Cloud-Mountain Star, Starport.
After several days of somewhat impatient waiting, the Huiyue Type Battleship was finally completed.
Qingyang followed behind Qingyundao, walking excitedly into a ship hangar.
His gaze was immediately drawn to the colossal object floating within the hangar.
Its form resembled a rectangular prism. Pale-blue energy circuits with graceful curves shimmered across the sleek, platinum-white hull.
The Orbital Ship Cannons were likewise like crystal artworks, circling the hull as they rotated leisurely, making it hard to believe this was a warship.
The first impression it gave was one of science fiction, fantasy, and a collectible with no combat power.
The data panel immediately unfolded.
[T8 Starry Sky Battleship] [Model: Huiyue] [Length: 3200m] [Average height and width: 650m] [Shield: Star Brilliance Type 1 Shield—10,000 (4,000) recovery rate: 50/s (Immune to single instances of damage below 0.5%)] [Weapons: Particle Main Cannon—Standard Type ×1, Area Type ×1, Twin Rapid-Fire Type ×1 Particle Secondary Cannon—Quad Rapid-Fire Type ×4, Twin Standard Type ×8 Particle Ship Cannon—Standard Type ×40, Twin Rapid-Fire Type ×20 Close-Range Defense Weapon System—×1, Star Brilliance Type 1 Warp Suppressor ×1] [T8 Battleship base energy levels: main cannon 2,000, secondary cannon 800, ship cannon 100] [Model bonus: shield and weapon energy levels increased by 150%]
Qingyang stared wide-eyed at the data. This was a deluxe, extravagant version of a battleship?!
Three main cannons, twelve secondary cannons, and sixty ship cannons!
That kind of firepower was already fully comparable to a conventional warship formation!
After all, the energy levels were right there. In the early stages, Starry Sky Battleship energy levels were divided by orders of magnitude on a decimal scale.
An energy level of one hundred could already destroy a town, while surpassing one thousand could even completely erase a small stretch of land.
However, that meant that even with a 150% increase in energy level, the secondary cannons would probably be capped at level 999.
One and a half times a base energy level of 800 could not break through that energy-level threshold. What a pity.
Qingyang smacked his forehead. What was he even thinking?!
An ordinary rookie commander would already thank the heavens if they could get a cruiser with a level-500 main cannon.
"All right, this ship is yours now. And the blueprint too."
Qingyundao handed Qingyang a card, then seemed to remember something. "Go wherever you want. I'm leaving this place."
"Also, there are a few little things in the warship's storage that you'll find useful."
Qingyang took the card and froze. "Leaving? Going where?"
Qingyundao waved a hand. "It's nothing major. We can still meet in the Star Net World anyway."
"Holy shit, Dad, you're a commander too—"
Before Qingyang could finish, Qingyundao had already left the docking hangar.
"..."
After a moment of silence, Qingyang turned his attention back to the warship.
[Undatafied Starry Sky Battleship detected] [Datafy?]
"Yes!"
[Data overwrite in progress] [Mental value qualified. Overwrite successful]
The next moment, Qingyang instantly appeared in the control room.
[Mental control mode activated]
A three-meter virtual miniature of the warship immediately appeared in the center of the control room.
As Qingyang's thoughts surged, the virtual ship lit up one section after another, and mental data swept across the entire vessel in an instant.
[Greetings, Star Commander. I am your shipboard intelligence.]
Qingyang nodded. "Activate the warship. Conduct a full self-check."
[Understood]
Qingyang's mental data quickly located the storage area. Looking at the items in the virtual projection, he was somewhat dumbfounded.
A crystal sphere, fifty Mantis Mechs, several crates of potions, and nine cards.
"What are all these?"
[Star Weapon: Return to One Sky Wall] [Quality: Red (Zero Star)] [Base effect: All fleet ship shield recovery rates +50/s. Fleet shields are unified, and damage will be shared among the shields of all ships in the fleet.] [Additional effect: Fleet shields gain the traits—mental defense and bacterial defense. Effective until shield value reaches zero.] [Note: Can be upgraded to a maximum of five stars. Star upgrades require Star Crystals of the same quality. Example: upgrading from one star to three stars requires three crystals; from one star to four stars requires four crystals.]
Good stuff!
Qingyang smiled and instinctively activated the Star Weapon Crystal.
