Global Crossing: Empire of Stars - Section 14

By swaying within a tiny range, they could evade potential enemy attacks while maximizing the warship's evasion capabilities. Mastering this technique required not only the captain's precise command but also close coordination from the crew. It was not something that could be achieved through short-term training. One mistake in coordination could cause the starship to turn incorrectly and turn itself into a gift-delivered tragedy.

At this moment, through Psionics, the entire crew temporarily became one whole. With every crew member's superb skill, the ship executed the Oscillation Maneuver flawlessly, pushing the warship's evasion capabilities to the limit.

It could be said that mastering this technique was the entry requirement for a top-tier captain. In the Federal Virtual Academy's assessments, it warranted an evaluation of at least A-grade.

As the warship kept swaying, it became even harder for the turrets to lock onto targets. Fortunately, the three gunners were all Master-level elites. With the Mind Link brought by Lin Zhichen, keen psionic perception guided them from time to time, allowing them to catch fleeting opportunities in the narrowest of windows.

Electromagnetic Rounds shot out in rapid succession, tearing through space and accurately striking one pirate ship after another.

Although the situation looked excellent, Lin Zhichen frowned. Sublight Assault was indeed extraordinarily powerful, but a frigate's firepower was too weak. If it had been a Cruiser or Battleship, with turrets covering its hull and all firepower unleashed, one volley would probably have cleared out most of the pirate ships in space. Why would they be stuck in such an awkward situation?

The assault was grand in scale, but the results were pitiful!

But it was not the crew's fault. They were already elite enough. The problem was that during Sublight Assault, they flashed past the Pirate Base in just a few seconds.

To achieve worthwhile results in only a few seconds with the meager firepower of a frigate was simply asking too much.

"No, it's not like there's no opportunity!" He glanced at the Holographic Projection. The lingering light from the exploding Pirate Raider had yet to fade.

Those three unlucky bastards had all exposed their rear engines, taking direct hits to their vulnerable spots and ascending to heaven on the spot.

On the battlefield, starships knew their own weaknesses perfectly well. They would rather take a few shells than expose their fragile rear ends.

But even if the pirates did not want to expose themselves, the speed of the Qinyuan allowed it to ignore all their evasive hiding and strike straight at their weak points!

Streams of light flickered through space. A streak flashed past, and the pirate ships that had just turned around fired their shells one after another, only for them to cut uselessly through empty space.

The Qinyuan drew a curved arc through space, easily shaking off the enemy ships' locks. Yet within the span of a breath, it crossed the starry void and assaulted the pirate ships from behind.

The pirates who had just finished turning were still craning their necks one by one in search of the enemy when it suddenly appeared behind them.

Fortunately, the pirate ships knew nothing, but the Pirate Base behind them used high-powered Radar Scan to reveal the Qinyuan's location and transmitted it to the fleet at the same time.

At this moment, the pirates finally woke from their daze and began turning in panic, but it was already too late.

The Qinyuan, attacking from behind, flashed past in an instant. Sublight shells arrived moments later, accurately piercing the chemical propulsion engines of three Raider Boats and blowing them apart on the spot.

"Once you find the solution, everything becomes easy!"

Lin Zhichen stood aboard the Qinyuan. The entire ship felt like an extension of his arm. With a thought, it could perform complicated maneuvers such as drifting and turning. Even while in a sublight state, every shot fired struck true.

This time, it did not launch another hit-and-run assault. Instead, the Qinyuan drew circle after circle through space, actually circling this sizable pirate fleet. At a chosen moment, it would fire a shell directly into a rear engine and destroy an enemy ship.

The pirates' technological level was simply too low. Their outdated combat computers could not even capture the Qinyuan's position before they were Instant Killed by a sudden strike.

Boom—

Another burst of fire exploded, nearly blinding everyone in the intelligence room.

This was a Pirate Gunboat, a warship that normally required considerable effort to fight. Yet at this moment, it was scarcely sturdier than a Raider Boat.

"Sublight Strike!" Colonel Bros gritted his teeth and forced out the words.

"What?" Kadir Rockefeller was jolted awake and asked in a daze.

"It's Sublight Strike! This is an A+-grade Psionic Combat Skill!" Colonel Bros said with difficulty.

"This is the signature combat skill of Federation Hero Billus Dical. He once piloted the Psionic Warship cruiser Abaya and destroyed an enemy Flagship, the Dreadnought Heavy Cruiser, in an important battle, laying the foundation for the Federation military's final victory!"

"So powerful?" Kadir Rockefeller seemed distracted, his tone flat.

He sincerely began to doubt whether all his hard work had any use at all. If he possessed the strength of the person in the projection, why would he even need to compete for the position of family heir?

He could establish a great family of his own!

The butler seemed to see through his thoughts and comforted him. "Young Master, we still have a chance! Find this person. Even if we cannot make him serve the family, simply forming a friendship with him would be an enormous advantage!"

"That's right, we have to find him!" Kadir Rockefeller immediately came to his senses and suppressed the complicated emotions in his heart.

At this moment, everyone in the intelligence room was focused on the Holographic Projection. They failed to notice a staff member secretly making a small move, preparing to pass hidden information to a certain heir.

Perhaps because he was too nervous, he accidentally touched a certain button. By the time he realized it in terror, it was already too late.

Meanwhile, on Earth Star Net, a suddenly appearing holographic livestream detonated the entire network.

"Holy shit, what kind of warship can fly that fast? Any big shots here? Can someone tell me its speed?"

"Calculations complete. Straight-line charge: 300 kilometers per second. Flanking maneuvers: around 1.2 kilometers per second!"

"That huge a speed difference—aren't they worried about inertial overload?"

"Idiot! A spacecraft has gravity generators to offset overload. Besides, there's Psionics. Do you think a Normal person could pull this off?"

