Chapter 357: Abandoning Ship
At this moment, the Daqi Fleet had completed its turnaround. The repulsion fields at the bow opened, while the primary thrusters at the stern surged to higher power levels, emitting energy streams over a hundred meters long.
The fleet began accelerating. By the time the swarm’s electromagnetic railguns were recharged, the fleet might already be out of their effective range.
Fate, however, has a cruel sense of humor.
The drone swarm and wreckage served as near-perfect shields, yet a few electromagnetic projectiles still broke through the layered obstacles and struck Daqi warships. Though these impacts often deviated from their original targets, their effects were no less devastating.
Prince Diallo’s flagship, which had led the charge at the front during the initial assault, now found itself at the rear of the retreat. One electromagnetic projectile, its trajectory altered by multiple collisions, veered off course and struck the flagship’s left main thruster housing at an unusually sharp angle, breaching its defenses and causing some damage to the exhaust port.
Initially, the damage could have been repaired with minimal effort. Unfortunately, this coincided with the thruster increasing its output, amplifying the damage to the exhaust port and triggering a series of chain reactions.
Ultimately, the entire left thruster exploded. The blast not only destroyed several adjacent compartments and auxiliary thrusters but also disrupted the central main thruster’s circuitry. While it didn’t detonate, the central thruster’s power output could no longer be increased and eventually shut down entirely.
The remaining right thruster, operating at full power, caused the flagship to swerve violently due to the sudden imbalance.
The violent shockwave from the left thruster’s explosion threw both Prince Diallo and Aslit to the ground. By the time they scrambled to their feet, still shaken, the bad news arrived.