Sucan's directive was immediately put into action upon being issued.
Along this strategic path, he had employed certain methods to intimidate the fleet Captains.
Numerous Captains were summarily dismissed and directly executed.
In the eyes of the masses, Sucan appeared as an embodiment of Satan, the Devil King.
However, those who truly understood the nature of warfare would not deem Sucan's methods excessive.
The battlefield is precisely that unforgiving.
Advance, or perish.
There were only these two options available.
Death was the permanent consequence. For instance, the penalty for obeying orders was death. The penalty for violating military regulations was death. The penalty for speaking carelessly was death.
The negative consequence for every action was death.
Human lives were rendered truly insignificant.
Some individuals might believe they held high status, yet they forgot this was the cosmic era—an era defined by extreme hardship.
Especially during wartime, those positioned higher up were often eliminated more easily, because removing high-ranking figures created a far stronger deterrent effect.
Soon enough, replacements would fill their ranks.
The critical difference between the cosmic era and traditional ground warfare was this:
In conventional warfare, the spirit of "a general outside the capital may ignore the emperor's decree" existed, but was rarely truly enforced. Interstellar warfare, however, etched this principle into immutable law.
The supreme commander of a fleet held absolute dominion over the life and death of every vessel and soul under their command.
Even military aristocrats were subject to this decree.
The Federation maintained numerous aristocratic lineages.
Even Sucan's own subordinates included offspring from these powerful families.
These families commanded terrifying resources within the Federation, but here, on the front lines, they were compelled to keep a low profile.
Many of these privileged individuals sought military glory, yet the Federation's iron rule dictated that once selected for a particular legion on the battlefield, those members could not retire upon selection; they were bound to the fighting until the end.
...
Sucan stood in the command center, gazing out at the cosmos ahead.
In fact, from the war's inception until this moment, the cosmos itself remained largely unchanged.
It was only due to the activation of Satan's Hand that several stars had noticeably brightened, particularly the nearby white dwarf, which now shone with the intensity of a flashbang.
Sucan filtered out much of the heavy gravitational light, reducing the screen brightness by 97%, yet it remained intensely brilliant.
At this very moment.
The entire warship shuddered violently.
This was a common phenomenon when warships discharged high-power weaponry.
A vessel traveling at extreme velocity would experience a substantial recoil force. This recoil could sometimes decelerate the warship by as much as 10,000 kilometers per second.
The inertial shock caused by such a sudden deceleration during high-speed transit was truly terrifying.
That the warship itself only experienced a slight sway to counteract the inertia was a testament to its powerful dampening systems.
Sucan, in the very early stages, had been somewhat unsettled by this sensation.
This was because, within Hyperdimensional Space, such physical sway did not occur.
The low-EQ explanation was that the physical engine of Hyperdimensional Space still required refinement.
The warship discharged a black hole weapon.
It directly generated a black hole at the core of the targeted gravitational source; this was deemed the most resource-efficient method.
In reality, the warship was still over a thousand astronomical units distant from that gravitational source.
More than two hours later.
The target gravitational source was struck.
Sucan observed that the enemy capital ships did indeed attempt to intercept the projectile.
However, those capital ships were fully occupied in sustaining the gravitational source; they could not afford to divert attention to other matters, forced instead to watch as the black hole weapon impacted their construct.
The black hole weapon itself was a dense mass of energy.
Upon entering the gravitational source, this energy mass abruptly contracted, collapsing to the point of becoming a singularity, successfully birthing a localized black hole.
This resulting black hole was actually rather small.
Its diameter was barely 10 centimeters.
Even this modest size was the result of tens of thousands of warships simultaneously releasing focused energy, converged onto a single point.
However, what Sucan had not anticipated was this:
After the black hole formed, it rapidly absorbed the surrounding gravitational source, actually expanding directly to a diameter of 20 meters.
No, more precisely, a diameter of 22 meters.
"The energy density of that gravitational source is higher than my calculations indicated."
Sucan was momentarily stunned.
Although the main server had previously performed the calculations.
Seeing the event unfold was far more intuitive now.
Just generating that initial gravitational source required energy equivalent to several Earths.
Of course, such rapid expansion could only persist for an instant.
This created black hole was inherently unstable. A truly stable black hole, just 1 cm in diameter, would equate to the mass of one or two Earths.
This artificially created anomaly was less a true black hole and more akin to a spacetime rift.
