Deep Space Wandering Fleet-Chapter 218 - Nuclear Bomb Crisis

Chapter 218: Chapter 218: Nuclear Bomb Crisis!

Chapter 218: Chapter 218: Nuclear Bomb Crisis!

Zhang Yuan was startled, his heart skipped a beat, because Captain Zhao was usually a very composed person, rarely using such an urgent tone.

Something must have happened!

After hanging up the phone, he raced towards the Captain’s Room, taking the stairs two at a time as he burst through the door.

On the way, he saw many council members scurrying about, and some armed soldiers rushing in the same direction, their series of messy footsteps intensifying the sense of foreboding in his heart.

“What happened?” Zhang Yuan couldn’t help but ask.

“I don’t know!”

“It seems like there’s some emergency…”

Pushing open the door to the Captain’s Room, it was already packed with people making a racket, many of them pointing and discussing the central screen.

When he saw the image on the screen, suddenly, all the hairs on his body stood on end!

What was… that?

A huge hole, about 50 meters in diameter, had appeared on the ground!

The appearance of a hole wasn’t necessarily alarming; it could be a sinkhole due to a surface collapse or some other geological disaster… but the key point was that it was a complete, smooth circle, not seeming natural at all!

The satellite had discovered the change in the land’s surface and presented the image right away.

Seeing this, Captain Zhao pressed the fast-forward button, skipping over the two-hour process in the middle.

A sharp object, like a pencil, slowly emerged from the circular hole.

It started to ignite, launching!

A huge plume of smoke billowed from the base, and, propelled by chemical fuel, it soared into the sky like a raging giant dragon!

For a moment, Zhang Yuan’s mind was clouded…

What was going on?

This technology… It was somewhat like Earth’s multi-stage rockets, which were popular for a long time and even used for moon landings. However, since Earth people developed the Space Elevator, rocket technology had been gradually phased out, and he had only seen it in videos.

Wait a minute, isn’t this rocket a bit too large… The most powerful moon-landing rocket in human history was about 10 meters in diameter, yet the diameter of this one was a full 30 meters, and its height had already surpassed 100 meters!

The noise in the crowd grew louder, and after the rocket reached a certain height beyond the atmosphere, it split into four warheads. It was these warheads that began to change speed and direction, trying to break free from the planet’s gravity, flying towards the satellite’s location.

Captain Zhao Qingfeng said loudly, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the footage captured by the satellite 15 minutes ago!”

Many still hadn’t grasped what had occurred and only started to shout anxiously after reminders from others.

Was there… a powerful civilization with technology hiding here, launching a rocket at Earth Time?

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No, not a rocket, but four missiles.

And most likely nuclear warheads!

Were they launching an attack?!

Zhang Yuan’s mind raced with thoughts, his heartbeat speeding up rapidly. He was already regretting choosing this awful place for the spaceship to land.

If they had chosen a different planet, an attack by the other party would undoubtedly have been much more difficult.

But regret was utterly useless now; instead of dwelling on it, it was better to think about how to deal with the situation…

A situation that could directly lead to the extinction of humankind!

“Quiet, please be quiet!” Captain Zhao slammed the table forcefully and yelled, “Let’s not consider why a civilization suddenly appeared here! It only shows that our preliminary surveillance was not thorough enough!”

“According to calculations, these rockets… no, missiles, are very likely heading towards our spaceship, and their speed has already exceeded 50 km/s, barely constrained by the planet’s gravity.”

“If it keeps accelerating at this rate, the final speed could reach 80-100 km/s! In approximately 4000 seconds, it will hit our spaceship!”

A speed of one hundred kilometers per second!

Zhang Yuan’s pupils constricted slightly, the speed was so astonishing that it sent shockwaves through his heart. It might have already reached the ultimate limit of chemical rockets.

Interception, they had to find a way to intercept!

But the biggest problem was that there were no interception weapons inside the Earth Era!

