Overall, the plan of the Pegasus Civilization’s leader was cautious enough. First encircle and annihilate Xiao Yu’s America formation to obtain sufficient ship samples, use the Expeditionary Army to delay Xiao Yu’s main force and win enough time for internal technological development, and then repel Xiao Yu in one stroke. But repeated accidents ruined the leader’s calculations.

Not only was the America formation not successfully encircled and annihilated, it escaped and became a guerrilla force active within the Pegasus Civilization, wildly harassing the Pegasus Civilization’s plan to contract its lines. The Expeditionary Army that was meant to delay Xiao Yu’s main force also collapsed under the blows of Xiao Yu’s ten million ships. Their only hope was this star system that had some considerable strength, but it was reached in advance by a fleet dispatched by Xiao Yu.

As long as this star system was destroyed, it would basically mean the Expeditionary Army’s delaying plan had failed.

Xiao Yu was already doing exactly that.

Xiao Yu’s vast fleet, led by the Asia, drove like a nail straight through the Pegasus Civilization’s defenses in this star system, reached a distance sufficiently close to the star, and released a torrent of negative matter tachyons of immense quantity.

These negative matter tachyons with strange properties would pass unimpeded through the star’s outer layers, because the density there was too low and such tachyons do not react with low-density matter. The density at the stellar core is higher, so this negative matter would pass through the outer layers and react directly with the inner layers of the star.

Deprived of internal support, the star suddenly collapsed. After the violent collapse came impact. This vast force propagated at light speed and affected the entire star. In that instant, the star brightened and exploded violently. Boundless light and stellar matter were ejected. The immense energy swept away anything that dared block its path.

Upon seeing the signature flash of the stellar cannon’s firing, the Pegasus Civilization’s fleet fell into despair. They knew exactly what it meant. A star system’s defense system relies on construction within the stellar system. Now that the system’s star had been destroyed, although its matter had not vanished, its configuration had changed. This meant instability throughout the stellar system. Gravity also propagates at light speed. At the moment when the planets in this stellar system perceived the light from the star’s explosion, the gravitational effects arrived as well.

These planets were like panicked beasts. Their orbits changed instantly, moving chaotically, with no telling where they would go. Without even the planets, the star system’s defense system naturally collapsed.

The influence of a stellar explosion is enormous. Even the energy released by a small star under artificial influence was not something Xiao Yu could withstand at present. After destroying this star, Xiao Yu paid no attention to the scattered Pegasus Civilization ships. He immediately escaped toward the outer reaches of the system at nearly two hundred thousand kilometers per second. After leaving the range affected by stellar matter, he very decisively entered curvature flight and fled, leaving behind a mess.

This scene made Xiao Yu think of a couplet from an ancient Earth poem, after the deed is done, brush off one’s robes and leave, hiding one’s body and name. Cleanly and neatly destroying a star and then leaving at once perfectly matched the mood those two lines conveyed.

After Xiao Yu’s fleet departed, the panicked ships of the Pegasus Civilization fled in a swarm. Some that moved more slowly failed to escape in time and were overtaken by the immense energy released by the star’s explosion, melting directly into iron lumps. Many more were the star system defensive works orbiting planets. Lacking strong maneuverability, they could only wait in despair for destruction to arrive. Countless soldiers working within those defensive works stared at the ever-decreasing numbers on their instrument panels and could only pray helplessly to unknown gods. From where they were, that star still looked normal, but it was all an illusion. The only reason it appeared normal was that the light representing the star’s destruction had not yet arrived.

At last, the furious power of the dying star reached them. The shields on the fortifications and interstellar fortresses were breached in an instant. The special materials from which they were built withstood the star’s violent energy for only a few seconds before melting. Even before those materials were burned and melted, the instruments inside the works were destroyed first. Without the protection of shields, all kinds of harmful interstellar radiation entered virtually unhindered. Those invisible interstellar radiations, such as gamma rays, beta rays, alpha rays, and torrents of neutrinos, obliterated the internal chips of all instruments in an instant and wrecked every kind of energy transmission line. Once those instruments were destroyed, the entire defensive works took a devastating blow. All intelligent beings perished in that instant.