"Doesn't sound that fast. The first cosmic velocity is still 7.9 kilometers per second."

"It isn't fast, not even one percent of light speed~"

"Yet this is in combat. And this is in the Asteroid Belt~"

"Shocking! Who's street racing in an asteroid field?!"

"At that speed, how can the crew aim accurately!?"

"Maybe it's a more advanced shipboard fire-control system?"

"Bullshit! I'm telling you, even the Federation's best fire-control radar can't support kilometer-per-second high-speed combat! Only a Psionicist working with a Psionic Warship can accomplish such a miracle!"

"Holy crap, I bow before this legend!"

"Mom, come out and see God~"

""

Lin Zhichen knew nothing about what was happening on distant Earth. He was busy playing turkey shoot.

That's right, one shot, one kill!

Having entered the zone, Lin Zhichen and the Qinyuan's crew had become one whole. Massive amounts of information were analyzed and shared every moment. In an instant, Lin Zhichen could always find the most suitable target, then issue the command to whichever gunner had finished charging and possessed the best angle.

Starting from a success rate of less than seventy percent, the gunners' hit rate had reached ninety percent in barely a minute!

Electromagnetic Rounds trailing blazing light were like the gaze of the God of Death. Every pirate ship they fixed upon exploded one after another.

After finding the optimal rhythm, just three minutes were enough for sixteen pirate ships to explode violently, including three Pirate Gunboats!

That all-killing display of intimidation nearly broke the pirates present. Like startled birds, they scattered in panic in every direction.

The nearby Pirate Base fired shells futilely. Streams of light flashed past, but Without Exception, they struck empty space.

The battlefield, where the difference in strength had originally been enormous, had become a one-sided slaughterhouse. The pirates waiting to be slaughtered had completely lost their will to fight, fleeing in panic one after another without even attempting the slightest counterattack.

Back on Earth, the sudden battle livestream sent all netizens into a frenzy.

The media, quick to follow current events, reacted rapidly. One after another, they established rapid-reporting studios and pushed "more professional" livestream commentary to netizens.

"General MacArthur, you just mentioned that due to the limits of shipboard fire-control computers, warships normally cannot fire while traveling at speeds exceeding one kilometer per second. Based on your professional judgment, how do you think this mysterious frigate achieved it?"

In the livestream room, the beautiful host, with a lovely face and a curvaceous figure, asked.

"Psionic Warship! Based on analysis of combat footage released by the Federation military, only a Psionicist piloting a Psionic Warship and activating a Psionic Combat Skill could possibly achieve this!" General MacArthur declared decisively.

"You have to understand that in space, a difference of a single millimeter becomes a difference of kilometers after traveling tens of thousands of kilometers. It requires vision and hand speed even more precise than threading a needle. It is simply not something a gunner can accomplish! Only with the enhancement of a Psionic Combat Skill can such an unbelievable operation be completed!"

The general spoke with spittle flying. Beneath his salt-and-pepper hair, his entire face was flushed red with excitement. "Do you see it? This warship is rotating at high speed around the pirate ships, and in that state, every shell blows up a pirate ship! Control room, slow it down and examine the frigate's shell trajectories!"

Soon, the holographic footage being played slowed down by a thousand times. At the extreme slow speed, everything finally became clear. An Electromagnetic Projectile fired, traveled a certain distance, then accurately pierced into a pirate ship's engine.

The Sturdy Armor and the Deflection Shield used to defend against energy weapons had no defensive effect whatsoever. The next moment, the rear of the hull suddenly swelled, and the confined fusion reactor exploded violently.

"Holy shit, rear-engine kill!"

"No wonder it's one shot per ship. He's hitting the weak point every time!"

"Damn, how did he do that? That's insanely accurate?!"

On the Holographic Projection, amazed comments from netizens flooded across the screen. Amid the excitement of executives from countless websites, viewership continued soaring, setting one new record after another.

"Do you see it!" The general rose to his feet, nearly shouting himself hoarse. "Do you see it! This is a Precision strike!

At a high speed of 1.2 kilometers per second, accurately hitting a pirate ship's engine with a tungsten alloy shell the size of a shot put—what kind of concept is that?

This is Precision beyond machinery, beyond computers! Only mysterious Psionicists, relying on thought faster than light, can seize that sliver of opportunity in an instant!"

The general's unrestrained shouting did not draw contempt from the netizens. Instead, his genuine emotion resonated with countless shocked hearts, and a shared feeling echoed through the livestream room as the program's viewership climbed ever higher.

In just three minutes, more than thirty pirate ships had been slaughtered clean. Other than shattered hulls tumbling wildly through space, nothing else remained.

After slaughtering the pirate fleet, the Qinyuan did not test the base's firepower. It wrapped up its work, leisurely turned around, and flew toward the depths of space, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

From beginning to end, the Qinyuan never slowed down. Even when collecting the spoils floating in space, it simply swept past them, leaving the pirates no opportunity to exploit.

Aboard the Qinyuan, after completing a relatively prolonged Sublight Assault, Lin Zhichen rubbed his temples and reduced the warship's speed to relieve the pressure brought by the intense battle.

Name: Lin Zhichen Red

Gender: Male

Age: 21

Talent: Heaven Rewards Diligence Purple

Effect 1: Effort brings rewards; skill practice leads to improvement.

Effect 2: Members within his faction are affected by this talent.

Psionicist Red: Effect 1: Awakens Psionics; Effect 2: Skill learning speed +10%;

Gate of Time and Space Blue: Opens once per month, searches for Spacetime Marks, and opens temporary instances.

Ship Command Red:

Effect 1: Ship evasion +25%*5; Effect 2: Sublight Speed +25%*5