Reunion at the Top of the Rankings

The moment the captain said, "You know him," Mo Lin knew his earlier judgment was correct.

Moreover, he noticed that the armored warriors leaning against the bulkhead, who were originally in various postures, almost simultaneously turned their gazes toward him upon hearing the name "Lin Yi".

Even the tall, thin, blood-armored warrior who was responsible for leading him and Riley straightened up, then his lips twitched, but he didn't speak, his eyes fixed on him, as if he were reassessing something.

Mo Lin felt a sense of relief.

Although the specifics of what happened are unknown, the attitude of the crowd reveals a clue.

Therefore, he frankly said, "He and I came from the same Cosmic Clam, and we're of the same kind... We manage our clan together. Captain, you know him too?"

The captain's reaction was more complicated than Mo Lin had imagined.

A subtle expression, neither clearly one of frustration nor nostalgia, flickered across his normally indifferent face. After a moment of silence, he suddenly shook his head and gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"I know him... of course I know him. There are probably few people on this mothership who don't know the name of Deputy Squad Leader Lin of the Sixteenth Detachment. Not just me, but on the entire mothership, how many captains who like to go to the training grounds haven't been beaten up by him?"

Mo Lin's heart stirred.

Before he could reply, another armored warrior leaning against the bulkhead snorted and slowly added, "Captain, that's not quite right. You weren't just beaten up, you were beaten up three times."

The captain turned and glared at the man, but showed no anger. He simply sighed amidst the suppressed laughter of the crowd, "Can a friendly spar be considered getting beaten up?"

"Besides, of all the captains on this mothership, only three have ever defeated him. Apart from one who just broke through to the high-level True Source Realm, the other two achieved a pyrrhic victory by exhausting Vice Captain Lin's Chaos Power through delaying tactics. At least I lasted one of the longer periods."

Upon hearing this, Mo Lin finally felt completely relieved. He remained silent for a moment, then gave a proper military salute. "Thank you for informing me, Captain."

The captain waved his hand, indicating that it wasn't necessary, then turned and pointed to the tall, thin, heavily armored warrior, "Old Ke, you heard that too. Keep a close eye on him, don't let people say that the recruits you brought died on their first day of battle."

The tall, thin warrior named Old Ke glanced at Mo Lin and Riley, his expression unchanging, only letting out a muffled "hmm" through his nose.

Riley, who had been standing silently beside Mo Lin, finally whispered, "Mo Lin, thank you."

Mo Lin turned his head and looked at him.

Riley continued, "I got in thanks to you. If you didn't have that connection, the captain wouldn't have specifically asked Old Ke to look after us."

Mo Lin was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "No need to thank me, thank Lin Yi instead."

Riley didn't say anything more, he just nodded.

Then, led by Old Ke, the two returned to their respective cultivation rooms.

On the way, Mo Lin inquired about some information from Old Ke. Most importantly, he really wanted to see Lin Yi, and not only Lin Yi, but also Zhaoyue.

Unfortunately, Old Ke told him that their Bloodrage-class Assault Ship, number Twenty-Seventh Squad, was not currently in the same rest period as Lin Yi's 16th squad.

While they rested, Lin Yi's squad was often still fighting fiercely on the Frontline the Black Mist; when it was their turn to engage the enemy at the Frontline, Lin Yi's assault ship was slowly sailing back to the mother ship's berthing area.

This kind of misalignment is not uncommon.

He had heard about it on the way from the transport ship: the impact of the second outbreak in the Black Mist Sea far exceeded the initial estimates, and the rotation mechanism of the Frontline had been adjusted several times.

Initially, Epoch rotation was one Epoch of rest after each battle. Later, as the war intensified, the rotation frequency was compressed to one Epoch Epoch rest after every two battles. Then, during the most intense period of the fog tide, almost all the squads were pushed to their limits, and only after three consecutive Epoch of high-intensity engagements could they barely get one Epoch of rest.

The rest time for each unit is currently unpredictable and will be Dynamic adjusted based on the actual intensity of combat.

Mo Lin wasn't in a hurry, firstly because they would be able to rest together sooner or later, and secondly because he heard news about Lin Yi every day.

The Black Rock Mothership's common rest area is located in the middle of the ship's hull and is an open space that has been opened up.

The ceiling here is high enough to accommodate the take-off and landing of small aircraft, and various functional modules are irregularly distributed on the ground.

The dining area, rest area, and notice screen array are not separated by walls, but are demarcated only by energy light strips of different colors.

It was the peak of the rest period, and several Blood Armor Warriors were sitting in the rest area.

Some people placed their helmets on the table and stared blankly at a drink; others leaned back in their chairs, completely relaxed, chatting idly with their companions.

