Chapter 2258 Collision and Friction

"Something's not right..."

Li Qifeng frowned deeply, his tone becoming unusually serious, and his voice was transmitted to Yang Shan via the public frequency.

"This game of chasing each other was too dangerous! Although it felt quite exciting at first, it seems we went a bit too far now."

Indeed, as time passed, both Li Qifeng and Yang Shan gradually felt immense pressure and unease. Yang Shan, in particular, felt the situation was more severe. It's important to understand that warp drive technology wasn't originally designed for combat or pursuit, but rather as a high-tech means of long-distance interstellar travel.

The principle behind this technique is to use immense energy to fold the surrounding space, thus achieving faster-than-light teleportation. However, if this skill is used within a relatively short distance and without sufficiently precise control, even a slight mistake could cause the aircraft to deviate from its intended route or even cross the target area without reaching its destination.

Even more frightening is that if the wrong time or method is chosen when disengaging from warp drive, the consequences will be extremely serious—perhaps triggering a spectacular "space car crash"! At that point, they themselves will be in grave danger.

Understanding the stakes involved, Yang Shan and Li Qifeng could only rack their brains, relying on their strong logical thinking to predict the enemy's next move, and then push forward with full force...

Surprisingly, even with their astonishing thrust, these two starships were dozens of times stronger than the fleeing Zerg starship! However, their sheer size prevented them from closing the gap as they pursued. It's worth noting that the Zerg starship was merely a small reconnaissance vessel, far superior to these two colossal warships in both agility and maneuverability. Worse still, it was clear the enemy had an intimate knowledge of the star system, placing Yang Shan and Li Qifeng in a highly disadvantageous position, making it impossible for them to reach their target.

Faced with such an unfavorable battle situation, Yang Shan's keen intuition told him that something was amiss. After careful observation, he finally discovered the clues—the enemy's escape route was exceptionally unpredictable: every time they felt they were about to lose track of their target and were about to exceed the effective coverage area of ​​the detection radar, the cunning enemy ship would suddenly stop without warning, seemingly waiting for them to come and encircle them; and once they finally narrowed the gap between the two sides and victory seemed within reach, the enemy would suddenly accelerate and speed away with lightning speed, leaving them far behind in the blink of an eye.

All signs indicate that the other party is trolling!

When the thought crossed his mind, Yang Shan couldn't help but feel a little ridiculous. Did they really think they were fools in a pond?

"You noticed it too?"

Yang Shan's lips curled into a slight smile as he looked ahead, as if Li Qifeng were right in front of him. Unlike usual, he didn't coldly observe or ignore him; instead, he unexpectedly took the initiative to speak. However, something unexpected happened—just as Yang Shan finished speaking, Li Qifeng's previously calm expression suddenly turned ashen, as black as the bottom of a pot, as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over him.

What does this mean? Especially when Li Qifeng heard the other party speak to him in that tone, he couldn't help but feel a surge of resentment and dissatisfaction. "Hmph, what a 'you noticed too'—that sounds so awkward! Could it be that Yang Shan is deliberately mocking me?" Thinking this, Li Qifeng's anger flared up instantly, an inexplicable fire rising within him.

Fortunately, he possessed a degree of self-control and patience. Although he was furious inside, he suppressed his emotions on the surface, trying to appear calm and composed. This was not the time to be impulsive or throw a tantrum. If he really argued with Yang Shan, it wouldn't solve anything and would likely affect their cooperation and future plans. So, after a brief but intense internal struggle, Li Qifeng took a deep breath and spoke slowly in a low voice.

"That guy's dawdling, this push-and-pull, half-hearted approach, is clearly a pretense of fishing to lure us in. His real purpose is quite simple: he just wants to trick us into going to some specific place..."

"Hmm," Yang Shan responded softly, nodding slightly to indicate his agreement and approval. As he spoke, the tense muscles in his face seemed to relax; yet, at the same time, a resolute and sharp light still shone deep within his eyes—unwavering and steadfast, as if capable of piercing through all obstacles and difficulties! They were currently in an extremely perilous, even life-or-death situation. The slightest carelessness or negligence could lead to unimaginable, even devastating, consequences!

Just as everyone was caught in a tense and solemn atmosphere, Yang Shan suddenly pursed his lips and slightly raised the corners of his lips, revealing a faint smile that was extremely difficult for others to notice.

"Heh, I have a plan, but I don't know how the other party will respond."

This seemingly random and inexplicable remark left Li Qifeng stunned for several seconds before he came to his senses, muttering to himself with a look of suspicion.

What kind of trouble is this guy up to now?

As he pondered this, Li Qifeng kept his eyes fixed on the shuttle ship that was still fleeing ahead, and listened intently, eagerly anticipating what amazing strategies Yang Shan would come up with next.

However, to Li Qifeng's astonishment, Yang Shan acted completely out of character. Instead of revealing his plan in detail as usual, he unhesitatingly spread his arms and began rapidly moving his fingers across the densely packed fire control panel, flashing various indicator lights. His ten fingers danced like nimble butterflies, sometimes soaring up and down, sometimes weaving left and right, each button and touch operation perfectly timed and executed. Time seemed to freeze at that moment. Just two seconds later, a deafening alarm blared, echoing throughout the vast universe.

