Chapter 501: Hope to Live II (2/2)

It was as if the wails of people rang in their ears. They were watching out for the rocks, but their lips were tight.

Ye Chong remained in the commander's room, his eyes soullessly gazed on the holographic screen. He saw everything through the projection. He must think for the entire fleet. He needed to be calm. He had to make decisions that would cause the least casualties. That would what a leader like him should do. He did not have time to mourn for the dead.

”Shrink further. Formation - 20 meters away from each other,” said Ye Chong. The crew members quickly passed the order to every spaceship. Ranged firearms like warships were scarce in the fleet. Most of their firepower came from the close-combat models. Although the models allowed them an easier time dealing with red-tailed beasts, such setup gave them a lethal weakness - vulnerable to ranged attacks. It was clear, that the space rocks would cause horrible damages if they were not destroyed at range. They might have strengthened the armor of each spaceship but it was only effective against the smaller asteroids. The large ones would be an overkill.

The density of the rocks was great, as if an actual sea of rocks. The fleet was as if an icebreaker, opening a way further into the frozen ocean.

The first explosion seemed to be a trigger.

A trigger for more casualties.

Just when Ye Chong's fleet was struggling in the asteroid belt, Arwa was leading his fleet into the asteroid belt.

Eventually, Arwa chose to follow the Master Jay.

He did receive a number of objections from his men but he had his authority of giving ultimate command like Ye Chong. His order was unchangeable. At least Xiao Wan was fully supportive on his proposition. He thought everyone would be against him at first, that was a relief.

And it was when the news of his decision reached the entire Gray Valley.

People were confused, of how the two greatest leaders had made the exact decision, one was the military genius, Master Jay who first wiped out the wave of red-tailed beasts successfully; the other being Arwa, the wise strategist who managed to break through the siege during the front-line collapse.

It was a signal for the people, that probably it was a right decision to head into the asteroid belt.

The moment when Arwa ordered for a full acceleration into Calamitous Asteroid Belt, Kasent suddenly had a massive migration.

Residents on Kasent were preparing to migrate, as countless spaceships could be seen zooming into space. With the hope to live, they headed for the world beyond their reach.

On 6 a.m. the third day, a large wave of red-tailed beasts was detected at the few watching points near Kasent.

And that was when people who was trying to travel beyond Kasent jerked their steps. The spaceships approaching Kasent were accelerating to the maximum right away, while the distant ones took a turn and ran towards the warping point within the Calamitous Asteroid Belt frantically.

Ye Chong was unaware of the happening outside, but he knew he was in hot water. It was as if they were treading on the landmine area. They might have 5% more likelihood if they travel fast, but once a whirlpool phenomena occurred, the likelihood would drop to 0% immediately. No argument would be needed. It was undeniable.

...(Meanwhile at the mechanics)...

A new mechanic took over Yang Ming's position. He had not fully recovered. He overclocked himself too much. It was true, he wanted to work more, so he dragged himself to the front-line, he had to chase the time, he had to repair all the damaged armor or the ship would be sinking if they got hit by another space rock.

It was a tiring a task to fix it. It was a tugging war. He could hear the panicked voice of the messenger passing updates on the damages. There seemed to be a new area dented.

Well, he eventually did not need to even hear the messenger speaking. Every quake occurred at the ship was sufficient to convince him that there was another collision occurred. He had a handful of assistants around him. It felt like a stormy ride to him, especially when he was working on the repair. The pebbles were hitting the armor like bullets.

And now he got replaced.

Finally he could take a break...

He almost tripped on himself when he got off the platform.