Global Crossing: Empire of Stars

"Shua~"

In the darkness, a light suddenly flashed and disappeared.

This was light from an extreme distance, carrying powerful energy fluctuations. It was an energy spear, the main cannon of a battleship.

Lin Zhichen was slightly startled and immediately became vigilant.

Light traveling such a vast distance indicated that this area was already a battlefield, but he didn't know who the combatants were.

Involuntarily, he thought of the massive fleet he had encountered on the way.

The "Qinyuan" cautiously moved closer. As the distance decreased, more and more light beams became visible to the naked eye.

One had to know this was space; light beams visible to the naked eye had an energy intensity comparable to sunlight in localized areas.

And at this moment, hundreds of thousands of light beams crisscrossed!

"My god, it's so spectacular!" Link's mouth hung open. No matter how grand the fleet battles he saw in virtual worlds were, they were nothing compared to experiencing it firsthand. Putting aside everything else, the psionic energy perception of those beams, condensed with terrifying energy, made him tremble with genuine fear.

As they got closer, more things became visible. They could even see stars suddenly light up and rapidly extinguish without needing gravity sensors.

That was the afterglow of exploding starships.

Lin Zhichen's psionic energy perception worked at its limit, sensing information from the battlefield, remaining silent for a long time.

The surging energy fluctuations constantly disturbed this space-time. Although insignificant compared to the universe, it was as vast as a galaxy compared to an individual.

Even a frigate like the "Qinyuan," even a psionic warship, was like a sampan in a storm during a battle of this scale. A moment's carelessness could lead to capsizing.

"There are at least 100,000 warships engaged, with over 10,000 capital ships of battleship class alone. If we include those without energy weapons like light spears as main cannons, the number is even greater," Lin Zhichen shook his head. He wasn't confident he could escape from a fleet battle of this magnitude.

"Big Brother, we've been spotted!" Link warned.

On the edge of the radar, hundreds of tiny light spots were rapidly approaching. According to the radar's speed measurement, they were exceeding 1 km per second, a speed far beyond that of a frigate.

"They're space fighters," Lin Zhichen understood. "There must be an aircraft carrier nearby."

"Big Brother, what do we do?" Link asked.

"There must be a complete fleet near the aircraft carrier. Let's go somewhere else first."

The "Qinyuan's" equipment wasn't suitable for confronting an aircraft carrier. Its three small turrets were all electromagnetic cannons, perfect for dealing with warships, but their firepower was too weak against fighters. While the crew's master-level gunnery could hit, the slow firing rate would make them suffer greatly.

The "Qinyuan" drew an arc in space and instantly disappeared, easily outrunning the enemy at 50% light speed.

Soon, after multiple probes, Lin Zhichen had figured out the main players in this battlefield.

"It's a major battle between the pirate faction and the rebel army, seemingly fighting for control of this galaxy," Link pouted.

"Speaking of which, this is the most common scenario in the starry sky."

NPC fleets that refresh in a galaxy will, in the early stages, engage in decisive battles for galactic ownership according to their respective factions, turning the entire galaxy into the exclusive territory of either pirates or rebels.

Once a protagonist is decided, any monster fleets that refresh afterward will belong to the relevant faction.

But this isn't the end. After the pirates or rebels, there are different bases, each led by a different NPC leader. They will also fight among themselves. After jointly eliminating the opposing faction, they will fight again for supreme power until a Pirate King or Rebel Marshal is born.

It seems we are still in the first stage.

"If that's the case, we might still have a chance. They won't be able to defeat each other quickly, so they won't have the energy to hunt us down," Link suggested.

"Why don't we check out the asteroid belt in this galaxy? The environment there is more complex, and there shouldn't be any immediate danger."

"It's a possibility, but we need to check the planetary orbital movements in this galaxy first," Lin Zhichen nodded.

This was the most crucial step. Understanding the overall situation was necessary before considering where to start.

Carefully bypassing the battlefield and the reinforcement fleets scattered throughout the galaxy, the "Qinyuan" moved like a fish swimming through space.

