Assessment Complete

Inside the simulation pod, Liang Xingchen watched the tactical display. His fleet had secured the optimal attack position, yet Lin Fan's fleet remained completely unresponsive.

He had a nagging feeling something was wrong, but couldn't pinpoint the issue. This was the first time Liang Xingchen had encountered such a situation.

However, no matter what, the prey was right in front of him. He couldn't just ignore it.

But just as Liang Xingchen was about to launch his attack, he discovered his own fleet was under fire. The attack was coming from his right flank.

Through the radar, Liang Xingchen saw that three fleets, totaling 100 warships, had suddenly appeared to his right.

What was going on? Why did Lin Fan have 200 ships?

With a sense of bewilderment, Liang Xingchen looked back at the fleet ahead on the radar and his eyes widened in disbelief.

The groups of ship-shaped lights on the radar, which had originally represented 100 spacecraft, were now becoming less defined.

Vaguely, he could see that each ship-shaped light cluster was actually composed of dozens, even hundreds, of smaller light clusters.

"So that's how it is? I've been played from the start? Old Man Li is going to laugh at me for years over this!"

"But even though you've managed to trip me up, achieving ultimate victory won't be that easy!"

Liang Xingchen didn't order his fleet to turn right to face the enemy. Instead, he commanded them to accelerate, moving forward in a straight line at maximum speed, without the slightest hesitation.

At the same moment, in another simulation pod not far away, Lin Fan frowned.

In his plan, Liang Xingchen should have turned to face him. During that turn, he expected to destroy at least 30% of Liang Xingchen's ships.

Then, with his 100 ships, he would engage Liang Xingchen's 70 ships head-on, and Lin Fan was confident he could win the battle decisively.

But Liang Xingchen hadn't turned to face him; instead, he was accelerating forward.

Lin Fan's highly developed brain instantly calculated the outcome.

If Liang Xingchen attempted to escape in a straight line, at least 40% of his ships would be destroyed from the flank during his escape, and Lin Fan would be able to keep pace, engaging in a pursuit battle.

Ultimately, Lin Fan believed he would win this engagement much more easily!

However, what Lin Fan couldn't understand was, could Liang Xingchen really be this incompetent? This style of combat was too similar to that of some of the less capable individuals at the academy!

A few minutes later, Lin Fan checked the radar feedback. The enemy had already lost 42 ships and was about to break out of his firing range.

Although Lin Fan had many doubts, the current situation didn't allow him to hesitate. If he didn't act immediately, he wouldn't be able to keep pace and pursue the enemy fleet.

Putting aside all his doubts for the moment, he ordered his fleet to advance at full speed and commence pursuit.

100 intact ships pursuing 58 mostly damaged ships. No matter how you looked at it, Liang Xingchen had no hope. Yet, Lin Fan felt uneasy, as if he had overlooked something.

Soon, the fleet completed a curve and moved behind the enemy fleet. Just as Lin Fan was about to launch another attack, he detected an anomaly on the radar.

Behind his fleet, a large number of contact points suddenly appeared. There were as many as 3000 of them, and they were very close to his fleet.

"Damn it, I've been tricked. No wonder he didn't choose to turn and face me, but instead accelerated forward. It was all to lure me to this position!!"

In an instant, Lin Fan understood the reason behind Liang Xingchen's peculiar maneuver. To pursue Liang Xingchen, he had to move forward and turn, tracing an arc to get behind him.

However, the enemy had deployed 3000 mechs here. Lin Fan could already guess the specifics without needing further explanation.

It must be that as Liang Xingchen accelerated forward, whenever an asteroid blocked the path between their fleets, he would urgently deploy a portion of his forces, hiding them behind the asteroids.

Truly worthy of being called the God of War of the Federal Fleet, Liang Xingchen. I still have a long way to go.

As for the outcome of this battle, Lin Fan had already calculated it. A fleet surrounded by 3000 mechs would be slaughtered without any ability to resist.

After all, his mechs and drones had all been deployed. As for the warships' cannons, forget it. They were all slow-firing, high-power types. Firing at highly maneuverable mechs at close range was a joke!

His mech and drone units had already advanced too far to return. Even if he wanted to use them to attack Liang Xingchen's fleet, it wouldn't be easy.

After all, Liang Xingchen's fleet still had five intact aircraft carriers, each containing tens of thousands of combat drones.

At this point, the mech and drone units were still a considerable distance from Liang Xingchen's fleet.

While mechs were the bane of warships once they closed the distance, before that point, warships were the bane of mechs.

Attempting to approach the fleet in a straight line would definitely result in more than half being eliminated by the warships, and the remaining small portion would be completely wiped out by Liang Xingchen's ten thousand combat drones.

"Lost... Heh, this is the first time since I transmigrated. Truly worthy of the God of War!"

Watching his warships being destroyed one by one, Lin Fan couldn't help but reflect on his first defeat.

Ten minutes later, the simulation battle concluded. Liang Xingchen had annihilated Lin Fan's 100 warships at the cost of losing 42 of his own.

"Lin Fan, you're very good. It's the first time anyone has made me suffer such a significant loss!"

Liang Xingchen emerged from the simulation pod and looked at Lin Fan, who stood at attention and saluted him, saying.

"Compared to Commander Liang, I'm still far behind. Commander, your final move to turn the tide was absolutely brilliant."

"What you lack is combat experience facing life and death. Only by going through it will your tactics mature. The academy is just the academy. Come to Mars Base; that's where you can truly hone your skills!"

"Yes, Commander!"

The change in address from "Commander Liang" to "Commander" might have been just one word, but it clearly expressed Lin Fan's intention.

He was willing to join Mars Base and fight on humanity's true front lines!

Liang Xingchen looked at Lin Fan with satisfaction, nodded, and continued.

"Very good. I'll sign your transfer order shortly. You'll be commissioned at the academy this afternoon. After the commissioning ceremony, you'll return to Mars Base with me."

"Yes!"

Then the two of them came to the virtual observation room together.

"How is it, Xiao Liang? Satisfied?"

Li Fulai looked at Liang Xingchen with a lewd smile, a mischievous look on his face.

"Alright, Teacher, stop teasing me. Lin Fan is very good. I'll officially grant him his rank this afternoon, and then take him back to Mars Base."

Liang Xingchen looked at Li Fulai's lewd expression and gave a helpless wry smile.

Teacher? Lin Fan and Emma beside him were a bit confused. Was the Dean also Commander Liang's teacher?

Seeing their shocked expressions, Li Fulai chuckled and said.

"Don't look so shocked, you two. He was from the 32nd graduating class of the Academy. Strictly speaking, he's your senior. It's just that his information is currently classified at 3S, so you wouldn't know."

Alright, Lin Fan thought this explanation made sense.

Seeing that Li Fulai had finished giving his instructions, he cleared his throat, put away his lewd smile, and spoke formally.

"I now announce that Lin Fan, a student from the 55th graduating class of the Interstellar Military Academy, Fleet Command department, has passed his graduation assessment with perfection!"