Global Crossing: Empire of Stars

"As you can see, I am the Commander of the Earth Defense Force's Fifth Fleet. I have some authority, and although I'm only just getting started, I'll definitely become part of the Federation's upper ranks in the future. That will be enough to support your dream."

Dr. Will fell silent for a moment. He looked at the information in the holographic display, recalling everything from the Instance World as two vastly different understandings clashed in his mind.

After several breaths, he sorted everything out and looked at Lin Zhichen. "Your Excellency Commander, I need access to StarNet so I can gain a sufficient understanding of the Federation's technological level."

Lin Zhichen nodded. "No problem. I'll grant you my clearance so you can access some internal materials from the Federation Academy of Sciences."

"Thank you, Your Excellency." Dr. Will nodded. The technology of the Instance World differed considerably from that of the Federation universe. He needed to relearn many things in a short time and gain an entirely new understanding of Federation warship construction.

Having settled Dr. Will's arrangements, Lin Zhichen turned to the final piece of loot: the Killing Ship Spirit.

Killing Ship Spirit: Light Red

Effect: Enchant a Frigate, transforming it into a Psionic Warship.

Evaluation: Warp waste recycling!

The simple description made Lin Zhichen's heart pound, heat surging through his Whole Body.

"We've struck it rich!"

That was the only thought in his mind.

In the New Universe, starships were all manufactured industrially. Special starships such as Biological Warships could also be regarded as a different kind of industry. These starships followed the fixed attributes of their blueprint designs and fulfilled different roles.

Perhaps by coincidence, perhaps by miracle, some of these starships "came alive" under circumstances no one yet understood. Like Living Beings, they could possess Psionics, use Psionic Skills, and even bolster allied ships.

Psionic Warships were far rarer than Psionicists. Their birth was a matter of chance.

According to disclosures On the Star Net, the Federal Government had fewer than one hundred Psionic Warships publicly known to exist.

Most of those Psionic Warships were little things like Destroyers and Frigates. There were fewer than twenty Psionic Cruisers and Psionic Battleships capable of serving as the main force, and Without Exception, they were the Flagships of the Federation's major Main Fleets.

The most eye-catching among them was the Psionic Titan Apollo. This super Flagship, more than fifteen kilometers long, possessed an almost perfect foundation to begin with. After Psionicization, it had always been commanded by Yang Miller, a Federation Legendary Hero with a Dark Gold personal template.

This powerful Fifth-Order Psionic Sage had once piloted Apollo during the War Horn campaign, taking five Hott Habitable Planets in one stroke. During the campaign, he led the First Fleet to crush an enemy force ten times their size, shaking the Milky Way Galaxy in a single battle.

This sole Psionic Titan was also the symbol of the Human Federation and its National Power.

There was an old saying shared among the civilizations of the Milky Way Galaxy: not every Psionic Warship could become National Power, but anything that became National Power was certainly a Psionic Warship.

"Now we have everything." Lin Zhichen smiled in satisfaction. With such a perfect beginning, his path would be far smoother than those predecessors who had slowly carved out their futures among the stars.

Lin Zhichen took out the Killing Ship Spirit. It resembled a faintly glowing orb of light, hovering quietly inside the Command Cabin. It was visible to the naked eye but could not be touched, like a ghost.

Human hands could not touch it, but Psionics could. With a casual slap, he sent the orb crashing to the floor like a ball.

Centered on the point where the orb struck, a wave of Psionics rapidly burst across the polished alloy floor and, in the blink of an eye, enveloped the entire starship.

At that moment, piercing Alarm Sounds rang out once more inside the radar monitoring station at the Starport above Earth, throwing the researchers into a panic.

Soon, the same researcher from last time checked the information returned by the radar terminal and froze on the spot.

"Pierre, what exactly is going on?" The Space Station supervisor hurried into the hall and asked.

"Ah—" The moment he spoke, cries of alarm erupted throughout the hall.

If the awakening of Psionicists was still relatively common, then the appearance of a Psionic Warship was a miracle. Most people would never have the chance to witness one in their entire lives.

"What?" The supervisor stepped forward in shock, personally verified the data analysis, and hurriedly asked, "Where is it? Can you determine which starship it is? What model?"

While rapidly operating the instruments, researcher Pierre answered, "The target is located in the Asteroid Belt. According to the main computer's records, it is—"

At that point, he suddenly choked on his words.

"What is it?" the supervisor pressed.

"The data shows that it is a standard Frigate, the personal ship of His Excellency Lin Zhichen, Commander of the Earth Autonomous Government Defense Headquarters' Fifth Fleet. It is said that he awakened just half an hour ago and is currently in Jupiter's Asteroid Belt," researcher Pierre replied.

"Half an hour ago? Could the appearance of this Psionic Warship be related to the awakening of this Commander?" A scientist watching nearby noticed the issue.

"I don't know about that." Researcher Pierre shrugged.

"Perhaps that is the truth behind the emergence of this Psionic Warship? At present, the Federation scientific community still has no conclusion regarding why Psionic Warships appear. This intelligence may yield something," the supervisor murmured. His rank was higher, and he had heard of some characteristics of Psionic Warships.

Put simply, an originally industrial product gained life and vague intelligence. Under its captain's control, it could imprint certain skills like a Normal person, transforming them into Psionic Skills and pushing one or even several aspects of its capabilities to the limit.

These changes were inconceivable compared with industrial products of the same model, but viewed through the lens of Psionics, they were not so difficult to accept. After all, Psionics itself was not very scientific.

"Quick, report the relevant information to the Federation Military Department and the Academy of Sciences!" the supervisor urged.

