The people around them couldn't help looking at Li Heng with envy. Lin Zhichen's meaning was clear: from now on, Li Heng would be in charge of the materials laboratory, on equal standing with Dr. Will.
Of course, no one was jealous. Anyone with a lick of sense understood just how much Li Heng's ability could do for the Meteor Mercenary Group.
Because it needed further modifications, the completely rebuilt "Qinyuan" did not appear before everyone until a week later.
Lin Zhichen suppressed his excitement and opened its ship status panel:
"Qin Yuan: Elite Red (Gull-class Destroyer I Scale: Length 351.2 meters, Width 151.3 meters, Height 73.7 meters Hull Value: 2500 Armor: 15 Psionic Value: 1015 Psionic Armor: 9 Shield: 400 Shield Recharge Rate: 3% Damage: 18.48 Speed: 140 Evasion: 39.3% Psionic Combat Skills: 1: Space Jump Red, Warrior 12.03%: Consumes 150 points of psionic energy. Coordinates with allied ships with a combined capacity of 32 to perform a Space Jump over a range of 50 light-years. Cooldown: 30 min - Spacetime Shockwave Red, Apprentice 2.24%: Consumes 30–100 points of psionic energy to condense a powerful gravitational wave and attack the target. Cooldown: 30 s"
"15 armor!" Lin Zhichen looked at the armor first, and a smile immediately spread across his face.
What did 15 armor mean?
Even a standard Battleship had only 18 points of base armor!
Fifteen armor meant the Qin Yuan's armor was still tougher than a Cruiser's. Attacks below 15 points couldn't penetrate its hull armor!
Then there was its Hull Value. A standard Destroyer had 800 Hull Value, a Cruiser had 1800, and a Battleship had 3000.
Its Hull Value was already approaching that of a Battleship!
If you didn't count its relatively fragile Energy Shield, the Qin Yuan was practically an enhanced Cruiser. In fact, a standard Cruiser only had one more Large Turret and a few more Medium and Small Turrets than a Destroyer.
"Big brother, it can Space Jump!" Wu Tianyi exclaimed excitedly from the side. "Qinyuan can take an entire fleet with it!"
At that, Lin Zhichen quickly looked at its Psionic Combat Skills. Sure enough, Space Jump had changed. Before, it could only jump by itself, but now it could coordinate with a Micro Fleet of 32 ships and take them along.
Thirty-two units of ship capacity might not sound like much—just 32 Frigates, 16 Destroyers, or 8 Cruisers—but that was the difference between a tactical ability and a strategic one. It also meant that the Qin Yuan had tremendous potential and an exceptional affinity for space!
"Spacetime Shockwave! It gained another Psionic Combat Skill?" Generally speaking, only ship spirits with extraordinary potential would learn a new combat skill when they advanced.
His gaze settled on the new Psionic Combat Skill. It was entirely combat-oriented and not very significant strategically, but it had considerable tactical value:
"Maybe we can test it and see how much damage it can do."
But not now. The most important thing was to take the Meteor Fleet straight to the Dakan System—that would save the fleet at least several months of travel.
"From now on, I'll call you Tengshe. The name Qinyuan no longer suits you." Lin Zhichen communicated with the ship spirit.
"A new Psionic Frigate will inherit the name Qinyuan in the future. We'll never stop moving forward!"
"Yes, Master. Tengshe reporting for duty!" the Psionic Destroyer, now renamed Tengshe, replied. A name was just a label, and it had no objections to the change.
They randomly selected 36 Pirate Raiders. With Tengshe at the center, space twisted like paper being crumpled. The entire Micro Fleet quickly sank away and vanished into space in the blink of an eye.
At Earth Starport in the Solar System, the radar monitoring station immediately recorded the scene. Its urgent beeping rang out once again.
"Supervisor, it's the Qin Yuan!" Researcher Pierre was on duty again. He deftly pulled up the surveillance records and identified the newly advanced Tengshe by comparing its psionic waves.
"Incredible! This Psionic Frigate advanced! It actually became a Psionic Destroyer! Psionic Master, why do you favor this native so much? Could it be that he doesn't even have to follow the basic rules for advancement?"
"Shut up! How dare you comment on His Excellency Commander Lin Zhichen?" the supervisor snapped. Pierre immediately fell silent. He knew the supervisor meant well, because words like that might reach the ears of the promising Commander.
"Quick, analyze the new Psionic Destroyer's abilities!"
"Supervisor, there's no need to analyze it. The ability that advanced is Space Jump!" Researcher Pierre shrugged. "The radar just detected it coordinating a Space Jump with 36 Frigates!"
"You're right, Pierre. His Excellency Commander really has been blessed by the Psionic Master!" The supervisor was at a loss for words. He understood the difference between the two types of Space Jump very well.
"This is a strategic skill. It's still in its infancy, but who knows whether it'll advance further in the future. Report this to the Federation military, and send along the radar footage as well!"
Lin Zhichen didn't care about what was happening behind the scenes. Any newly emerged Psionic Warship was bound to attract the attention of the Federation military, so he would rather keep the Killing Ship Spirit in storage for the time being than expose it within Federation territory.
In the Dakan System, a Micro Fleet quietly appeared in space near Dakan I. Fortunately, no NPC Fleet was nearby—something Lin Zhichen had anticipated.
