Duel Arbitration Zone
The audience watched the two starships heading toward each other, knowing that the clash between them was about to begin.
"Look! It's the laser main gun of the T2 Bald Eagle-class Light Interstellar Cruiser! It's about to fire!"
"Zachary better pray for himself. I reckon that scrap metal starship of his might not even be able to withstand this single shot."
"Look at Zachary's unknown starship. What kind of weapons are on its hull? Just dozens of close-in weapon systems and five T2 laser cannons. With that kind of firepower, how can he compete with the T2 Bald Eagle!"
The audience took on the posture of people watching a good show.
Sitting in the corner, Wendy Chase clenched her fists in worry, her eyes filled with concern.
"The power of the T2 Bald Eagle's laser main gun isn't that staggering. If it hits at this distance, it would be a heavy blow at most. As long as your brother is sensible enough to admit defeat when the time comes, there won't be any danger," Senior Suzanne Lane said from the side.
She no longer believed Zachary could win; she just hoped he would have the sense to surrender. She didn't care about the life or death of this man; she just didn't want to see her best friend heartbroken.
"Stubborn brother, you better be okay! As long as the green mountains remain, there's no fear of lacking firewood!" Wendy muttered to herself.
Everyone saw from the broadcast screen that the T2 Medium Bald Eagle laser main gun, equipped at the bow of Victor's T2 Bald Eagle, was already flashing with electrical light—a sign of its imminent firing.
A few seconds later, a beam of laser light shot out, heading straight for the target starship.
But an unexpected scene occurred.
At one end of the broadcast video, there were data readings for the dueling starships, including speed detection records.
The Blizzard Zero, which had been traveling at forty knots of star speed, actually began to turn right and accelerate. In less than three seconds, it accelerated directly from forty knots to eighty knots. Its trajectory was like drawing an arc along the edge of a circle centered on the T2 Bald Eagle.
This caused the laser beam to deviate, failing to hit the Blizzard Zero.
The audience erupted in an uproar.
"What's going on? Was it my imagination just now? How did the Blizzard Zero's speed suddenly increase so much!"
"A coincidence! It must be a coincidence! Or maybe our detection equipment malfunctioned. How could that scrap starship have a speed of eighty knots! That's impossible!"
"Even the T2 Bald Eagle is only sixty-five knots!"
"But… how did it dodge that main gun laser from the T2 Bald Eagle?"
Facing this person's question, the crowd that had previously looked down on Zachary fell into silence.
"What… just happened?" The twin-tailed loli Lily Xue stared with wide eyes at her two friends.
"Eighty knots… This… how is it possible…" Wendy swallowed hard.
Senior Suzanne's gaze also turned serious as she stared at the live broadcast.
After completing an arc maneuver, the Blizzard Zero turned left again, pointing directly at the T2 Bald Eagle once more, while its speed continued to increase further.
85 knots… 90 knots… 95 knots…
Everyone stared intently at the data column monitoring the Blizzard Zero's speed.
Finally, the speed settled at 100 knots!
Incredible! Unbelievable!
This was the thought in everyone's mind.
Even the instructors in the judging panel showed surprised expressions. It wasn't that T2 starships couldn't reach 100 knots, but those were rare starships or specially modified ones. That plain-looking assembled starship could actually surge to 100 knots. How… is this possible?
At this moment, on the Blizzard Zero, Zachary had no time to pay attention to the audience's curiosity.
His breathing was a bit rapid; just now, his eyes had been glued to the radar star map, watching the laser's attack trajectory graze past the stern of the Blizzard Zero. Although the distance seemed quite far, according to the starship system's calculations, if they had been just one second slower, their Blizzard Zero could have been hit. While it wouldn't have been destroyed in one shot, hull damage would have been inevitable.
"Courtesy demands reciprocity; it's time to strike back."
"Reveal our 1200mm caliber giant cannon! Let's get him!" Zachary was somewhat excited. He stood up abruptly, placed one foot on the captain's chair, and pointed forward!
Vice Captain Charlotte issued the order: "Target the enemy ship and proceed at full speed. Simultaneously, activate the T2 Heavy 1200mm Devil Crocodile Cannon."
"Understood! Proceeding at full speed!"
"Activating the T2 Heavy 1200mm Devil Crocodile Cannon. It will take ten seconds… 10… 9…"
At the bow of the Blizzard Zero, a hatch suddenly appeared. As it opened, a dark, gaping barrel was revealed.
Now, everyone in the audience could no longer sit still; they all stood up.
Even several instructors stood up in disbelief.
A middle-aged instructor said in surprise: "That… that's the… 1200mm caliber cannon from a T2 Devil Crocodile-class Medium Interstellar Battleship? How could it… appear on this starship?"
"Bring up this student's records in the academy for me!" the chief judge ordered the person beside him.
A record was quickly brought up.
The chief judge looked at the records and had a sudden realization: "T2 Gray Wolf… T2 Devil Crocodile… T2 Hyena… it all matches! This guy actually used these three types of starships to assemble one, and even… installed the T2 Devil Crocodile's bow main gun onto his starship!"
Some sharp-eared students in the audience behind him heard this.
"My god! It's actually the bow main gun of a T2 Devil Crocodile-class Medium Interstellar Battleship!"
"T2 Devil Crocodile-class Medium Interstellar Battleship? What kind of starship is that?"
"I told you to study harder. This is a T2 interstellar battleship released a century ago. At that time, in pursuit of heavy firepower, they directly installed the largest caliber of that era on this interstellar battleship—this 1200mm bow giant cannon is a type of cannon!"
"Legend has it that its power is such that any T2 starship would find it difficult to withstand a single shot."
"1200mm caliber… isn't that a configuration only found on T3 starships? Then why haven't I heard of this starship before?"
"Because it had significant design flaws. While focusing on firepower, they didn't consider whether the other system modules of a T2 starship could meet the needs of such a powerful weapon system. It frequently suffered from various malfunctions. Combined with the excessively high construction costs—several tens of percent higher than an ordinary T2 interstellar battleship—it was eventually discontinued less than thirty years after its release."
Senior Suzanne was also moved now. She looked at Wendy: "You didn't say before that your brother installed this cannon on his starship?"
"I… I'm not quite sure either…" Wendy's expression was also very strange at this moment. What on earth was her brother up to?
"Giant cannon! Giant cannon! I love giant cannons the most!" The twin-tailed loli Lily Xue, on the contrary, was jumping up and down, her eyes shining with excitement!
Senior Suzanne and Wendy were both helpless at the sight—Lily's 'illness' was acting up again. She had a severe 'giant cannon obsession' and loved the combination of interstellar battleships and large-caliber giant cannons most of all!