trebuchet

The situation had developed in a subtle and intricate manner.

In the battle that lasted less than ten minutes, Xiao Yu, who had initially been exposed, managed to conceal himself once more, while the alien civilization, previously hidden, had its location uncovered by Xiao Yu.

However, at present, Xiao Yu did not hold the advantage. The opposing force, being an entire planet, possessed nearly infinite resources for replenishment, whereas Xiao Yu's supplies were finite—each use brought him closer to depletion. Moreover, destroying a fleet was far easier than annihilating an entire planet.

After securing a temporary refuge, Xiao Yu swiftly began to contemplate his next course of action.

Until now, Xiao Yu had engaged the alien civilization solely through missile exchanges, without any form of communication. The absence of dialogue left Xiao Yu unable to determine the enemy's social structure or moral compass, meaning he had lost the chance to exploit internal conflicts within the opposing force. Only two paths remained viable: either he defeated the enemy, or he risked total annihilation by attempting an escape.

Xiao Yu revisited the initial question: Why did this civilization choose to attack him?

Xiao Yu was convinced of the correctness of his theory: the alien civilization had initiated the attack because they believed it would yield greater benefits than peaceful coexistence with him. These benefits must be significant enough to warrant the risk of mutual destruction.

So, what could these immense benefits possibly be?

Xiao Yu began to meticulously analyze all the information he had revealed. First, he could assert with certainty that, given the enemy's level of technology, they must have only discovered his presence when he was manipulating the spaceship to capture their satellite. After identifying him, they had immediately set a hydrogen bomb trap, aiming to obliterate him in one fell swoop.

Thus, what potential benefits had the enemy seen in Xiao Yu during the satellite capture that could be so advantageous?

Xiao Yu constructed an extensive data model, placing himself in the enemy's position, and began calculating under what circumstances he would initiate an attack on another fleet.

Half an hour later, Xiao Yu reached a conclusion: there were three potential scenarios in which he might launch a preemptive strike.

The first possibility was that the enemy perceived Xiao Yu's action of capturing their satellite as a sign of an imminent attack. To protect themselves, they preemptively set a trap, hoping to eliminate Xiao Yu.

The second possibility, inferred from their abandonment of the satellite, was that the enemy was experiencing a severe energy crisis or another form of crisis. Even if not in crisis, they were likely facing some sort of restriction, prompting them to attempt robbery to replenish their resources.

The third possibility was that, from the enemy's perspective, the act of annihilating a civilization itself represented the greatest profit. Although Xiao Yu couldn't fathom why destroying a civilization would be so beneficial, if the first two scenarios were invalid, the third hypothesis would become the most likely. Perhaps the enemy was a perverse civilization that derived immense psychological satisfaction from destroying other civilizations—a possibility that couldn't be dismissed, given the strange and unpredictable nature of the universe.

Xiao Yu believed the second scenario was the most probable, followed by the first, with the third being the least likely.

"Alright, let's proceed under the assumption of the second scenario to formulate the next battle plan," Xiao Yu thought, once again delving into data calculations.

Through the ten-minute skirmish, Xiao Yu had gained some familiarity with the enemy's combat style, and one aspect, in particular, caught his attention.

The enemy had not dispatched warships to engage him directly but instead relied on missile and laser strikes from bases and satellites positioned in geosynchronous orbit. This was puzzling—generally, no one would want the battlefield to be on their home turf. At the very least, if China were to clash with another country on Earth, it would undoubtedly prefer the battleground to be outside its own territory to avoid domestic devastation—a basic principle.

So, why did the enemy refrain from deploying a fleet to battle Xiao Yu, choosing instead to rely solely on the planet for defense?

Did they lack the capacity to create an interstellar fleet? That was highly unlikely—Xiao Yu quickly dismissed the notion. After all, the missiles they launched reached a terrifying speed of 3,000 kilometers per second, even faster than Xiao Yu's own. To suggest that such an advanced civilization couldn't build an interstellar fleet was simply unbelievable.

Then, perhaps they did possess the capability but were constrained by some limitation—such as fuel shortages or material scarcity—which prevented them from deploying the fleet?

