Gone with the Smoke

He heard the call from the Thousand-Faced Magic Puppet and opened his eyes.

First, he confirmed which of his avatars had pulled his primordial spirit over.

It was the Zhu Long cruiser avatar.

But it was a stealth-improved version with black scales and purple eyes, designed to counter radar.

The hull still used the architecture of the cruiser 'Zhu Long', while the 'skin' of the hull mimicked the wreckage of the Security Bureau stealth frigate 'Night Curtain', simulating a stealth coating against Company radar waves.

Ah, it was the scout sent out fifty years ago, the stealth cruiser avatar, 'Zhu Long Two'.

Thus, Li Fan knew where he was.

He spread his divine sense, perceiving the silent deep space around him. At the limit of his divine sense, a colossal starship entered his blind sight, like a sleeping mountain, lying across the darkness, quietly orbiting a star 2.17 AU away, much like five hundred thousand asteroids in orbit.

It had taken fifty years for Li Fan's stealth cruiser avatar to 'fly' to the asteroid belt and find a Company warship closest to Earth. If it continued at this speed, Zhu Long Three and Four would need another fifty years to reach the Trojan asteroids and the Company fleet at Europa.

There was no choice. The frigate 'Night Curtain' had been destroyed too thoroughly; it was fortunate enough to salvage some fragments to mimic the stealth armor. And although 'Zhu Long' was cruiser-class, it was a stripped-down version of a near-Earth orbital cruiser. The engine propulsion was utter trash, after all, it was a parade float from an amusement park, so they had to save money wherever they could. It was good enough that it could fly to its destination.

Li Fan wasn't in a hurry. Sending out the cruiser avatar