As Mo Jun entered the rest area, the announcement screen array had just completed a new round of refresh.

He subconsciously looked up, his eyes quickly scanning the dense text.

The military merit ranking interface occupies an entire large screen in the announcement screen array, listing the top 100 sergeant-level combat merits from top to bottom.

His gaze fell on the name at the very top, and then stopped.

Ranked first: Lin Yi, 5th Fifth Squad Sixteenth Squad. Accumulated combat merits: 53 million.

Mo Lin stared at the string of numbers for several seconds.

This number, when placed on the entire Seventy-First Fleet's sergeant roster, puts the second-place finisher ahead by nearly half.

"What are you looking at?" Riley, who had followed him in at some point, glanced at the notice board following Mo Lin's gaze and exclaimed, "Fifty-three million? How many Black Silence Beast would that have killed?"

Before Mo Jun could answer, a veteran team member at the next table turned around, glancing at the notice board, and then chuckled, "You guys are new here, aren't you? Vice Captain Lin's ranking has been at the top for ages, what's the big deal?"

Riley blinked, leaned closer, and asked, "Dominating the rankings? He's that good at fighting?"

The veteran soldier put his cup on the table and leaned back. "Because of this Deputy Captain Lin, he has a Time Seal Clone that's fearless. When there aren't many enemies in their squad's defense zone, he'll send his clone to help in nearby defense zones. After the battle is over, he won't waste any more words and will just turn around and leave. Of course, he still gets the credit for the assist."

He pointed a finger to the announcement screen above his head, "You can't tell anything from it once or twice, but he does it every time. Over time, of course, he'll be far ahead."

He paused, a hint of envy in his voice, "But that's only because of Deputy Captain Lin. Even if his Time Seal Clone is scattered, he can simply spend some time reassembling it, and he'll still get plenty of military merits. Relying on this special skill, coupled with his terrifyingly strong combat power, his merits have never dropped."

Riley's eyes widened as he listened, while Mo Lin silently finished the last sip of water in his cup.

Seeing that the two didn't respond, the veteran team member assumed they didn't believe him and added, "It's normal that you don't know since you're new here. You'll understand once you've been here longer. Deputy Captain Lin's military achievements aren't just earned by running around diligently. He has already condensed three Cosmic Universe Seal. With just these three seals, his actual combat strength is significantly stronger than that of an ordinary captain."

"Three Cosmic Universe Seal?" Riley was hearing this for the first time, and he looked surprised. "He can cultivate three of the Nine Seal Cosmos Art Technique?"

"Yeah, right." The veteran seemed pleased with Riley's reaction and grinned. "As far as I know, he often sparred with the captains of various squads at the mothership training grounds. Most of the captains lost to him, even our captain was defeated by him. It's said that he voluntarily declined a transfer to another squad as captain, otherwise he would be a captain by now."

Mo Lin shifted his gaze from the notice board to the veteran team member. "Which squad is your captain from?"

"Captain Bato of the Nineteenth Squad," the veteran member said. "Our captain is Veteran Platform at the mid-stage of the True Source Realm, and he's the one who has the final say in the squad. After he came back that day, he said something to a few of us in private, and I still remember it."

He cleared his throat. "With Lin Yi's talent, as long as he doesn't perish along the way, the Eternal Source Realm is probably just his lower limit."

Mo Lin remained silent.

He picked up the empty cup, twirled it lightly between his fingertips, and then placed it back on the table.

The list on the announcement screen was still scrolling slowly, with Lin Yi's name firmly occupying the top spot.

The period following the rest period became the main window for Mo Lin to observe Lin Yi's actual reputation within the fleet.

At first, he just sat near the notice board and listened quietly, but later he began to consciously ask questions.

He discovered a pattern: whenever the name Lin Yi was mentioned, regardless of which squad the soldier belonged to, no one would react with "I don't know" or "I've never heard of him."

Even those in gray uniforms from the logistics system knew who Lin Yi was.

"The deputy captain who often helps relieve pressure on neighboring defense zones"—this is the most common assessment of Lin Yi within logistics circles.

Mo Lin noticed that the distribution of this prestige was different from what he had initially expected.

He originally thought that Lin Yi's reputation was mainly due to his talent and military achievements, but after spending a long time in the fleet, he realized that what these veterans remembered most about Lin Yi was actually his way of doing things in battle.

"Isn't he tired?" Riley couldn't help but ask when he overheard a veteran player talking about these things.

The veteran glanced at Riley and calmly retorted, "How do you think he accumulated so many military merits?"

Riley didn't ask any more questions.

