Global Crossing: Empire of Stars

"This..." Looking at the fantastical scene, Link's eyes nearly popped out. How could such a large crystal suddenly appear?

A few days ago, the new month's dungeons refreshed, and a brand-new world, Superpower Outbreak, was added.

The moment the dungeon formed, Lin Zhichen, as a half "creator god," learned the world's "plot."

It was about three lucky individuals who found a strange crystal stone in a pit. Upon touching it, they awakened psionic abilities.

What should have been a joyous urban hero legend turned into a tragedy because the protagonist, Andrew, had been a victim of domestic violence since childhood and was socially withdrawn. In the end, only one of the three survived, and because they revealed their superpowers, they were pursued by the government.

Emerging from the Subspace of Superpower Outbreak, a mysterious crystal ball with a diameter exceeding two meters appeared inside the "Qin Yuan" warship's cabin.

"Civilization Relic * Psionic Crystal (Red)

Passive Effect: 1: Within a one-kilometer radius centered on the Psionic Crystal, Psionic Cultivation speed +300%. 2: Within a one-kilometer radius, Psionic energy consumption -90%.

Active Effect: Transforms one toucher into a Psionicist.

Cooldown: 3 months."

"What a treasure!" Lin Zhichen looked at the Psionic Crystal, unable to stop smiling.

The active effect could be triggered once every three months, allowing one person to be transformed into a Psionicist. Even if used to awaken Army Soldiers, that would result in four Psionicists per year.

The best part was that it could be triggered actively, selecting the person to awaken. Just imagine those geniuses who were already exceptionally talented; if they awakened psionic abilities, what level would their talent reach?

This was a powerful tool for raising the civilization's ceiling!

Before the Yang God Cultivation method showed significant results, this was the Meteor Mercenary Group's only way to acquire Psionicists.

"B-Big Brother, what is this?" Link stammered.

"This is the Civilization Relic Psionic Crystal. It can awaken one person into a Psionicist every three months!" Lin Zhichen said with a smile.

"Civilization Relic?" Link gradually recovered, his brain regaining its ability to think, and then exclaimed, "It's a relic?!"

Most people's understanding of Civilization Relics came from fragmented rumors on the Star Net. Naturally, they had many speculations about such treasures that could affect an entire civilization, but in reality, most of those were fantasies.

Lin Zhichen opened the Psionic Crystal's attribute list for Link, and the abilities of this unassuming crystal ball stunned him.

"Big Brother, I, I..." Seemingly realizing something crucial, Link's voice became hesitant.

"Go over and place your hand on the crystal," Lin Zhichen encouraged with a smile.

Link steadied himself and placed his trembling hands on the crystal.

"Hum~"

Touched by a living being, a surge of psionic energy, almost tangible, rose from the crystal, which looked like a low-quality, impure sphere. It appeared like ripples on water.

Powerful psionic energy enveloped Link, blurring the entire space, like murky water.

Lin Zhichen felt the immense psionic energy being contained but not released, constantly permeating Link's body.

At this moment, his condition didn't look good. His face was pale, as if he had lost too much blood.

But Lin Zhichen wasn't worried. To gain abilities comparable to, or even exceeding, the Yang God in a short period, there had to be a price to pay, right?

A little pain was all it was; he just had to endure it.

As expected, about ten minutes after the awakening ritual began, the majestic psionic tide, which had come quickly, receded just as fast. Link's weakened figure was revealed.

His legs buckled, and he almost fell, but Lin Zhichen caught him. "How do you feel?"

"I feel great!" A smile appeared on Link's pale face. After awakening his psionic abilities, the world he saw was completely different from before. He could perceive the subtlest corners of the ship cabin, the faint force fields from the gravity generators on the metal floor, and the energy subtly flowing within the ship's hull.

It was a completely different sensation. On the cold hull, he felt the "Qin Yuan's" life force for the first time—a form entirely different from normal life.

"I feel like the Qin Yuan is greeting me," he said. "It's amazing. So this is what a Psionic Warship is like."

"Perceive more, feel more. Psionic energy isn't just power; it's an extension of our senses," Lin Zhichen said.