Various small interstellar mines and seeker bombs roving through space were also wiped out like trash by the explosive energy. The death of this star declared the complete fall of this star system. Countless ships of the Pegasus Civilization scattered like dogs that had lost their home. Some were destroyed. Others were lucky enough to escape alive. The fleets that broke out scattered like headless flies, fleeing in every direction, some even heading for the distant, unknown depths of space. Xiao Yu thought that some of these ships might return to the Pegasus Civilization, while others might never return. They would become a wandering fleet in interstellar space, perhaps losing themselves in the vast Milky Way, or becoming a wandering civilization, or developing into a Predator Civilization-type force.

Whatever they became, the final outcome for these fleets would not be good. They were not Xiao Yu, who could put all his possessions aboard a fleet and take everything with him. The boundless galaxy contains too many dangers. Who could say which power or peril would swallow these remnants.

Xiao Yu ignored these fleets altogether. After destroying this star, the Asia immediately turned back toward the remnants of the Expeditionary Army less than two months away at cruising speed. Xiao Yu intended to launch a pincer attack on this remnant and annihilate it completely.

After the Europe destroyed one Continent-Class ship, the Expeditionary Army had only two Continent-Class ships remaining. In terms of numbers, the Expeditionary Army had completely lost its advantage.

“They should already have received the news that this star system was destroyed.” Xiao Yu thought. “I wonder, under such a blow, how their morale and mindset will change. Is there any possibility of surrender?”

Xiao Yu was very interested in incorporating this fleet. Gaining it without consuming his own strength would be a highly profitable deal. But after careful thought, Xiao Yu abandoned the idea.

“They have already changed course and begun fleeing toward the capital defense perimeter of the Pegasus Civilization, and their resistance to me has become even more resolute. Understandable. Before I appeared, the Pegasus Civilization was, after all, the most powerful Level 5 civilization in the Milky Way. Their unique national confidence will never allow them to surrender to the enemy. Very well. To show respect for you, I will defeat you openly and honorably on the frontline battlefield, granting you the final honor of soldiers.”

“Only, how am I to obtain the Pegasus Civilization’s technological system?”

“Perhaps I can plan for this. At the cost of destroying that flagship-class Continent-Class ship of the Predator Civilization, I could risk capturing one Continent-Class ship from the Expeditionary Army.” Xiao Yu pondered in secret. “After all, I have already completed the technological analysis of that Continent-Class ship seized from the Predator Civilization. For the technologies that cannot be analyzed yet, I have left sufficient data. I will not feel any pain in destroying it. Consider it putting waste to use.”

This Continent-Class ship seized from the Predator Civilization had played a major role in the earlier destruction of an Expeditionary Army Continent-Class ship. If it had not risked tying down the other two Continent-Class ships, Xiao Yu might not have been able to accomplish that. But that operation also left it with some damage. Xiao Yu had no interest in spending a great deal of time and effort repairing such scrap. Better to put it to use and exhaust its value.

More than a month of curvature flight allowed the Asia to successfully intercept the desperate, fleeing Expeditionary Army fleet. Upon detecting an interception force to the front, with a blockade ahead and pursuers behind, having reached the worst possible situation, this remnant displayed its most frenzied and ferocious fighting power. Their tactics were entirely suicidal, entirely attacks to perish together with the enemy. Even Xiao Yu secretly felt a chill at such attacks.

After all, they had no hope left. It was still several years’ cruising from here to the capital defense perimeter. They could not possibly endure that long. Their only hope had been to rely on the star system’s defense system of that stellar system and hold out for relief, but Xiao Yu had even destroyed the star of that system.

Fight, and they could not win. Flee, and they could not escape. Their pride and self-respect would never permit surrender.

“Warriors, the situation has reached its worst. There is only one thing we can do now, and that is to use our sacrifice to inflict the greatest possible losses on the enemy and win enough preparation time for our civilization.”

“Begin the attack.”