Chapter 37: The Catapult

Words : 1567 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

The situation had taken a subtle turn. In this battle, which had lasted less than ten minutes, Xiao Yu, who had initially been exposed, had successfully concealed himself again, while the alien civilization, originally hidden, had been located by Xiao Yu. At present, however, Xiao Yu was not in an advantageous position. The enemy was a planet, meaning they had an almost inexhaustible supply of energy, while Xiao Yu’s resources dwindled with every use. Moreover, destroying a fleet was far easier than obliterating an entire planet. After securing his temporary safety by hiding, Xiao Yu began to swiftly deliberate on his next move. So far, apart from exchanging missile fire, Xiao Yu had not engaged in any communication with this alien civilization. Without communication, he had no way to discern the enemy’s social structure, moral framework, or other characteristics. This meant Xiao Yu had lost the opportunity to exploit potential internal divisions within the enemy. There were only two feasible paths left: either defeat them outright or risk annihilation by attempting to escape. Xiao Yu returned to the original question: why had this civilization attacked him first? He firmly believed in his theory: since the civilization initiated an attack, it meant they considered attacking him to be more beneficial than coexisting peacefully. This benefit must have been so significant that they were willing to risk mutual destruction to pursue it. But what exactly was this enormous benefit? Xiao Yu began meticulously analyzing all the information he had exposed to the enemy. First, he was certain that the alien civilization must have only discovered him when he captured their satellite. After that discovery, they immediately laid a hydrogen bomb trap, attempting to annihilate him in one fell swoop. So, during Xiao Yu’s act of capturing their satellite, what immense benefit could they have perceived from him? Xiao Yu constructed an extensive data model, placing himself in the enemy’s position to simulate scenarios where he would choose to attack another fleet preemptively. After half an hour of calculations, Xiao Yu arrived at three possible conclusions that could explain why the enemy initiated the attack. First, the enemy might have interpreted Xiao Yu’s act of capturing their satellite as a precursor to aggression. In this case, they set the trap out of self-preservation, hoping to eliminate Xiao Yu before he struck. Second, based on their abandonment of the satellite, the enemy might be facing a severe energy crisis or some other limitation. Even without a crisis, they were undoubtedly constrained in some way, leading them to attempt to plunder Xiao Yu’s resources to supplement their own. Third, the enemy might perceive the annihilation of another civilization as the ultimate benefit in itself. Xiao Yu couldn’t fully comprehend why destroying a civilization would be seen as beneficial, but if the first two scenarios were invalid, this third hypothesis would become the most plausible. Perhaps this was a twisted civilization that derived immense spiritual satisfaction from destroying others—an unlikely but not impossible scenario in the vast, unpredictable universe. Xiao Yu deemed the second scenario most likely, followed by the first, with the third being the least probable. “Alright, let’s proceed with the assumption of the second scenario and draft the next combat strategy accordingly,” Xiao Yu decided, initiating another round of data calculations. Through the ten minutes of combat, Xiao Yu had gained some understanding of the enemy’s combat patterns, with one detail drawing particular attention. The enemy had not deployed warships to engage him in battle. Instead, they relied solely on installations such as bases and satellites stationed in the planet’s geosynchronous orbit to launch missiles and lasers against him. This was puzzling. Generally, no one would prefer to fight a battle directly on their home turf. For instance, back on Earth, if China engaged in a conflict with another nation, it would undoubtedly prefer the battlefield to be outside its territory to avoid domestic destruction—a commonsense strategy. So why had the enemy refused to dispatch a fleet to confront Xiao Yu, choosing instead to rely on their planet as the base of operations? Was it possible that the enemy lacked the capability to construct interstellar fleets? Xiao Yu immediately dismissed this notion. The missiles they launched had terrifying speeds of 3,000 kilometers per second, exceeding even Xiao Yu’s missile capabilities. It was inconceivable that a civilization capable of such technological feats could lack the ability to build interstellar fleets. Then perhaps the enemy did possess the ability to construct such fleets but was constrained by some limitation—perhaps a lack of fuel, materials, or other resources—that prevented them from deploying their fleets? Xiao Yu calculated further, combining his second hypothesis from earlier, and confirmed his suspicions. Having