"It's our hands, our feet, our eyes and ears, our nose, our brain, a combination of all senses, and even beyond that."

Link carefully perceived and asked, "Big Brother, do you have a way to get a second Psionic Warship?"

"Yes, but it will be next month," Lin Zhichen replied. "Before we return to Earth, you'll stay with me and experience the Qin Yuan's operations. How a Psionic Warship should be piloted and how it should fight to maximize its combat effectiveness."

"I understand," Link nodded.

"Extend your psionic perception and join my power," Lin Zhichen instructed.

Link tried, and under Lin Zhichen's guidance, a new consciousness soon emerged within the Qin Yuan's psionic fluctuations.

At this moment, he "saw" Lin Zhichen and the NPC Crew whose thoughts were connected. He "saw" individuals who seemed independent but had become a whole through psionic connection. Everyone was like a part of a living organism, and crucial information was filtered and sent to the appropriate positions every moment.

In almost one second, dozens of information exchanges occurred. The crew understood each other through thought, discussed, and made the most suitable decisions within a tenth of a second before executing them uniformly.

It was precisely this way, incomprehensible to ordinary people, that allowed the "Qin Yuan" to fly at 50% the speed of light while remaining safe and reliable.

"So, the Psionic Warship is the body, and the crew members act as limbs and internal organs. The Psionicists are the warship's brain and eyes!" With this realization, Link finally understood the operational principle of a Psionic Warship. He carefully observed the changes within and tried to understand everything from Lin Zhichen's perspective.

The "Qin Yuan" roamed through space, its sensors constantly detecting fleets of varying sizes, from small fleets of dozens to hundreds of ships, to massive fleets numbering thousands or even hundreds of thousands, and even endless seas of warships.

The most dangerous threat, the "Qin Yuan," charged headfirst into an endless ocean of steel. The warship symbols displayed on the sensors almost stretched to the horizon.

The moment the "Qin Yuan" revealed itself, thousands of large cannons fired, their dense barrage almost obscuring the entire sky.

A sense of danger tensed Lin Zhichen. The "Qin Yuan" immediately operated at full power, tracing a crooked trajectory across the sky to evade the increasingly dense attacks.

Fortunately, this fleet seemed to have a purpose. After driving away the "Qinyuan," they didn't pursue further, instead heading in a certain direction.

"Big Brother, was that a pirate fleet just now? How could there be so many?" Link breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the pirate ships quickly disappear on the radar. Because their psionic energy senses were connected, at that moment, he had sensed at least a thousand warships targeting the "Qinyuan."

If their speed had slowed even a little, they could have been completely annihilated by overwhelming firepower.

"It was a pirate fleet," Lin Zhichen frowned. This NPC fleet was strange. They had a clear objective, so much so that they didn't even bother to surround and destroy natural persons they encountered, instead continuing towards their destination.

He looked at the radar marker. The direction this pirate fleet was heading was not towards the hyperspace lane of Raidor Fortress, but deep into the galaxy.

Judging by the space's gravitational pull, this should be where a planet is located.

"Let's go take a look," he mused for a moment. The "Qinyuan" turned in space and flew towards deep space.

To establish a foothold in this galaxy, they needed to at least understand the basic situation of the galaxy: how many bases there were, whether they were rebel or pirate, roughly how many fleets there were, where their general activity range was, and which NPC forces had weak points that could be exploited to seize a base.

Only with this information could they effectively search for their target and prepare a location for a secret base.

That's right, even after facing continuous crises, Lin Zhichen's ambition had not wavered. After all, developing in the dark sector was bound to involve these dangers. Facing threats from NPC monsters was better than dealing with the complex dangers within the Federation.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, Lin Zhichen's expression changed. The "Qinyuan's" status rapidly decelerated from 50% light speed, drawing an arc in space as it veered far away from what was ahead.

Link, who was also trying to use his psionic energy to synchronize with the sensors and observe using radar waves, was dumbfounded. What lay before the "Qinyuan" this time was not a dense fleet of monsters, but a sea of garbage floating in space!

"My god, is this the legendary Warship Graveyard? How many starships have sunk here?"

