Commander Talent

Cloud-Mountain Star, Star Affiliated High School.

The school city floating high in the air shimmered against the backdrop of the deep-blue starry sky.

Inside a grand lecture hall holding thousands, a bald teacher spoke eloquently.

"In the Great Cosmic Era, every powerful civilization possesses its own exclusive strategic system, ensuring a unique advantage in warfare and development and minimizing the chances of being countered by enemies."

"The Star Sea Human Alliance likewise has its own strategic system. Who can name it?"

"Teacher, Starfleet and commanders!"

A student immediately answered.

The bald teacher smiled. "Correct. Awaken Commander Talent, command Starfleet—the Starfleet Commander System!"

"It doesn't seem much different from Supernatural Ancient Martial Arts and the like, though. And it looks really expensive," a student said doubtfully.

The teacher could not help smiling. "After all, I'm not a commander, so I can't be certain about everything. But I can tell you about one of a commander's basic abilities right now.

Datafication!

Whether it is the commander themself or their fleet, both will be datafied. So long as the relevant data does not reach zero, no amount of damage will affect their combat strength or actions!"

"!!!"

In a corner, Qingyang listened silently and glanced at the panel in his consciousness.

Datafying the rules of reality—an artificial Fourth Catastrophe. The Alliance was truly formidable.

He just wondered whether adding third-party data counted as cheating.

[Star of Truth loaded successfully]

[No addable trait data]

As a transmigrator who had arrived in the Great Cosmic Era, with both parents alive, no siblings, and a family that could be considered comfortably well-off by cosmic-era standards, he was among the more fortunate kind of transmigrator.

Because he had no worries.

From a young age, Qingyang had been intensely interested in the universe and all manner of strange tales and phenomena.

It had now even become an obsession.

Not to mention the boost from his cheat!

Though this cheat had appeared eighteen years ago, it had only finished loading a few days ago, and he still did not know how to use it.

"To become a commander, you must possess Commander Talent. Otherwise, you cannot undergo Datafication, much less command Starfleet.

Even at Cloud-Mountain Star Affiliated High School, which gathered the most outstanding talents from dozens of nearby planets, there were only a little over three hundred people with Commander Talent.

Of those three hundred or so, probably only a handful would ultimately grow into anything. Even with resources provided by the Alliance, the expenses of a Starfleet were terrifyingly high. Talent awakening does not care how wealthy you are.

For ordinary commanders, joining other forces or enlisting in the military is the best choice."

Hearing the teacher's sigh, Qingyang felt no ripple in his heart.

Because he was a preparatory student in the Commander Department.

He mainly studied how to command starships after Datafication, how to use the various equipment aboard them, and standard mathematics, physics, and chemistry.

He had spent three years studying just those foundational subjects.

Once his eighteenth birthday passed in a few days, his specific Commander Talent was determined, and he underwent Datafication, he would become a glorious Starship Commander!

Whether it was glorious or not did not matter. Exploring the universe and adventuring everywhere were what attracted Qingyang most.

As for development resources, although he did not know his family's exact wealth, his father had said covering the initial expenses would not be a problem.

Besides, there was the Star of Truth, whose purpose remained unknown.

"Alright, these days happen to be graduation season, so you all should have matters to attend to. Class dismissed."

Still wanting to say more, the bald teacher announced the end of class and walked out of the classroom.

Qingyang followed the other students out of the grand lecture hall.

Qingyang looked up at the stars, his tone excited. "I'm really looking forward to it."

Several days passed in the blink of an eye.

In the student apartment, Qingyang hurriedly washed up, then sat cross-legged on his bed, filled with excitement.

"Three minutes until I turn eighteen!"

Letting out a long breath, Qingyang tried to calm himself.

The awakening and assessment of talent in the Starfleet Commander System required no additional equipment.

Once the time came, it could be completed anywhere within the territory of the Star Sea Human Alliance.

Just then, an indescribable sensation enveloped Qingyang's entire body.

Immediately afterward, his body was rapidly covered by colorless particles of light. If someone observed Qingyang's body through a microscope,

they would discover that even his cells and the fundamental particles composing matter were becoming ethereal, transforming into countless complex symbols.

[Commander Talent detected. Datafication initiated.]

[Fundamental particles distorting. High-dimensional data beginning to overwrite.]

[Overwrite progress: 100%]

[Determining Commander Talent.]

[High-dimensional data overwrite detected. Loading Star of Truth.]

