Facing Natarle's inquiry, Zhou Tianming pondered briefly before answering, "One minute if they don't resist."
"What about taking control of several ships instead?"
"Ten seconds would suffice, but I don't know if they've left any countermeasures. If they have, it might take about thirty seconds per ship."
Nodding, Natarle lowered her head in thought.
Zhou Tianming sensed she had an idea and waited quietly.
After half a minute, she spoke again, "What if we only control their weapons?"
"One second."
Taking a deep breath, Natarle opened her mouth but hesitated before finally saying, "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it's feasible. It's a bit—"
"Go ahead, I trust you!"
Natarle's future combat record was verifiable, and even though she was still in her youth, Zhou Tianming was willing to place his trust in her.
Meeting his confident gaze, Natarle straightened up and laid out her plan without further hesitation.
After hearing it, only four words echoed in Zhou Tianming's mind—utterly audacious!
Yet, theoretically, it was indeed possible.
"I'll handle the fleet," Zhou Tianming said, looking up. "White Rabbit, assist Natarle with the calculations."
"Understood."
Turning to her, he added, "Let's move!"
"Right!"
Natarle began accessing the spaceship parameters, having White Rabbit calculate various data before transmitting it to Zhou Tianming.
Meanwhile, Zhou Tianming stealthily infiltrated the fleet's systems once more.
...
Nelson Bridge—
"After all this time, all you can give me is 'impossible'?"
The captain fumed, "Weren't you so capable before? What now?"
"Sorry," the crew member muttered, head lowered.
"Get out!"
The crew member scurried off the bridge.
The CIC suddenly announced, "Captain, you have an incoming transmission."
"Patch it through."
The CIC glanced around, pointing upward with a finger.
Understanding, the captain stood. "Maintain combat readiness level one. Keep a close watch on Sam's side—no slip-ups, got it?"
The bridge crew responded in unison, "Aye!"
Captain's Quarters—
The captain smiled obsequiously, bending slightly as he spoke. "What are your orders, sir?"
A middle-aged man's voice replied, "You handled Badgiruel well. With this leverage, those hypocritical reformists won't be able to protect him anymore."
"Just luck, sir."
"You're still in a standoff with Sam?"
"Yes."
"After capturing him, find a way to let him go."
"Understood."
The call ended. Tossing the receiver aside, the captain leaned back in his chair with a sneer. "Seems like quite the payoff, Major General."
...
Sam's Ship Bridge—
Ding Yu, who was processing the ransom, suddenly noticed a momentary lag in the system and immediately became alert.
Setting aside the ransom, he thoroughly inspected the system.
No issues... no issues... no issues...
He let out a sigh of relief.
Seeing the Atlantic programmer still futilely struggling with the first firewall in the network, Ding Yu smirked with disdain. "Trash."
He turned back to continue handling the ransom.
Outside the bridge, in the cosmic space, the thruster flames of over 200 spaceships flickered—some brighter, some dimmer.
Attitude adjustment thrusters emitted brief flashes of light.
Unnoticed by everyone, the positions of the ships shifted slightly.
...
Black Tortoise Bridge—
As Natarle transmitted the calculated parameters of each ship one by one, Zhou Tianming substituted them into formulas for mental calculations. After deriving the results, he controlled the fleet's ships to make minor adjustments in position and thruster orientation.
Since he had to wait for Natarle's data to complete his work, Zhou Tianming found himself with some free time. Noticing the other party was handling the ransom, he quietly tampered with it to gather it all together.
I'll just hold onto this for you for now, stash it in the bank for a few days to earn some interest.
His lips curled into a smile, his mood light.
I'm such a good person.
Half an hour passed unnoticed, and all preparations were complete.
Zhou Tianming exhaled deeply and said, "Captain Natarle, let's begin."
Sitting upright, Natarle shouted loudly, "Now entering Level 1 combat readiness, engine ignition! Black Tortoise, set sail!"
Zhou Tianming pressed the thruster forward and stepped on the pedal with his right foot.
The ship shuddered as a force pushed against their backs.
In the cosmic space, the Black Tortoise's rear thrusters ignited, spewing flames as its speed rapidly increased, charging straight toward Copernicus City.
...
Sam's Ship Bridge—
The atmosphere was lively as everyone joked about how much money they would get.
Suddenly, a series of beeping alarms sounded.