Exploring a galaxy wasn't difficult. One could easily determine the location and type of planets using a space telescope from a distance.

But this wasn't an uninhabited region. The star systems in the New Universe were filled with NPC monster fleets and lairs.

Within a distance of about 2 light-seconds from a planet, numerous starships patrolled the starry sky. If a battle occurred, starships in the surrounding areas would quickly gather, making the entire space like a tightly woven curtain, blocking everything in the distant starry sky.

Fortunately, the "Qinyuan" was not an ordinary starship. It could always force its way near a planet before reinforcement fleets arrived, completing simple scans.

It took twenty days for this unpleasant exploration to end. During this time, they spent at least half of it fleeing from monster fleets. They were forced to sink hundreds of starships, but they had no time to collect loot before being chased by arriving monster reinforcements.

"We've confirmed that there are a total of 6 terrestrial planets and 3 asteroid moons in the Dakan System, serving as satellites for Dakan, and respectively," Link said, looking at the completed galactic map and checking the NPC monster bases discovered so far.

According to the common naming conventions of major civilizations in the New Universe's Milky Way, after determining the name of each galaxy, with the star as the core and orbits extending outwards, the planet closest to the star is Dakan, the second is Dakan.

If there were asteroid moons, they would also be centered around the planet, with the closest satellite being Dakan-a, followed by Dakan-b, and so on.

According to the scans, Dakan-a, the closest to the star, was directly exposed to the star's rays, with molten lava covering the planet, making it impossible for habitation. Naturally, the monster bases that spawned in this location were the fewest. According to the investigation, on the side of Dakan-a facing away from the star, there was a small pirate spaceport.

This was similar to the spaceports above Earth. However, because Earth was a habitable planet, the spaceports there were mainly commercial, with developed logistics and transportation.

This pirate spaceport, however, was primarily military. Not only was its defense stronger than a commercial port, but it also had a small dry dock capable of docking starships for regular maintenance and repairs.

Dakan was a toxic planet, with poisonous gases filling its atmosphere. Any life entering it would quickly succumb to poisoning.

No pirate bases had spawned within this planet, and there were no space stations in orbit either. Perhaps there were, but they were destroyed in previous battles.

In fact, spaceports directly exposed in orbit were more likely to become targets for enemies.

Dakan was a barren planet, with pirate bases scattered across its skies. This was the main base of the pirate faction. Even the orbit of its satellite, Dakan-a, was dotted with numerous bases, occupying almost all orbital resources.

Dakan is a gas giant, and with its frozen asteroid moon, Dakan A, it serves as the rebel army's main base. Dense rebel bases almost obscure the entire planet's sky.

With these two planets as the source of war, approximately once every year, the pirate and rebel factions engage in a large-scale decisive battle in the asteroid belt between Dakan and Dakan.

"This star system is very interesting. Dakan and Dakan System are at their closest orbital point about once a year. This is often the beginning of a major war between the two sides!"

Link marveled, "With the asteroid belt as the center of the battlefield, battles can occur anywhere in this star system. Over the years, both sides have grown to their maximum strength, yet they maintain a balance, with neither truly deciding the victor."

"You've overlooked a crucial point. Raidor Fortress is constantly monitoring the entire star system," Lin Zhichen said with a slight smile. After this survey, the situation of the entire star system had become clear.

To say that Raidor Fortress was unaware of the situation within the Dakan System would be underestimating General Sigrid. It could even be said that the perennial confrontation between the two factions in the system was orchestrated by her.

As an excellent fortress commander, without such methods, Raidor Fortress would likely not have maintained such peace for so long.

"Big Brother, where should we build a base?" Link asked, looking at the star system map and pondering, "The asteroid belt between Dakan and Dakan? It's sufficiently hidden and also a zone where pirate and rebel forces intermingle. Their constant fighting makes it chaotic enough."

"What do you think about Dakan?" Lin Zhichen pondered, not giving a direct answer.

