“Even with Sima De Cao's strike and Sima De Lang's sustained damage output, even if everything goes smoothly, they won't be able to cripple the combat power of a Fire Seed warship from the merchant fleet in a single round of bombardment.
After all, this kind of Fire Seed warship, specializing in escorting and transporting ships, places the highest priority on its defensive capabilities.
Therefore, before Sima De Cao launches his attack, we must maximize the amount of energy shield consumed by the merchant fleet's Fire Seed warship.
While the merchant fleet's two Fire Seed warships were focused on the two Jin family warships charging forward, a high-speed missile suddenly launched from Sima Zhong Da's assault ship, which was already nearly bypassing the main battlefield. The target was clearly the merchant fleet's Fire Seed warship that had been damaged in the previous sneak attack!
“Close-range missile firing!”
“Missile type comparison… it's a Rattlesnake! Energy Field Neutralizing Missile!”
“Damn it, quickly shut down the energy shield! Try to maneuver away!”
“Too late, it's too close, we can't escape!”
“Secondary cannon anti-air barrage!”
“Within the range of the Michelle particle scatter, the automatic fire control system can't function normally. Relying solely on manual control by the gunners is a matter of luck!”
“Crap, the price of a single Rattlesnake and its launch platform is enough to buy half an assault ship, someone is actually using an assault ship to carry a Rattlesnake.”
A dazzling blue light flashed.
The Rattlesnake Energy Field Neutralizing Missile, also known as the “Shield Killer,” launched from Sima Zhong Da's ship accurately struck its target.
After the flash of light, it was visible to the naked eye that the energy shield enveloping the Fire Seed warship began to flicker erratically.
“Warning! Energy shield level has dropped to 12%!”
“We held on!”
“As expected of a green-quality energy shield, it can withstand even a Rattlesnake, a specialized weapon against energy shields. Wow haha.”
A wave of jubilation swept across the merchant fleet's warship.
On his ship, a hint of a sneer played on the corners of Sima Zhong Da's lips.
Once the Rattlesnake Energy Field Neutralizing Missile struck, the fate of the Fire Seed warship was already sealed.
While they were busy dealing with the missile, Sima De Cao's ship had already closed to a sufficiently close distance.
Thirty seconds had already passed. After a brief ten-second charge, the main cannon of Sima De Cao's ship spewed out a burst of fiery flames.
Compared to the earlier sneak attack, the speed of the high-speed kinetic energy projectiles fired from Sima De Cao's ship was significantly higher!
This was the effect of an attached shipborne module activated on Sima De Cao's ship.
Thunderbolt Boost Device (Blue), Energy Consumption: 80/use, after activation, increases the speed of the following three kinetic energy main cannon projectiles by thirty percent; Cooldown Time: 30 minutes.
For kinetic energy projectiles, a speed increase of thirty percent is equivalent to a direct thirty percent increase in destructive power.
The reason Sima De Cao closed in for the shot was to ensure a hit after activating the module.
If he could guarantee accuracy, three consecutive enhanced main cannon blasts would be enough to shatter the energy shields of most enemies with similar combat power ratings, gaining the advantage in battle.
On the other hand, if he couldn't guarantee accuracy and failed to utilize the Thunderbolt Boost Device, the outcome would depend on the opponent's performance.
During Sima De Cao's approach, the two Fire Seed warships of the merchant fleet were still in the cooldown phase of their main cannons, which had fired earlier, leaving them with no choice but to watch as the two Jin family warships charged forward.
As the distance continued to close, Sima De Cao's efforts were met with positive feedback.
The first projectile from his ship's main cannon, enhanced by the Thunderbolt Boost Device, slammed into the midsection of the Fire Seed warship whose energy shield had been heavily damaged!
After a brief moment of stagnation upon striking the already weakened energy shield, the shield abruptly dissipated!
The kinetic energy projectile, having lost some of its momentum, continued its trajectory with considerable speed after overcoming the energy shield's obstacle, slamming into the midsection of the warship.
The armor plating centered on the impact point instantly buckled, deformed, and eventually shattered!
At the same time, the surrounding armor plating cracked as well.
Fortunately, after being buffered by the energy shield and armor, the projectile's kinetic energy was exhausted, ultimately preventing further damage to the hull.
Before the crew of this warship could breathe a sigh of relief, a burst of emerald-green plasma ejected from Sima De Lang's ship, striking the beleaguered vessel once more.
Upon striking the merchant fleet's Fire Seed warship, the emerald-green plasma rapidly spread outwards, reacting with the outer armor of the hull.
The entire starboard side of the warship was covered in emerald-green plasma, and the armor under its coverage was being corroded and decomposed at a slow rate.
Although slow, it was continuous and showed no sign of stopping in the short term.
Especially where the armor was previously damaged, the emerald-green plasma seeped into the hull beneath the armor's protection, and the speed of this corrosion and decomposition was significantly faster compared to areas with intact armor.
“It's a sustained damage anomaly attack! Quickly activate the isolation layer!”
“Request backup from the rear. Our ship needs to temporarily withdraw from combat, clear the effects of the anomaly attack and wait for the energy shield to restart!”