As Lin Yi's reputation continued to grow, the large-scale battles of the Seventy-First Fleet also continued to advance.

Mo Lin grew rapidly in this rhythm.

Although he had built a solid foundation in the reserve training camp, he only realized when he actually went to the battlefield that training and the real Black Silence Beast were two completely different things.

The Black Silence Beast does not act according to pre-set plans. Mo Lin suffered many losses in the first few encounters, but he was good at summarizing his experiences.

During each lull in the fighting, he would repeatedly rehearse the scenarios he encountered in battle until he could accurately simulate in his mind how he should respond the next time he engaged the enemy.

This staggered period of rest and recuperation lasted for many Epoch.

Mo Lin gradually established himself in the team.

Old Ke's instructions to him started to change from "You stand on the inside" to "You cover my right flank," and then to "You decide and handle any gaps on the left flank yourself."

His trust levels rose from cannon fodder to assistant and then to full-fledged support and attack in less than forty Epoch.

Finally, this time, Mo Lin's Twenty-Seventh Squad rotated back to the mothership, while the 16th squad also finished its Frontline mission at the same time.

On the dispatch list of the garrison detachment, the light blue mark "under rest" finally appeared next to the number of the 16th detachment.

Ink Bacteria had been keeping a close eye on this situation and learned of the news immediately through a notification set up inside the badge.

He immediately initiated communication through the badge application.

When Lin Yi received the communication request, their assault ship had just come to a stop at its berth, and he, Zhaoyue, Frost Rainbow were preparing to go to the supply area together.

However, before the three of them could even leave the house, Lin Yi's badge lit up.

He glanced down to sense the source of the communication, his face lighting up with delight. He immediately answered. "Mo Lin?"

When Zhaoyue heard this name, her fingers visibly paused for a moment.

She turned her head, and Zi Guang looked at Lin Yi over Frost Rainbow's shoulder and arm.

Lin Yi gave Zhaoyue a look, then said, "I heard you're in the 27th Squad, but your squad always avoids ours. Why don't you come over now?"

The figure of the black mold quickly appeared outside the hatch.

As he stepped into the cabin, Lin Yi raised his hand and gave him a high five; the armor clashed against armor, producing a dull metallic hum.

The two looked at each other for a moment, and then smiled simultaneously.

Then, Mo Lin shifted his gaze from Lin Yi to Zhaoyue.

Zhaoyue walked up to Mo Lin, said nothing, but simply raised her hand and gently tapped Mo Lin's breastplate twice.

Mo Lin grasped her hand, tightened it briefly, and then released it.

Neither of them spoke much, but the unspoken understanding between them never needed words to maintain.

Frost Rainbow nodded slightly to Mo Lin as a greeting.

The group went to the public rest area and found a place to sit down.

Throughout the time, people kept greeting Lin Yi.

Mo Lin briefly recounted how he was assigned to the third squad of the twenty-seventh division. When he mentioned Old Ke and Riley, his tone unconsciously softened. "Riley asked me to thank you for him. He's truly grateful to you. If it weren't for your connections here, Old Ke wouldn't have been so considerate of the two of us in the first place."

Lin Yi waved his hand. "It's your own ability to survive. I know Old Ke; if he doesn't want to protect someone, he won't give face to anyone."

After a short get-together, Lin Yi gave Frost Rainbow a look, and the two took their leave, leaving Mo Lin and Zhaoyue alone.

The two chatted for a long time before parting ways.

Mo Lin walked along the corridor on the belly of the mothership. Every now and then, logistics personnel in gray uniforms brushed past him on both sides, but he hardly noticed them.

He kept thinking about the coordinated kill data that Zhaoyue had shown him earlier.

That was the actual combat record of the Fifth Squad the Sixteenth Division from recent Epoch.

Zhaoyue's name was ranked third in the team, only after Lin Yi and Mantaji.

Most of her kills were marked "Assisted Attack - Lin Yi," meaning that those targets were suppressed by Lin Yi's Cosmic Universe Seal, and Zhaoyue was the one who finished them off.

Mo Lin understood perfectly what this meant, but he didn't say anything more.

Lin Yi did this not so that he could express his gratitude.

After the rest period, the rotation cycles of the two teams were staggered again.

Mo Lin returned to his Frontline defense duties.

He was still facing the noisy, chaotic air currents, the endless stream of Black Silence Beast, the booming Hybrid Cannons in his ears, and Old Ke's occasional short commands.

But amidst all these unchanged aspects, some things have indeed changed.

Time slowly progressed in the cycle of fighting and resting.

On the rolling leaderboard in the mothership's public rest area, Lin Yi's military merits continue to firmly occupy the top spot.

