70: Core Detonation and a Narrow Escape

Inside the core secret chamber, the air seemed to freeze. The submersible piloted by the Icebreakers team was like an ant barging into the heart of a giant beast, completely trapped in a dead end by several powerful Destroyer guards and an increasing number of pursuers outside the door!

The compound eyes of the Destroyer guards lit up with a piercing purple light, and their heavy Phase Cannon muzzles began to rotate and charge, lethal energy converging! Outside, the alloy gate rumbled under the impact, liable to be breached at any moment!

"There's no way back! Execute the final plan!" Shadow's voice was terrifyingly calm, blue light surging in his eyes. He made an instant decision—abandon the evacuation and focus entirely on destruction!

"Artisan! Plant the bombs, target the energy core! Specter! Attempt to intercept the signal data! Hawkeye, report on the external situation!"

"Understood!" Without hesitation, Artisan steered the submersible toward the pulsing giant core in the center of the chamber! Specter operated the equipment with all his might, trying to crack the signal terminal's database.

"Commander! The pursuers outside are using heavy cutting equipment! The gate can hold for three minutes at most!" Hawkeye's voice came through the comms, laced with anxiety.

"Three minutes... that's enough!" Shadow took a deep breath and poured all his mental energy into the keystone! He had to buy this precious time for his teammates!

"Order Barrier! Deploy!"

Vroom—!

A solid blue energy shield expanded with the submersible as its center, enveloping him and Artisan, who was currently planting the bombs!

Almost at the same time, the Destroyers' Phase Cannons fired! Several thick purple beams slammed violently into the Order Barrier!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The shield vibrated violently, the blue light dimming at a speed visible to the naked eye! Shadow let out a muffled groan as the armor's overload alarm rang piercingly! Facing the attacks of several Destroyers simultaneously, the load was far beyond his limit!

"Artisan! Hurry!" A trace of blood leaked from the corner of Shadow's mouth as he gritted his teeth and held on.

"High-Energy Fusion Bombs planted! Detonation sequence set... two-minute countdown!" Artisan shouted, completing the most critical task!

"Data interception at 70%... cannot download completely, but the core signal frequency and target coordinates have been obtained!" Specter also reported his progress.

"Enough! Prepare to evacuate!" Shadow roared.

"Evacuate? How?" Specter looked at the still tightly closed gate and the frantic pounding from outside.

Shadow's gaze turned toward the ceiling of the secret chamber. It was covered with energy conduits and ventilation structures. "Hawkeye! Scan the ceiling structure of the chamber, find a weak point!"

"Scan complete! There's an energy conduit junction in the northeast corner of the ceiling; the structure is relatively fragile! But a forced breakthrough will trigger an energy leak explosion!"

"That's the spot!" A flash of resolve crossed Shadow's eyes. "Artisan, adjust the bomb detonation mode! Set it for a directed shockwave blast targeting the ceiling junction! We're going to 'blow' ourselves out!"

"What?! That's too dangerous!" Artisan was shocked.

"There is no other choice! Execute the order!" Shadow's voice brooked no argument. This was their only way out!

"Understood!" Artisan operated the controls rapidly.

"Everyone! Secure yourselves! Prepare for impact!" Shadow roared, simultaneously concentrating the Order Barrier's energy at the top of the submersible!

"Bomb detonation countdown: 10, 9, 8..."

The sound of cutting outside the gate grew closer and closer!

"...3, 2, 1! Detonate!"

Rumble—!!!

The fusion bombs planted on the energy core erupted! However, the explosion's energy did not disperse; instead, under Artisan's precise control, it turned into an upward, highly concentrated shockwave that slammed hard into the fragile junction in the chamber's ceiling!

Crack!

A massive hole was blasted into the ceiling structure! The freezing seawater of Europa instantly came pouring in! Simultaneously, the destabilized energy core underwent a violent chain reaction explosion!

The entire secret chamber, and even the entire Scrin Base, began to vibrate and collapse violently!

"Now! Charge out!" Shadow piloted the submersible, pushing through the residual light of the Order Barrier and riding the shockwave and the influx of seawater to burst out of the collapsing chamber through the gap!

In the next moment, they were back in that dark, bioluminescent sub-ice ocean! Behind them, the Scrin Base was continuously exploding and caving in, purple light flashing frantically in the water like the wails of a dying behemoth!

"The submersible is heavily damaged! Engine power is dropping!" Artisan reported.

"Hawkeye! Our position!" Shadow called out urgently.

"I've locked onto you! Hold on! I'm coming!" Hawkeye's mini-sub broke through the ice layer to rendezvous with them.

Under Hawkeye's cover, the severely damaged submersible struggled to the surface, towed by the mini-sub toward the designated evacuation point above the ice.

A few minutes later, they successfully penetrated the ice and returned to the surface of Europa. In the distance, the ice over the area where the Scrin Base was located had collapsed on a large scale, forming a massive whirlpool, with purple energy turbulence erupting from underwater from time to time.

The Icebreakers team had survived by a miracle.

"wind chaser! Mission accomplished! Requesting emergency extraction!" Shadow used his last bit of strength to send the transmission.

"wind chaser received! Closing in!"

When the wind chaser scout ship brought the exhausted team with their destroyed equipment back on board, everyone collapsed on the floor. They had paid a heavy price, but they had successfully dealt a severe blow to the Scrin Base on Europa and brought back crucial signal data.

However, just as the wind chaser was preparing to depart, the sensors issued a maximum alert!

"Ultra-strong spatial fluctuations detected! In Jupiter's orbit! Something... something of an ultra-large scale is jumping in!"

On the bridge, everyone watched in horror as the starry sky near Jupiter began to warp, and an unprecedented, unimaginably massive purple spatial rift slowly began to open!

The Scrin's summoning... was successful?

"Go! Full speed evacuation!" Captain Renault roared hoarsely.