Chapter 46: The First Battle of the Giant Mechs – Section 5

The intense artillery fire was even denser than a storm. Trajectories of bullets crisscrossed the sky, creating layers of light screens that submerged the once tranquil starfield.

From the moment they charged forward, Captain Rocot thought he was doomed. The enemy was so powerful that each of their attacks cost humanity hundreds of warships. The number of his comrades around him was decreasing at a visible pace. Explosions lit up the sky one after another, and the powerful shockwaves made even the replica giant ship beneath him tremble. In such a situation, perhaps not just him but all members of the First Fleet shared the same thought—there was no longer any hope of survival; they only wanted to fight to the end and preserve human dignity. That’s why the final charge was the most desperate one. In the distance, many warships no longer cared about maintaining formation. Crew members’ screams could be heard over the public channel as all ships fired relentlessly while charging forward, using their lives to prove human dignity.

If… just if…
If it hadn’t been for a beam of light in the distant stars, almost everyone would have given up hope.

If, still if…
If people hadn’t seen that light and held on, they would never have witnessed the first battle of humanity’s greatest weapon.

It was a huge, elongated warship, five kilometers long. It appeared on the outskirts of the Moors’ ambush zone. No one knew when it appeared, nor how it arrived—no wake from high-speed movement, no energy fluctuations from a warp gate. It simply appeared there, silently floating in space, as if it had always existed. Its entire surface was pitch black, like a ghost ship without crew.

Of course, if it had been a ghost ship, it wouldn’t have drawn the attention of the First Fleet. After all, they were all engaged in a desperate battle, with no one having time to pay attention to this suddenly appearing warship. The Moors’ black crystal warships also seemed to dismiss it with contempt; aside from two nearby giant ships that tried to approach, the rest ignored it entirely.

Yet, it was this very “ghost ship” that became the focus of the battlefield just a few seconds later. Even amidst the intense artillery fire, people’s gazes couldn’t be turned away from it.

Because… it turned on its lights.

It wasn’t the high-powered searchlights commonly used in space battles (Note 1), but rather the regular lighting inside the ship. Instantly, the shape of that pitch-black ghost ship became visible. (Note 1: For environmental adaptation, high-powered searchlights are standard equipment on every warship, though they are rarely used. The searchlights used on warships are also not ordinary types; they have extremely strong penetration capabilities.)

Everyone who saw this scene gasped in shock.

“Oh, God, what kind of strange thing is that?”

It had a long, needle-like shape, as if magnified countless times. Dense clusters of smooth, semi-circular objects covered its surface. If not in space, people would have thought they were seeing a grapevine made entirely of steel. Those round clusters looked just like grapes, didn’t they?

Only, this “grapevine” was far too large. Each “grape” on it was almost the size of a warship. With so many of these “grapes” gathered together, the giant warship appeared extremely bulky and grotesque, sending chills down anyone who saw it.

People always feel fear toward the unknown. Before knowing what this warship was for, most thought it was a new weapon of the Moors. Their already desperate feelings grew even more hopeless. No one had any hope left.

But that feeling vanished quickly, as people saw familiar red energy balls appearing on the two black crystal ships approaching the “grape warship.”

“The Moors are attacking! They’re not on the same side!!” a crew member cried out in surprise.

If they weren’t enemies, then they might be friends. That was basic common sense that everyone understood. And when the bow of the “grape warship” was illuminated by gunfire, everyone confirmed this belief. Everyone could clearly see the huge blood-red wolf head on the bow of that ship.

“It’s the Blood Wolves! It’s the Blood Wolves’ ship!!” Captain Rocot exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief. The crew around him all shrunk back, their faces showing fear, anticipation, and relief.

It had to be said that the Black-Haired Blood Wolves were extremely famous in the human world.

The most arrogant fleet, the most unreasonable crew, the most brutal methods, and commanders who protected their own people at all costs. Almost all descriptions carried strong negative connotations. But one thing no one ever disputed: the Blood Wolves were also synonymous with the strongest fleet among humans.

