Global Crossing: Empire of Stars

Gender: Male

Age: 24

Occupation: Master Scientist

Talent: Matter Reorganization (Yellow), Material Research +30%

Psionicist (Red): Effect 1: Awaken Psionics; Effect 2: Skill Learning Speed +10%

Skills: Material Research (Red), Master 11.32%: Material Research Ability +28%, allows research of materials below Yellow grade.

Psionic Combat Skill: Matter Reorganization (Elite): Uses psionic energy to reorganize matter. Psionic Energy Consumption: 1~

Psionics: 65

Evaluation: "Master of manipulating matter!"

As expected of someone with a Yellow talent, he became Elite immediately upon awakening!

His psionic level is only that of an ordinary apprentice, yet he already possesses a Psionic Combat Skill. As long as he improves his psionic energy, with this level of talent, he could directly awaken as a Hero!

"I feel the perfect material structure!" the awakened Li Heng murmured to himself, his eyes falling upon the hull. All matter held no secrets before his gaze.

"I can change it!" was his feeling. With a thought, his psionics began to operate, and matter immediately manifested.

"What are you doing?" Wei Peng's furious voice sounded in his ear. Li Heng immediately came to his senses and saw a deep mark on the smooth wall, originally cast from alloy. The mark looked as if it had been forcefully kneaded into shape, turning the hard metal into pliable clay.

"Apologies, sir, I..." Li Heng quickly tried to explain, but Lin Zhichen waved him off and interrupted, "You can alter the form of matter?"

"Yes, sir. As long as I consume psionic energy," Li Heng steadied himself and replied.

"Excellent. Here is a Blueprint for a destroyer. See if you can reconfigure the hull structure of the 'Qin Yuan' into the style of a destroyer," Lin Zhichen asked.

Immediately, the holographic projector activated, comparing the main structure of the 'Qin Yuan' with that of a destroyer.

This was the bare hull, stripped of all onboard components, leaving only the structural framework.

Li Heng was a materials scientist and was not familiar with warship construction. However, within this small command cabin sat a veteran hull expert, Dr. Will.

"A marvelous power!" Dr. Will finally tore his gaze away from the Psionic Crystal. According to the promises of the higher-ups in the mercenary group, he would be the next to awaken.

"If there's anything you don't understand, you can tell me!"

Wei Peng looked at the two scientists discussing and asked, "Big Brother, is this reliable?"

"NPCs with Matter Reorganization are the core talents of any faction, even more important than Draftsmen. If he hadn't awakened his psionics before, he likely wouldn't have appeared on the market," Lin Zhichen patiently waited for the result. "This kind of strategic talent is indispensable to the mercenary group. Whether we pilot Psionic Escorts or Psionic Titans in the future depends on how effective he is."

The others listened, their hearts pounding, and their gazes towards Li Heng became fervent.

In Lin Zhichen's view, while talents with Matter Reorganization were not common, one such individual was enough for a faction to cultivate...

After all, the prerequisite for upgrading a Psionic Warship was for the Ship Spirit to grow to a certain limit, and upgrades could only be considered when constrained by the hull.

Generally, the growth of a Ship Spirit was extremely slow; it was normal for there to be no significant progress for decades or even a century. Such talents were usually not needed... awakening a normal person's psionics came at a considerable cost.

This was perhaps the main reason the Federation had not recruited Li Heng. He mused, "My Diligence Repays the Heavens talent still has much potential to be explored."

Although far slower than ordinary NPCs, he noticed that the 'Qin Yuan' was indeed growing. Its psionic pool alone had increased from the initial 100-point cap to nearly a thousand points. The growth rate had noticeably slowed down during this period and was gradually stagnating.

This seemed to indicate that the 'Qin Yuan' had indeed reached its growth limit.

Inside the cabin, Li Heng and Dr. Will continued their discussion, while the 'Qin Yuan' had already set sail, exploring near Dakan I.

As if sensing the 'Qin Yuan's' intrusion, brilliant beams of light swiftly pierced the darkness, locking onto the Psionic Warship.

"It's Particle Light Spears!"