"Dakan?" Link was taken aback, then immediately saw Dakan A orbiting Dakan and suddenly understood. "Are we directly attacking the pirate base here? It's hidden enough, but won't that alert the pirate faction?"

Monster NPCs, after all, have certain characteristics different from normal intelligent life. For example, no matter how fierce the fighting between the two sides, their attitude towards intelligent life is surprisingly consistent: they will join forces to drive out the Natural Persons first.

According to information on the Star Net, it's not that forces haven't tried to develop quietly like Lin Zhichen thought and then eliminate both factions in one fell swoop, but the results have been difficult to describe.

"It's different. If you look closely at the development of those forces, you'll see that at the beginning, they weren't subjected to a full-scale attack by the two factions, but only small-scale harassment. It was only when they grew stronger in the mid-stage and encroached upon the territories of the two factions that they drew the complete encirclement and suppression of both."

Lin Zhichen stroked his chin and chuckled, "We're establishing a base here for secrecy and peace. Are we really going to expand our territory right under Raidor Fortress's nose?"

Link nodded. If that was the case, it wasn't unfeasible.

At the very least, establishing a foothold on Dakan meant not having to worry about the overt suppression from the major powers within the Federation. Otherwise, the first hurdle would be the pirates and rebels.

"Let's go, we'll check out Dakan first." Acting on impulse, Lin Zhichen controlled the Psionic Warship "Qinyuan" and quickly turned, flying towards the interior of the star system.

Shaking off four or five pursuing monster fleets along the way, they drew closer to the star. Through the viewport, a fiery sun loomed larger and larger. The intense light illuminated the entire "Qinyuan" ship.

"B-Big Brother, slow down! Don't crash into it," Link said, feeling the increasingly strong gravity and brighter light, his heart filled with unease.

This was a pressure from the mental level, a sense of impending crisis, like a great sun appearing in his mind, making him tremble.

"You, after all, were promoted so suddenly. Your realm is unstable," Lin Zhichen smiled. The "Qinyuan" drew an arc in space, circling the star. Soon, a lava planet appeared in the distance.

Because of its proximity to the star, the planet looked entirely red from afar, the color of boiling magma.

A much smaller, miniature planet orbited Dakan. Against the backdrop of the sun, these two red planets were almost negligible.

The closer they got, the clearer Dakan became. Some dark backgrounds appeared, indistinct.

Lin Zhichen knew those were space bases orbiting the planet.

"Not good!" The sense of threat suddenly increased, like being targeted by a man-eating beast. A shiver swept through him like an electric shock.

Fortunately, he had never let his guard down. The moment he detected danger, he mentally commanded the "Qinyuan" to turn, accelerating to near-light speed in less than a second, drawing an arc in space.

A second later, over a hundred beams of varying thickness sliced through space, completely engulfing the position where the "Qinyuan" had been.

"Hoo~" Taking a deep breath, Link finally relaxed. In that instant, he had breathed the air of death.

"Such a fast reaction," Lin Zhichen marveled. He could already see large numbers of pirate warships emerging from the two lava planets and charging towards the "Qinyuan."

"Big Brother, there are space fighters!" Link warned.

Under the star's light, hundreds of tiny points of light appeared in the starry sky, the sunlight reflecting off the metal hulls of the fighters.

"And Battleships too," Lin Zhichen maneuvered the warship to drift again, drawing an arc. Several light spears pierced space and vanished into the darkness.

"The number of warships is in the thousands, but there are Battleships and carriers. The warship configuration is complete, and their combat power is immense."

In a flash, he had assessed the pirate fleet. The "Qinyuan" drew an arc, accelerating to 50% light speed in an instant, then decelerating sharply three seconds later, reducing its speed to 1 light speed in a short time.

In those three seconds, it had traversed hundreds of thousands of kilometers, already advancing to the rear flank of the pirate fleet.

Using the Radar to calculate the distance, then executing a near-light speed assault to reach a critical position in a very short time and launch an attack.