At this moment, however, on the Imperial cruiser, space torpedoes, filled with antimatter material through specialized pipes, slowly slid out of their launch tubes.
They were not like the imagined long-barreled proton torpedoes, but more like large metal pike-fish, closer in appearance to armored airships used within the atmosphere, and their size was also very similar.
Separated by the thick ice crystal asteroid clusters, their space bubble generators also began to operate, much like bubbles exhaled by pike-fish, quickly enveloping them entirely.
At that instant, within that large bubble, a self-contained universe seemed to solidify.
The torpedoes adjusted their angles and began to accelerate slowly.
After all, as so-called experimental weapons, the compatibility between the space generator and the torpedo's own propulsion system had not yet been perfected, and activation also required time.
However, this did not affect their power in the slightest.
The Empire had already conducted tests in this regard.
When attacking a fixed target, a single space torpedo, if it hit a vital point, could even completely destroy a million-ton battlecruisers.
As for the Earthlings' small sampans on the opposite side, it was even more like using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken.
However, Marquis Odgar's goal was to ensure all Earthling warships died here, so he had to use this sharp ox-cleaver.
Marquis Odgar secretly clenched his fists.
He knew that once these four torpedoes penetrated the enemy formation, all that remained would be to await the flash of explosions and the screams of death.
And almost at this very moment, the technical officer's analysis results were fed back to the bridge of the Corsica.
“Preliminary analysis, it’s a space bubble reaction…”
The reason it was a preliminary analysis was that the space bubble concept was currently only a theory; whether it could be used militarily was still under discussion among various nations, and no true consensus had been reached.
An ordinary technical military officer, if not reminded by someone, would probably not even think in that direction.
By the time that happened, it would truly be too late.
Elinore subconsciously sighed, with a hint of relief, yet seemingly suppressing a certain excitement.
The Corsica was retreating, this being its first retreat since the battle began.
At the same time, the Luoyang, piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Kong Qingyu, had already moved up, taking the previous position.
“Lieutenant Wa Yali! It’s up to you!” the old captain said to the young military officer sitting at one of the gun stations.
Simon Vayali suddenly felt that he should not have chosen the path of a Star Hunter in the first place.
Not only did he have to be a sniper on the battlefield, and a ranged DPS in extraordinary battles, but he also had to serve as a gunner in cosmic warship battles, yet he only received one salary.
Where could he go to complain about that?
His current organizational affiliation was indeed with the Commonwealth Guard, and he truly only received one salary.
His deployment with the Thirteenth Fleet was categorized as “temporary secondment,” and he only received a portion of allowances.
The Lieutenant gritted his teeth, then composed himself, and directly commanded the ship's gunnery officer: “Give me authority over the forward deck rail secondary guns from 6 to 12! Tell them to load the space bombs!”
After saying this, he no longer paid attention to the reactions of others, focusing intently, without a word, his face grim, and his entire being exuded an aura that warned people to keep their distance.
He had done more difficult things before, but he still dared not relax in the slightest.
The Corsica and the Luoyang took less than half a minute to complete the position switch, a tactical maneuver that was above average.
Of course, this could not be hidden from Test 24 behind the asteroid “wall.”
On the bridge, Marquis Odgar looked at the enemy warship's movements on the holographic projection, pondered for a moment, and feeling a sudden unease, quickly opened communications: “Lainong, are you still in the hangar?”
“Still here, Your Excellency, preparations are mostly complete!”
Lainong, as a retainer of Marquis Odgar, was not actually the Marquis's adjutant by profession; he only occasionally filled in.
He was a Kieyang Air Knight naturally skilled in operation and Driving, and thus was also responsible for commanding an entire squadron of escort fighters on Test 24.
These fighters were the famous X-17 Phantom Wing multi-role fighters, excellent at both air combat escort and interception bombing.
Of course, for different purposes, the equipment carried would naturally be different.
Marquis Odgar's original plan was to deploy them for pursuit and complete annihilation of the enemy after using torpedoes to severely cripple the opposing fleet.
However, by some strange twist of fate, he had a change of heart and issued another order: “…Lainong, re-equip, switch to air superiority escort gear.”
The Air Knight on the other end of the communication paused for a moment, but quickly replied: “Understood!”
The Marquis had great confidence in his retainers and the Imperial Army officers leading the preparation teams within the warship; even if they had to change equipment immediately, it should not take much time.
“Where is my Emblem Machine?” he then instructed the unnamed adjutant behind him: “Bring my Emblem Machine to the bridge!”
Marquis Odgar showed no signs of impatience; everything was calm, as if going through the motions.
The other officers and soldiers on the bridge also had little suspicion.
Most of their attention remained on the several torpedoes that had launched into space.
The Empire and Bakerville witnessed the torpedoes, enveloped in space bubbles, after nearly a minute of acceleration, suddenly flash, leaving a trail of light, and then disappearing from sight, as they crashed into the barrier of the ice crystal asteroids.
