Stars See Me [Interstellar] | Chapter 75 | A Sun in the Void | Novela.app

The moment Lei Ting moved, the ship’s AI triggered an alarm. However, it was not directed at the incoming attack from the distant void, but at Lei Ting himself, whose trajectory was flagged as a severe anomaly. Of course, within a few breaths, the alarm was manually silenced. Green stood by the viewport with a grim expression, closing the management authorization window before him. He watched as that streak of golden radiance flew toward the swarming stars. Without a word, he switched the ship’s AI to defense mode and sent a warning to the detection ship *Mistletoe 114* and the spaceport’s tower system. This had nothing to do with whether Lei Ting was trustworthy; any clear-eyed observer could see this was a sneak attack. The flashing decoy missiles in the lead alone numbered in the thousands. By now, Lei Ting had already flown beyond the fleet’s perimeter, and he too had identified the core of the problem. A four-thousand-bomb attack? If only it were that simple. Those four thousand flashing "stars" were merely decoys meant to draw interception fire. Trailing behind them were twenty-six thousand warheads completely shrouded in darkness! *Dammit.* Fine. The moment he hit the battlefield, his internal monologue’s profanity count spiked. This felt exactly right. Lei Ting gritted his teeth and deactivated the auxiliary sensors he had opened during his flight. These things weren't particularly useful against non-biological targets. Then, he brushed past the four thousand decoys. Simultaneously, the fleet behind him began to move. Inside the command centers of both the fleet and *Mistletoe 114*, chaos erupted. "What is he do—" "Intercept the decoys!" "Activate the automated interception system—" A moment later, someone cried out in shock, "Automated interception is ineffective! No suspicious targets detected! ...No, wait, I’ve got a detection... it’s a 'Double-S'!!" Without waiting for the commander’s orders, the operators frantically followed protocol for further action. "Troubleshooting for malfunctions and interference, checking shipboard AI..." "By the time you finish checking, we’ll all be blown to bits!!" The commander of *Mistletoe 114* snapped. He lunged toward the command console. "*Mistletoe*! Activate defense shields! Cease automated interception of anomalous targets and switch to manual mode! Send continuous log reports to the spaceport tower!" A light screen flickered into existence, and a synthesized electronic voice announced: [Switched to manual control mode. Sending reports to tower...] Coordinating with his optical brain eyepiece, the commander rapidly assigned fire control authorizations. "Commence manual interception!" In the command room, the operators responded in unison, "Yes, sir!" ... The escort fleet and the detection ship were already in a state of war-readiness, their weapons exposed. The small transport ships, however, were a different story. Their silver or black external plating was retracting or sliding away to reveal the fire control-operated weapons hidden beneath. Some of the broadside cannons appeared to be tucked between the transport bays. It was no wonder the interior space of the bays was large enough for people to lie down in; the weapons required a certain amount of clearance to pivot. By now, everyone in the transport bays had exited with their luggage and weapons. The compact transport ships were secured by docking clamps and pulled into the detection ship’s hangar via magnetic tethering. The students disembarked and entered the detection ship, waiting solemnly in the assembly area for the outcome of this sudden crisis. After a headcount, the administrators quickly reported the information: "Personnel accounted for. Confirmed number of graduating cadets in this batch is 48,850!" The commander glanced at the lone 'anomalous target' on the scanning system. The total number of students from the First Military Academy in this batch was actually 48,851. Everyone knew exactly where the missing person was. "Return to base immediately!" he ordered decisively. "Continue intercepting the decoys. Take out those remaining two thousand that haven't exploded yet!" "...I think that might not be necessary," someone nearby said. "..." Just like the commander at that moment, countless people within the retreating giant ships suddenly froze. Because they saw... a golden light. A golden, lukewarm, gentle light. It passed through all metallic structures, spilling into power rooms, transport bays, corridors, weapon systems, command centers, and hangars. In every space, occupied or empty, and in the vast expanse beyond those spaces, that golden radiance drifted mildly. Like sunlight. Upon seeing this radiance, the restless crowd of students gradually quieted down. As the steady, non-flickering glow flowed past them, they smiled and nodded toward the source of the light. In the distant void, behind the two thousand glowing decoy bombs stalled near the fleet, and before the twenty-six thousand warheads hidden in the dark rushing toward the spaceport and the detection ship, a magnificent golden radiance illuminated the ten directions. A figure drifted with arms outstretched amidst that dazzling gold, turning his head slightly back as if checking on the safety of the crowd behind him. His matte-textured, non-reflective faceplate was illuminated by the gold—his eyes, like lakes of molten gold, overflowed with brilliance. Then, in the main control room, at the viewports, and within the spaceport where the sick and wounded were being frantically moved to secure, sealed areas... on countless light screens projecting the feed patched in by the AI, a golden domain nearly the size of a conventional habitable planet steadily unfolded. And at its core, within a sphere of light like a miniature sun, a man