watched in horror as one of his warships, which should have been able to withstand a considerable number of projectiles, had a massive hole blown clean through its hull armor after being hit by just a single enemy round.
Gases vented violently from the breach, and a Clone was even blasted out into the void, dying instantly.
The warship was instantly rendered combat-ineffective.
'Is the firepower of a Strong Core Civilization's Electromagnetic Cannons this immense?'
Li Qingsong's mind raced. 'What principle could be behind this?'
After all, judging from their velocity and mass alone, the projectiles shouldn't possess such destructive power.
The two fleets were still millions of kilometers apart, and this was merely the opening exchange.
Yet the battle had only been raging for a few hours, and his side had already lost several hundred Manned Warships, not to mention an uncountable number of unmanned combat platforms.
In contrast, he hadn't managed to destroy a single one of the enemy's Manned Warships.
All his forces had managed to destroy were a few clearly unmanned small vessels, along with some satellites, Cannon Platforms, and unmanned bases.
The exchange ratio had reached a staggering zero to several hundred.
Li Qingsong gritted his teeth. Faced with such devastating losses, he didn't flinch. Instead, he immediately ordered more warships and unmanned combat assets from the surrounding region to converge on the battlefield.
At the same time, he also called upon a number of Hydrogen Bombs that were hidden in the Asteroid Belt, disguised as asteroids, holding them in reserve without detonating them yet.
Hundreds of thousands of Mercury-class Warships, tens of millions of Unmanned Warships, countless anti-aircraft bases, innumerable missile silos, and more—at this moment, in the face of such grievous casualties, not a single one retreated. Instead, their will to fight only burned hotter.
For a time, the barrage of fire unleashed upon the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Warships became a true tempest.
Even though vast numbers of his warships and facilities were being destroyed with every passing moment, still...
For every unit lost, another was sent to take its place!
'Even dripping water can wear away stone. No matter how sturdy your Energy Shields are, how long can they withstand this bombardment of Electromagnetic Cannon Projectiles? How long can they endure the constant barrage of laser beams?'