The radar operator froze, then hurried back to the radar console to check.
He shouted, "A ship is approaching rapidly!"
Hearing this, the crew quickly returned to their stations.
The forward screen displayed an image of a ship covered in irregular metal debris speeding toward them.
Someone burst out laughing but was silenced by Sam's glare.
"Fire the missiles! Whatever they're here for, shoot them down!"
"Ding Yu, order the outer ships to launch missiles too."
"Understood!"
Within the fleet, missile bays on over a dozen ships facing the Black Tortoise opened, unleashing hundreds of missiles.
Thirty seconds later, the two sides made contact.
The Black Tortoise didn't evade, crashing head-on into the leading missile.
Countless explosions illuminated the bridge's display screens.
The flashes of explosions linked together, forming a narrow, glowing scar across the dark cosmic space.
Sam, with his ample combat experience, felt something was off about the scene but couldn't pinpoint what.
Then, from the midst of the explosions, a black-and-white ship burst forth.
Its bow was clad in white external armor like a shell, while the main body was black. Wing-like thrusters on both sides extended and ignited, boosting its speed even further.
In the blink of an eye, the Black Tortoise closed the distance.
In Zhou Tianming's mind, the Seed erupted, his focus reaching its peak. His mental power surged outward through the [Sense] effect, enveloping the entire fleet.
It was too fast!
Thoughts raced as his hands moved swiftly.
The Black Tortoise's wing thrusters flipped forward, causing a sudden deceleration.
Inside the bridge of the Black Tortoise, the entire ship shuddered violently.
Natarle's body swayed, the safety harness digging into her painfully, but she gritted her teeth and clung tightly to the handrail without uttering a sound.
With his Mindpower Sense, Zhou Tianming perceived every detail around him. His fingers blurred across the keyboard, making minute adjustments to the positions, impact points, and force of collision for the fleet's ships at the last possible moment before impact.
On the bridge of Sam's Ship, Ding Yu's computer blared an alarm. He lunged forward to counter the attack.
But in the digital realm, the White Rabbit surged toward him with a rolling tide of data, leaving him scrambling.
A few breaths later, the Black Tortoise slammed into the side of an outer ship.
In that split second, the Yin-Yang rotated. Purple arcs of electricity flared at the bow of the Black Tortoise, and its speed dropped sharply just before impact. Before the two ships could collide, an invisible Repulsion Field violently shoved the nearby ship away.
It crashed heavily into another ship's hull. Upon contact, the armor plates of both ships twisted and dented.
The struck ship was sent spinning sideways, but then its attitude thrusters flared to life across its body, altering its trajectory and sending it careening into a ship diagonally above.
Like dominoes, the ships collided one after another, forming several long chains that spread outward.
On Sam's Ship's bridge, Ding Yu had just fended off the White Rabbit's attack and was smirking, ready to retaliate.
Then, on the screen, a white rabbit rode past on an unmanned car, holding up a sign that read: "88."
The next instant, before he could even process what was happening, a massive tremor flung him from his seat. The deafening screech of twisting metal filled the bridge.
All around, the ships arranged near Sam's Ship were simultaneously struck and pushed inward.
Under the tremendous force of the collisions, his triangular, flattened ship crumpled into a twisted wreck.
Just as it seemed about to be crushed completely, the attitude thrusters of the surrounding ships activated, halting their movement before scattering apart.
Then, a ship shot upward from below, slamming into Sam's vessel.
Like a pinball launched from its slot, Sam's mangled ship soared upward, ejected from the fleet's formation.
Inside the bridge, everyone lost control of their bodies, tumbling and crashing about. The violent shaking and impacts shattered the display screens, plunging the bridge into darkness.
Sam, bloodied and dazed, was the only one still conscious, his eyes filled with confusion.
Inside the Black Tortoise, Zhou Tianming pressed a control button.
At the center of the fleet, the main guns of over a dozen ships rotated and elevated.
In an instant, a barrage of Electromagnetic Cannons and solid artillery shells streaked toward Sam's Ship.
The Electromagnetic Cannon rounds arrived first. Three or four missed, but one tore straight through the hull, leaving a gaping hole. The following artillery shells struck home.
A massive explosion. A blinding flash.
Like a firework rocketing into the sky.
With the target destroyed, the Black Tortoise's Repulsion Field pushed aside the ships in its path, speeding away through the formation.