Spacetime was torn open by immense localized energy, forming the aperture.
The rupture would stabilize rapidly, but a spacetime rift wasn't a complete black hole; one could even describe it as the confluence of multiple, intertwined black holes. These singularities were violently influencing each other while simultaneously releasing vast amounts of energy.
"This black hole might only maintain its state for one or two days."
"We can utilize this opportunity."
Upon observing the black hole, Sucan suddenly conceived a bold strategy.
"We are charging directly into the black hole!"
He instantly altered the fleet's trajectory, redirecting it from swerving around the anomaly to a direct assault into its center. Concurrently, he canceled the prior order to alert other fleets to slow down.
The fleet began its acceleration toward the black hole.
At this juncture, the opposing civilization's millions of capital ships all flew away from the gravitational source structure. They too understood that the current situation was irreversible, and any action taken now would only marginally extend the black hole's unstable existence.
Furthermore, the time window was severely limited.
Perhaps pouring all their remaining energy might only sustain the anomaly for a few extra days—a duration rendered meaningless by the travel time required for their main forces to arrive.
At this critical juncture.
Due to the black hole's powerful influence, these enemy capital ships could observe the Federation warships at close range.
They witnessed the Federation fleet intentionally flying directly toward the black hole.
"Are their propulsion systems somehow compromised?"
"They are going to fly straight into the black hole like that."
"Isn't this advantageous? They all deserve to perish."
"No, at their current velocity, by the time they reach the black hole, the singularity itself will have just been destroyed."
"The destruction of the black hole will release an enormous surge of energy. Their warships still won't possess the structural integrity to withstand that."
The scholars and officers of this observing civilization were deeply astonished.
They could not fathom the ultimate objective of the Federation warships' maneuver.
However, they had no time for contemplation, because while observing the frontal Federation forces, traces of several other Federation warships also appeared on the flanks.
Although extremely subtle, most were masked by the gravitational influence of Satan's Hand and went undetected.
But they still managed to capture this partial intelligence.
"Based on initial telemetry, the opponent commands approximately 100,000 warships. The frontal observation currently shows around 10,000 ships. Adding the exterior force detected, the total should approach 20,000 ships. Theoretically, they could disperse into five distinct fleets."
In the vastness of cosmic travel, avoiding detection was nearly impossible, especially for fleets of this magnitude.
"First, engage the surrounding warships. We absolutely cannot permit them to achieve an encircling formation."
"The weaponry of this three-dimensional civilization is notably tricky and potent. We cannot be certain what new capabilities these warships might deploy if they successfully box us in."
"Also, check all other vectors; search for a viable breakthrough point."
This civilization acted with remarkable speed.
They immediately repurposed their deployed defense network, rapidly converting these systems into advanced detectors that scanned the entire star system.
...
On the primary frontal engagement zone.
Sucan was leading the fleet directly toward the black hole.
Regardless of his ultimate plan, the enemy's immediate priority would surely be obstruction.
The millions of enemy capital ships instantaneously vanished from the cosmos, rendering them undetectable.
With a low, resonant "hum" of electronic distortion, all the fleet's warships were jammed. On the outer hull layer of the vessels, stress fractures immediately appeared, as if the warship's shell was on the verge of catastrophic failure.
[Warning! Warship is currently under attack originating from the fourth dimension!]
The fourth dimension.
Those capital ships had entered the fourth dimension and initiated a spatio-temporal assault.
"The fourth dimension is not a separate spatial plane. Their disappearance from our visual spectrum must be achieved through light manipulation/disruption."
"The total elapsed time from the moment those capital ships vanished to the impact on us was 13 minutes. Based on standard light-speed propagation, that travel time is impossible."
"It appears there are unknown physical phenomena within the fourth dimension. The speed of light limit within this dimension's physical laws does not appear to equate to 300,000 km per second."
Sucan immediately ordered the main server to initiate tracking protocols for these capital ships.
A massive sweep of high-frequency radiation waves was emitted.
The reflected waves should reveal the opponent's precise location.
However, on the tactical display, what Sucan observed was absolute chaos.
The opponent was employing effective counter-measures.
Even on the gravity map, the enemy remained completely invisible.
The opposing civilization was clearly a master of gravity manipulation, directly nullifying the minute spatial distortions caused by the capital ships' transit. The Federation did not possess comparable technology.
"But ultimately, their technique is merely sophisticated concealment."
"Activate the Transverse Field!"