As the inner ring, close to the star, it was actually rare for NPC Teams to appear. By contrast, the Asteroid Belt, which both sides were fighting over, was a far more complex environment. Fleets from both sides were constantly searching and fighting there, making encounters much more likely.
Lin Zhichen didn't let his guard down. Tengshe started its engines and sped around the surrounding space, circling the area within 10 light-seconds several times. Only after confirming there really weren't any NPC Fleets nearby did it stop.
By then, Space Jump had cooled down, and Tengshe quickly returned to the Solar System to keep transporting the Meteor Fleet to the Dakan System.
Whenever a new batch of ships arrived, Tengshe would patrol space throughout the skill's cooldown period, searching for any possible enemies.
This was the Dark Star Domain, the home base of the NPC fleets—not the safe territory of the Federation. Danger could strike at any moment, and Lin Zhichen wouldn't truly relax until they were safe.
After several trips, they finally brought most of the fleet to the Dakan System. Nearly three hundred warships made for an imposing force.
"Big brother, aside from the more than twenty Frigates escorting the Jujing Hao, everyone else has arrived," Wu Tianyi reported. He was now the fleet's adjutant.
The Jujing Hao had not come to the Dakan System. With a ship capacity of 32 units, it could have been brought along, but the Meteor Legion had yet to establish a foothold in the Dakan System. Naturally, they wouldn't risk the crucial Industrial Colony Ship, which had no combat capability.
"Good. Tianyi, Ake, Dapeng, come over here," Lin Zhichen ordered.
Without asking why, they soon gathered in flying cars aboard Tengshe. Then they received a special gift.
"Killing Ship Spirit: Light Red Effect: Possesses a Frigate, transforming it into a Psionic Warship Evaluation: Repurposing Warp waste!"
"Ship spirit..." Link murmured. Even though he'd known about it for a while, he still felt a shiver run through him.
Something countless people dreamed of was now in his hands.
"Go. Possess your ships before the battle begins," Lin Zhichen said. "Dapeng, be careful. A Transport Ship is different from a Frigate. It might behave differently after being possessed."
"That's more than enough, big brother. Most people couldn't even dream of piloting a possessed Transport Ship," Wei Peng chuckled.
Soon, several powerful psionic waves surged up and spread unchecked through space.
In the Dakan System, the world of Psionics was powerfully disturbed. At that moment, who knew how many Psionicists across the Dark Galaxy turned their eyes toward the source of the psionic waves?
Psionicists also spawned among wild NPCs, but they were rare.
The chain of changes triggered by this awakening of the ship spirits was still brewing. Lin Zhichen knew nothing about it yet; he simply sat in silence in his captain's chair, waiting for the possession to finish.
An hour or two later, the final ripples faded. The newborn ship spirits could finally rein in their own waves and fully become Psionic Warships.
"How did it go? Have you all checked?" Lin Zhichen asked casually.
"Big brother, they're exactly the same as the Qin Yuan," Wu Tianyi replied. He had already checked the Psionic Warships' status panels. Aside from the Armor section, which Li Heng had already reinforced to 10 points with Matter Reorganization, everything else was identical.
"They all have the Psionic Combat Skill Space Jump!"
"Good! Looks like that's what the Killing Ship Spirit grants." Lin Zhichen nodded. The skill greatly improved the mobility of Psionic Warships and had enormous tactical value.
"Get familiar with your ships first, then we'll attack the Pirate Base!"
"Big brother, I've already picked a name for my starship. I'm calling it Guiche Hao," Link replied. "They say Guiche is an evil bird from the underworld that devours people's souls. It suits the direction I plan to develop in."
Lin Zhichen nodded silently. His brother had a rather gloomy disposition, so the name came as no surprise.
"I'll call mine Jinpeng Hao—Golden Winged Dapeng!" Wu Tianyi said with a grin. "That mythical bird matches my name, so it's a good fit."
"Are you planning to develop your ship for battleship assaults?" Lin Zhichen frowned slightly.
"Exactly. When you have time, big brother, teach me Sublight Assault. I've had my eye on that ability for a long time," Wu Tianyi said with a nod.
Lin Zhichen nodded helplessly. A lone charge into enemy lines might sound impressive, but it was like walking a tightrope. Not every general was Zhao Yun; one slight unexpected turn could make everything fall apart.
But it was what Wu Tianyi wanted, so Lin Zhichen could only support him.
"Big brother, I'll call mine Kangaroo. It's just a label, anyway," Wei Peng said cheerfully. He was an army man, and no matter how flashy a name he picked, he'd still have to stay out of the fighting.
"All right. Since you've all decided," Lin Zhichen said with a nod. "Get ready. Let's go."
The fleet floating in space began to move, advancing toward Dakan I in a gradually tightening wedge formation.
They had no intention of confronting the Pirate Base head-on. The fleet advanced slowly from behind while Tengshe transformed into a streak of light and hurtled toward Dakan I.
"Zzzzt—"
The radar hadn't even picked up Dakan I yet when dazzling beams tore through the darkness and came hurtling toward them.
Particle Light Spears. Slot Main Cannon.
They had only approached Dakan I, yet dozens of lances of light were already sweeping toward them. If the Pirate Base had been targeting the Meteor Fleet, most of its Pirate Raiders and Pirate Gunboats would already have been destroyed by that barrage.
There was no doubt about it: the Pirate Base's radar had locked onto Tengshe!
Before you continue