Chapter 331: Chapter 330: Collaborating from Within and Without

As nuclear bombs exploded one after another, the drones’ swarming capabilities were temporarily scattered by the blasts.

“Have we temporarily ceased fire, then? Electromagnetic Pulse Bombs can indeed disrupt the enemy drones’ coordination ability…” Li Junkang wiped the sweat from his face, not daring to relax at all. “I don’t know what’s going on inside The Kunlun Mountain… Damn it!”

“Have you repaired the laser weapons yet?”

“Captain, the impact of this explosion should cover us for half an hour.”

“How many EMP weapons do we have left!”

“Reporting, Captain, we have six left!”

Only six left…

The spaceship closest to The Kunlun Mountain was none other than Li Junkang’s “Yingsun 1” Destroyer!

Mid-sized spaceships also have their advantages; the technicians inside had already identified some characteristics of Digital Life and began to eliminate them through various power outages.

But they dared not open external communications or high-power radars; otherwise, they would fall victim once again.

Moreover, some of the damaged software couldn’t be repaired in a short time, so the overall performance of the spaceship remained in a very poor state.

Suddenly, the communication department relayed news again.

“Captain, the lights on The Kunlun Mountain have changed again… It just flickered a few times, seemed like… SOS?! What’s going on, or maybe it’s just my eyes playing tricks.”

“No, I saw it too! It’s true, just for a moment, and then it returned to normal.”

“SOS… That’s not a communication code. Is The Mother Ship asking for our help? But how should we rescue?”

Li Junkang’s scalp tingled as he tried to determine if this command was a trap, such as The Kunlun Mountain control room being completely overtaken, among other possibilities…

This was too strange.

But in the end, he made up his mind.

“Activate our laser communication device… Let’s see if any messages come through.”

A brief letter was sent over.

Li Junkang felt a surge of joy in his heart; The Kunlun Mountain had restored laser communication, which meant its performance had improved a lot…

This was definitely great news!

“This is the command center of The Kunlun Mountain; I am Zhang Yuan. We have completely eradicated the Digital Virus and are strenuously resisting the invaders…”

“To avoid the enemy’s scorched earth policy in case of their invasion failure, we have adopted a strategy of a feigned surrender and request that you move as close as possible to The Kunlun Mountain to cooperate in destroying the enemy spaceship…”

“Do not make a move unless necessary, but once you do, it must be a lightning-fast offensive!”

“You are authorized to destroy one-fifth of The Kunlun Mountain!”

This message was very short and rather strange… wreaking some confusion among the soldiers, who couldn’t quite grasp why suddenly, they were ordered to destroy one-fifth of The Kunlun Mountain.

Li Junkang frowned and thought for a while, then understood the meaning behind it.

A boarding battle, the most dangerous and profitable of wars. If the enemy were not so confident in their Digital Life “Ten-thousand-year Worm,” convinced that human electronics would be paralyzed, they would never dare to engage in a boarding battle.

And now, humanity had suddenly cleared these viruses, which brought about the most menacing moment!

A staff officer nearby licked his dry lips and said, “I understand the thinking over at Kunlun Mountain. If the enemy learns of this situation, realizing they can’t obtain The Kunlun Mountain intact, what would they do to ensure their safety?”

“Yes, it’s very likely that they would completely destroy Kunlun Mountain while humanity has not yet fully recovered!”

Even sending that last message had been a grave risk, which was why the light signal had flashed just the once. If no spaceships responded, it might flash a second or third time, but the exposure risk for humanity would greatly increase.

Li Junkang immediately ordered, “Flash our spaceship’s command light just once as well. Kunlun Mountain should be able to observe it. A quick flash is enough, no more.”

“Yes, sir!”

Li Junkang gritted his teeth and asked, “Can our electromagnetic gun and nuclear bombs strike the alien spaceship with precision?”

“No, given the current state of our spaceship, it’s very difficult…” This staff officer was also racking his brain without coming up with any good ideas, eventually offering a wry smile: “Even if we launch missiles, there’s a high probability they’ll be intercepted by the enemy, and an even higher probability that the nuclear bombs will hit Kunlun Mountain…”

“If the distance is close enough, it’s not impossible… We’d need to approach within twenty to thirty thousand kilometers for a chance of hitting the target.”

“But the enemy isn’t stupid, right? If our spaceship gets close, threatening their Mother Ship, we might be destroyed outright.”

“No, I think there’s a slight possibility of getting close to the enemy spaceship…” one of the staff officers said, “That’s exactly the reason for Kunlun Mountain’s feigned surrender, just to create an opportunity for us to attack. The key is that this approach must have a deceptive quality.”

After discussing the entire strategy, Li Junkang finally understood what Zhang Yuan meant by “destroy one-fifth of The Kunlun Mountain.” A widespread, violent attack was necessary to destroy that alien spaceship along with it!

One-fifth of Kunlun Mountain–just the thought of it was somewhat hard to bear, and many people couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow.

He slowly made up his mind, “Then, start the Fusion Engine!”

A technical staff officer was taken aback, “Captain, our Turbulence Restrainer has been damaged by the virus. Starting the Fusion Engine might only work for a few seconds, and it could even explode!”

Li Junkang almost shouted, “That’s exactly the explosion we need! How else can we get close to Kunlun Mountain, how else can we lower the enemy’s guard?! Right, wait until their drones catch up before starting it! Pretend… pretend it was blown up by the enemy’s drones.”

With that command, Yingsun 1’s tail wing erupted in fierce flames!

This blaze was different from previous plasma flames; it was a white-hot, explosive inferno shooting up to the sky!

Then all sorts of black smoke poured out from the engine, looking as if the engine had really been hit by a drone. The rear of Yingsun 1 was melted into a red-hot liquid metal.

Without the Turbulence Restrainer, no metal could withstand the high temperatures of nuclear fusion!

After those few seconds of frantic acceleration, everyone was weighed down by the extreme overload, feeling as if a lifetime had passed.

And Yingsun 1 had already altered its course, plummeting towards the direction of Kunlun Mountain!

“Are you afraid of dying?”

“No!”

Li Junkang yelled fervently, “All personnel prepare, ready all our drones and nuclear bombs, calibrate the ballistic programs…”

“You have 3 hours. Even if Yingsun 1 gets destroyed, goddammit, launch everything at once!”

The outcome rested on this single effort!

…