Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

After understanding the attack methods of the super beasts, the mech warriors naturally avoided direct frontal assaults and instead attacked from the sides or rear.

The super beasts’ massive size made it difficult to inflict significant damage on them. However, this also made it challenging for the beasts to turn around and counterattack, significantly reducing human casualties.

“The gas expelled from the super beasts’ mouths instantly spreads to a radius of 500 meters, covering an area of approximately 1,000 square meters,” Ruo Manni quickly provided more accurate data.

Due to the near-absolute-zero temperature of space, the instruments on the warships could not detect the gas emitted by the super beasts, nor could it be seen on video.

The intelligence team on the Hebrew Adam side analyzed the situation and concluded that this was a type of gas unknown to humanity.

Since super beasts were appearing before humans for the first time, it was only natural for them to have no understanding of why this gas could instantly freeze objects from the inside out to near absolute zero.

Ruo Manni used her psychic abilities to “observe,” but even she lacked the ability to identify the gas’s composition. Moreover, retrieving a sample for research was impossible under current conditions. At such low temperatures, even mechs were reduced to fragments. What could they possibly use to store the gas?

Following Ruo Manni’s warnings, although sacrifices were inevitable, the number of mech warriors suddenly disappearing significantly decreased.

Ruo Manni continued “observing” the battlefield. Mech warriors led the primary assault, while the space warships provided support. The battle raged fiercely, and the number of immobilized super beasts steadily increased.

Ruo Manni glanced at the life detection monitor. Although these super beasts had lost their mobility, their lives were not endangered. Their life force indicators were only dimmed by half.

She felt something was amiss. If this was all it took to neutralize them, the super beasts seemed too easy to deal with. But could creatures capable of surviving in space really be that simple? Would those injured and immobilized super beasts remain completely incapacitated until their death?

With doubts lingering in her mind, Ruo Manni paid special attention to this matter. She soon discovered that the previously dim life force indicators on the monitor were gradually brightening again.

Since there were many life signals on the life detection monitor, it was almost impossible to notice this phenomenon without closely observing it.

To avoid making a mistake, Ruo Manni used her psychic powers to continuously “monitor” the injured and immobilized super beasts, which were floating motionlessly in space.

After about half an hour, the dim life signals of those super beasts gradually returned to their original brightness. Then, Ruo Manni “saw” the previously immobile super beasts beginning to move again. Although their movements were slow, they were undeniably moving.

“Commander-in-Chief, Commander-in-Chief, this is Hua De Ruo Manni. I have discovered something significant,” Ruo Manni immediately reported through the public channel.

“This is the Commander-in-Chief. Please go ahead,” replied Hebrew Adam promptly.

“I have discovered that the injured and immobilized super beasts regain their mobility after about half an hour,” Ruo Manni reported.

“You mean the super beasts can quickly self-recover after being injured?” Hebrew Adam asked for confirmation.

“Yes, I am certain. I observed this with the life detection monitor and my psychic powers. There is no doubt. Super beasts can self-recover from injuries within half an hour,” Ruo Manni firmly reiterated.

She understood that Hebrew Adam’s repeated questioning was not out of disbelief but to ensure clarity and to help others understand and trust her findings.

Ruo Manni’s ability to detect even the super beasts’ subtle, undetectable attacks had already earned the respect of the entire Starfield Remote Combat Unit’s mech warriors. Hearing her report over the public channel, no one doubted her claim.

For these warriors, the fact that injured and immobilized super beasts could recover and move again after only half an hour was undeniably a frustrating revelation.

“Everyone, listen up: make sure to kill the super beasts,” Hebrew Adam commanded.

Following the order, the mech warriors had to adjust their combat strategy. They now needed to ensure the super beasts were completely killed, leaving no chance for them to recover.

However, killing such a massive creature proved to be extremely challenging. After attacking fiercely, the mech warriors realized that while their lightsabers could injure the super beasts, they did not seem to inflict significant damage. Even after dozens of strikes, the super beasts were still alive.

No wonder the previously injured and immobilized super beasts recovered in about half an hour.

When they used laser cannons, the super beasts seemed even less affected, almost as if they were unharmed. The damage caused by the laser cannons was even less than that inflicted by the lightsabers.

It took over 3,000 mech warriors, grouped into teams of ten, a full half-hour of relentless cutting and slashing to finally kill a single super beast.

