Age of Cosmic Exploration
chapter-164

Chapter 164: Victory!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"All of the monsters in space have been successfully cleared. I want a quick report on all the troopers."

The space war that lasted 2 hours and 17 minutes concluded with mankind winning. In fact, with the aid of Space Combat Jet Prototype 003, the war was won with relative ease!

Yao Yuan alone took down 574,216 monsters!

In other words, he fell about 60 monsters every other second!

His efficiency was truly magnificent…

Of course, the contribution of the various 4th revolution technologies, like the Gaussian Gatling cannon, electromagnetic growth field, and ECS system on the combat jet couldn’t be understated.

As mentioned above, there were zero living monsters occupying the space between the possible home planet and Moon 2. Yao Yuan even led his team to assault the monsters surfing around Moon 2’s orbit. The crowd of monsters that were gathered underneath Moon 2’s ozone tried providing backup, but after they were annihilated, they learned to stay put.

With these observations, mankind’s first space war drew to a close. Even though using the Space Combat Jet Prototype wasn’t as exhausting as using the space armor, after an extended 2 hour combat session, there was no one in the troop that wasn’t drained. It appeared like they could lie down and sleep there and then. The results of the war might have changed if the combat had dragged on.

Secondly, even though the Space Combat Jet Prototype 003 was still usable inside the ozone layer, its functionality would be greatly decreased. Due to the air resistance, it couldn’t maintain a high speed of 120 kilometers per second. The friction with air might cause the jet's shell to combust.

Furthermore, the effect of ECS system would be greatly influenced by the presence of air. If the combat jet was shot down on Moon 2, the pilot would have crash-landed into a pit of hell.

Due to all these considerations, Yao Yuan ordered for the assault to stop. He wanted the troopers to regroup within each other’s creator’s particle isolator range to conduct a battlefield update.

"…First echelon here. Suffered no damage…"

"…Second echelon here. Suffered no damage…"

"…"

"Eighth echelon here. The left wing of the leader’s jet was grazed…"

Yao Yuan was pleasantly surprised by how little damage the troopers had suffered overall. Other than a few minor abrasions, the troopers came out basically unscathed after such a long battle. With a smile in his voice, Yao Yuan ordered, "This stage of combat is over. Let’s return to the Hope."

Everyone sighed in relief, and it was followed by a rowdy cheer. With Yao Yuan leading the way, they returned safely to the planet the Hope was on…

Things were less optimistic on the ground. After a 2 hour-long battle, the temporary base was ultimately secured with more than 200 soldiers’ lives lost and the 9 troopers completely drained. It felt like the war had lasted for thousands of years when the last monster was killed. Many of the Survivors directly passed out and slumped to the floor.

Even Guang Zhen had to try his best to keep his senses together. The base would have fallen into enemy hands if not for his involvement. Even though he was not a Homo Evolutis, he rushed headfirst into combat whenever it appeared like the monsters were about to break through. Guang Zhen knew he had to protect mankind’s last line of defense.

Guang Zhen threw himself into combat with the belief that he was not going to return. There were no regrets to his actions because he found it honorable to be able to sacrifice his life to safeguard the longevity of humanity!

Thankfully, as the war milled on, the monster army started to lax in their stance. It was not that they started to fear mankind’s strength, they had no such emotion, but because their numbers started to fall.

This was mankind’s battle plan. Even though the alien mother nest could continuously create new monster eggs, the young monsters needed at least several days to mature before they could join the war. Furthermore, the monsters needed to travel the space between the planet and Moon 2 to support their frontline. If this support route was cut off, it was only natural that the numbers of monsters on the planet would start to peter off.

Guang Zhen surveyed the base’s surroundings with his military-grade binoculars. He even ordered a few men to survey the lands from the sky using the shuttles. There were no observable living monsters. Finally, Guang Zhen downgraded the red alert to a yellow alert and handed defense of the base to the artillery battalion. The remaining battalions were ordered back to the Hope to receive some well-deserved rest.

"Such a harsh war." Guang Zhen observed with a complicated feeling. The land was pockmarked with craters, and monster carcasses were piled up as high as mountains. Because the monsters could regenerate from a mere cell, the best way to deal with their bodies was fire. Therefore, Guang Zhen ordered his men to burn the nearer carcasses with flamethrowers and the rest with molotovs.

A dilapidated Ren Tao stood behind Guang Zhen when he gave these orders. The rest of the troopers didn’t look so dandy either. Their space armors were either chipped or shattered.

This second alien assault was, in terms of scale, much greater than the previous one. The monsters had also gotten more vicious, especially with the addition of the centipede monsters. Their strong pincers could even punch through the space armor. Even though none of the troopers were seriously injured thanks to their impressive reflexes, their broken armor meant they were exposed to the viruses and bacteria in the air.

Ren Tao gazed at the burning mountains of corpses with muted feelings. Then he turned around to face Gaung Zhen. "Then… it’s time for us to return to the Hope. If luck would have it, maybe we’ll fight alongside each other again."

Guang Zhen understood what he meant. The troopers would now have to be quarantined. Other than studying the alien, the pathology department was still looking for a vaccine for that planet.

Like how it was on Planet Sahara, the germs on this planet might not be as stringent as Earth’s Ebola or AIDS, but because of the difference in environment, mankind didn’t have immunity against even the common cold virus equivalent of this planet. Of the contaminated soldiers, one had already passed away, and others were still in ICU.

Ren Tao, Zhang Heng, Ye Mu, and the 7 Survivors were about to join their ranks. They too had been contaminated. They would spend the rest of the war in quarantine until they were cured… or until they were dead.

Guang Zhen was at a loss for words; therefore, he gave the troopers a silent salute. He then watched the 10 brave individuals step onto the shuttle and disappear down the hole.

Bo Li approached him. "I too shall return to the Hope, because plans for the final combat strategy have already been completed. I’m going to go try it out with more analysis and simulated tests."

Guang Zhen looked Bo Li in her eyes and said sternly, "You better prepare to face Yao Yuan first. Do you know how many rules you’ve broken being here? Who knows how mad he’ll be when he hears of this. The least he will do is imprison you."

Bo Li pouted slightly and said calmly, "Does he not need the Whisperers anymore? What else can he do? Hit me? Anyway, I have to go." She turned without giving Guang Zhen another look. Accompanied by a soldier, she too got on a shuttle.

Just as Bo Li’s shuttle lifted off ground, about 100 combat jets shot through the ozone layer and seared their trails in the sky. Their speed eased as they got closer to the ground. They were welcomed with a series of cheers when they landed near the hole. The troopers’ appearance brought massive relief, and more people finally managed to relax and take a rest.

The second war between mankind and the alien ended…

With a victory for mankind!

But this was not the last time. These two would cross swords…