In reality, gamma rays are nothing particularly special; they are simply light with shorter wavelengths and higher energy. Even relatively backward civilizations are aware of them and can produce them.
However, manufacturing a gamma-ray weapon with such terrifying power is not something achievable with ordinary technology.
The weapon mounted on the Small Leviathan functions by directly annihilating matter and antimatter, converting the reaction into a short-wavelength gamma-ray beam to strike target vessels.
Upon impact, it can generate an explosive force exceeding ten billion tons of TNT equivalent in an extremely short duration. Furthermore, this power is pure energy concentrated within a small area, making it impossible to deflect with standard force field shields.
One could say that the moment the main cannon fired, the destruction of the target became an absolute certainty.
Boom!
“Sector 3 has sustained fatal damage. Emergency protocols activated. Internal force field shield replenishment initiated.”
“Internal force field shield destroyed. Sector 4 has been neutralized. Backup force field shield 2 activated.”
A long string of data flashed by in a fraction of a second.
Due to its massive size and the integration of numerous top-tier technologies from their civilization, the ship's actual durability was remarkably high.
The sheer number of internal force field shields even managed to surprise Xia Jin.
“Is this thing a turtle shell?”
Although three gamma-ray beams had already crippled half the ship, Xia Jin was still somewhat speechless at the sight of more shields lighting up on the surface.
In stark contrast to the calm within the Swarm, the enemy captain was now truly panicking.
He understood exactly what was happening.
“A gamma-ray cannon! That is a gamma-ray cannon!”
It wasn't just any gamma-ray; its localized power was no less than an interstellar-level catastrophe.
There was no doubt about it—the ship, which possessed the strength of a large fleet, had been heavily damaged in an instant.
As the distance between the two fleets closed further, the Swarm revealed its fangs. Through the large central screen, the appearance of the Zerg could finally be seen clearly.
They were terrifying, twisted existences that resembled eldritch gods.
Compared to before their upgrade, the current Small Leviathans were even more distorted. As they glided through space, they were connected to a mass of fleshy tentacles filled with pitted cavities, from which scourges continuously emerged.
The cannon port at the front of the hull, which fired the gamma rays, was actually a grotesque mass of flesh. When it opened, it looked like a gaping maw from the Abyss. Inside, a spiral-shaped protrusion structure that generated the force field to support the antimatter annihilation resembled rows of teeth, creating an image similar to the mouth of a lamprey.
Located higher up on the hull, hundreds of eyes clustered together, staring into the distant void. They possessed detection capabilities far superior to those of an overseer.
Without a question, the current Zerg had aesthetically diverged severely from the standards of normal humanoid civilizations.
This was not Xia Jin's doing; it was simply how the Zerg had once looked. Xia Jin had merely enhanced the ordinary small bugs, making them even more distinctive.
It wasn't just the Small Leviathans. When the image zoomed in on the smaller Swarm units like the scourges and mutalisks, the captain felt as though he were staring into hell.
As a member of the Sausage People—a race that viewed themselves as cute, delicate, and beautiful—this was likely the most terrifying hell they could imagine.
“Quick! Report to the home planet immediately! We have encountered an extremely aggressive interstellar civilization!”
Emergency communications were activated. Through a method similar to quantum entanglement, their distant home planet was immediately notified of the situation.
Boom! Boom, boom!
Seconds later, following the impact of an antimatter missile, the ten-kilometer-long behemoth turned entirely into space fireworks.
“What a pity. I wanted to take it captive, so why did it have to explode?” Xia Jin muttered.
The gamma-ray beams she had used earlier were set to a significantly reduced power level.
Even the power of the antimatter missile had been controlled to roughly two billion tons of TNT equivalent.
In the end, they were still a relatively weak civilization, far from being a match for the Swarm.
With the destruction of the ship, the overseers began tracking its previous flight trajectory, locking onto a stellar system twelve light-years away.
Unsurprisingly, their civilization was located there.
That region happened to be adjacent to a high-density nebula.
The nebula contained a vast amount of interstellar matter, with infant stars even being born within it. However, for a planet with a complete atmosphere, such an interstellar relationship would not actually cause any negative effects.
Yet, the presence of the interstellar cloud would affect the ability of the beings within it to detect the universe, while also serving to interfere with other civilizations' ability to observe them to a certain extent.
It was for this very reason that the overseers had to scramble for quite a while before finally locking onto several planets suspected to be the home world.
“Swarm fleet, prepare for hyperspace jump.”
Xia Jin's order was issued. After collecting the wreckage from the battle, the Zerg prepared to jump toward their target.
...
At roughly the same time, on the home planet of the Sausage People.
Pardon the name of this species, for they even referred to themselves as Sausage People.
In the literal sense, like the sausages one eats.
Every biological being on this planet, upon death, would be made into a sausage to be consumed by their descendants. They believed that by doing so, the next generation would grow to look more like sausages and be even more delicious.
A typical sausage person consisted of two joined sausage segments. One end of the upper segment held the eyes, ears, and butt; a nose with a keen sense of smell sat on either side of the butt, while the mouth was located at the far end of the lower segment.
Among the Sausage People, some could grow to have multiple segments, which made them appear more flexible. Some individuals had connection ports on their sides; some were rigid and large, while others were soft and small. When joined together, the softer segments could be inserted into the ports of another to serve as flexible tentacle-limbs.
The civilizational development of the Sausage People had been relatively difficult, likely due to their less-than-flexible bodies.
Currently, the home planet of the Sausage People was filled with a high-tech atmosphere.
In the skies above the planet, a large number of space stations rotated in orbit. The largest of these had a diameter of thirty kilometers and housed a significant population.
Inside the Frontier High Space Station, the signal of the survey ship's destruction had just arrived.
“Quickly, establish contact immediately!”
The station manager hurriedly issued an order to the AI.
Before long, the sausage-shaped AI displayed a message: “Communication failed. Target vessel has been destroyed.”
“What? It has only been a few seconds. How could it be destroyed? Convert the signal received at the time into an image.”
Inside the hall, hundreds of Sausage People turned their gazes toward the images appearing on the large screen.
Soon, the scenes from before the survey ship's destruction were presented on the screen.
Rate on N.U.