Huh?

Qingyang, whose consciousness remained clear, was startled. It really was third-party data. Would his account get banned?

[Star of Truth loading complete. Functions activated.]

[Explore] [Bounty] [Traits] [Suggestions]

[Hall of Truth (Closed)]

After roughly determining the uses of these functions, Qingyang returned his attention to the Star Network in his consciousness.

This was a special network used only by commanders and related personnel. It could be used even outside human territory.

It could even datafy and transmit physical objects.

[Commander Talent confirmed.]

Qingyang could not help holding his breath. Talent was the core of a commander and determined one's future potential.

[Star of Truth has detected multiple approaching data streams. Exploring.]

[Assessment complete. Commander Talent data identified.]

[All data intercepted. Expanding options. Please choose.]

"What? I can choose?" Qingyang cried out.

Everyone knew that Commander Talent could initially only be assessed for whether one possessed it, and the actual talent could not be determined until the age of eighteen.

However, few people knew the specific reason. Determining whether one possessed talent only proved that one could undergo Datafication.

What specific talent one received depended entirely on luck. According to the most famous Fortune theory in talent studies, the stronger a person's Fortune, the more easily they attracted high-quality talent data.

But one thing was certain: talents could not be chosen voluntarily.

Now—

[Urgent notice: 34,000 approaching data streams have been intercepted.]

[Please make a selection within 20 seconds. Exceeding the time limit will alert them.]

"Expand the options!"

[Epic Talent ×1 (unique and growable, Epic as its base)]

[Epic Talent ×3]

[.]

[Note: Talent—White, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Red, Gold, Violet-Gold, Epic, ??? (forcible scanning not recommended)]

"No need to look. Choose the first one!" Qingyang did not hesitate in the slightest.

A unique, growable talent with Epic quality as its base—what was there to consider?

No matter what it specialized in, the strongest was the strongest. Even if the other Epic talents were developed to their fullest, their upper limits would not match that first talent.

There was no question about it!

[Commander Talent confirmed.]

[Eternal Protocol (Unique)]

[Quality: Epic]

[Function: Sign the commander's name to activate a protocol. Sign one protocol for every fleet rank increase.]

[Current rank: Cadet Commander (No signed protocols)]

[Available at next rank: Protocol 8: Immortal Hull (Beginner)]

[Basic traits: (Any warship under command)

After leaving the battlefield, the warship repairs its hull by 5% per hour.

Maximum shield value ×2, shield recovery speed ×2]

[Additional trait: A passive shield will form around the commander. Its shield value and properties are linked to the total fleet shield.]

"Holy crap, what kind of absurd stats are these?"

If it were only the increased shield value and recovery speed, it would not even come close to Epic quality.

But the self-repair and the additional Commander's Shield were outrageous.

As long as the former was not completely destroyed, it needed only twenty hours after leaving the battlefield to fully recover.

Post-battle repairs lasting days or even weeks? The massive resources consumed by maintenance?

They simply would not exist.

As for the latter, so long as the fleet endured, so would he!

Protocol 8 alone was already this powerful. This single protocol might not compare to a complete Epic Talent, but it was not far off.

[Registering Star Network account. Please enter a name.]

After thinking for a moment, Qingyang quietly said, "Xingchen."

[. IDs with this name already exist. Confirm name?]

". Confirm."

[Qingyang (ID: Star)]

[Life: 100% (Datafied)]

[Mental: T8 (Medium)]

[Rank: Cadet Commander]

[Record: None]

[Fleet Panel (None)]

[Star Network Express]

[Virtual World]

As time passed, Qingyang's Datafication gradually completed.

He clenched his fist, then pinched his skin and flesh. Nothing had changed at all.

Qingyang was somewhat confused. Was that it?

His gaze fell upon a small knife nearby, and he immediately grabbed it and cut toward his finger.

[Damage value too low. Immune.]

"Th-this is Datafication?!"

As for the protagonist—this high school and its teachers were not commanders and could not log into the Star Network. The knowledge available to them consisted only of basic matters.

At most, they knew some basic cosmic environments and how to identify organisms.

Many things Xingchen encountered due to his Fortune went far beyond the basics, so it was normal for him not to understand them. Once he entered Commander Academy later on, he would begin learning how to obtain advanced materials—in other words, growing stronger.

Starting around chapters thirty or forty, the protagonist would acquire all kinds of extraordinary knowledge and information.