This method was not only highly inefficient but also consumed an unsustainable amount of energy.

“Captain Hua, you must quickly find the super beasts’ fatal weakness!” Hebrew Adam urged over the public channel.

“Understood!” Ruo Manni immediately accepted the order.

In truth, Ruo Manni had already begun analyzing the mech warriors’ combat efforts even before Hebrew Adam’s instructions. She issued commands to the mech warriors from Topaz Star, asking them to attack every part of the super beasts’ bodies in various ways.

Finally, Ruo Manni discovered that the most critical weakness of the super beasts was their head. By continuously targeting the very center of the head with laser cannon fire, the super beasts would quickly lose their vital signs.

The second method involved attacking the central spine on the beasts’ back, which was more fragile than other areas. By converting their lightsabers into light wheels and repeatedly cutting through this spinal column, it only took about ten cycles to slice the super beasts in half, rendering them lifeless.

Although the area within 500 meters of the super beasts’ heads was a no-go zone, too dangerous for anyone to approach, using laser cannons to bombard the head eliminated the need to get close. Mech warriors could hit the target accurately from within a range of 2,000 meters.

Ruo Manni shared her findings over the public channel, and someone quickly followed her instructions.

It took over 20 minutes before there was a response regarding her strategy. While using laser cannons to kill the super beasts worked, it required firing over 20 shots per beast. This energy consumption was unsustainable, and the mechs couldn’t handle it.

Each mech carried enough energy to fire a maximum of 100 laser shots. It was impossible to kill all the super beasts this way; in fact, they might not even manage to kill half of them.

The other method seemed more feasible: the mech warriors used light wheels several times larger than the mechs themselves to continuously slice at the super beasts until they were worn down and killed.

However, trying to grind down such massive creatures consumed an enormous amount of energy and progressed very slowly. It took ten mech warriors working in shifts over ten minutes to take down a single super beast.

With the vast expanse of space offering numerous directions to escape, the super beast swarm began to scatter when their path forward was blocked by the attacks.

The 12 warships of the Starfield Remote Combat Unit continuously fired laser beams at the super beasts, but with far fewer ships than beasts, they were unable to prevent the beasts from spreading out.

All the mech warriors who were aware of this situation were deeply anxious. Given the capabilities of the super beasts, even a single one reaching a life-bearing planet would result in unimaginable devastation. The entire planet could turn into a frozen wasteland, devoid of life.

For now, the only strategy was to delay the super beasts, slowing their advance as much as possible.

Hebrew Adam deployed nearly every available crew member from the 12 warships, ordering all mech warriors to do whatever it took to prevent the super beasts from breaching the defensive line and heading toward the life-bearing planets.

“Everyone, hold the line! In four hours, reinforcements from the secondary stars will arrive,” he announced.

For the mech warriors who had been battling for three to four hours, this was an incredibly motivating message.

Under Hebrew Adam’s orders, every mech warrior capable of deploying left their warships, leaving only the commanders aboard. Ruo Manni was no exception. While Zhou Yinxing stayed behind to oversee operations, Ruo Manni led her ten personal guards into battle against the super beasts.

In the zero-gravity environment of space, mechs relied entirely on their thrusters for movement. Thus, mastering the use of thrusters was essential for smooth maneuvering. Psychic mech warriors had a natural advantage in this regard.

To prevent the super beasts from continuing their flight forward, the mech warriors didn’t have time to kill them one by one. Instead, they focused on wounding the beasts and rendering them immobile.

Though this approach was only a temporary fix and consumed significant energy, their primary goal was to hold the defensive line and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

With the assistance of her psychic abilities, Ruo Manni’s laser cannon shots were far more precise. She decided to retract her light wheels and fire laser cannons simultaneously from both arms. While others needed over 20 shots to kill a super beast, she only required seven or eight.

From a distant perspective in space, the laser beams pierced through the darkness, slicing the black void. However, their glow seemed powerless and fleeting, incapable of illuminating the oppressive darkness of space.

The super beasts flew faster than human mechs, so the scattered beasts were intercepted by the 12 warships, which had also spread out.

The mech warriors had no choice but to disperse as well, intercepting as many super beasts as they could. Ruo Manni, leading her ten-person guard team, gradually drifted farther away from Topaz Star’s warship.

In the darkness and chaos, despite the presence of public and team communication channels, everyone had to rely on their own teammates.