The pirate base had reacted. A large number of ships were taking off, surrounding the 'Qin Yuan' from afar.

"The ones on Dakan I are at least large pirate bases. There's also a base under the lava on Dakan Ia. I don't know if it's medium or large," Lin Zhichen calmly dodged the deadly beams, scanning the enemy's reality with radar waves.

Only when the pirate fleet drew near did it draw an arc in space and instantly disappear.

"Big Brother, those pirate warships just now definitely exceeded two thousand ships!" Wu Tianyi sighed in relief, then worried, "There were at least ten Battleships among them!"

The main cannons of Battleships were powerful, ultra-long-range energy weapons. A single sweep could destroy a large number of small and medium-sized vessels, making them undeniable killing machines in fleet battles.

"The large Electromagnetic Cannon turrets equipped on destroyers can penetrate the energy shields of Battleships!" Lin Zhichen shook his head. No matter how far the range of the Particle Light Spears, could they outrange 6.5 light-seconds?

"What I'm worried about now is whether the 'Qin Yuan' can upgrade its Space Jump again upon advancing, turning this Psionic Combat Skill into an area-of-effect skill?"

Lin Zhichen said that according to hidden information provided by Cornelia, Psionic Warships rarely advanced. When they did, there were two possibilities: either they gained a new Psionic Combat Skill, or they strengthened an existing one. He clearly hoped for the latter.

If nothing else, just transporting the entire Meteor Mercenary Group to the Dakan System would normally take four to five months. This was far too long, especially given his current perception of time; he absolutely did not want to wait that long.

"Woo..."

As if sensing its master's anxiety, the usually silent 'Qin Yuan' responded uncharacteristically. Its psionic waves gently rippled, seemingly soothing Lin Zhichen's impatience.

"Of course, I've always believed in you," Lin Zhichen's face broke into a smile. Regardless, the start was already perfect. All he needed to do now was maintain it, and everything would eventually be alright.

Time passed, and the 'Qin Yuan' had once again returned to the solar system via Space Jump, docking in the internal shipyard of the 'Megalodon'.

By this time, the Meteor Mercenary Group had officially set sail. After days of procurement, the 'Megalodon's' warehouse was filled with a massive amount of supplies, mostly metal materials or spare parts, to be used for self-manufacturing starships.

All ten thousand Engineer NPCs had arrived and, under the coordination of the Engineers, had begun the somewhat clumsy process of shipbuilding.

Starship construction is a complete set of extremely demanding heavy industry systems. To operate normally in the vacuum of the universe, whether it's the hull structure or the utilization of internal space, requires rigorous scientific argumentation.

Fortunately, although the New Universe strictly limits the upper limit of technological development, the emergence of Blueprints has both advantages and disadvantages. At least the Meteor Mercenary Group doesn't need to support a large number of scientists to research tens of thousands of scientific projects one by one from start to finish.

In fact, warship Blueprints have extremely detailed data, which is very friendly to beginners. As long as they strictly follow the standards and procedures, building a ship is far easier than in the Old Universe. This is the main reason why Lin Zhichen dares to let a group of newcomers attempt this great project.

Accompanied by the humming sound from within the hull, a fervent production movement is underway. Countless NPCs, driving various construction machinery, are forging different types of alloys into components and then placing them in designated areas under the guidance of their personal wristbands.

The power of technology is fully displayed here. The specialized intelligent brain for industrial construction within the industrial ship can arrange all matters clearly through the holographic wristbands to maximize work efficiency.

Lin Zhichen stood at the shipyard, quietly watching Li Heng's actions.

After three days of strict discussions and arguments, Li Heng and Dr. Will finally reached a consensus, with every step having a strict sequence.

Now, the advancement of the "Qin Yuan" has begun!

This is the most important matter for the Meteor Mercenary Group, affecting whether the group's development speed will temporarily slow down in the next few months. Wei Peng and the others specifically put down their work and gathered at the shipyard to await the final result.

Group 6073-8*045

On the automated shipyard, the holographic projection is always active. Images of components flicker and change, appearing in distorted forms until they are complete, looking quite strange.