raised his hand. Everything seemed to slow down. The awe-inspiringly vast golden domain continued to expand silently. Within it, whether it was the unexploded decoys, the shrapnel from those that had already detonated, the twenty-odd thousand warheads that had somehow come to a standstill, or even the projectiles just fired by the ships in the rear... In this moment, while energy weapons still needed to prime and kinetic weapons still needed to charge, the starscape under attack fell silent for one man. The rapidly expanding domain finally engulfed a cluster of dark phantoms drifting slowly in the distance. It was the enemy’s flanking fleet—small in size and few in number, only about a hundred ships. Among them, a pair of identical large vessels seemed to serve as twin flagships, likely the highest technological products of 'anti-reconnaissance' warfare possessed by the power behind them. ... Lei Ting raised his right hand. In the sea of golden light, energy so powerful it caused the shipboard AIs to trigger alarms once again surged through him. Tens of thousands of bombs were suddenly 'merged' into a single beam. Lei Ting clenched his left fist. Within the sun-like energy, the enemy fleet was crushed into a ball, utterly defenseless. Countless biological entities shrieked and howled within, yet not a single broken part of the ships was permitted to fly out. The lights of the decoys at the tip of the bomb cluster remained lit, pointing toward a target deep in the far reaches of space. Lei Ting gazed at that mass of twisted metal. He thought of his classmates and friends behind him, of the war zone general hospital in the spaceport, of his years of study, of an ocean under the sunlight, and of the principal in the vat, full of hope... ...He thought of the tide of public opinion regarding the Orion people on the StarNet. *Vicious, bellicose rebels; brutal, heartless killers; a tumor entrenched at the far end of the Orion Arm...* Ha. Whenever he thought of those things, and the actions of those in the Federation border regions who probed even as they accused, Lei Ting would smile. Having struggled to survive until now, any clear-headed Orion person knew that when the enemy calls you brutal, you had better... actually be brutal. —*O madmen who face us with blades and guns... do you know how many human species, other than 'Homo sapiens,' originally existed on Earth?* The black-armored warrior suddenly let out a laugh that could not penetrate the vacuum, and his raised right hand chopped down violently! Golden light erupted, powerful kinetic force applied. In a world without sound... An arrow and spear of shining brilliance tore through the darkness! ... Within the metallic mass of the stealth fleet, where no target was allowed to escape, survivors who had endured the crushing distortion of the hull stared blankly at the rapidly approaching light in the distance. They stared with vacant eyes, seemingly unable to comprehend this development— "—No, no..." A strange language, yet one that could be processed by optical brains or translation implants, shrieked: "No no no no no no...!!!" *THOOM—* The fleeting golden light vanished. Then, the brilliant flash of a concentrated explosion burst forth majestically in space! In that instant, light of ultimate intensity overflowed and erupted. It transcended everything, stinging the eyes of the onlookers until tears spilled out. People stumbled, trying to avoid the light, instinctively raising their arms to shield themselves, but the light was too fierce to be blocked. Every crack and translucent surface glowed with a dazzling, elongated radiance. Lei Ting faced the light directly, narrowing his eyes slightly. Lives were pulverized; matter was evaporated. When the shockwave arrived, tiny meteorites and other debris floating in interstellar space came sweeping across the heavens. But the golden light shone. 'Solar Star' briefly applied the 'Immovable' property to all metal within the domain. Thus, he and the fleet behind him remained as steady as mountains. The people on the escort fleet and the detection ship, who had been on the verge of diving for cover to meet the impact, fell silent. They had hidden behind cover to escape the blinding flash of the explosion. When the radiance faded, they poked their heads out to see a streak of golden light returning from afar, calmly and easily entering the hull of the undamaged detection ship and flying straight into the hangar. Under the dumbfounded gaze of tens of thousands in the hangar, the black-armored esper deactivated his armor, shedding the suit as he landed on the ground and walked toward the crowd without a change in expression. He didn't even spare a second glance for the enemy fleet he had crushed, leaving the space debris he had created in an instant heartlessly behind. The crowd stirred for a moment. Everyone was looking at him, at that tall, sturdy figure, and at his black hair, which was slightly longer than it had been two years ago—the stiff, healthy strands were swept back, with a few stray locks hanging before his eyes, still illuminated by the golden light flowing within his deep black pupils. He came to a halt at the very center of the front of the crowd. In the posture of a leader, he reported to the administrator: "Probationary Petty Officer Lei Ting reporting for duty. Please provide instructions. "...My apologies. I failed to make it in time for the assembly just now." *** Glossary: Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation ---|---|--- 阳星 | Solar Star | The name of Lei Ting's ability or a specific technique/domain property. 不动 | Immovable / Motionless | A specific property of Lei Ting's ability that anchors objects in space. 双S | Double-S | Lei Ting's power rank/level. 槲寄生 | Mistletoe | The name of the spaceport/base. 槲寄生114 | Mistletoe 114 | The name of the detection ship.