Global Crossing: Empire of Stars

His keen psionic intuition allowed him to sense a thousand burning points all over his body. This was the extreme reaction under psionic augmentation, and he almost instantly detected the opponent's attack direction.

His lightsaber flickered in his hand, each strike perfectly sequenced, managing to block every single one without retreating an inch!

With psionic augmentation, the two exchanged a hundred thrusts within a single breath, and their lightsabers clashed a hundred times in a short period. The air filled with continuous "swish" sounds, merging into a muffled thunder.

"Good swordplay!" At this moment, Liu Manyun retracted her sword and stepped back. She flicked her free left hand, and a vast wave of psionic energy was restrained into a whip, lashing out at Lin Zhichen.

"Bang~"

The air vibrated violently, and as the psionic energy danced, a surge of qi erupted. If it had landed, even a body forged from steel would have been torn to shreds.

Lin Zhichen, who had been pursuing, was forced to stop. With a casual wave of his hand, a psionic energy shield materialized in front of him like a shield.

Amidst the violent tremors, the qi generated by the clash of the two psionic energies sprayed outwards, tearing deep gouges into the sturdy alloy cement ground.

Li Murong, flying in the sky, noticed that the battle had ended and quietly flew closer. She clicked her tongue in amazement, realizing that between Lin Zhichen and Liu Manyun, a hundred-meter-long trench had already formed. The ground was shattered, almost entirely plowed over. The high-strength cement ground, mixed with metal powder, was as soft as sand under the bombardment of their psionic energy.

"Brute!" she couldn't help but stick out her tongue.

At this moment, Liu Manyun had completely retracted her psionic energy, her beautiful eyes showing clear astonishment. "What's your psionic energy recovery rate?"

Although psionicists were said to have infinite stamina and psionic energy, every psionicist had a limit to their recovery speed.

Once they unleashed their full power in a short period, they would inevitably enter a brief lull if their output exceeded their input. At this time, the faster one's psionic energy recovery rate, the greater their advantage, and it was an overwhelming advantage.

This answer couldn't be found on the Star Net. Lin Zhichen hesitated for a moment and asked in return, "What's yours?"

"30%!" Liu Manyun glanced at him deeply and replied.

If her psionic energy limit was 100 points, then she could recover 30 points every second.

"Mine's 29%!" Lin Zhichen replied with a poker face.

"Heh heh." Liu Manyun chuckled twice.

"Wow~ Your talent is actually this good?" the beautiful scientist observing from the side exclaimed. "According to research by the Galactic Psionic Association, the limit for psionic energy recovery rate is 30%.

For over 80% of psionicists, their recovery rate doesn't exceed 10%. Only 0.1% of genius psionicists can reach over 20%.

A recovery rate of X% would mean you're among the top one in ten thousand psionicists. With your talent, you can be considered a genius even across the entire galaxy!"

The Galactic Psionic Association was a pan-civilization organization for the entire galaxy, a loose organization aimed at promoting the expansion of the psionicist population, increasing their potential, and ensuring their well-being.

Lin Zhichen faced Liu Manyun's amused gaze expressionlessly, but inwardly, he felt relieved.

He only realized now that psionicists' psionic energy recovery wasn't instantaneous; there was actually a rate involved!

That's right, his recovery rate was 100%!

What did this mean?

It meant he could completely ignore the consumption of psionic energy. As long as his psionic energy reserves were sufficient, he could unleash his power almost without limit. Among psionicists of the same tier, he was practically invincible!

"Again!" Showing no intention of stopping, his lightsaber clashed dozens of times in an instant, the air vibrating.

At this moment, Lin Zhichen understood. Liu Manyun was teaching him some psionic techniques and lightsaber skills. Regardless of her intentions, she was genuinely helping him.

Suppressing his complex emotions, he swung his lightsaber, the air humming.

Their figures moved like lightning, and within a single breath, they fought from the ground to the sky, and from the sky back to the ground. In an instant, their sword lights clashed thousands of times. Muffled thunder rumbled in the sky, and the air churned.

Through this intense combat, Lin Zhichen rapidly adapted to fighting between psionicists. The speed of his light blade counterattacks grew faster and faster, while the amplitude of his swings became smaller. Simply using psionic energy to release and converge plasma beams, the efficiency of his lightsaber thrusts underwent a qualitative change.