According to common sense, a craft of such mass, colliding with a dense Asteroid Belt at sub-light speed, would certainly shatter these ice blocks, which had been solidified for billions of years, but it would also be basically unrecognizable itself.
But in reality, that transparent film, like a soap bubble, upon contact with the asteroid, was like a red-hot blade spraying butter, directly dragging the entire torpedo into the giant ice block… No, that analogy is not appropriate.
If it were truly butter, the whole thing would begin to melt and deform, but the gigantic iceberg in front remained completely unchanged, as if it and the advancing torpedo did not belong to the same dimension at all.
In fact, this was precisely the case.
Once the space bubble activated, the maneuvering torpedoes indeed cut themselves into an Abyssal Space domain, proceeding only along a predetermined trajectory.
The material concepts of the main world would pose no obstacle to these deadly weapons, which resembled giant pike-fish.
Therefore, on the battlefield, they could choose the shortest attack distance, recklessly charging straight ahead, and no matter what obstacles they encountered on their path, they could continue with unwavering resolve.
Theoretically, even the specialized close-in defense weapons used on most warships could not interfere with their trajectory, let alone shoot them down.
And then, it was simply to crash into the target, deactivate the air cannon, allow the antimatter material to surge out, and then just enjoy the laboratory scene of matter-antimatter annihilation and the final violent explosion.
The Imperial Army officers on Test 24 even felt a little regret… such a magnificent new weapon, the prey used for its inaugural display, should have been an Alliance Dreadnought or even a Titan!
The result was merely the Commonwealth's small sampans; truly a precious sword dulled, they only hoped its sharpness would not be blunted.
However, at this moment, behind the Asteroid Belt, a very intense vibration reaction suddenly occurred.
Marquis Odgar could feel that it was definitely not the reaction of hitting a target.
He silently closed his eyes, allowing his spiritual perception to extend.
A spherical, colossal space was formed within a million-kilometer radius of the cosmos.
The Marquis's own soul was at the very center of this space, and every subtle reaction occurring within it entered his perception.
This was precisely the powerful ability known as “Interstellar Spatial Awareness,” a psionic skill that only Six Rings and above Saint-level “Explore” practitioners could master, a natural spatial recognition and capture ability that even the most precise spatial instruments could hardly match.
However, Marquis Odgar was not an “Explore” and was far from Six Rings.
The reason he could achieve this was because he carried a family heirloom treasure of Marquis Odgar.
It was just that the duration of this treasure was not long, less than a minute.
Of course, most “Explore” practitioners, even at the Six Rings Saint level, were (relatively) very weak physically.
This treasure could last much longer than them.
Marquis Odgar could feel the space-bubble-enveloped torpedoes smoothly passing through the ice crystal Asteroid Belt, instantly appearing right in front of the Earthling fleet.
At this distance, even if every captain and helmsman on the opposite side possessed the Driving ability of Count Karentis, the Emperor's flagship captain, they would be unable to evade.
However, at this moment, the torpedoes seemed to encounter an invisible obstruction and stopped advancing.
The thin film of the space bubble, however, was fluctuating, as if truly transforming into a bubble in a gale.
Marquis Odgar's ability could only last until this point.
He exhaled a turbid breath, roughly guessing what had happened, yet instead fell into an indescribable state of bewilderment.
At this time, the Imperial Army's technical bureaucrats also quickly made a judgment: the torpedoes had encountered a similar abnormal spatial reaction.
The space bubble was being neutralized, and the generating device automatically began to overload, also affecting the propulsion system.
This was the reason the space torpedoes' forward speed suddenly slowed down.
“…I'll f*** his Slaanesh's tits!” Marquis Odgar cursed in a classic Imperial profanity.
Wolfgang's First Officer Reia heard it clearly and immediately showed a pained expression.
But he also knew that now was not the time to admonish His Excellency the Marquis about etiquette and decorum: “Your Excellency, this is…”
“The Earthlings were prepared! They knew we would use space torpedoes!” The Marquis gritted his teeth.
“Then… this, but, this shouldn't be so? This is military classified information!”
“…It might have been leaked by that fellow Ke'ermo! He’s a reserve Star Realm Knight, with access to internal military references!” Marquis Odgar said in a deep voice.
In reality, the internal military references that ordinary Knights and reserve Knights could see at most mentioned a passing remark about “breakthroughs in space bubble technology.”
Under normal circumstances, no one would associate that with space torpedoes.
But besides this, Marquis Odgar truly could not think of any other reason.
“But, such a new weapon… even if the Earthlings knew about it beforehand, how would they counter it?”
First Officer Reia had not finished speaking when he suddenly saw a series of bright flashes behind the ice crystal asteroids.
This was a more splendid and brighter halo than ordinary aircraft explosions, or even nuclear fission, passing through the scattered ice crystals, radiating countless dreamlike colors.
However, faced with such a dreamlike spectacle, Marquis Odgar and First Officer Reia had no room for appreciation at all.
They knew that was the reaction when antimatter fuel exploded.