Shattered ship hulls densely covered the entire airspace, and occasionally, metal decks would collide, breaking into even finer metal debris.

Against the backdrop of the dark void, scattered light spots appeared, like fireflies in the summer night, with lights flickering out from time to time.

"Quick! Big Brother! These are the spoils of war dropped by monster starships! Hurry and find a way to pick them up! If the protective light disappears over time, the spoils will become ordinary Starship Parts and will quickly become brittle and lose their use in the Starry Sky!"

Link, startled by the disappearing light spots, urged him on.

According to information on the Star Net, within some dark sectors, monsters from different factions would fight for territory and engage in spectacular large-scale fleet battles in the boundless starry sky.

Because of the refresh mechanism, NPC bases that had grown to a considerable extent could produce quantities that would surprise the Civilized Nations with each refresh. Massive fleets would gather, blotting out the sky. Once they went to war with each other, the intensity of the battles could exceed imagination.

It was possible that within a single day, millions of fleet ships could be lost in battles between both sides, enough to fill the entire Starry Sky. The shattered ship hulls would not naturally refresh; instead, they would exist for a long time like meteoroids or ruins, becoming a unique spectacle of the dark sector.

This Warship Graveyard before them was just like that, and it hadn't been created too long ago. Once the spoils of war were not picked up by anyone for more than 3 days, they would lose their protective glow and turn into ordinary items. Under the low temperatures, they would quickly lose their usability.

Furthermore, due to the numerous threats posed by the sheer number of shattered ship hulls, the "Qinyuan" had to navigate through this complex environment, which led to a further improvement in the crew's piloting skills.

"The 'Qinyuan's' storage hold isn't large, and the spoils we can carry are very limited," Lin Zhichen said. He sensed an approaching spoil, extended his psionic energy, and formed an invisible hand to grab it, easily pulling it into the ship's hold.

Harvesting spoils was exciting. However, after the last engagement with the Rebel Army fleet, the "Qinyuan's" storage hold was already filled with a large amount of spoils. After picking up just a few more, the warehouse was full. Looking at the numerous spoils scattered throughout space but unable to be collected was a torment for the two.

"Time is running out," Link said regretfully. He watched the light spots in his field of vision extinguish faster and faster, knowing that they were nearing the final protection deadline.

"Big Brother, let's go back to Earth. Send this batch of spoils back, and we should be able to collect another batch!"

Lin Zhichen nodded silently. This was a good opportunity to strike it rich, and even he was somewhat tempted.

The "Qinyuan" quickly broke away from the debris field and entered normal space. Space Warp was activated, and time and space rapidly changed.

A distance of several light-years became two points on a blank sheet of paper in this moment. When the space-time around the "Qinyuan" returned to normal, they had already arrived in the outer space of Earth.

"Big Brother, why are you back so soon?" Wu Tianyi asked in surprise when he received the holographic communication.

"We had some gains. Send a Transport Ship over to unload our haul," Lin Zhichen said.

"Okay." Wu Tianyi quickly made the arrangements and then turned his gaze. "Our Transport Ship will be here in five minutes. First, tell me, what did you encounter this time?"

"It's a long story. I'll send you the video of our encounter, and you can watch it later," Lin Zhichen said. "In an hour, after the Space Warp cooldown is complete, we'll head out again."

"I understand. Is there anything I need to prepare?" Hearing how urgent it was, Wu Tianyi became serious.

"No, you guys continue training on Earth and wait for my reply," Lin Zhichen shook his head. "How is the Rockefeller Family situation?"

"The asteroid base has been captured, and the Energy Coins have been transferred. Our legion has been promoted two levels," Wu Tianyi said, a smile appearing on his face. "Big Brother, do you know? We've found a way to increase the production of NZT-50!"

"What way?" Lin Zhichen's eyes lit up at the news. Increased NZT-50 production meant that the Meteor Mercenary Group would gain more profit, and his plan would have greater support.

"It's the mercenary group's level! Upon upgrading to Level 3, the daily production of NZT-50 increases to 30,000 pills," Wu Tianyi said.