It was at this point he understood why Psionic Trooper Units, despite being flesh and blood, could be ranked alongside mechanical fortresses and bio-integrated suits as five-star ground forces.

In some ways, compared to the mechanical ascendants who abandoned their brains and encased them in machinery, and the gene ascendants who abandoned their humanity and became bizarre, psionicists, while maintaining their human form, were the most dangerous of the three types of Evolvers.

Initially, Lin Zhichen was at a significant disadvantage, but as he began to adapt, his Diligence Repays the Heavens talent came into play. Almost visibly, the speed of his lightsaber thrusts increased, and their lethality grew. His slightly sluggish movements, accelerated by psionic energy, became ghost-like; a gust of wind would pass, and he would vanish.

Those watching secretly from the buildings were astonished to find that they could now only see a red figure and a green figure flashing back and forth. In a daze, they had already circled several buildings. The sounds of explosions were continuous, and the bursting qi tore through the air, leaving behind conspicuous marks.

This scene was being recorded by people hired by Wei Chenglin. After seeking approval, they planned to edit it into a video showcasing the strength of the Meteor Mercenary Group.

The combat power of psionicists was quite sustained, especially skills like lightsaber duels which consumed less energy. The two fought for a full three hours. It wasn't until a moment when Liu Manyun's lightsaber strike separated Lin Zhichen's sword, and she lunged forward with her chest, that he snapped out of the exquisite swordplay.

At this moment, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that over the past three hours, he had already defeated Liu Manyun with his lightsaber skills. Under the pressure of his impenetrable sword light, she had been forced to resort to a mutually destructive tactic. If he hadn't held back in time...

"Huh?! How shameless!" Li Murong, who was watching, gritted her teeth. She still saw that scoundrel actually take the opportunity to embrace her, and the two of them twisted together, disappearing like a beam of light.

Only with her keen psionicist vision could she see the final scene: as they were fighting, they entered a high-rise villa, and the bright curtains were immediately drawn.

The next day, as dawn broke, Lin Zhichen lay in bed with a languid beauty in his arms, pondering with mixed emotions.

"I was too hasty. How did the fight turn into this?" he lamented inwardly. Needless to say, with this relationship established, it would be even harder to shake her off in the future.

"I'm still too young and couldn't resist temptation!"

The advantage of being a psionicist was evident. He felt no fatigue at all; instead, he felt even more comfortable.

"What are you thinking about?" Liu Manyun traced circles on his chest.

"Thinking about the development of the mercenary group. What level is your Thorn Rose mercenary group?" Lin Zhichen asked casually. "How strong are they?"

"Level 5. We're just one military advancement mission away from being promoted to a Legion," Liu Manyun replied lazily.

"We've been delaying because we weren't ready."

"Level 5? That strong? How many ships does the fleet have? It's been around for quite some time, hasn't it?" Lin Zhichen's interest was piqued, and he pressed further.

"My mother started it, and it's been over a hundred years now," Liu Manyun replied. "Our strength is decent. The Mercenary Group currently possesses over 100 capital ships – battleships/battlecruisers, thousands of cruisers, and more than 10,000 other vessels."

"Level 5 Mercenary Groups are this strong?" Lin Zhichen was genuinely astonished. "If Mercenary Groups are like this, then what about Legions?"

"No, Thorn Rose is a newcomer among Level 5 Mercenary Groups. Its strength is at the bottom. Compared to old mercenary groups established two to three hundred years ago, our foundation is far too weak," Liu Manyun shifted into a more comfortable position and continued lying down.

"If it were a Legion, even the weakest one would have at least a dozen large fleets. The strength of each fleet would not be inferior to those old Level 5 Mercenary Groups.

Don't focus on how many fleets they have; focus on their Heroes. Every large fleet is supported by four or five Heroes. The fleet is simply a platform for them to exert their strength!"

"So strong..." At this moment, Lin Zhichen finally felt the depth of the Federation's power. Even the private Legions under its jurisdiction possessed such strength. What about the regular army? It couldn't possibly be worse than private Legions, could it? How much stronger would it be?

