Chapter 76: Battle
Chen Ming was quite optimistic about the mission's rewards.
But if a real fight breaks out, he might not really be able to focus on avoiding these cargoes.
Moreover, due to the lack of his ships, there are more important issues to pay attention to in battle than these cargoes.
That's why he had already determined the pirate's return route in advance, as well as the positions where they might encounter them at different times.
And he arrived here early, making some arrangements specifically targeting them.
These setups will soon be evident on the battlefield.
As the Centurion Level sensors scanned the pirates simultaneously.
The pirates obviously also noticed the three ships blocking their path forward.
Warrior mod, Centurion, and Dawn.
Warrior mod is operated by Gamma B.
While Centurion and Dawn are both under Chen Ming's direct control.
Although he had to operate two ships simultaneously, Chen Ming was completely adept, controlling them as smoothly as if maneuvering his own limbs.
He was pretty much like this when controlling Iron Ore No. before.
Though the Iron Ore No. had a wide variety of complex functions, he managed to handle them without any clutter, one of the hidden benefits brought by the panel.
At this moment, the three ships maintained a certain distance, blocking the pirates' path forward along the Superspace Channel.
Although the three lonely frigates seemed pitiful compared to the pirates' two destroyers and six frigates.
Onboard the Pirate Ship, the Pirate Leader did not dare to act rashly, instead frowning while observing ahead.
The reason lies in this strange ship configuration.
This Dusk's ship mixed with a suspected military fleet looks odd and unusual.
Before understanding the details of these three ships.
The Pirate Leader directly ordered the fleet to slow down, shields deployed, sending a communication request while advancing slowly.
But their communication request sank like a stone in the sea, garnering no response.
Seeing this, the Pirate Leader roughly figured out the intent of these three ships.
At this moment, a pirate beside him couldn't hold back and said, "Boss, shall we strike directly?"
The Pirate Leader waved his hand and said, "Hold on, dealing with two military ships poses some difficulty, and that Warrior seems to have an issue."
"Let's probe first, we're in no condition now, if we can avoid fighting, better not fight, even if we engage, we must ensure a safe retreat."
"How's the situation outside the channel now?"
A pirate's voice broadcasted through the communication device at the Pirate Leader's ear: "No anomalies, sensors haven't detected anything, ready to exit anytime."
The Pirate Leader did not feel relieved by this seemingly good news, instead felt more uneasy about the situation.
"Just these three ships? What gives them the guts to confront us?"
"No way, continue approaching, keep sending communications, see what they really want."
The pirates tried to communicate with Chen Ming, but he completely ignored them.
Instead, he directly ordered Gamma B to operate independently, meanwhile activating the shields of the other two ships.
At the moment the shields opened, Chen Ming saw a consistent increase of ten or more points in radiant energy on the panels of the two ships.
Though this modest increase for maintaining the shield was quickly offset by the energy dispersal system of the ships, keeping the radiant energy at zero.
Only when actual combat began would the radiant energy rise again.
After confirming the most basic and crucial function of the battleships posed no issues, Chen Ming accelerated the two ships, readying for combat.
On the pirate side, noticing the ships' maneuvers, understood a confrontation was inevitable.
Their two destroyers and six frigates facing three frigates held the advantage, leaving no fear to fight.
And directly planned to confront Chen Ming head-on.
Chen Ming showed no fear, waiting until both sides entered the firing range, issuing an order to the Refraction Level hidden outside, to enter the Superspace Channel.
A few seconds later, the Refraction Level suddenly appeared inside the Superspace Channel, behind the pirate fleet.
Stabbing a sharp blade from behind the pirates.
Even though Refraction is an auxiliary type ship, its combat capabilities are assured.
The Electromagnetic Capture Chamber released a flickering Electromagnetic Pulse Sphere, paralyzing the three ships closest to Refraction Level.
Two regular frigates and one Mule Level destroyer.
This Mule Level doesn't have cargo loaded outside, likely not the Leader's ship.
However, this doesn't affect anything, directly paralyzing a destroyer was worth Chen Ming's early setup.
You should know Iron Ore No. was affected by Refraction Level's electromagnetic pulse last time, resulting in irreparable damage requiring repairs inside.
But unfortunately, these pirate ships possess military subsystems, regardless of suitability, they can be activated.
Activation means the Radiant Energy System can mitigate the electromagnetic pulse's pressure on equipment.
Before the Arc Sphere's actual contact with the ship, it mostly can only temporarily paralyze some equipments, requiring only a reboot and basic maintenance to be operational again.
However, Refraction Level has more than just one Arc Sphere to shoot, and the ship doesn't only have Arc Sphere as the attack method.