If there was anything that could give the crew of the First Fleet a glimmer of hope in this situation surrounded by the Moors and seemingly trapped, then the Blood Wolf was the only source of that hope!! Unfortunately, however, this hope came too late. The First Fleet was now encircled by the Moors like in an iron cage, with over 60% of its members lost, and eight of its most important replica warships destroyed. It could be said they were at their absolute worst. Meanwhile, the Black Crystal warships around them kept firing, claiming lives with every passing second. The arrival of the “Grape Warship” could only serve to collect their bodies. Amidst desperate cries, many even wondered if those huge “grapes” on the warship were actually morgues. Unless… the “Grape Warship” could break through the Moors’ encirclement within ten minutes, it might give the First Fleet a chance to survive. But was that possible? Not to mention it was just one warship, even the Black Crystal ships that were closing in on it and already launching attacks gave people little confidence. They had personally experienced the terror of the Moors’ Black Crystal warships—ships that could fire thousands of deadly beams with a single barrage. A combined attack from two such ships could almost instantly turn it to dust. It was with such thoughts that when a dazzling burst of crimson energy passed and everyone saw the “Grape Warship” unharmed, almost no one could believe their eyes. “Oh, my God. How is that possible? Who saw it? Who saw it? How did it survive those barrages?” “Damn it, this must be a dream. Oh, okay, I’m dreaming. Hey, pinch me. See if it hurts.” “Ah!! Damn it. Use less force. You really pinched me.” For a moment, the entire public channel was filled with questions, exclamations, and disbelief, to the point where even screams could no longer be heard. The crew of the First Fleet finally felt a glimmer of hope. At the same time, however, there was also a faint concern. Perhaps the “Grape Warship” was truly powerful, just like the Blood Wolf’s past performances, possessing unparalleled strength. But so far, that strength was only evident in defense; no one knew about its offensive capabilities. And no matter how strong it was, it was still just one warship. Facing enemies outnumbering them by dozens, could the Blood Wolf truly continue its legend of invincibility?

No one knows, not even Kurokami himself. He simply doesn’t have time to think about it. The preparations before Snake Fang attacks are busy and complicated. It’s vastly different from ordinary mechs—everything from energy allocation to tuning various components keeps even an experienced technician busy. After all, Snake Fang is the first true giant mech; not only is its size enlarged, but many parts also require complex rework in mechanics and electrical engineering. Thus, its automation is far less advanced than that of mature mechs. Every technician must conduct thorough tuning before actual combat. Last time Kurokami tested it was an exception, as it was a special prototype, and the Black Prison crew had enough resources to turn it into a perfect mech. In a sense, if equipped with an electronic brain, it could even fight on its own. But now it’s a different story. To rescue Duke Poseidon in time, Kurokami acted hastily, even using multi-layer space jump technology. As a result, all the external Snake Fang units experienced power outages. Right after exiting the jump, the entire warship’s energy supply was cut off. It was only thanks to the cleverness of the onboard Black Prison engineers that disaster was averted. The external Snake Fang units naturally needed to be recharged as well. Fingers danced across the keyboard, producing a rapid series of clicks that were impossible to count. On the screen in front of Kurokami, data streams surged like a tide. After thirty seconds, a clear humming sound filled the cockpit. As the familiar white light appeared, everything around him became clearly visible. “Done. Tuning completed. Monkey, how’s it going on your end?” “Almost there, boss. Wait for me. You know I’m not as fast as you. In all those speed contests, I’ve never won once.” “What about the others?” Kurokami smiled faintly without responding to Monkey’s complaints. Instead, he turned his gaze to the other Snake Fang mechs. From his current angle, he could clearly see those massive semi-circular figures around him. Kurokami knew there was a busy figure inside each of them. “We’re almost done too, boss. Wait! Hey, it’s done!” Baroka’s excited voice rang out, followed by successive confirmations. Kurokami silently counted until he reached twenty before nodding. “Good, guys. This is Snake Fang’s first operation. Don’t embarrass me. If you fail, go scrub toilets for a week!”

“Don’t worry, boss. We’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time. Haha, I can’t wait anymore—my hands are almost burning.” Baroka laughed wildly, responding carelessly.
As his voice echoed, Hei Ba felt a sudden heaviness around him; the Snake Fang beneath him had already detached from the hook of the virtual puppet…