He didn't ask because it was meaningless. At this stage, those were still too far from the Meteor Mercenary Group.

"What? Is it different from what you imagined?" Liu Manyun asked. "You thought with a bit of talent, you could eventually roam the galaxy?

The Federation never lacks geniuses. The Federal First Academy and Federal University directly recruit geniuses from thousands of colonial planets across the entire Federation. They only accept 1,000 students each year, averaging less than one person per planet!

Those who graduate from this academy in three years will start as elite Evolvers. The number of Heroes graduating each year exceeds a hundred!"

Lin Zhichen licked his lips. "Tsk, it's such a loss that Federal University didn't accept me. Later on, when people say the strongest Hero in Humanity graduated from a virtual academy, I wonder what their reaction will be."

"Ha~" Liu Manyun chuckled, amused. "You really are confident!"

"Speaking of which, where do the fleets of those old mercenary groups and Legions come from? Did they build them ship by ship?" Lin Zhichen was somewhat puzzled.

"Just building warships alone, the blueprints probably wouldn't be enough, right?"

"Of course, they don't just rely on dropping equipment. Most of these are blueprints drawn by Draftsmen," Liu Manyun revealed some secrets slowly.

"Most skills can be mastered through self-study, and these skills can be sublimated into talents through spiritualization. For example, ship piloting.

However, there are a very small number of special talents that can only be innate and cannot be produced through skill spiritualization. Draftsmen are one of them.

To become a Draftsman, one must possess drawing talent, and then obtain drawing skills. They can then draw different blueprints according to their skill level.

They are strategic talents for the Federation and all Civilized Nations. Once there's a shortage of high-level Draftsmen, the number of civilized fleets would shrink to one-thousandth or even one-ten-thousandth of what it is now!"

"Hiss~" He inhaled sharply. The meaning of these words was very clear: high-level Draftsmen were the support of Civilized Nations. If there was a generational gap, the Civilized Nations could collapse instantly.

"That's why you'll absolutely never find NPCs with drawing talent in clone factories. Any force spares no effort to stockpile these strategic talents," Liu Manyun concluded.

"I see." Lin Zhichen remembered now that Dr. Will's Ship Design skill involved Draftsmen. Due to a lack of key talent, this skill was essentially defunct.

"You say, if I had a heavyweight treasure, would the Federation strongly support me?"

Liu Manyun rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Do you think the Federation would care about ordinary treasures? It's the Interstellar Era. Psionic Plants are common dishes on the dining tables of upper-class nobles. What could be considered a treasure?"

Psionic Plants are plants that grow in certain psionic environments. They are extremely rare in the Universe. One method to produce them on a large scale is to have Psionicists use their connection to the psionic realm to extract psionic energy and slowly release it into the environment, maintaining a suitable growth environment for Psionic Plants.

Simply put, it's having Psionicists spend a lot of time acting as farmers, tending to Psionic Plants.

This has even developed into a brand-new profession: Spirit Planter.

"Relic-type medicine!" Lin Zhichen said.

"Hmm? A permission Relic? You actually have such a good treasure?!" Liu Manyun was so shocked she sat up, revealing a beautiful upper body.

"Lie down and talk," Lin Zhichen admired her, then pulled the beauty into his arms and displayed the data of NZT-50. "It's this."

As Liu Manyun looked, her expression became serious.

Lin Zhichen revealed the existence of NZT-50 not because she was his confidante. In the Interstellar Era, marriage and family had largely dissolved. Having children was merely a legal obligation.

That's right, Federation law stipulates that one can choose not to marry, but they must have at least two children within the appropriate age range. There are rewards for having more children, and fewer children are illegal. However, once born, they are fully supported by the Federation until adulthood.

He revealed it as a reference. At least within the solar system, there wasn't much to worry about.

"Do you know how big an impact this thing would have if released? People would die!" Liu Manyun looked at him with complex eyes. She thought she had seen through him, but he was even more mysterious. How important were permission-class Relics? They were the foundation of national-level powers!

Especially NZT-50, even with the restriction of taking only one pill per month, it was a strategic item capable of changing the fate of countless people!

"Of course, I know. I just don't know if the Federation would make a move against me for this," he said.