[Fleet initiating link sequence, establishing energy channel, energy channel connection complete. Transverse Field fully activated.]
According to feedback from the main server.
The entire fleet closed ranks. The distance separating each warship was less than 100,000 meters.
At this proximity, warships could share energy resources instantly. 100,000 meters is negligible distance for light transmission, resulting in minimal energy degradation.
As energy sharing engaged, all warships simultaneously emitted a synchronized energy field.
The so-called Transverse Field was fundamentally an immense electromagnetic energy projection. However, because the entire fleet was linked, the sheer power of this electromagnetic field became terrifyingly potent, capable of enveloping an area spanning 1 million kilometers around the formation.
Furthermore, the energy output of the Transverse Field was so high that its accompanying electromagnetic interference diffused outwards for tens of millions of kilometers.
Though still measured in light-second distances, this output was sufficient to forcibly repel those hostile capital ships back beyond the 1 AU threshold.
Sucan had no desire to waste critical resources searching for and destroying millions of these capital ships individually.
That would constitute a monumental, time-consuming endeavor.
After all, there were millions of capital ships involved.
Let alone capital ships, swatting that many mosquitoes would take half a day.
"Full thrust ahead! These irritating pests will be driven off shortly."
The distance separating them from the black hole narrowed relentlessly.
Sucan could now perceive the black hole's event horizon with the naked eye.
Ordinary black holes were spherical—the most perfectly regular spherical objects known in any universe.
But this particular singularity was severely elongated, even somewhat flattened at the poles.
"It must be due to an excessive concentration of gravitational sources. With this degree of flattening, there must be thousands, tens of thousands of gravitational centers packed within it."
Sucan glanced at the main server's chronometer.
This black hole, visibly contorting into a thin line, was scheduled for direct collapse once it reached that critical morphological state.
Observing this phenomenon under natural conditions was exceedingly rare.
[Entering black hole gravitational influence range momentarily. All personnel aboard warships, assume protective readiness.]
Prepare for what, precisely?
For immediate obliteration?
Some personnel's faces grew ashen. Certain races were incapable of paling, but their core systems must have been in utter panic at this moment.
"What are the higher echelons thinking? Why are we deliberately charging toward a black hole!"
"Is this an act of suicide? Do they honestly believe we have perfected black hole technology? I have never heard of such a thing!"
"Mamma Mia, I want to return home! I am the 23,887th male heir of the XXXX Corporation's CEO."
In summary, a multitude of soldiers were consumed by terror.
And many officers at the warship command level were equally bewildered.
Only those holding true Captain-level clearances understood the full extent of their warships' proprietary technologies.
Having comprehended those specific capabilities, they would grasp Sucan's intent.
Even so.
They too felt a measure of doubt.
"Is this commander completely unhinged?"
"To actually think of utilizing it this way… the energy released by a black hole's eruption is far too terrifying. If we miscalculate, we'll all be annihilated."
"Who on earth granted this person the authority?"
This was undeniably a reckless maneuver.
However, Sucan did not share that sentiment. He placed his full faith in the current technology, trusting the main server of the warship to be sufficiently accurate.
Sucan watched as the approaching black hole grew steadily nearer.
The black hole had now been stretched into a thread-like form, a filament spanning two thousand kilometers. Against the stark backdrop of the black cosmos, it was almost entirely invisible; it could only be detected using specialized gravitational scanning devices.
Even though the black hole was on the verge of annihilation, as it drew closer, Sucan himself felt a powerful gravitational drag pulling at him. Normally, a warship's internal gravity was self-generated, but at this moment, the gravity vectors shifted entirely. The "floor" of the warship suddenly became the "front."
Sucan leaped onto what was now a wall.
At this precise moment, a colossal beam of energy struck, completely enveloping all the warships.
The terrifying energy directly pierced through the warship's already activated Transverse Field.
All warships immediately blared piercing alarms.
[Warning! Warship struck by an extremely powerful energy impact!]
[Activating negative energy reserves!]
[Deploying negative energy grid!]
After processing this information, Sucan decisively issued an order: "Cancel the negative energy grid. Release negative energy on a massive scale, utilizing it to guide the spacetime vortex."
[Complying with commander's order. Negative energy grid canceled, commencing negative energy release.]
All warships simultaneously discharged the negative energy stored within them.
This negative energy was scattered into the vacuum of space.