Mo Lin would come here to sit for a while whenever he took a break; the habit had become ingrained in his bones.

Once, while sitting in a corner seat, he overheard two unfamiliar soldiers chatting next to him.

One person pointed at Lin Yi's total military merits on the screen, counting on their fingers how long it would take to surpass the previous naval record at this rate. The other person leaned back lazily in their chair and said there was no need to calculate; in the end, it would definitely not be a slight overtake, but a complete crushing defeat.

After chatting for a while, the topic naturally veered towards the same questions that had been discussed countless times: when will Lin Yi reach the middle stage of the True Source Realm, what level does his current combat strength correspond to, and after the war, will he stay in the military or will someone be vying to offer him terms?

Mo Lin listened silently for a while, finished the last drop in his cup, and then got up and left.

He doesn't need to participate in these discussions.

Five hundred Epoch is but a fleeting moment on the scale of the Chaos Cosmic Sea, but for the Imperial Army who have been fighting bloody battles on the Frontline of the Black Mist for years, it is enough to multiply a person's battle merits several times over, and enough to etch a name into the collective memory of the entire fleet.

The scrolling leaderboard in the common activity area of the mothership continues to be updated day after day.

Lin Yi's name is no longer a novel topic, as he tops the list of sergeant-level combat merits.

Occasionally, newly recruited reservists would gasp in surprise upon seeing that overwhelmingly leading number for the first time, only to be patted on the shoulder by Veteran Platform next to them with a casual remark, "You'll get used to it."

Mo Lin still maintains the habit of sitting in the rest area for a while during each break.

He didn't meet Lin Yi very often, and the rotation cycles of the two teams were mostly staggered, but every time he came to the rest area, he could piece together Lin Yi's recent situation from the scrolling numbers and the discussions of the people around him.

He never interrupted, just listened, and then got up and left once his glass was empty.

Lin Yi's Rule Comprehension was slowly but steadily increasing amidst these alternating battles and rests.

On this day, the Sixteenth Squad rotated back to the Black Rock Mothership.

Lin Yi and Zhaoyue Frost Rainbow greeted each other, walked through the main passageway in the ship's belly, stepped onto the connecting staircase, and headed straight for the supply area.

Then, he applied to exchange for five Sinking Glaze Source Crystal.

These insight-enhancing treasures are plentiful in the Black Rock Mothership's supplies, since there aren't many soldiers who can afford to exchange for them.

But his military merits were more than enough; after all, he didn't sit at the top of the sergeant-level combat merit list for nothing.

The staff at the redemption window saw the application he handed over.

Five pieces of Sinking Glaze Source Crystal).

The logistics staff member's lips twitched, but he didn't say anything and quickly pushed the crystal box out of the teleportation slot.

Lin Yi returned to the Fierce Blood Assault Ship with the crystal box and entered his training room.

The hatch closed silently. He opened the crystal box, took out the Sinking Glaze Source Crystal, pressed the crystal core to his brow, and then his Spiritual Enlightenment Qi burst forth.

The pulse of Chaos Rules unfolded deep within consciousness.

29.9%.

It's just a tiny bit away from 30%, but that tiny bit is the hurdle that countless True Source Realm Tier 3 soldiers might not be able to overcome even after thousands of Epoch.

Every step forward is more difficult than all the progress made before combined.

With the aiding power of the Sinking Glaze Source Crystal reaching its maximum efficiency under the catalysis of the Spiritual Enlightenment Qi, he was like a stone sinking into deep water, continuing to sink deeper into the darker depths along the slope he had found himself.

Every step forward requires careful consideration, and every tiny shift in the rules and structure requires a deep, internal adaptation.

Time lost its meaning in this intensely focused state of enlightenment; he only knew that his Rule Comprehension was approaching that invisible barrier.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Yi opened his eyes.

The moment the Rule Comprehension in the depths of the soul crossed the threshold of 30%, the already sizable Chaos Source Sea began to surge violently.

The Chaos Power at the edge of the Source Sea, which had been repeatedly compressed and purified, was drawn outwards slowly by the enhanced Rule Comprehension, as if stirred by an invisible hand.

With each step forward, the solidity of the Chaos Power within the Source Sea increases by one level.

Meanwhile, in the captain's training room.

Li was cultivating in his captain's training room.

Suddenly, the Light Sphere from Zero Three appeared beside him.

"Li, Lin Yi is currently in the cultivation room. He has broken through to the middle stage of the True Source Realm and is currently consolidating his Chaos Source Sea."

Li was taken aback for a moment, then slowly leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and exhaled.

He muttered a few words to himself, but they were indistinct.