Global Crossing: Empire of Stars

The people around couldn't help but look at Li Heng with envy. Lin Zhichen's intention was clear: from now on, he would be the supervisor of the materials laboratory, on par with Dr. Will.

Of course, no one was jealous. Anyone with a brain would understand how much Li Heng's abilities would benefit the Meteor Mercenary Group.

Because further modifications were needed, the brand-new "Qin Yuan" didn't reappear before everyone until a week later.

Lin Zhichen suppressed his excitement and opened its individual ship panel:

"Qin Yuan Elite Red

(Seagull-class Destroyer I) Scale: Length 351.2m, Width 151.3m, Height 73.7m Hull Value: 2500 Armor: 15 Psionic Energy Value: 1015 Psionic Armor: 9 Shields: 400 Shield Recharge Rate: 3% Damage: 18.48 Speed: 140 Evasion: 39.3% Psionic Combat Skill: 1: Space Jump Red, Samurai 12.03%: Consumes 150 Psionic Energy, enables coordinated Space Jump for friendly ships within 32 ship capacities, range 50 light-years, cooldown: 30 min - Spacetime Shockwave Red, Apprentice 2.24%: Consumes 30-100 Psionic Energy, condenses a strong gravitational wave to attack the target, cooldown: 30 sec"

"15 points of armor!!" Lin Zhichen looked at the armor first, a smile immediately appearing on his face.

What did 15 points of armor mean?

Even a standard Battleship only had an initial armor of 18 points!

15 points of armor meant that the Qin Yuan's armor strength still surpassed that of a Cruiser. Attacks below 15 points would not be able to breach the hull armor!

Then there was the hull value. A standard Destroyer's hull value was 800 points, a Cruiser's was 1800, and a Battleship's was 3000.

This hull value was already approaching that of a Battleship!

If one didn't consider its relatively fragile energy shields, the "Qin Yuan" was equivalent to an enhanced Cruiser—in fact, a standard Cruiser only had one more large turret and a few medium and small turrets compared to a Destroyer.

"Big Brother, it's Space Jump!" Wu Tianyi exclaimed excitedly beside him, "The Qin Yuan can take a fleet with it for Space Jump!"

Lin Zhichen quickly looked at the Psionic Combat Skills upon hearing this and found that Space Jump had indeed changed. It could originally only jump the single ship, but now it could enable coordinated jumps for a micro-fleet of 32 ship capacities.

Don't underestimate the small number of 32 ship capacities; that's only 32 Frigates, or 16 Destroyers, or 8 Cruisers. But this was the difference between tactical and strategic capability, and it also meant that the "Qin Yuan" had immense potential and extremely high compatibility with space!

"Spacetime Shockwave! It actually gained another Psionic Combat Skill?" Generally, only Ship Spirits with extremely high potential would learn new combat skills upon advancement.

His gaze fell on this Psionic Combat Skill. It was a skill purely applied in combat. While it had little strategic significance, its tactical capability was quite impressive:

"Perhaps I can try its effect and see what kind of damage it can cause."

But not now. The most important thing now was to directly transport the Meteor Fleet to the Dakan System—this would save the fleet at least several months of travel time.

"From now on, I'll call you 'Tengshe Hao.' 'Qin Yuan' no longer suits your name," Lin Zhichen communicated with the Ship Spirit.

"A new Psionic Frigate will inherit the title of 'Qin Yuan,' and we will never stop moving forward!"

"Yes, Master, Tengshe Hao reporting for duty!" the Psionic Destroyer, renamed "Tengshe," replied. The name was just a designation; it had no objection to the change.

Thirty-six Pirate Raiders were randomly selected, with "Tengshe" in the center. Its powerful space warped like paper, and the entire micro-fleet quickly descended, disappearing into space in an instant.

At the Earth Starport in the solar system, the radar monitoring station immediately recorded this scene, and the urgent "beep, beep" sound echoed again.

"Supervisor, it's the 'Qin Yuan'!" Researcher Pierre was on duty again. He skillfully retrieved the monitoring records and identified the advanced "Tengshe" by comparing its Psionic energy waves.

"Incredible, this Psionic Frigate has advanced! It actually became a Psionic Destroyer! Oh, Psionic Overlord, are you favoring this native so much that it doesn't even need to follow the basic advancement rules?"

"Shut up! How dare you comment on Commander Lin Zhichen, Your Excellency!?" the supervisor reprimanded fiercely. Pierre immediately fell silent, knowing it was the supervisor's good intentions, as these words might reach the ears of the promising commander.

Supervisor: "Quick, analyze what abilities this newly advanced Psionic Destroyer has?"

"Supervisor, no need to analyze. The advancement is in Space Jump!" Researcher Pierre shrugged. "The radar just detected that it can perform Space Jump with 36 Frigates at once!"

"You are right, Pierre. Commander Lin Zhichen is indeed blessed by the Psionic Overlord!" The supervisor was speechless. He knew the difference between the two Space Jumps:

"This is a strategic skill. Although it's still immature, who knows if it will continue to advance in the future? Report this to the Federation military and send the radar footage along!"

Lin Zhichen didn't care about what was happening behind the scenes. The appearance of a new Psionic Warship would inevitably attract the attention of the Federation military, so he preferred to temporarily store the Killing Ship Spirit rather than expose it within Federation territory.

In the Dakan System, in the space near Dakan I, a micro-fleet quietly emerged. Fortunately, there were no NPC fleets nearby—in fact, Lin Zhichen had anticipated this.