Some rifles and a few construction-site bombs were all the weapons they had; there were no weapon-grade lasers, to say nothing of electromagnetic guns!

How to intercept?!

Shoot down nuclear warheads traveling at a hundred kilometers per second with rifles?

Zhang Yuan swallowed hard, his brain flooding with blood at the instant he realized this truth. Humans simply didn’t have the strength to face the aliens head-on.

Although this Alien Civilization had launched only one rocket with a total of four nuclear warheads, they were still beyond the current strength of humanity.

A physicist slapped his head and immediately said, “There are some small laser devices in the laboratory that can emit lasers. Lasers travel at the speed of light, which theoretically is sufficient, but…”

“Can they penetrate armor?” Captain Zhao asked.

“Of course…not!” The physicist was so anxious that he was sweating profusely, shouting, “If we focus the laser on one point for a long time, perhaps it could generate enough heat to melt the armor. But it requires a very long time, it’s just not possible! It’s moving so fast, how could we possibly aim accurately!”

Even so, a group of people rushed out of the Captain’s Room, preparing various instruments.

The probability of interception using lasers was extremely low, but as things stood, they had no choice but to treat a dead horse as if it were alive.

The second plan was slightly more reliable, using three small shuttles for armed interception!

These missiles were traveling at 100km/s. Before the missiles could hit the Earth Era, they might be able to destroy them by hitting certain key parts with weapons, like rifles, given the immense relative velocity.

But that was just theoretical…

With time pressing, Major Guo, after hearing the plan, didn’t have time to consider the feasibility of the issue and saluted solemnly. While running, he shouted loudly into his headset, beginning the selection of the best pilots.

“I’m coming with you!” Zhang Yuan ran quickly too, his eyebrows still furrowed with concern.

Guarantee?

There was no guarantee for this kind of thing. The shuttle wasn’t a combat spaceship. Although it had autonomous piloting capabilities, it lacked weaponry. Were they supposed to leap out of the shuttle hatch and forcibly intercept with personal firearms and bombs?

The odds of success…

Just think about it: using firearms in the vacuum of space means battling recoil. Fire one bullet, and the shooter would be sent flying backward; the accuracy would be ridiculously low. To hit such fast-moving missiles with bullets? The probability was nearly as likely as winning the lottery… maybe lasers would be a better bet.

Looking at Major Guo’s stern face, Zhang Yuan sighed inwardly, thinking rapidly. He had to try another method, to increase the chances of hitting the missiles!

Major Guo briefed the pilots with succinct language about the mission and then said gravely, “Everyone, the fate of all humanity is now in our hands!”

“If our mission fails, our Mother Ship may suffer a nuclear strike! It might even be an antimatter weapon!”

“You all understand what such consequences entail… The war has begun.”

The pilots, upon hearing their mission, all turned pale, and some clenched their fists so hard they made a ‘crackle’ sound.

The news was too sudden, too terrifying.

With urgent time constraints, and no time for complicated combat plans, after a brief motivation, and understanding their specific assignment, within less than 10 minutes, the three shuttles, equipped with tools, launched from the spaceship.

After carrying out this series of measures, Zhang Yuan hurriedly returned and saw Captain Zhao issuing commands non-stop in the Captain’s Room.

“Evacuate the surface personnel immediately, and stockpile life supplies into the deep underground… we have less than an hour.”

“Start the spaceship’s nuclear engine, push the horsepower to the max…”

“Start all detection devices, calculate the ballistic position of the nuclear warhead!”

Amid a flurry of activity, much of the industry ceased. Soldiers rushed to various areas to maintain order. Many civilians didn’t even know what had happened, but the engines of the Earth Era had already started urgently.

However, given the spaceship’s vast mass, its acceleration wouldn’t exceed two thousandths of a meter per second squared. With 4000 seconds of acceleration time, the speed would barely reach 8 meters per second, slower than a sprinter’s 100-meter dash.

If these missiles had even a slight tracking capability, such speed simply wouldn’t be enough…

A massive nuclear crisis loomed.