The Pegasus Civilization’s Expeditionary Army fled at thirty times light speed, while Xiao Yu’s pursuit maintained thirty five times light speed. With this difference in cruising speed, the Expeditionary Army had no ability to shake off Xiao Yu’s chase. Of course, with victory in hand, Xiao Yu would not press them too tightly, lest a cornered enemy lash out and cause him unnecessary losses.

Destroying the enemy while in motion, this was the principle Xiao Yu followed now.

Across the long stellar route, Xiao Yu’s vast fleet hung above the Expeditionary Army like the Sword of Damocles, never relaxing for an instant.

“You are probably trying to flee into that star system. In that system you have some star system defensive structures of your Pegasus Civilization. You likely intend to rely on that system for defense. Not a bad calculation. In a star system defensive battle, my difficulty in annihilating you increases by multiples, and if I do not wipe you out but instead attack the capital defense perimeter directly, I will have to constantly guard against enemies striking from behind. Hm, in that way you successfully buy time. But how could I allow your plan to come true?” Xiao Yu thought with some amusement.

After the America led several hundred thousand ships to escape alive, it did not immediately make a long-distance dash to rendezvous with Xiao Yu’s main force. Under Xiao Yu’s command, the America halted about more than two hundred light years from the capital defense perimeter of the Pegasus Civilization, conducting harassment and guerrilla operations there, while also taking on the responsibility of gathering intelligence on the Pegasus Civilization.

This force led by the America launched elusive harassment operations within the territory of the Pegasus Civilization. During this period, roughly several thousand groups of Pegasus Civilization industrial, transport, and civilian ships were attacked by Xiao Yu. Because of superior maneuverability and war-game capability, several encirclement operations organized by the Pegasus Civilization failed to eliminate this force.

Precisely because such a nail was driven into the interior of the Pegasus Civilization, Xiao Yu was very clear on their internal trends. He knew the Pegasus Civilization was conducting a large-scale contraction of its lines, which meant the Pegasus Civilization was preparing to fight a long war.

A long war requires much time to prepare. It was foreseeable that once the Pegasus Civilization completed its defensive preparations, taking them down in a short time would become a fantasy. The force tasked with delaying time was this remnant of over three million ships of the Expeditionary Army before him. Before thoroughly dispersing or annihilating this force, Xiao Yu’s fleet could not safely penetrate the hinterland of the Pegasus Civilization. Xiao Yu could not afford to be caught in a pincer from front and rear.

“If you want to rely on a star system for defense, you must first ask whether I agree.” Xiao Yu thought calmly, then maneuvered the Asia, leading nearly one million ships away from the main force.

Among these one million ships were many supply vessels. Huge quantities of resources were loaded aboard them, enough to support any construction operation Xiao Yu might undertake.

“Then build a stellar cannon. I will annihilate the entire star system and see with how you will build more defensive structures.”

At this moment there was still roughly one year of travel to that stellar system. For Xiao Yu, who had fully mastered the technology of manufacturing a stellar cannon, one year was sufficient.

Thus, while the America, leading more than nine million warships, continued the pursuit of the Expeditionary Army, the Asia led these forces onto a journey of more than thirty light years. On the way, Xiao Yu would take advantage of this time to build the stellar cannon.

With technological development over this period, there had been many advances in the manufacture of the stellar cannon. Compared with before, Xiao Yu could already build a smaller stellar cannon, consuming less energy yet far more powerful.

Thus, during curvature flight, Xiao Yu began a busy construction task. To adapt to long-distance raids and potential mobile combat operations later, this stellar cannon also had to possess curvature flight capability. At the same time, to ensure the safety of the stellar cannon, Xiao Yu removed a Four-Dimensional shield from a City-Class spaceship and equipped the stellar cannon with it.

Xiao Yu built this stellar cannon entirely to the standards of constructing a warship. It possessed maneuverability and curvature flight capability similar to a warship, and its defensive capability was no less than any warship. The only difference was that it was not equipped with too many other weapons. In appearance it was like a warship that mounted only one main weapon, the stellar cannon.

Under the requirements of these various functions, it was roughly as large as a Nation-Class spaceship. Xiao Yu also assigned it an escort fleet of about fifty thousand ships to ensure its safety.

