The Shenzhou Navy possessed a total of eight sky ships.
When their main engines were at full power, their energies linked and combined into the "Eightfold Formation," it was not something an Emperor-class entity could breach.
Even Sheshe couldn't guarantee that a full-power [Superconductive Wave Thunder Cannon] could pierce through the humans' defenses.
One had to remember.
Back when Lu Xing was still the Black Temple, his [Atomic Breath] had failed to break through the shield of the "Taiqing."
The sky ships had changed their usual style.
The grand formation they formed did not shield the fleet below; it merely blockaded the airspace.
The significant reduction in the area of coverage greatly enhanced the defensive capabilities of the "Eightfold Formation." The sky ships within it, in a very regular pattern, sequentially activated their main cannons at half power, taking turns to deliver precise strikes against the distant Honkai Beasts.
Simply put.
All the surface vessels below had become minions with a "taunt" skill.
"Boom!!"
As the sky ships' main cannons fired once more.
The Quillspike-class finally suffered casualties—one Quillspike-class, its energy depleted, could no longer sustain its shield and was instantly obliterated into a shower of light particles by a main cannon that had long since targeted it!
"Hiss!"
Sheshe was not prepared to wait any longer.
The unexpected human fleet was obstructing the legion's pincer movement on the Mu Continent.
The Emperor's orders explicitly forbade any human (or armed automaton) from leaving the Mu Continent by any means!
"Requesting support."
None of the other fronts had requested support. For Sheshe, with its status, to do so was clearly a bit "beneath its dignity," but considering the completion of the mission—
"Wom!"
An invisible distortion spread open above Sheshe's heads.
An exceedingly unique aura slowly infused into Sheshe's body from above.
Simultaneously, thick black clouds, laden with a thunderstorm as deep as an abyss and as oppressive as a prison, rapidly enveloped the entire sea region!
This was not purely Honkai energy.
It was Lu Xing, relying on his [Exaltation] ability, sharing the Authority of Thunder with Sheshe!
"Crack!!"
Serpentine necks intertwined, wreathed in a sea of lightning.
Five orbs of lightning simultaneously materialized in the air around Sheshe, gradually coalescing towards the front of its centermost head as they gathered.
The irregular bolts of lightning transformed into pure light.
Borrowing the Emperor's power, Sheshe unleashed a skill it had never successfully executed even during its time as a Judgement-class—
[Proton Scream]
"Wom!!!"
————
"High-energy particle stream reaction detected!"
"Finally..."
Aboard the "Taiqing" sky ship.
The old Admiral set down his still-smoldering traditional pipe.
According to the celestial observatory's readings, the true commander of this Honkai Beast legion, the pitch-black, five-headed serpent that had merged with the ocean's shadows, had finally made its move.
To compel the enemy to act.
The average attrition rate of the sky ship fleet's main engines had already exceeded 7.1%, an index that even surpassed the yellow warning line provided by the "Tiankong Institute"; simultaneously, the energy reserves of each sky ship had dropped by more than thirty percent.
If this continued.
It was hard to say how many Honkai Beasts they could destroy, but in less than half an hour, all of them in the sky would become mere decorations, or worse, live targets for the Honkai Beasts' ranged attacks.
Fortunately.
The Honkai Beasts' patience, ultimately, was not as robust as that of humans.
"Are you prepared?"
The old Admiral's voice wasn't loud, but after he spoke these words, the orderly yet constantly shouting bridge instantly fell silent.
"Teacher."
His aide-de-camp stepped up from behind.
"Preparedness, sir..."
"From the moment we boarded this ship, we were already prepared."
Looking at the student he was so proud of, the old Admiral gazed intently for a full second—a remarkably long time for the old man—and silently patted the "young man's" shoulder.
"Notify all ships."
"Notify all ships!"
"Main cannons switch to attack mode."
"Main cannons switch to attack mode!"
The old Admiral's orders were relayed meticulously.