Upon closer inspection, Li Qifeng realized that the Zerg reconnaissance ships that were desperately fleeing had now completely fallen into the inescapable trap set by the fire control system!

"Look where you're going!"

Yang Shan's lips curled into a cold, ruthless smile before he decisively pressed the launch button. In an instant, two missiles, trailing long plumes of flame, hurtled away like arrows released from a bow, their speed far exceeding the escape speed of the Zerg reconnaissance ship.

"!!!!!!"

Faced with such a sudden turn of events, Li Qifeng was dumbfounded and stood there dumbfounded. He simply couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Is this guy really a simple-minded, physically strong, reckless, and ignorant idiot? How could he so rashly activate the fire control radar to illuminate enemy targets? Doesn't he know that doing so might anger the enemy and provoke their aid and counterattack?

Surprisingly, however, when faced with a sudden attack from behind, the reconnaissance ship displayed an unusually relaxed demeanor. It took no action, such as releasing decoys to disrupt the enemy's locking system, nor did it attempt any evasive maneuvers to avoid the rapidly approaching missiles. Instead, it maintained its previous speed and continued flying forward, seemingly completely ignoring the two deadly missiles relentlessly pursuing it.

Seeing his opponent's unexpected reaction, Yang Shan subconsciously frowned, but then his eyes widened suddenly, his pupils contracting sharply. It turned out that at that moment, two hatches slowly opened on either side of the stern of the small, exquisite reconnaissance ship!

Immediately afterwards, countless dark figures surged out of the hatch like a tidal wave, pouring out continuously like a burst dam. These figures expanded rapidly in the air, becoming enormous in the blink of an eye. Finally, these densely packed creatures coalesced into two huge and thick circular shields. The two shields fit together tightly, seamlessly, as if they were made from the very fabric of nature.

Surprisingly, once the two shields formed, they moved at an astonishing speed, heading straight for the two oncoming missiles. In the blink of an eye, the shields tightly enveloped the two missiles, like a steel behemoth opening its blood-red maw to swallow its prey whole.

However, just when everyone thought a deafening explosion was about to occur, nothing happened... The two missiles, encased in shields, suddenly seemed to lose power and hovered silently in mid-air, showing no sign of detonation. The entire scene was eerily quiet, as if time itself had frozen.

"Yang Shan! You..."

Li Qifeng was utterly astonished, his mouth agape as if he were about to swallow the entire world. His eyes were wide open, almost popping out of their sockets, as he stared intently at the horrifying scene before him. An indescribable sense of fear washed over him like a tidal wave, chilling him to the bone and making his teeth chatter.

Those bizarre creatures appeared out of thin air; clearly, they were neither human nor any other known race. These beings were incredibly agile, capable of instantly changing form and rapidly assembling into a massive circular shield, radiating a chilling, piercing light. Faced with such a strange and powerful enemy, even the battle-hardened Li Qifeng felt a chill run down his spine.

You see, Li Qifeng wasn't some greenhorn! But this situation he encountered today was completely new to him. He wondered to himself: What on earth is this thing?!

However, even though he was somewhat frightened, he quickly regained his senses based on the appearance of the creatures and the current predicament of the Morning Star humans. He realized that these monsters were probably insectoids! And not just any ordinary race, but a new race that had not appeared in textbooks!

Just as Li Qifeng was deep in thought, he suddenly heard a series of urgent shouts.

"Stop arguing! The other person has stopped!"

A furious shout rang out, deafening and seemingly piercing the heavens. The speaker was none other than Yang Shan, who had remained silent until now. His face was contorted with rage, his eyes wide and fixed on the front, utterly annoyed by Li Qifeng's incessant chatter.

After being yelled at by Yang Shan, Li Qifeng shut his mouth, looked ahead quietly, and pondered a solution.

Yang Shan didn't linger. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and immediately focused intently on operating the starship. His hands gripped the control levers on the console tightly, his eyes focused and resolute. As his fingers deftly manipulated the various buttons and switches, a series of complex and precise commands were continuously transmitted to the starship's systems.

First, Yang Shan yanked the brake lever hard, the immense inertia causing the entire starship to tremble violently. Simultaneously, he activated the reverse thrusters at lightning speed. A powerful surge of thrust erupted, propelling the starship backward like an arrow released from a bow. In the blink of an eye, they had created a considerable distance between themselves and the terrifying swarm of insectoids—a distance that, while not vast, was safe enough to temporarily escape the insectoids' clutches.

Seeing this, Li Qifeng, sitting in the passenger seat, inwardly cried out in alarm. Fortunately, his reaction was quick enough that he made the same move almost simultaneously with Yang Shan. Thus, the two worked together seamlessly, and the starship, under their control, effortlessly traversed space, widening the distance between them.

However, something unexpected happened. Perhaps because Yang Shan's sudden attack was too fierce, or for some other reason, the other side actually turned its ship around and confronted them.

Thus, a rather comical scene unfolded: a small shuttle was confronting two medium-sized attack ships that were more than ten times its size.

Of course, if that small shuttle hadn't been surrounded by that dense swarm of insects... the scene would have been more plausible...