On the battlefield, all mech warriors were doing everything in their power to block the advancing super beasts. But human stamina was limited, and so was the energy supply of the mechs.

After three hours, Hebrew Adam began receiving reports from various teams that their mech energy levels were nearly depleted.

Due to the vast range of the super beasts’ dispersal, both the warships and mechs were critically low on energy. As the commander, Hebrew Adam could only watch helplessly as some super beast signals moved beyond the range of the life detection monitor.

Fortunately, at that moment, Hebrew Adam finally received word that reinforcements were on their way. The reinforcements were from the Third Army’s Starfield Remote Combat Unit, and they were an hour away from reaching the Seventh Army’s position.

After some thought, Hebrew Adam provided the Third Army with specific coordinates, instructing them to begin intercepting the super beasts from that location.

Despite eight to nine hours of relentless fighting, they had only managed to eliminate about one-third of the super beasts.

Had the reinforcements not arrived in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

The Third Army’s Starfield Remote Combat Unit consisted of nearly 10,000 members, enough to annihilate all the remaining super beasts.

The exhausted mech warriors, upon hearing Hebrew Adam announce over the public channel that reinforcements had arrived, breathed a collective sigh of relief. They immediately began searching for the nearest warship and flew toward it to dock and recover.

In the chaotic space battlefield, the warships had moved farther away, and the mech warriors were constantly shifting positions during combat. This meant that many mech warriors found themselves too far from their own warships, with no way to return to them.

Neither their physical stamina nor their mechs’ remaining energy was sufficient to support everyone making it back to their assigned warships.

Ruo Manni, leading her personal guard team, directed them toward the second-closest warship. Why she didn’t aim for the nearest one, her guards didn’t ask, and Ruo Manni didn’t explain.

However, upon boarding the warship, everyone discovered—quite coincidentally—that it was the flagship of the Seventh Army’s Starfield Remote Combat Unit, commanded by the general himself. The knowing looks exchanged among her guards made Ruo Manni’s cheeks flush.

The warship’s main hall was already crowded with hundreds of people resting, each appearing utterly exhausted.

Ruo Manni and her ten guards, having joined the battle later, had only fought for five to six hours. As a result, they were in better shape than most.

Those visibly drained mech warriors were likely the ones who had been fighting non-stop from the beginning.

Fortunately, this world had spatial storage devices, and those who could become Level 6 mech warriors were never poor. Each carried portable rest mats equipped with protective shields, allowing them to rest without external disturbances.

The warship’s staff were registering the mech warriors who had boarded, noting which warships they originally came from. When they saw Ruo Manni, a strange look flickered in their eyes.

Ruo Manni, of course, understood why they were looking at her that way but chose to ignore it. Being subjected to such meaningful glances often had thickened her skin—otherwise, life would be unbearable.

After she and her guards finished registering and entered the hall, two or three mech warriors in Topaz Star uniforms approached them, saluted Ruo Manni, and said, “Thank you, Miss, for saving my life.”

The middle-aged mech warrior who had spoken was filled with gratitude.

Ruo Manni understood immediately. At the beginning of the battle, when she was still able to maintain control over the situation, she had saved more than ten people. This man was likely one of them.

“This is my duty. I’m your squad leader now, so there’s no need for formalities. Go and rest,” Ruo Manni replied, brushing off their gratitude. She didn’t feel it was necessary.

The middle-aged man’s face was etched with exhaustion; it was evident that he had forced himself to muster the energy to thank Ruo Manni.

“Our people are over there,” he said, leading Ruo Manni toward a corner of the hall.

In that corner, there were over a dozen mech warriors, all wearing Topaz Star uniforms. When they saw Ruo Manni approaching with her team, their faces lit up with delight, and they stood to greet her.

Ruo Manni didn’t say much. She simply instructed everyone to sit down and rest. The group from Topaz Star made sure she and the other three female mech warriors from Topaz Star were seated in the middle, shielding them from external distractions.

One of the female mech warriors also expressed her gratitude to Ruo Manni, as she too had been saved by her during the battle.

Ruo Manni stood out among them, appearing particularly young. Yet, everyone had witnessed her performance in the recent battle. Without her, many of them might not have survived. Now, with her presence, the Topaz Star team felt a deep sense of reassurance.

Ruo Manni and Zhou Yinxing conducted a roll call over the team channel. Apart from the dozen who had tragically fallen in battle, everyone else had successfully boarded the warship.