Facing Sheshe's impending full-power strike, the eight sky ships not only had no intention of strengthening their defenses, but were instead preparing to concentrate all their energy into their attack!
"Ernest..."
The old Admiral muttered the name of his old rival.
"The rest is up to you."
"Main cannons, fire!"
"Main cannons, fire!!"
"Whoosh— -!!!"
The [Proton Scream] painted the surface of the sea a stark crimson.
A circular shockwave blasted away everything around Sheshe, as an unstoppable, terrifying pillar of light shot straight towards the sky—
"BOOM!!!!"
————
The light blotted out the sky.
The eight sky ships, swept by the [Proton Scream], were all reduced to dust in that instant.
But!
Their final struggle was not in vain!
The full-load salvo from the eight super main cannons successfully landed on the Eastern Legion's rear—Sheshe, having just unleashed its ultimate attack, had no time to defend. The eight beams of light instantly annihilated twelve Quillspike-class Honkai Beasts... With only two Quillspike-class remaining, they were utterly incapable of constructing such a large-scale anti-aircraft fire net!
They were, after all, not the Emperor's Guard of old.
"Wom."
An electronic voice sounded almost simultaneously across all surface warships. Main cannons of all calibers were aimed at their long-awaited targets—
"...Leave it to me."
Through the cracked glass of the bridge, the sea breeze, carrying the scent of gunpowder, directly scattered the smoke ring Ernest had blown.
Even the last faint red glow of his cigarette, left unpuffed for so long, was completely extinguished by ash.
"All ships, full barrage!"
"All ships, full barrage!!!"
An unending series of "manhole covers" flipped open on the decks of various warships.
Truly thousands upon thousands of missiles, coordinating with the already aimed main cannons of the warships that completely ignored the attacks directed at them—
"Fire!"
"Fire!!!"
"Boom— -!"
————
"BOOM!!!!"
A hurricane composed of flames roared madly across the sea's surface.
Beneath the silent surface of the water, the situation was equally desperate—Wangxiang, leading the aquatic Honkai Beasts, had successfully breached the defensive network formed by the "Chiru" and "Goushe" class submarines.
Even one "Kuiniu" class submarine had been sunk while battling an Emperor-class Honkai Beast.
But...
These losses were bearable!
"Captain!"
"Spatial fluctuations detected! The multivariate function curve shows a similarity of 97.34% with the intelligence provided by the 1st Fleet!"
"Did it succeed..."
The previous salvo had been immensely powerful.
Yet, compared to the vast and mighty Honkai Beast army, the number of enemies eliminated could only be described as insignificant. Moreover, against the most threatening Emperor-class Honkai Beasts, it was difficult to inflict truly fatal damage.
The real target.
Were the [Spatial Disruption Warheads] hidden within the ordinary anti-ship missiles—these were special-purpose missiles, specifically configured to deal with the Honkai Beast legions (particularly the Black Emperor's), capable of somewhat disrupting the stability of space-time within the impact zone.
Their effective duration was very short.
But while active, much like the "Eye of the Abyss," they could effectively prevent any target from escaping via spatial means.
Which meant—
"Admiral."
"General Ernest."
"We will meet again soon."
"Clack!"
He unfastened the latch of the transparent box.
The captain slammed his fist down hard on the red button!
"Zhurong, ignite!"
"Zhurong, ignite!!"
This was Shenzhou's most powerful submarine-launched missile in their arsenal, the largest yield globally. A "Gonggong" class submarine, due to its sheer size, could at most carry six of these doomsday weapons—the "Zhurong" class hypersonic missiles, armed with nuclear warheads.
Right now, the "Zhurong" missiles didn't need to travel far.
They just needed to be gently tossed towards the space above, to their front, and into the area just swept by the sky ships' main cannons—
"Swoosh!!!"
One second, three seconds... Seven seconds later.
"BOOM!!!!!"