Once separated from the containment devices, this energy began to react violently with the positive energy inherent in the cosmos. If they were solely in a vacuum, the reaction wouldn't be overly volatile, but at this moment, the warships were being bombarded by the energy spewed from the black hole. This negative energy would inevitably encounter that massive wave of positive energy.
During the annihilation process with the positive energy, the negative energy would vanish along with it, creating a localized zone of near-perfect vacuum around the point of impact.
At this juncture, the warship used its remaining negative energy reserves to manipulate the ship's own gravitational field, effectively creating a vortex around the primary engine. Surrounding energy was pulled into this vortex, gathered, and expelled backward.
This action generated a small gravitational thrust, providing an emergency boost.
The duration of this engine boost was entirely contingent upon the amount of negative energy they could expend.
Based on the actual consumption rate, they could sustain this for a mere few seconds.
But a few seconds were sufficient.
Sufficient to clear the ejected materials past the bulk of the warship.
However, that acceleration alone was not enough.
"Main server, initiate matter enrichment sequence, construct a gravity well."
Sucan almost instantaneously followed his prior command with this new instruction.
The main server, obeying the directive, began the process of enriching the surrounding energy particles.
"Enrichment" essentially involved adding new, artificial particles—which were controllable and guided—to the existing ones. This process allowed a massive quantity of energy to be harnessed and directed.
These newly enriched energy matter particles, once expelled, would gradually convert into Gravitons, subsequently spreading out over a vast area, potentially exceeding 10 AU. In gravitational observation, this phenomenon would resemble a colossal void, hence the designation: a gravity well.
The expansion time for the gravity well was inherently long.
The first tangible result completed was the acceleration of the entire fleet.
Although it lasted only those few brief seconds.
Due to the utilization of the massive energy surge, the overall velocity of the fleet increased by a staggering 5,000 kilometers per second.
And now, all the soldiers inside the warships, sensing the cessation of the energy impact, let out a collective, profound sigh of relief.
"I've never experienced such a thrill in my entire life, charging directly toward a black hole."
"Good heavens, I genuinely thought we were done for just now. I didn't expect the warship to actually be equipped with negative energy reserves."
"I told you guys, the brass surely wouldn't court death. Even if they know they might sacrifice us, they won't let themselves perish, right?"
"I checked the flight log. This commander is truly a prodigy; he could conceive of such a countermeasure."
"The warship accelerated! The enemy must not have anticipated that, right? We can actually weaponize black holes!"
Sucan listened to some of the soldiers' comments over the intercom and felt they were overly astonished by their own situation.
They sounded less like disciplined soldiers and more like commoners gossiping in a marketplace alley.
But, he conceded, that was perhaps natural.
For a thousand people, there were a thousand perspectives.
Not to mention the hundreds of thousands or millions of soldiers aboard the capital ship alone.
"The sudden appearance of the black hole might inadvertently expose the positions of our other fleets."
"At this juncture, the opponent should logically choose to deploy substantial forces to ambush the surrounding fleets."
"And the acceleration of our frontal battle line will inevitably catch the enemy completely off guard."
This outcome was actually somewhat contrary to Sucan's original tactical blueprint.
However, it ultimately didn't matter. A favorable result was all that counted.
Moreover.
This time, they had directly annihilated a significant number of the enemy's capital ships.
He activated the rear warship's detector, looking toward the deep space behind them.
The gravity well had successfully formed.
A massive field of Gravitons directly acted upon the stealth capital ships lurking nearby.
The enemy was a master of gravity manipulation, but the gravity well was not a purely gravitational attack.
If it were only gravity, dispersed so widely, the residual gravitational influence would be negligible, and its effect on those capital ships would be extremely minimal.
The essence of the gravity well, as a weapon, was, fundamentally, destruction.
The instant the gravity well formed, through intricate artificial particle connections, gravitational forces at various positions would unify into a singular field, causing a superimposed effect across the entire well.
What was originally 1 unit of gravity, after this superposition, could amplify to 10, 100, or even 1000 units.
The gravity well, in reality, possessed another name.
It was known as spatial collapse!
Because of this compounding effect, it resulted in a complete, localized demolition of spacetime.
Although it might not necessarily crush down into a black hole, the terrifying magnitude of the resulting gravity was more than sufficient to utterly destroy several capital ships.
At this precise moment, Sucan watched millions of capital ships behind him, instantly enveloped by the gravity well, collapsing directly due to the immense gravitational pull, dissolving into mere space debris.