In fact, this is a starship advancement image specially edited by Dr. Will and the two of them after discussion. Each step is projected in order, and then Li Heng only needs to use psionic energy to reshape the "Qin Yuan's" parts according to the projection to achieve the overall upgrade.

Of course, due to the huge difference in size between a frigate and a destroyer, a considerable amount of materials needs to be added during this process, and these have already been prepared.

Starting with the keel of the "Qin Yuan," the external hull is stripped away, and materials are gradually added, rapidly increasing its volume.

The Psionic Crystal played a significant role at this time. Having just awakened, Li Heng's psionic energy, only at the apprentice level, was insufficient to support a modification of this scale. Fortunately, with a tenfold amplification, his displayed ability has truly reached the elite level.

Under the surge of psionic energy, metal writhes like flesh and blood, gradually being shaped into the form of a destroyer.

The entire process cannot be stopped, and it is best to proceed quickly, as a damaged warship will cause damage to the Ship Spirit. In fact, from the beginning, Lin Zhichen could already feel the "Qin Yuan's" "excruciating pain"—on the psionic level, it was like the screams of a giant being dismembered alive.

"It's still too much of a strain," Lin Zhichen sighed, his psionic senses connected to the "Qin Yuan," sharing the pain of advancement.

Legend has it that eagles, in their old age, face a choice: either endure excruciating pain and hunger to shed their beaks and claws, growing new ones to be reborn, or enjoy comfort and decay in their twilight years.

Every advancement is a test of life and death. Those who pass gain a new world; those who fail return to silence.

Time ticked by, and Li Heng's movements accelerated. Initially, he was not familiar with his own talent, like a tender apprentice, but later, with a mere thought, he could shape several cubic meters of material. With his soaring skill, the new psionic warship took shape rapidly.

It wasn't until three days later that the new destroyer hull was completely formed. Li Heng, having only consumed a few bottles of psionic potions, finally stopped and breathed a sigh of relief. "Commander, I have fulfilled my mission!"

"Well done!" Lin Zhichen also breathed a sigh of relief. The advancement was complete; no matter how bad it got, it wouldn't lead to the Ship Spirit's demise.

Li Heng stopped, but the automated shipyard sprang to life. He had only completed the main structure of the hull; internal energy circuits, external armor, and onboard weapons still needed to be installed one by one.

"Commander, it will take another 3 days," Dr. Will reported. "The most difficult work is completed. From now on, the engineers can finish it by following the procedures."

"Very good," Lin Zhichen said.

"Sir, if you are not in a hurry, may I reinforce the hull of the 'Qin Yuan'?" Li Heng interjected at this point.

"You can strengthen the hull?" Lin Zhichen was slightly surprised and looked at him.

"Yes, Commander," Li Heng explained. "Standard warships actually use Universal Alloy for their hulls. The advantage of this metal is its mature technology, low cost, and ease of mass production."

"However, Psionic Warships are rare. Using Universal Alloy to build the hull is actually a waste. If a more powerful alloy is used to replace it, its hull strength and even external armor can achieve a qualitative improvement."

"Do you have any proposals?" Lin Zhichen asked excitedly.

"BC-106 Superalloy, a red material, is far stronger than Universal Alloy," Li Heng replied calmly. "This material's advantage is its combination of toughness and strength, making it a near-perfect shipbuilding material. However, its disadvantage is also obvious: it requires a large amount of Tachyon Crystal to catalyze the metal."

"If calculated based on the 'Qin Yuan's' size, how many units would be needed?" Lin Zhichen asked.

"Excluding external armor, the internal hull structure requires about 6 units. Including external armor, it will be a total of 12 units!" Li Heng replied, clearly having prepared this beforehand.

"Then let's use BC-106 Superalloy for everything. Manager Xu, fulfill all of Supervisor Li's requirements!" Lin Zhichen ordered.

Although Tachyon Crystals are precious, Lin Zhichen has military channels. Strategic materials like these are always welcome, regardless of the quantity. He buys as much as possible and now has a certain inventory.

"Understood!" Manager Xu Wen immediately responded.