In the six months after the Creation was completed, the Federation Interstellar Fleet expanded faster than anyone had expected.
Lin Chen personally oversaw the shipbuilding. With the Creation Law and materials supplied by the Divine Realm, a second ship, a third, and eventually a thirtieth were forged from the void.
The Divine Kings went from astonishment to numbness. In the end, only the God of Destruction occasionally sat on the Starwatch Platform, watching one colossal ship take shape after another and muttering, "That kid really acts like money grows on trees."
At the Federation Central Academy, the first batch of crew members had completed basic training.
Top students from the Soul Guidance Academy of Sciences, gifted students from the various Spirit Hall Academies, and Divine Officials transferred from halls across the Divine Realm were assigned to twenty mixed crews.
When they put on the Federation fleet's white uniforms and stood on the Starwatch Platform, looking out at the neatly arrayed ships, many of the young crew members were too excited to speak.
Lin Chen did not hold a grand departure ceremony. One early morning, he stood on the Creation's bridge and gave the entire fleet a single order: "Head outward."
There was no specific destination, no fixed route. The Federation fleet split into three squadrons and pushed into deep space in three directions.
The Creation led the central squadron toward the outer edge of the Douluo Star Domain.
On the seventh day of the voyage, radar detected a strange region ahead.
It held three habitable planets. Two had pale blue oceans and green continents; the third was a yellow-brown desert.
Between the planets floated great quantities of ancient spaceborne ruins. Some resembled temples, some obelisks, and others enormous altars.
The communications officer reported, "High-energy reactions detected on all three planets.