First Battle

The Federation did have Industrial Robot Technology, but it was relatively primitive.

While it was somewhat more efficient than human labor, it had a long list of drawbacks, including high costs and poor versatility, which had prevented large-scale adoption.

However, the Industrial Robot Technology the system gave Lin Fan was different. Compared to human workers, it increased efficiency by roughly five times on average while remaining flexible and precise.

Moreover, the overall cost was low. The system had even provided new formulas for the materials involved, all of which humanity could currently acquire in large quantities. They could be mass-produced and put into use without issue.

After Bai Zixuan finished reading it, his eyes practically lit up. He immediately contacted Liang Xingchen and rattled off a string of requests for more personnel.

Once the research team's affairs were settled, Liang Xue brought Lin Fan to the commander's office.

"My office is next door. Call me if you need anything!"

Well, that was what Liang Xue said the moment he entered the office. Then? There was no then, because she had already left.

Lin Fan shook his head and looked around. There was a bedroom and a bathroom. Very good.

Why did he check for a bedroom and bathroom first? Because what Lin Fan was about to do could cause serious problems without them.

He closed the office door, took the tube of gene enhancement serum from the system space, and tipped it back in one gulp. The sky-blue liquid looked rather nice.

He remembered that in the novels he had read in his previous life, those who used gene enhancement serums generally experienced one of two things.

Either they suddenly became sleepy, or toxins would be expelled from their bodies, giving off a foul stench?

That was why Lin Fan had checked whether the office came with its own bedroom and bathroom.

He sat in his chair and closed his eyes. A few minutes later—

"Hey, why am I not sleepy? And why hasn't my body expelled any toxins? Was I being too dogmatic?"

"System, open the status panel."

Host: Lin Fan

Strength: 350

Agility: 350

Reaction: 350

Stamina: 350

Mental: 350

Intelligence: 380

The above attributes range from 50 to 100 for an ordinary person.

Lifespan: 500 years

Brain development: 20%

Command ability: Artillery Command (B), Evasion Command (C), Formation Command (A), Mech Command (C)

Mission 1: Destroy a cumulative total of 500 Oakes Civilization warships. Current progress: 0/500. (Reward upon completion: Energy Shield Technology)

Mission 2: Raise military rank to at least Major General. (Reward upon completion: Basic Gene Enhancement Serum Technology)

"Oh, my lifespan is now five hundred years. Not bad, but my body doesn't seem to have changed much?"

Lin Fan took off his clothes, stood before a mirror, and looked at his body in confusion.

But life had a rule: whenever you failed to lock the door, something was bound to happen!

The office door suddenly opened. Lin Fan turned and saw Liang Xue.

Hm? Her face was a little red? What was going on?

The next second, Lin Fan realized something and looked down. He was wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts.

The atmosphere in the office instantly became incredibly awkward.

"This is a misunderstanding?"

"Sorry, Commander. I didn't know you had a habit of working naked."

With that, she took a step back and shut the door, every movement impeccably precise.

"Damn it!"

Several black lines instantly dropped over Lin Fan's head.

After getting dressed, he returned to his seat and pressed the communication button on his desk.

"Deputy Liang, come to my office."

Ten seconds later, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!"

Liang Xue opened the door and walked in. The flush on her face was gone, and she had returned to that icy expression.

"Commander, what is it?"

"I think I need to seriously explain this once: what happened just now was a misunderstanding. I don't have any strange fetishes!"

"Whether you have such fetishes is unimportant. As long as it doesn't affect the mission, I don't care!"

"...Damn."

Lin Fan felt that life was truly hard. Compared to her, Emma was much cuter.

Just as the two of them once again ran out of things to say, Lin Fan's communicator rang. Seeing that it was Liang Xingchen, he answered at once.

"Commander!"

"Lin Fan, although you've only just taken office, there's an urgent mission that requires the 101st Task Force Fleet to deploy immediately."

"Yes! Please give your orders, Commander!"

"The situation is this: thirty of our resource extraction ships encountered an Oakes Empire fleet in Area 279 of the Asteroid Belt. They are currently hiding among the asteroids and awaiting rescue. I've sent the detailed information to your tactical computer. Review it carefully on the way."

"Understood. The 101st Task Force Fleet will depart immediately."

"This is your first real battle. Be careful!"

"Yes, Commander! Rest assured!"

After ending the call, Lin Fan looked at Liang Xue. She nodded and immediately began operating her tactical computer at a rapid pace.

Soon, a Level One combat alert sounded throughout the entire base.

Well, although she usually drove people mad, she was quite reliable when carrying out missions.

The two of them immediately left the office and hurried toward the harbor.

The flagship of the 101st Task Force Fleet was one of its Battlecruisers. The two soon boarded the warship.

By the time they reached the bridge, every member of the command team had arrived. Lin Fan swept his gaze across the bridge, then took the captain's seat while Liang Xue stood straight beside him.

"Deputy, are the fleet's pre-departure preparations complete?"

"Reporting in, we will be ready to depart in seventeen seconds."

This woman really had skills. She could instantly review the reports from every warship and even make an estimate accurate to the second. Even he could not do it with such precision, could he?

Lin Fan looked at Liang Xue and could not help thinking to himself.

"Commander, please focus on the mission!"

"Pfft. Your personality really is awful. I've decided that after we return from this mission, I'll properly correct your personality!"

"Reporting in, fleet departure preparations are complete. We may leave port!"

Liang Xue directly ignored everything Lin Fan said afterward and made her report with a completely serious expression.

"Leave port. Proceed at full speed toward Area 279 of the Asteroid Belt."

"Understood!"

Lin Fan calculated that the Area 279 mining zone was about 0.2 AU away. At the fleet's current maximum speed of 3,000 kilometers per second, they would arrive in around three hours. He hoped those people could hold out for three hours without being discovered.

The fleet sped through the void, and Lin Fan did not remain idle. He studied the terrain data for the Area 279 mining zone. As a commander, understanding the battlefield terrain was required preparation before every battle.

This was an area densely packed with asteroids. Large fleets could not pass through normally at all; only small fleets of fewer than two hundred warships could barely navigate it.

Furthermore, the environment was extremely complex, with far too many places to conceal oneself. If they charged in directly, they could easily fall into an ambush.

And according to Lin Fan's judgment, the enemy's main objective was definitely to ambush the reinforcements, not to destroy those thirty resource extraction ships.

Because if the enemy's target had been the resource extraction ships, there would have been no need to send so many vessels together. A tiny fleet of fewer than ten ships would have been the best choice.

Yet Lin Fan had seen in the distress signal mentioned in the mission report that the enemy had two hundred warships!

In Lin Fan's words, only someone who had eaten themselves stupidly full would send a fleet of two hundred warships specifically to attack resource extraction ships.

"Heh, isn't this just surrounding a point to ambush reinforcements? Our ancestors played this trick ages ago."

"Deputy, adjust the fleet's heading. Destination: Area 280 of the Asteroid Belt!"