381: escape

Li Yang's heart tightened, and without the slightest hesitation, he made a decision instantly.

His eyes firm, he loudly commanded the fleet through the comms channel.

"Everyone listen up! Full speed ahead towards the spatial tunnel we first came through!"

At this moment, he clearly understood that as long as they could traverse that tunnel again and return to their original universe, no matter how much chaos erupted here, it wouldn't affect the other universe.

However, reality was far more cruel than imagined.

"It's no use, Captain!"

The crew member responsible for monitoring flight status cried out, his voice trembling with despair.

"The suction is too powerful! Even with the starship's engines at maximum power, we can't pick up speed. Not only that, our starship is slowly being pulled backward!"

The fleet, under the influence of that terrifying suction, was like ships trapped in a mire, struggling desperately but still unable to escape the fate of being dragged into the abyss.

The starship's engines were already at maximum power, attempting to break free from this powerful restraint, but everything seemed futile. The frantically rotating spatial vortex behind them was like a greedy behemoth, slowly drawing the fleet into its maw. The surrounding space was increasingly distorted, and spatial cracks spread like a spiderweb, as if they could tear the starship to pieces at any moment.

"Damn it!"

Li Yang slammed his fist on the control panel, his face filled with anxiety and unwillingness. He urgently turned to Hua Dong and asked loudly.

"Comrade Hua Dong, is there really no other way?"

The situation was critical; they had no time to waste. Continuing this stalemate would only lead to two outcomes.

Either they would be sucked into the spatial vortex by that terrifying pull and ultimately perish with the collapsing space, or the starship's energy would be exhausted in this futile struggle, and they would still not escape the fate of being swallowed.

"Li Yang..."

Just at this critical moment, Lin Bi seemed to suddenly think of something, his eyes lighting up. He quickly walked to Li Yang's side and said urgently,

"Perhaps we can activate the starship's emergency escape procedure now. I think this should have some effect."

Lin Bi's voice, though not loud, was like a glimmer of hope in the darkness of the tense atmosphere.

Upon hearing this, Li Yang's eyes instantly flashed with a ray of hope. Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately issued a loud command through the ship-wide communication channel, in an unquestionable tone.

"All starships, activate the emergency escape procedure immediately! There's no time to lose!"

As the order was given, each starship responded quickly.

The moment the emergency escape procedure was activated, the lights inside the starship suddenly dimmed, and all previously operating non-essential equipment ceased functioning.

All energy transmission lines seemed to be re-routed, and a large amount of energy, like a surging torrent, continuously converged towards the engine system.

The starship, which had been somewhat weakened by the powerful suction, now seemed to regain its strength, beginning to struggle against that suction and slowly move in the direction of the spatial tunnel they had come from.

"Captain!"

The operator's voice was filled with anxiety and tension. His eyes were fixed on the flickering screen in front of him, rapidly calculating various data, and then he quickly reported to Li Yang.

"Our current speed has exceeded the suction, but based on the current energy consumption rate and the distance to the spatial tunnel, even at this speed, we still won't be able to leave here successfully before the starship's energy is completely depleted!"

The operator's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, every word seemingly carrying a heavy weight of pressure.

Li Yang's brows were furrowed into a tight knot, his eyes filled with anxiety and contemplation.

Just then, Hua Dong shook his head with a solemn expression and slowly began to speak.

"It seems now that we can only activate the escape pod and use its spatial jump function to leave here..."

Hua Dong's tone was filled with helplessness; his heart was very conflicted as he spoke these words.

"Spatial jump?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yang couldn't help but be slightly stunned, a trace of doubt and worry flashing in his eyes.

"But isn't it very easy to fall into spatial turbulence?"

Li Yang, of course, knew that spatial jump was a rapid transfer method, but Hua Dong had previously mentioned that under the current unstable spatial conditions, rashly performing a spatial jump could very likely lead to extremely dangerous spatial turbulence, which was almost tantamount to seeking death.

Now, hearing Hua Dong propose this plan again, he felt both a longing for escape and deep concerns about the potential immense risks.

"Captain Li Yang, if we metaphorically compare the current unstable and fragmented space to a fragile spiderweb."

Hua Dong leaned slightly closer to Li Yang, gesturing as he urgently explained.

"Our starship is like a heavy stone. When a stone presses on a spiderweb, the web can easily fail to bear the weight and thus break, causing us to fall into unknown danger, which is spatial turbulence. However, an escape pod is like a light petal; it places minimal burden on the spiderweb, and the web is highly likely to withstand its weight. Although using an escape pod for a spatial jump still carries a certain probability of entering spatial turbulence, this risk is much smaller compared to a large starship."

Hua Dong finished speaking in one breath, his eyes full of anticipation, hoping Li Yang would make a decision quickly.

"Alright, if that's the case, then proceed with this method!"

After a brief thought, Li Yang decisively ordered.

"Notify all starships to immediately launch the escape pods!"

"But, Captain Li Yang..."

Pal stepped forward with an anxious expression, hesitated for a moment, but still bit the bullet and said.

"The number of escape pods is very limited. Given the current situation, they simply cannot carry everyone in the fleet."

Pal's expression was grave, his eyes revealing deep concern.

"How many people can the escape pods carry when maximizing space utilization?"

Li Yang's brows were tightly knitted, his expression growing more severe. His gaze, sharp as a torch, fixed on Pal as he asked.

Pal dared not delay in the slightest. He immediately turned around, his fingers dancing rapidly on the control panel, nervously calculating various data. A moment later, he turned back, reporting in a low voice.

"With maximum space utilization, the escape pods can only carry about two-thirds of the total fleet personnel at most."

Hearing this number, Li Yang fell silent instantly.

His gaze slowly swept over everyone in the Command Room, tension and worry etched on every face.

This decision was too difficult, meaning one-third of the people might face a life-or-death choice, and he, as the Captain, had to bear this heavy responsibility.

So, no matter what choice was made, was it inevitable that one-third of the people would have to be sacrificed?