On this battlefield, Xiao Yu set up an enormous lure, so big that the Expeditionary Army’s flagship would not die in peace without swallowing it. Taking advantage of the time they were delayed, Xiao Yu launched an operation to seize this Continent-Class ship.

Countless boarding combat robots and the biological army’s boarding units rushed into the ship’s interior. However, this Continent-Class ship was too large. The force that had broken in still seemed somewhat inadequate. Perhaps precisely because of this, the controller of the Expeditionary Army’s flagship did not resolve to self-destruct the ship. He was confident he could maintain control of the situation and, when the deed could no longer be done, self-destruct the ship before Xiao Yu fully seized it.

Asymmetry of information led him to make this wrong judgment. Xiao Yu knew exactly what the enemy commander was thinking. But Xiao Yu was not worried. Since he had set it up this way, he had naturally considered the matter in full. He would not have failed to account for this.

“If you think this is all I have, you are mistaken.” Xiao Yu thought, while hastening to pour more troops into the Continent-Class ship and simultaneously initiating another secret operation.

“In the digital realm, I am king. Only the combined offensive of attacks in the data world and the real world is my ultimate trump card.”

Under Xiao Yu’s control, some boarding robots that had entered through the breach did not push deeper through the ship’s crisscrossing corridors. Using a strange instrument, they rapidly scanned within the ship, searching for what Xiao Yu wanted.

“Hm, found it. Right here.” Xiao Yu’s heart stirred. He immediately directed the other boarding robots to use the weapons mounted on them to open a quick gap in a plain-looking section of the inner wall. Instantly, a tangle of wires and instrument components inside the wall was exposed. As if they had rehearsed countless times, the robots, without even looking, pulled out one cable from the messy bundle, snipped it, and connected it to themselves.

Xiao Yu’s computational power flowed along those channels like a torrent into the Expeditionary Army’s Continent-Class ship and began to rampage in the digital realm.

Xiao Yu had already disabled all monitoring equipment at that spot. After his computational power entered the ship, he did not act immediately. He waited. Data channels also have levels of permission. Some channels lead directly to the central control module, while others can control only the brightness of a single corridor light. Different permissions, different effects.

Xiao Yu searched throughout the ship for channels to connect his computational power, preparing to strike in one fell swoop once the number of channels was sufficient, seizing the enemy in a single move.

This was the hidden operation. This was Xiao Yu’s final killer move. One could say that the Continent-Class ship from the Predator Civilization used as bait, and the multitude of boarding forces, were all smokescreens cast by Xiao Yu. With layer upon layer of fog, he concealed his true intent.

Outside, the battle grew fiercer. Sensing its doom, the Expeditionary Army flagship launched even more frenzied attacks. Even the other Continent-Class ship that had been entangled by the Europe showed a trend of moving toward this battlefield. They seemed to have made up their minds. Death did not matter. Most important was tearing a piece of flesh from the enemy before dying. The destruction of one Continent-Class ship would surely inflict considerable damage on the enemy, thereby easing the pressure on the capital defense perimeter and increasing the probability of ultimate victory.

But they did not know that this Continent-Class ship of the Predator Civilization was Xiao Yu’s discarded piece, thrown away precisely to mislead them.

Under the Expeditionary Army flagship’s assault, the Predator Continent-Class ship’s situation had become as bad as it could get. A large quantity of internal instruments had been burned. Propulsion, defense, and offensive capability had each fallen by at least fifty percent. It was not far from being scrapped. Yet even so, it held its ground without retreat.

Xiao Yu was giving the Expeditionary Army flagship hope. With hope, they would not self-destruct their ship. Without self-destruction, Xiao Yu would have a chance to seize the ship and bring it under his command.

By now, a full one hundred million boarding units had entered the Continent-Class ship. Like sand cast into the sea, they rapidly dispersed and, using the transport instruments they carried, sped toward every designated target. On the way they encountered every kind of obstruction and ambush. Defensive structures were everywhere inside the ship, as were internal security forces. In desperate combat against these defenders, they slowly closed the distance to their objectives.

Meanwhile, under cover of these overt assaults, a vast net was rapidly spreading in secret. Wherever the boarding units advanced, the monitoring equipment there would be destroyed. Specialized robots would then locate access points to data channels. Once found, they would connect them to themselves, and Xiao Yu’s computational power would use them as carriers to surge into the ship’s digital realm, hide in the dark, and await the final strike.

Although the decisive data offensive had not yet begun, the data collected so far already gave Xiao Yu much information about the ship’s internal structure and the locations of key areas. Any boarding force entering the ship would receive Xiao Yu’s direct informational support. He would provide them with guidance such as whether there were defenders ahead, how strong those defenders were, and which corridor to advance along.

Engine systems, energy reserve systems, and weapons management systems were being seized one after another by the boarding units. They were like a swarm of vicious ants, gradually gnawing away at the ship’s control. As more areas fell, the Continent-Class ship’s firepower slowly declined.

“Hm? Not good. They have fallen into despair. It seems my pressure was a bit too much.” At this moment, through information gathered along the data channels, Xiao Yu received such a message.

The controller of the Continent-Class ship had given up hope of destroying an enemy Continent-Class ship before Xiao Yu seized his own. Thus, only one choice remained, to destroy the ship himself to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.

But he instantly sensed that something was wrong. He had issued the order, and the countdown had begun. Yet as soon as it started, the countdown stuck at a fixed number and stopped decreasing.

“What is going on?” He roared frantically, issuing orders and commanding personnel to investigate at once. A staffer tapped a few times on his terminal, then collapsed into his chair with a gray expression.

The attack from the data layer had begun in full. Through at least one hundred thousand data interfaces of differing permissions, Xiao Yu’s computational power surged into the ship. In virtually an instant, it caused the internal control systems to suffer data congestion and latency. In other words, the controller could still issue commands, but those commands could no longer be executed.

Xiao Yu’s plan for combat in the digital realm was not yet fully prepared. The number of data channels was still not sufficient, and the permissions not high enough. He still could not fully control the ship through the data world. But causing some latency to buy time was entirely within his power.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yu’s boarding forces continued rapidly expanding their occupied zones. Every minute and every second, large numbers of new data channels were being opened and connected to Xiao Yu. Every minute and every second, new key works were being seized.

The situation had become extremely critical. Yet the controller of this ship had no recourse. He could only watch as the ship that had been his fell bit by bit into enemy hands. The powerlessness nearly drove him mad. He had even lost the ability to make a final struggle. Only now did he feel regret.

“Why did I not decisively self-destruct at the start… why…” he murmured weakly. Only now did he realize that from the very beginning he had fallen into the opponent’s trap.

The outcome was set and could not be reversed. As more high-permission data channels were opened, Xiao Yu’s computational power flooded in. In a very short time, it broke through the ship’s own defenses, and the hardware constraints were directly cracked by brute force. The ship finally grew calm.

It began to hover quietly in space, motionless.

“At last, success. At last, success.” Xiao Yu’s spirit surged, then he saw another scene.

The other Expeditionary Army Continent-Class ship, previously entangled by the Europe, was charging here like a maniac. The Predator Continent-Class ship was already on the brink, liable to be destroyed at any moment. Sensing that, the ship clearly intended to come deliver the final fatal blow.

“I have no use for this ship. If you want it, come and take it.” Xiao Yu smiled slightly and maneuvered the ship to surge forward.