determined that the enemy’s planetary combat capabilities were limited, Xiao Yu grew excited. A plan began to take shape in his mind. “You’re in the open, while I’m in the shadows. Let’s see if I can’t take you down—or at least leave you crippled!” Xiao Yu thought fiercely. He directed his robots aboard the Hope to quickly construct a makeshift interstellar missile launcher. This launcher didn’t use any advanced technological components. Instead, it relied on a technique humans had mastered in ancient times: a catapult mechanism, similar to those used during the cold weapon era. After the robots calibrated the trajectory of the catapult, they loaded an interstellar missile onto the device. Within the ship, Xiao Yu charged the launcher, watching as the tightly coiled high-tension spring beneath the missile was stretched taut. Then he gave the command to launch. The spring released with a snap, its tremendous force propelling the spherical interstellar missile toward the ceiling of the ship’s launch bay. Just before the missile could collide with the ceiling, a hatch opened automatically, allowing the missile to soar into space before quickly sealing shut behind it. A secondary mechanism then ejected the missile from the ship’s exterior into the vastness of interstellar space. Xiao Yu was a million kilometers away from the planet. The missile’s speed was 3 kilometers per second, meaning it would take three days to reach its target and then detonate with a thunderous explosion. A speed of 3 kilometers per second was akin to a snail’s crawl compared to typical interstellar missiles that reached thousands of kilometers per second. However, this approach had one critical advantage: stealth. This was a purely physical launch mechanism, producing no heat or radiation during launch. As a result, the alien civilization had no way of detecting that Xiao Yu had quietly launched a missile from his fleet. Nor could they calculate the fleet’s position based on the hydrogen bomb’s trajectory. This method ensured that the interstellar missile remained hidden, evading detection and destruction. Simultaneously, it concealed the fleet’s location from the enemy’s calculations. The interstellar missile carried a pre-programmed sequence that would control the high-yield hydrogen bomb to detonate as soon as it neared the alien planet. This was the first missile. Soon after, there was a second, a third... Xiao Yu directed his fleet of 800-plus ships to launch over a hundred high-yield hydrogen bombs via this primitive “high-altitude bombardment” tactic. Only then did he halt the operation, feeling a sense of anticipation as he awaited the moment of the bombs’ detonation. The stealthiness of these interstellar missiles was beyond doubt. Here, in the vastness of space, the nearest star was five light-years away, leaving the area in near-total darkness. Additionally, the missiles were small, ensuring they wouldn’t be detected through reflected light. Furthermore, during their trajectory, the missiles emitted no detectable radiation, effectively guaranteeing the enemy’s inability to detect these devastating weapons. The likeliest scenario was that the hydrogen bombs would only be discovered when they approached the alien planet, where radar detection systems might pick them up. However, by that time, the missiles would already be close enough to make detection irrelevant. Xiao Yu had outfitted each missile with a fail-safe detonation mechanism. If attacked, the hydrogen bombs would immediately explode. Once detonated, these bombs would wreak havoc on the enemy planet’s atmosphere, releasing vast amounts of harmful radiation that would contaminate the planet’s ecosystem. If the planet experienced rainfall, the radioactive waste would spread throughout its atmospheric circulation system, polluting water sources and food supplies, leaving no corner of the planet unaffected. According to Xiao Yu’s calculations, if Earth were subjected to 100 such high-yield hydrogen bombs detonating just outside the atmosphere, the human cancer rate would skyrocket to an alarming 37% within three years. In other words, 37 out of every 100 people would develop cancer. And this didn’t even account for secondary disasters. In short, this move would inflict catastrophic damage on these despicable aliens. “This is truly beautiful,” Xiao Yu mused, his eyes practically sparkling with excitement as he envisioned the outcome. “I came with good intentions, originally hoping for peaceful coexistence. But you attacked first—hmph! Since that’s how it is, don’t blame me for being ruthless,” Xiao Yu thought coldly. Time passed slowly. During this period, all was eerily calm. Xiao Yu was certain the enemy was tirelessly searching for him. However, since they were unaware that Xiao Yu had already located them, their search efforts would likely be cautious, avoiding any overt actions that might risk exposure. In this strange silence, two days passed. Only one day remained until the hydrogen bombs were set to detonate.

Chapter 37: The Catapult

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