Lin Zhen’s decision to step forward as a leader and expose himself to the spotlight was, in truth, extremely simple.
To search for the ancient battlefield!
Only by becoming a leader could he reasonably allocate resources and secretly search for ancient battlefield relics.
Lin Zhen understood better than anyone just how dangerous this plan was and knew that the chance of success was almost negligible.
That was why, before ensuring this borderline insane escape plan was absolutely foolproof, Lin Zhen didn’t intend to tell anyone else about it.
In this way.
Even if the plan was exposed halfway and the war camp wanted to punish him, they wouldn’t hold anyone else accountable.
It could be said.
This was the escape route Lin Zhen had paved for his companions, even if it meant shouldering all the risks by himself.
“Lao Lin is amazing! I’m tearing up!”
“This is what it means to be a protagonist!”
“But becoming the leader makes it hard to leave the base, doesn’t it? How is Lao Lin going to overcome that?”
“If it really doesn’t work, just make up a lie, right? All the other team leaders are the strongest; do you think they all stay holed up in the base?”
“The leader is warming up, preparing to join the battlefield.”
Once again, he went over the plan in his mind.
After combing through the plan once more, Lin Zhen looked out through the porthole at the receding star, his chest swelling with an uncontrollable excitement.
The starship was moving away from the Asa Starfield!
This was truly wonderful!
After all, the Asa Starfield was the main stronghold of the Guild of Master Hands. Even if there really was an ancient battlefield within, it was likely already swept clean by the Guild.
Only by heading to more distant starfields could he hope to find a preserved Positive-Negative Light Engine.
It really did feel like the heavens were helping him!
“Please wait for inspection and clearance, SY21314 Starship!”
Nine Guild of Master Hands Transport Ships arrived at the Great Wall of Space in succession, undergoing strict inspections at the only entrance and exit.
This Space Dock, which served as the gateway to the star system, was heavily guarded.
Patrols clad in colonial armor could be seen everywhere, and occasionally, Guild of Master Hands members in Star Energy Battle Garb would hurry past.
The trainees pressed eagerly against the portholes, their eyes full of longing for the gallant members of the Guild.
Once the dense light-net completed its scan and confirmed safety, the fleet was finally granted passage.
“They even guard the entrance so tightly…”
***
Looking at everything before him, Lin Zhen couldn’t help but start doubting whether his idea was really correct.
Even if he got his hands on the Positive-Negative Light Engine, would he really be able to escape from the Asa Starfield?
Given the Guild of Master Hands’ technological level… sealing off a star system for a warp jump would hardly be difficult.
Did he have to find a way out of the Asa Starfield before attempting the warp jump?
Forget it, just take things one step at a time.
He shook off the stray thoughts.
It was still too early to think about these things; he couldn’t give up just because the road ahead was difficult.
Not long after leaving the Asa Starfield, a breathtaking megastructure appeared among the stars.
A massive, cobalt-blue gate frame stood towering.
Four chains as thick as mountains were fastened to the gate frame, connecting to four nearby planets and anchoring this star gate between them.
These planets were unusually close together, close enough to defy logic.
It was obvious they had been forcibly moved by technological means.
The nine starships carrying nearly five thousand trainees swept past the stargate, intentionally or otherwise, triggering a continuous chorus of amazement.
This was the war camp further flexing its muscle before the trainees—a subtle psychological indoctrination.
“So spectacular!”
“Damn! What a visual impact!”
“Using planets as anchor points? The tech in this show is really off the charts!”
“Well, it has been ten thousand years since the interstellar era began.”
“These kids really do seem to have been brainwashed already.”
“As long as our Xi hasn’t been brainwashed, that’s fine.”
“I want to see what Little Xi will do?”
“Dang, now I want to see too.”
“Prepare to initiate the warp jump!”
The cold AI voice rang throughout the cabins of all nine Transport Ships.
Beep beep beep!
Warning alarms sounded in succession, red indicator lights flashed on and off, and a visible membrane of light slowly formed outside the observation windows.
The trainees instinctively gripped the armrests of their seats.
The next second.
A force that felt like it would tear their bodies in two struck without warning.
Everything in the trainees’ field of view was stretched to the sides, turning into flattened, twisted lines.
The sounds in their ears slowed and distorted, as if someone had pressed a button to play them at a fraction of normal speed.
From the trainees’ perspective.
This sensation of everything becoming distorted seemed to last forever, yet also felt like an instant.
When everything suddenly snapped back to normal.
Almost every trainee went pale, their stomachs churning uncontrollably.
“Urgh!”
A boy near Yun Ruoxi vomited right then and there.
She frowned, her psychic power instantly wrapping around the filth and forcefully shoving it back into the boy’s mouth.
“Don’t contaminate the ship’s environment.”
The blue-haired girl said, her face pale.
She then covered the entire cabin with her psychic power, pulling out the opaque plastic bags from beneath each seat and distributing them precisely to their hands.
The first experience of a warp jump caused such sensory overload that even Star Energy users could barely endure it.
The war camp was considerate.
Those plastic bags, whose purpose had been unclear until now, suddenly made perfect sense.
The trainees of Class Nine gave Yun Ruoxi grateful looks, then grabbed the bags and started vomiting with abandon.
A sour, rancid stench instantly filled the cabin.
But then the starship’s purification system kicked in, and the fresh scent of citrus quickly replaced the unpleasant odor.
Yun Ruoxi forcibly stifled her urge to vomit.
In the second dimension, a beautiful girl must never relieve herself or throw up.
Even though she might not be on camera at the moment, since the anime was airing, she had to mind her image at all times.
In a way, it was part of her professional standards.
“They used warp technology…Looks like, just as in the original story, the battlefield isn’t anywhere near the Asa Starfield.”
Yun Ruoxi pondered.
Spatial warp was usually used for journeys on the scale of light-years, and the scale of this trip clearly exceeded expectations.
Other trainees quickly picked up on this oddity.
But before they could think much more about it, the ring-shaped space station that appeared in the observation window instantly drew their attention.
In the center of the silvery-white ring structure, two symmetrical Space Docks extended outward.
The whole station looked like a spinning top suspended in space.
A hundred streamlined starships rested quietly in the docks, their hulls reflecting the cold light of the stars.
Whoosh!
The Transport Ship sailed into the dock and opened its rear hatch.
One after another, the excited trainees stepped off the starship, curiously reaching out to touch the real hulls.
Although they had simulated this countless times in virtual space, touching an actual starship was a first for all of them.
And more importantly.
They would soon be piloting these incredibly valuable starships to fight a near-real war in space.
It had to be said, deploying nine space stations and nine hundred starships solely for the trainees’ assessment—
Such extravagance was unthinkable for even the best academies in the universe.
Only the Guild of Master Hands, with its complete industrial system, could afford to squander resources like this.