748: Chapter 748 One of Our Own People?

When these words were spoken, everyone acted as if they had grabbed a life-saving straw, frantically having their smart brains operate.

But the next second, hope was completely shattered.

"No! Connection failed! Unable to identify target object information, no matching communication permissions, unable to establish connection!"

"We have no idea about the specific designation or organizational information of that Military Region unit opposite us, and we don't even have the identity code of the target Commander!"

The crew member explained with a bitter smile, his voice full of helplessness.

Because the higher-ups told them this mission was top secret, they weren't told who the target was or which unit they were supposed to rendezvous with before departure; they were only told to carry out the mission secretly, and that they would naturally know once they met.

Without this core information, their smart brains couldn't possibly identify and connect to the other side, let alone establish communication!

"And... the smart brain communication has also developed issues... we can't even contact people we know right now."

This sentence was like a giant boulder, heavily slamming into the air of the Command Center.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, their pupils slightly contracting; the terror on their faces hadn't even faded before it was replaced by an even deeper layer of astonishment.

Almost as an instinctive reaction, everyone immediately tried to contact others within the fleet via their smart brains.

However, the four words "signal scrambled" kept ringing in their minds, like a basin of ice water poured down, instantly extinguishing the last shred of hope in everyone's hearts.

"How is that possible..."

A crew member muttered to himself, his voice full of disbelief.

In this era, personal smart brains are already standard equipment.

Although its communication signals do not involve complex military encryption, they have the advantage of being open-frequency and having extremely strong signals; even if spanning more than half of the Empire's territory, it can easily maintain a stable connection, and it is absolutely impossible for a "unable to communicate" situation to occur.

Moreover, now that dozens of starships and tens of thousands of crew members are experiencing this malfunction simultaneously, it doesn't look like "coincidence" at all, but rather like a "premeditated act"!

Meanwhile, inside the Command Center of Li Yang's fleet, the atmosphere was equally heavy.

The officer in charge of communications walked quickly to Li Yang with a grave expression, his brows tightly knitted into a " river" shape, his voice carrying a trace of imperceptible surprise.

"Commander, the situation is not right. We have tried all frequency bands, including general frequency bands and encrypted frequency bands, and have initiated multiple communication requests to the fleet opposite us, but the System shows that all signals have been successfully sent, yet the other side... has not reacted at all."

"No reaction?"

Li Yang raised his brows slightly, a trace of cold confusion flashing in his eyes.

Just as he was pondering, the light screen in the Command Center flickered violently, and the System issued a piercing alarm.

"Warning! Warning!"

Before the words fell, the light screen clearly displayed dozens of dazzling beams of light and a dense swarm of missiles, whistling toward Li Yang's fleet like a rainstorm!

"Enemy attack!!!"

A roar erupted instantly in the Command Center.

Things happened too fast, too hastily.

From discovering the communication failure to the other side launching an attack, only a few short seconds passed.

Naturally, the fleet could not have had time to take evasive action.

However, the next second, one could see missiles and energy cannons accurately hitting the fleet's vanguard, but upon touching the pale blue energy shield on the hull, they hit an invisible wall, were instantly blocked, turned into dazzling fragments across the sky, and dissipated into the Universe.

After all, that fleet opposite was only a few dozen superstar-class starships.

And Li Yang's exploration fleet, the main force, was entirely composed of galaxy-class starships, with formidable defense and explosive firepower; logistical ships below the galaxy-class could only stay at the tail end of the fleet and couldn't hit them at all.

And those mere superstar-class weapons, wanting to break through the defense of a galaxy-class starship?

It's simply a pipe dream!

Counterattack Halted, Doubts Arise

"All units, prepare to fire!"

The Commanders of each ship reacted instantly and ordered sternly.

Since the other side had already torn off their masks and launched an attack, there was naturally no reason to sit and wait for death; the weapon Systems of the dozens of starships at the very front of the fleet synchronized their charging, their muzzles locked onto the opposing fleet, waiting only for the order to blast them into cosmic dust.

But just at the moment the order was about to be given, Li Yang suddenly shouted to stop.

"Wait a moment!"

The voice was not loud, but it instantly suppressed all the commotion in the Command Center.

Everyone turned their heads in unison to look at Li Yang, their eyes full of incomprehension and doubt; clearly the other side had already opened fire, so why did the Commander suddenly call a halt?

"Call up all the data from that last wave of attacks in its entirety."

Li Yang's gaze was locked tightly on the light screen, his tone calm but carrying an unquestionable sense of command.

"Yes!"

The officer on the side dared not ask more, his fingertips tapping rapidly on the panel, and soon a light screen was projected, on which all the data from the previous attack was clearly listed.

missile fragments, energy cannon power, attack trajectories, damage values, all clear at a glance.

Everyone crowded around the light screen to look closely, and their brows instantly knitted tightly.

"The attack intensity is so low?"

An officer exclaimed, his voice full of disbelief.

"Comparing the test data, the other side's weapon power is at most at the level of a superstar-class starship."

Another officer immediately agreed, his gaze sweeping over the fleet scale statistics on the light screen.

"And they only have a few dozen starships in total, and it looks like they are all superstar-class starships; the number of people is pitifully small. With this kind of strength, what on earth gives them the guts to take the initiative to attack us?"

When these words were spoken, everyone suddenly realized and came back to their senses.

Isn't that right! Looking around, their own fleet was dense, with galaxy-class capital ships arrayed in front, and logistical fleets stretching endlessly, with no end in sight, their Aura crushing everything.

But what about the opposite side?

Just a few dozen ragged little ships, the disparity in strength is extreme; where on earth did such a weak force get the courage to provoke us?

Everyone's gaze turned to Li Yang again, the doubt in their eyes deepening.

This is not an evenly matched confrontation at all, but rather exudes an indescribable eeriness.

"Wait... what is this? The model of the Empire's space shock missile?"

Li Yang's gaze suddenly froze on a certain line of parameters on the light screen, his originally calm expression changing instantly.

He stared at the weapon spectrum and missile body characteristic data, compared them repeatedly for two seconds, and his brows suddenly knitted.

Among the missiles that just attacked, a considerable portion of the configuration, guidance frequency, and energy characteristics were all standard for the Imperial military; especially the space shock missile, which is exactly one of the standard missiles for the Empire's superstar-class starships, it definitely cannot be wrong.

Pal and He Dong immediately crowded in front of the light screen, their eyes narrowing as they quickly scanned the complete attack data.

"It really is."

Pal said in a deep voice, its tone carrying obvious surprise.