During curvature flight, under the bustling labor of countless robots within this supermassive dock, the stellar cannon gradually revealed its form and was about to bare its terrifying fangs.

The Europe’s pursuit continued. Although Xiao Yu now had only one Continent-Class ship, while the enemy had three, the Expeditionary Army was still in crisis mode under the suppression of large numbers of Nation-Class and Province-Class large ships. Although the Europe was the weakest of Xiao Yu’s three Continent-Class ships, compared to any one of the Expeditionary Army’s Continent-Class ships it was still far stronger. During this year-long pursuit, Xiao Yu seized an opportunity and struck decisively, destroying one of the Expeditionary Army’s Continent-Class ships at the cost of two Nation-Class ships.

This was a splendid battle achievement, though there was one thing that made Xiao Yu feel some regret.

“Pity, pity, that I could not capture this Continent-Class ship.” Xiao Yu sighed. “The larger the ship, the more technologies it uses, and the more valuable it is for technological analysis. In terms of sheer technological content, even one hundred Nation-Class ships might not equal one Continent-Class ship. But at least there are some wreckage pieces left for me to study. Better than nothing.”

The various fragments left after the destruction of this Continent-Class warship were gathered up by Xiao Yu as if they were treasures, hoping to glimpse the mysteries of the Pegasus Civilization’s technological system from these shards.

This was a very helpless method. By comparison, Xiao Yu preferred technology accompanied by complete technical documentation. A technology counts as complete only if it includes the full research process, various theoretical derivations, equation computations, pictorial records of experiments, and so on. In this respect, data is superior to physical artifacts. Giving Xiao Yu a handgun is far inferior to giving him documentation on how to manufacture that handgun, which principles were applied in its manufacture, and the discovery process, derivation process, and experimental process of those principles.

The number of warships in the Expeditionary Army continued to decline. In this chase and flight, a year had already passed. The Asia, carrying the completed stellar cannon, finally arrived at the front of this stellar system.

At this moment, about one hundred thousand ships were garrisoned in this star system, maintaining strict vigilance and preparing to receive the approaching Pegasus Civilization fleet. One hundred thousand ships clearly could not stand against Xiao Yu’s one million ships, nor could various star system defensive structures achieve that. But one point was critical, they needed only to hold out for two months. After two months, the fleeing Expeditionary Army would reach here, and then with nearly three million ships relying on the star system’s defense system, there would be a high possibility of delaying Xiao Yu’s army for dozens or even hundreds of years.

These star system garrison forces had clearly already received intelligence that a fleet attack was imminent. What lay before Xiao Yu were dense interstellar mines, space gun turrets and fortresses, and various classes of ships busily shuttling about. War was about to erupt.

“I have no interest in engaging you in a protracted battle. As long as I scatter you and destroy this stellar system, without a star system to rely on, you are nothing.” Xiao Yu’s mind was very calm.

Without a moment’s pause, the vast fleet charged into this star system and engaged the Pegasus Civilization’s garrison forces in fierce firefights. At this moment, Xiao Yu’s operational objective was not to annihilate the enemy’s living strength. He was even avoiding head-on clashes with these ships. Xiao Yu was breaking through, striving to penetrate into the star system as much as possible, to get as close as possible to that star.

The garrison forces of the Pegasus Civilization defended with all their might, while Xiao Yu strove to break through. Concentrating force at a single point put the garrison in a very passive situation. After all, a star system’s defense system was designed to protect an entire system, not a single point of it. They did not even dare to draw defensive strength from other parts of the star system defense network to this location. What if, after stripping defenses elsewhere, an unknown force attacked there?

With various misgivings and under the enormous disparity in strength, not to mention holding for two months, before two days had passed Xiao Yu had already achieved his strategic objective.

Under the escort of the vast fleet, the stellar cannon reached a point only three billion kilometers from the star. This distance was already sufficient for the stellar cannon to exert its full power. Xiao Yu knew that with a single order, a surging torrent of negative matter would instantly reach the star. The material density of the star’s outer layers was too low to react with those special tachyons. Only the high-density matter inside the star would do so. There it would combine with the negative matter and vanish pairwise.

“Then, stellar cannon, fire.” Xiao Yu issued the order.