As the inner ring close to the star, the probability of NPC fleets appearing was actually very low. Conversely, the asteroid belt, which was contested by both sides, had fleets from both sides constantly searching and fighting, increasing the probability of being discovered despite its complex environment.

Lin Zhichen did not relax his vigilance. The "Tengshe" engine started, and it patrolled the surrounding space at high speed. After circling within a 10 light-second radius and confirming that there were indeed no NPC fleets nearby, it stopped.

By then, the Space Jump had cooled down. "Tengshe" quickly returned to the solar system to continue transporting the Meteor Fleet towards the Dakan System.

Every time a new batch of the fleet arrived, during the skill cooldown period, "Tengshe" would continuously patrol the space, searching for potential enemies.

This is the Dark Galaxy, the main base of the NPC fleet. It's not within the safe Federation territory, and danger can be encountered at any time. Lin Zhichen won't truly relax his guard until they are truly safe.

After several consecutive trips, they finally brought the majority of the fleet to the Dakan System. A fleet composed of nearly three hundred warships possessed a truly magnificent aura.

"Big Brother, all have arrived except for the twenty-odd frigates escorting the 'Jujing Hao'," Wu Tianyi reported. He was now the fleet's adjutant.

The 'Jujing Hao' had not come to the Dakan System. According to its specifications, it was 32 units, and could have been brought along. However, the Meteor Legion had not yet established a foothold in the Dakan System, so they naturally wouldn't risk the crucial, yet non-combat capable, Industrial Colony Ship.

"Good. Tianyi, Ake, Dapeng, come here," Lin Zhichen commanded.

Without questioning why, various flying cars quickly gathered at the 'Tengshe' Hao, and then they received a special gift.

"Killing Ship Spirit (Pale Red) Effect: Imbues a frigate, transforming it into a Psionic Warship Evaluation: Subspace waste repurposed!"

"'Ship Spirit'..." Lin Ke muttered. Although he had known this for a long time, at this moment, he still felt a shiver run through his entire body.

Something that countless people dreamed of was now in his hands.

"Go ahead and imbue it before the battle," Lin Zhichen said. "Dapeng, be careful. Transport ships are different from frigates; there might be deviations after imbuing."

"It's enough, Big Brother. The thought of piloting an imbued transport ship is something many can only dream of," Wei Peng chuckled.

Soon, several intense psionic energy waves surged into space, spreading wantonly.

Within the Dakan System, the world of psionic energy experienced a violent disturbance. At this moment, countless psionicists in the Dark Galaxy looked towards the source of the psionic fluctuations.

Psionicists also spawned among wild NPCs, though their numbers were scarce.

The series of changes triggered by this Ship Spirit awakening was still brewing. Lin Zhichen, unaware of this, sat silently in the captain's chair, awaiting the completion of the imbuing process.

An hour or two later, the final aftershocks dissipated. The newly born Ship Spirits finally managed to contain their fluctuations, completely transforming into Psionic Warships.

"How is it? Have you all taken a look?" Lin Zhichen asked casually.

"Big Brother, it's exactly the same as the previous 'Qinyuan Hao'," Wu Tianyi replied. He had already examined the Psionic Warship's panel. Except for the armor section, which Li Heng had already reinforced to 10 points using Matter Reorganization, everything else was identical:

"They all have the Psionic Combat Skill, Space Jump!"

"Good! It seems this was bestowed by the Killing Ship Spirit," Lin Zhichen nodded. This skill greatly enhanced the maneuverability of the Psionic Warships and was highly valuable tactically.

"Familiarize yourselves with them first, then we'll begin attacking the pirate base!"

"Big Brother, I've already decided on a name for my starship. It'll be called the 'Guiche Hao'," Lin Ke replied. "'Guiche' is rumored to be an evil bird from the underworld that devours souls, which aligns with my future development direction."

Lin Zhichen nodded silently. His brother had a rather gloomy personality, so this name was not unexpected.

"Mine will be called the 'Jinpeng Hao', the Golden-Winged Great Peng!" Wu Tianyi laughed. "This divine bird matches my name and is quite fitting."

"Are you planning to develop in the direction of warship assault?" Lin Zhichen frowned slightly.

"That's right. Big Brother, if you have time, teach me Sublight Assault. I've been coveting this ability for a long time," Wu Tianyi nodded.

Lin Zhichen nodded helplessly. Charging into the enemy formation alone sounded impressive, but it was akin to walking a tightrope. Not every general was a Zhao Yun; even the slightest variable could lead to complete collapse.

But this was his brother's wish, and Lin Zhichen could only support it.

"Big Brother, mine will be called 'Kangaroo'. It's just a codename anyway," Wei Peng said cheerfully. He was in the army, and no matter how cool the name, it would be sidelined during combat.

"Alright, since you've all decided," Lin Zhichen nodded. "Prepare yourselves, and let's depart."

The fleet, hovering in space, slowly moved, approaching Dakan I in a V-formation.

They had no intention of confronting the pirate base head-on. The fleet advanced slowly from behind, while the 'Tengshe' Hao had already transformed into a streak of light, charging towards Dakan I.

"Zzzt~"

The ship's radar hadn't even picked up the silhouette of Dakan I yet when a dazzling beam of light tore through the darkness and shot towards them.

Particle Light Spear, the main cannon turrets.

Merely approaching Dakan I, dozens of light spears swept towards them. If the pirate base had been targeting the Meteor Fleet instead, a large portion of the Pirate Raiders and Pirate Gunboats would have already been destroyed by the sweeping light spears.

Undoubtedly, the 'Tengshe' Hao had already been locked onto by the pirate base's radar!