The Star Weapon Crystal immediately transformed into data and dissipated, while the effects of Return to One Sky Wall began taking effect!
Qingyang then looked toward the mechs and potions.
[Dark Mantis Mech Type 3] [Height: twelve meters] [Shield: 500] [Overall combat power: Third-Order High]
What a formidable mech!
Judging by the detailed data, a single mech like this was enough to threaten an ordinary Assault Ship.
If there was a way to bypass the shields and send them into an enemy warship, probably no T8 Fleet could stop them!
[Mental Potion Types 1–3] [Applicable range: T8, T7, T6] [Please use daily. Based on current reserves, you are expected to reach the T6 Mental Threshold within five years.]
"Dad really thought of everything." Qingyang felt warmth in his heart. He could tell with his ass that this stuff was extremely valuable.
After confirming that the internal passages were wide enough, he ordered a mech to deliver the potions.
Qingyang looked at the last nine cards.
[Fleet Top Position Card] [Each card can temporarily replace the position of one Starry Sky Battleship. Commonly used by rookie commanders. Extremely expensive to produce.]
Qingyang was stunned, then overjoyed.
No matter what Commander Talent one possessed, the most basic requirement for it to take effect was reaching T8 Fleet status.
He had thought that even after controlling the Huiyue Ship, using Eternal Protocol would still be a distant dream.
He had not expected his father to have considered this long ago.
He immediately used all nine cards, and the Star Network prompt box that had remained inactive for so long instantly popped up.
[T8 Fleet standard reached] [Confirmation complete. Please name your fleet.]
Qingyang stroked his chin. "Then let's call it Eternal Truth!"
Caliber was truth. Firepower was also truth. Nothing wrong with that.
[Eternal Truth (T8 Fleet)] [Talent: Eternal Protocol (Protocol 8 signed by default)] [Commander: Qingyang] [Flagship: Huiyue Type Battleship (T8)] [Scale: 10 (1)]
Eternal Protocol took effect. Looking at the warship data as its shield value suddenly reached 20,000 and even its recovery speed soared to 150/s—
Most importantly, the Commander's Shield! Qingyang felt his sense of security reach its peak!
"At least I won't have to hide inside the fleet during adventures. Taking part personally is the greatest fun."
After confirming there were no abnormalities with the battleship, Qingyang stared intently at the slowly opening hangar doors.
"Set sail!"
Bzzzt—
A faint hum of energy spread outward as layers of energy circuits across the massive warship's surface lit up.
The Huiyue Type Battleship vanished from the hangar at once.
One of the functions of datafication: no acceleration, no aftereffects, directly traveling at maximum speed!
"Woohoo!"
The radiant Huiyue Battleship appeared in space more than a dozen light-seconds away, and its powerful energy level immediately drew the Starport's attention.
"What a powerful energy fluctuation!"
"A T7 Cruiser?"
"That's... a Huiyue Type Battleship?! Which country's rich second-generation ship owner is that?"
"It seems to have left from our Starport."
"???"
Opening the star map, Qingyang marked a Starport several light-years away that had a Star Gate. That was where the recruited crew members were gathering.
Without pausing, the entire warship entered FTL Travel once more, swiftly shifting into Warp Mode.
Without entering Subspace Warp in the Material Dimension, even a few light-years would take the Huiyue Battleship several days to cover.
Why could a physical ship exceed the speed of light?
Because it had been datafied, of course.
Cu109 Star Gate.
More than ten young men and women sat quietly on chairs before a docking platform.
Their unusual bearing caused those around them to glance over repeatedly. Besides them, there were several hundred energetic scholar-type personnel.
There was also a large quantity of supplies and several thousand machines standing by.
The leading young man looked around. "Looks like it's an Exploration Adventure Fleet."
"Hehe, isn't that even better? It sounds more fun. And judging by the personalities of those exploration commanders, there definitely won't be a shortage of battles."
The girl said with a giggle.
The other crew members began discussing among themselves.
"Rookies rarely gather ten ships to form a fleet this quickly. They probably only have one warship."
"I wonder what type of Starry Sky Battleship it is."
"There's a fifty percent chance it's a destroyer, a forty percent chance it's a cruiser, and a ten percent chance it's a battleship. Being able to recruit so many crew members right from the start means they must have some assets."
"Indeed."
Before you continue