Xiao Yu pondered this and, aligning it with his earlier second hypothesis, confirmed its plausibility.

With the enemy's interstellar combat capabilities confirmed to be limited, Xiao Yu grew excited, as a plan slowly began to take shape in his mind.

"You're in the open, but I'm hidden. Let's see if I don't kill you! And if I can't kill you, I'll cripple you!" Xiao Yu thought viciously, directing the robots aboard the Solar to swiftly construct a simple interstellar missile launch platform.

This launch platform didn't utilize any advanced technology but instead employed a technique known to primitive humans—a catapult device, akin to the trebuchets used in the era of cold weapons.

Xiao Yu commanded the robots to set the trajectory for the catapult device, then loaded an interstellar missile onto it. After charging the catapult in the cabin, Xiao Yu watched as the high-tension springs beneath the missile tightened, and he issued the launch command.

The springs snapped into action, propelling the spherical missile towards the cabin ceiling. Just before impact, the ceiling opened a small gap, allowing the missile to fly out before sealing shut once more. The outer hull of the ship then opened, releasing the missile into space.

Xiao Yu was a million kilometers away from the planet, and the missile traveled at a speed of three kilometers per second. This meant the missile would reach the alien planet in three days, where it would detonate with a bang.

Three kilometers per second was snail-paced compared to typical interstellar missiles, which could easily reach several thousand kilometers per second. However, this slow speed had one advantage—it was stealthy.

Being a purely mechanical launch, the process generated no heat or radiation, making it undetectable by the alien civilization. They would have no way of knowing that Xiao Yu had secretly launched a missile, nor could they trace the hydrogen bomb's trajectory back to pinpoint Xiao Yu's fleet.

This approach ensured the missile's stealth, preventing it from being detected and destroyed, while also safeguarding the location of Xiao Yu's fleet from enemy calculations.

Inside the interstellar missile, Xiao Yu had pre-programmed a sequence that would trigger the hydrogen bomb to explode upon nearing the alien planet.

This was the first missile—many more were to follow. Xiao Yu operated over eight hundred ships, launching over a hundred massive hydrogen bombs before halting this uncivilized act of high-altitude bombardment, then waited with a mix of dread and anticipation for the explosions to occur.

The stealth of these missiles was unquestionable. In the vastness of space, with the nearest star five light-years away, the visibility was extremely low. Combined with the small size of these missiles, it was almost certain that they wouldn't be detected by reflected visible light. Moreover, the missiles emitted no detectable radiation during their flight, ensuring that the enemy had no means of discovering these deadly weapons.

The most likely scenario was that the missiles would be detected by the enemy's radar only when they neared the planet. But by that time, detection would be irrelevant, as the missiles would already be close enough.

Xiao Yu had equipped the missiles with a damage-triggered detonation mechanism—meaning any attack on them would cause an immediate explosion.

Then… these hydrogen bombs would wreak havoc on the planet's atmosphere, releasing harmful radiation that would contaminate the planet's ecosystem.

If the planet experienced rainfall, this radioactive debris would spread through the atmospheric circulation system, contaminating water sources and food, leaving no part of the planet untainted.

In Xiao Yu's calculations, if Earth were subjected to such an assault—one hundred hydrogen bombs detonated just outside the atmosphere—within three years, the human cancer rate would soar to a terrifying 37%, meaning thirty-seven out of every hundred Earthlings would suffer from cancer. This calculation didn't even consider other secondary disasters.

In short, this strategy would inflict immense suffering on these despicable aliens.

"How utterly delightful," Xiao Yu mused, envisioning the catastrophic scenes, his eyes nearly sparkling with excitement.

"I came with good intentions, hoping for peaceful coexistence, but you attacked me first. Hmph! Since that's the case, don't blame me for being ruthless," Xiao Yu thought darkly.

Time slowly ticked away. During this period, everything remained eerily calm. But Xiao Yu was certain that the enemy was searching for him with all their might. However, they didn't yet realize that they had been discovered by Xiao Yu, so to avoid possible exposure, their search must have been conducted cautiously, not daring to launch an all-out search.

Amidst this eerie silence, two days passed. Only one day remained before the hydrogen bombs were set to detonate.