Every Psionic Warship was a miracle, part of the Federation's foundation.

Naturally, Lin Zhichen, far away in the Asteroid Belt, did not yet know the impact this news would bring. At the moment, he was simply overwhelmed with delight.

"Master." Within his Psionic perception, layered echoes reverberated beside his ears. Lin Zhichen raised his head slightly and saw the entire Frigate giving off a faint Life Radiance.

Together with that proactive Psionic transmission, there was no doubt about it. This warship had come alive.

"What is your name?" Psionics rippled faintly around Lin Zhichen as he established a direct mental connection with the Psionic Frigate. Neither needed to speak; whatever either thought would be imprinted directly into the other's mind.

"I have no name," the Psionic Frigate answered.

"Then I'll give you one." Lin Zhichen considered it. In his perception, the Psionic Frigate was like a newborn child, with simple thoughts: 3

"You shall be called Qinyuan."

Qinyuan was one of the divine beasts from ancient myth. It resembled a bee, but was the size of a mandarin duck. Birds and beasts would die if stung by it, while trees would wither if it stung them.

This trait bore no small resemblance to a Frigate: small in size, yet armed with the devastating weapon known as a Nuclear Missile.

"Understood, Master," Qinyuan replied.

Qinyuan: White

Petrel-class Frigate

Dimensions: Length 183 meters, width 56.1 meters, height 21.5 meters

Hull Value: 300

Armor: 0

Psionic Energy: 100

Psionic Armor: 5

Shield: 150

Shield Recharge Rate: 1%

Damage: 7.46

Speed: 160

Evasion: 60.3%

Psionic Skill: Space Jump, Red, Apprentice 0.00%: Consumes 20 Psionic Energy to complete one Space Jump within a range of 10 light-years. Cooldown: 1h

"Space Jump! It actually awakened a spatial Psionic Skill!!" Lin Zhichen's eyes immediately lit up.

The New Universe possessed a special phenomenon: Hyperspace Lanes. They linked every star system scattered across the stars, like natural highways built between galaxies.

In the New Universe, even civilizations that had only just left their home planets could use their rudimentary knowledge of gravity to build the earliest Hyperspace Engines, then travel faster than light along specific routes through Hyperspace Lanes.

Logically, Space Jump did not seem particularly meaningful under such circumstances. But In fact, interstellar travel through Hyperspace Lanes required reaching the Kuiper Belt at the edge of a star system and activating a Hyperspace Engine within a designated lane range.

It could be said that Hyperspace Lanes were both convenient transportation routes and natural fortress defense points. Secure them firmly, and ninety-nine percent of enemies would be unable to get through.

That was where unrestricted Space Jump became incredibly useful. Qinyuan could operate deep behind enemy lines.

If this Psionic Skill could be further elevated into a Heroic Domain, Qinyuan could serve as the Flagship of a small fleet, leading hundreds or even thousands of warships in light-year-scale Space Jumps, bypassing Hyperspace Lanes entirely to launch surprise attacks. Its strategic value would be extraordinary!

"Wonderful! With this skill, we won't need to care about the limits of distance at all!" Lin Zhichen grew excited. His Psionics spread out and merged with Qinyuan.

At that moment, information about Space Jump flowed into him. It turned out there were two ways to perform a jump. The first was completely random: consume Psionic Energy and jump directly to somewhere within ten light-years.

Such random jumps were dangerous, because no one knew whether they might be unlucky enough to jump into the interior of a star or even a black hole.

The second method was to Set Up coordinates and jump according to them.

"Let's go back to Earth!" He entered coordinates only ten thousand kilometers away from Earth and activated Space Jump.

The space around Qinyuan immediately began to churn, gradually forming a bubble three hundred meters in diameter. The once-solid hull slowly became illusory, shifting from physical form into translucence. One minute later, the spatial bubble surrounding Qinyuan abruptly vanished.

At that moment, the Starport radar above Earth sounded once again. When the staff checked in panic, they were shocked to discover that a spatial bubble had appeared from nothing in space only ten thousand kilometers away from Earth. One minute later, the bubble shattered, and a Frigate appeared in space.

"Space Warp!" the radar station supervisor groaned. "Quick! Inform the Federation military that the newly awakened Psionic Warship possesses the Psionic Skill Space Warp. Organize the relevant intelligence into a file and send it over together!"

Ignoring the chaos in the radar room, Lin Zhichen looked at the blue planet close at hand and felt wonderful. "That just saved us twenty days of travel! Not bad, not bad."

Qinyuan arrived at the Starport to dock. Lin Zhichen used his holographic wristband to summon an unmanned antigravity flyer. It was a means of transportation provided by the Earth Autonomous Government, capable of freely traveling between space and the ground.

As a high-ranking government official, he could use such public service facilities completely free of charge.

The silver-gray sci-fi vehicle carried Lin Zhichen and his group back to Earth, soon landing in a courtyard far from the city in the East Asian Sector.

This was the meeting place Wei Peng and the others had agreed upon. The flyer descended from the sky, and the people it had disturbed had already come outside to wait.

"Big Brother, why are you back so early?" Wu Tianyi asked in surprise. By their calculations, even if he had headed straight back after finishing the call, he should still have been halfway there.

"We'll talk inside." Lin Zhichen glanced at the growing number of people looking over and walked toward the courtyard.

At this time, flyers were still rare on Earth. Even a single ride was extremely expensive, and few people used them.

After briefly telling them about Qinyuan, he brought up the matter of warships. "Since I got back early, we'll build Tianyi's starship first. Once I return to the Asteroid Belt, I'll get Ake's starship ready!"