Checking the Rewards

"What's wrong, did it scare you? Should I tell the President that you're not ready yet? Maybe you should serve as a sub-fleet commander for a while first?"

Just as Lin Fan was wondering about the system, Liang Xingchen spoke up. He thought Lin Fan had been frightened by suddenly becoming a fleet commander.

"Absolutely not, Commander!"

"Fine. I'll leave the 101st Task Force Fleet to you. Take it with you to the First Fleet. Liang Xue as well!"

"Yes, Commander!"

More than twenty minutes later, Lin Fan returned to the 101st Task Force Fleet's base. After stepping off the shuttlecraft, he went straight back to his office. He had far too many things to sort through now.

First was the mission reward he had just received: Detailed Explanation of Civilization Level 1–7.

The system was as it had always been, storing all the information on a memory card. Lin Fan inserted it into his optical computer and began reading.

Civilizations in the universe were divided into twelve levels: Levels 1 through 10, Super Civilization, and Transcendent Civilization!

Level 1 Civilization: Planetary civilization. It had initially established a technological system and could conduct limited exploration of space, but it remained trapped on its home planet. (Signature technologies: rockets, satellites, space stations, etc.)

Level 2 Civilization: Stellar civilization. It could fully develop the star system containing its home planet, but lacked long-range travel capabilities and remained confined within its star system. (Signature technologies: space cities, asteroid mining, planetary terraforming technology, etc.)

Level 3 Civilization: Second-tier stellar civilization. It had initially solved its energy problem (signature technology: Nuclear Fusion), and possessed the ability to travel to and develop other star systems. It was no longer limited to a single star system, but lacked efficient methods of interstellar travel.

Level 4 Civilization: Third-tier stellar civilization. It had mastered efficient means of interstellar travel (signature technology: Warp Drive Engine), and its use of energy had risen to another level (signature technology: Energy Shield).

Level 5 Civilization: Galactic civilization. It had begun applying spatial technology and could move more rapidly within a galaxy. (Signature technologies: Spatial Shield, spatial teleportation, etc.)

Level 6 Civilization: Second-tier galactic civilization. It had advanced applications of spatial technology and could cross galaxies. (Signature technologies: Spatial Tear, intergalactic spatial teleportation, etc.)

Level 7 Civilization: Stellar river civilization. It had perfected the application of spatial technology. (Signature technology: Hyperspace Engine.)

Including the hidden reward provided by the system, the descriptions of the first seven levels among the twelve civilization levels had now been laid out before Lin Fan.

According to the data, the Federation should only be a Level 3 Civilization. With technologies like the Warp Drive Engine and Energy Shield provided by the system, it could perhaps be considered a quasi-Level 4 Civilization.

Why call it quasi-Level 4? After all, humanity was still stuck in the Solar System and unable to leave. Besides the signature technologies, the Federation might even lag behind ordinary Level 3 Civilizations in other areas.

So, taken as a whole, it could only be considered a quasi-Level 4 Civilization.

After reading the introductions to Levels 1 through 7, Lin Fan took out another memory card and inserted it into the optical computer. It contained the Orion Arm's Star Chart and a detailed distribution of its strength.

When he opened it, Lin Fan was stunned.

The Orion Arm was a tiny patch of the Milky Way. It was not even located on one of the four spiral arms. In human terms, it was the countryside.

Yet even in such a tiny place, there were over ten thousand civilizations!

Of course, most were Level 1 or Level 2 Civilizations, but there were also more than three hundred Level 3 Civilizations—and even one Level 4 Civilization.

Lin Fan had truly witnessed the vastness of the universe. Even a backwater like the Orion Arm contained over ten thousand civilizations. How many civilizations did the entire Milky Way have? Probably several million, perhaps even tens of millions.

He enlarged the Star Chart, found the location of the Solar System, and checked the nearby civilizations. Sure enough, the closest was the Oakes Civilization, whose territory currently spanned thirty-eight star systems.

Afterward, Lin Fan compared several other Level 3 Civilizations and discovered that the Oakes Empire was merely one of the weaker Level 3 Civilizations in the Orion Arm. Most Level 3 Civilizations generally controlled fifty to two hundred star systems.

By comparison, humanity had only one Solar System, and the Oakes Empire had forced them to cower inside the Asteroid Belt, too afraid to venture out. How tragic was that?

If he had not transmigrated here, Liang Xingchen probably could have done no more than keep the Federation alive for a few extra years.

But since he had transmigrated here, humanity was destined to fight for a place in this universe. He would add another burst of fuel to humanity's fire!

With that thought, Lin Fan left his office and headed toward the research area.

"Yo, Lin Fan, you're already a lieutenant general?"

Inside the research lab, Bai Zixuan saw Lin Fan enter. When his gaze caught Lin Fan's shoulder insignia, his eyes narrowed sharply. A lieutenant general? This kid was only twenty, wasn't he?

"Yeah, I was just promoted. Elder Bai, I came to see you today about something important!"

"Go on. What is it?"

"Well, you know!"

Lin Fan directly handed over a memory card! At the same time, he gave Bai Zixuan a look that said, You know what I mean!

Bai Zixuan froze for a moment. What did I know? Don't talk nonsense, brat!

But when he looked at the memory card Lin Fan was offering, fine, he knew. He really did know!

Still handling it with great care, he took the memory card, inserted it into the optical computer, and carefully read through its contents. Inside were the technical documents for the Brain Development Potion.

More than ten minutes later.

"Damn it, kid, did you raid the database of some Advanced Civilization?"

"Elder Bai, listen to yourself. You should have faith in humanity!"

"Get lost! I'm human too, and now I don't even believe in myself! Tell me, how effective do you estimate this thing will be?"

"Hmm, it should be able to raise an ordinary person's brain development level to around 15–20%. Their intelligence should also improve to a certain extent, though the exact results will vary from person to person."

"Hiss."

Bai Zixuan sucked in a breath. Ordinary people's brain development levels were under 10%, all right? Raising that directly to 15–20%—what kind of concept was that? And their intelligence would improve as well?

If this thing were widely distributed, how many outstanding scientists would humanity produce? By how many times would development speed up?

Bai Zixuan gave Lin Fan a long, deep look, then took out his communicator and sent a call request to Liang Xingchen.

"Elder Bai, don't let the Commander cut you off and hang up on you again!"

Lin Fan shot Bai Zixuan a teasing look. That scene from last time was still vividly etched in his memory!

"Get lost. This time, I'll say everything in one breath and give him no chance to interrupt!"

The moment he finished speaking, Bai Zixuan's expression changed.

"Hm? What's wrong, Elder Bai?"

"That brat Liang Xingchen actually dared to cut off my call. Can you believe it?"

"Pfft—the Commander's really upgraded this time. He won't even connect your call anymore! Hahaha!"

Lin Fan laughed so hard he bent over at the waist. The Commander was just too amusing. Last time, he had only interrupted Bai Zixuan; this time, he had simply refused to answer and cut the call outright!

Just then, Bai Zixuan's communicator rang.

"See? It must be that brat Liang Xingchen. Just watch me give him a piece of my mind!"

Bai Zixuan instantly regained his swagger and picked up the communicator. Before long, however, his old face fell again!

Seeing this, Lin Fan leaned over curiously and found a message from Liang Xingchen displayed on Bai Zixuan's communicator.

How many people? How much money? Send me a report directly!

"Pfft, hahahaha!"