This was fundamentally different from previous phenomena. Gravity, unlike other forces that might exhibit dimensional variances, exerted an absolute, all-encompassing effect.
Those capital ships were annihilated completely.
"What a shame, those antagonists' capital ships were positioned too far away."
Sucan felt a slight pang of regret.
His original intent was to net every single one of the enemy's capital ships.
The opponent had been too cautious, thereby avoiding total annihilation.
And as the gravity well erupted, the influence of Satan's Hand quickly blanketed the surrounding area. This tactical maneuver meant that even with the remaining capital ships, the enemy could not transmit vital information back to their central stronghold.
Sucan's speed of execution remained an absolute enigma to the enemy forces.
At this juncture, Sucan also utilized the main server to completely lock down the enemy's entire base of operations.
A collection of fragmented wreckage floated silently.
"During the prior assault, all structures within the star system were obliterated. This represents one of the larger surviving fragments."
The detected length measured 10.63 million kilometers.
Compared to the original colossal structure, it was now insignificant.
"The enemy's civilians must have largely evacuated. I wonder if the concept of 'civilians' even holds relevance for them."
"Notify all deployed units. The opponent's stronghold is merely 101 AU distant. Estimated arrival in 43 standard hours."
"Prepare for planetary landing!"
For Sucan, the true engagement was only now commencing.
This objective was about conquest, not mere demolition.
Therefore, ground combat was unavoidable.
Otherwise, operating solely in space, without overwhelming technological superiority, it would be incredibly difficult to force the enemy to capitulate.
However, Sucan remained confident.
Not because of the soldiers accompanying him.
But because of the Divine beings.
Ayla had confirmed that Divine beings were stationed aboard his warships. These Divine entities would manifest their unparalleled strength during direct, individual ground combat. Each one was, by definition, an absolute sovereign in personal combat scenarios.
Given that the technological disparity between the enemy and his own forces was not substantial, the Divine beings would absolutely dominate the enemy's ground operatives.
As one of the Divines himself, Sucan understood this reality intimately.
This was the primary justification for daring to initiate a landing.
The soldiers currently aboard the warship, meanwhile, were voicing their apprehension.
They understood the grim implications of ground combat.
...
In a quiet corner of a warship.
Luna glanced at the deployment notification.
"Ground combat, how fascinating."
"It appears there remains an opportunity for me to truly shine."
She had been pondering earlier. On vast interstellar battlefields, their kind often remained unnoticed, as those theaters of war primarily tested the mettle of warships and the skill of fleet commanders.
Thus, even with missions assigned by Hyperdimensional Space, they typically assumed roles such as commanding officers, rather than frontline grunts.
Now, everything clicked into place.
"I hope this civilization proves worthy. This reward is rather generous; it will afford me a stable period."
Luna meticulously checked her combat gear, then headed toward the ship's deployment bay.
The ship's bay differed from the exterior hull; it wasn't the outside of the warship but an internal staging area.
It served essentially as a platform facilitating rapid deployment from the warship itself.
On either side of the warship, there was a massive open volume exceeding 100 meters high and 200 meters deep. It appeared stark—metal walls above, below, and behind, devoid of any superfluous architecture.
When Luna arrived, only a few scattered individuals occupied the platform.
She briefly observed the people around her.
A few of them gave her a feeling that was profoundly strange.
This feeling of strangeness was akin to encountering one of her own kind.
Luna only experienced this peculiar sensation when in the proximity of other Divine beings.
"So many Divines on a single mission? As expected of the prime reality, it always presents the most captivating surprises."
"All of us on the same front. That sensation isn't unpleasant."
Luna had only been there for half a minute, yet more and more figures gathered on the platform.
Before them lay a transparent energy barrier.
The moment this barrier dissolved, they could directly fly out of the warship.
The ship's side bay was explicitly designed for large-scale ground assault operations.
As time ticked down, more soldiers arrived. Luna also observed some who were clearly showing cowardice; they trembled visibly with fear.
Those soldiers, she mused, would be eliminated swiftly.
"Enlisting isn't a vacation cruise," a Lightwings soldier next to Luna remarked with disdain.
He gazed forward, counting down the minutes, awaiting the signal for the first wave to rush out.
Two diametrically opposed extremes were present.
Fear in some; utter confidence in others.
Luna thrived on that tension. Wherever conflict raged, that was her true home.