“Even around the Asa Star System, there must be ancient battlefield ruins. All I need to do is find a positive-negative photon engine in there!”
All it takes is a working engine—or even one that’s broken, as long as it’s not too badly damaged. I can use my ability to repair it!
Lin Zhen clenched his fist tightly.
The chance to escape… has finally appeared!
“Oh ho, is it time for a glorious escape into the sunlight?”
“In the interstellar era, of course you’ve got to blaze through with the pulsar wind!”
“If there are star pirates and adventurers, then after the main team escapes, they should become adventurers, right?”
“Doesn’t that make it an interstellar version of One Piece?”
“One Piece is the way, love to watch it.”
Worried that any unusual action would attract surveillance, Lin Zhen forcibly suppressed his excitement as he finished reading the last few pages.
Then he opened the [Points Permissions] interface and began searching for information related to ancient battlefields.
[Not all ancient battlefields are inaccessible to warp travel. In areas where space rifts are relatively mild, Telekinesis-type or Space-type Ability Users can forcibly stabilize the fissures and achieve short-range warps.]
[The most dangerous aspect of ancient battlefields is the spatial rifts. Aside from that, there may be star-energy creatures lurking within.]
“So you can use the Telekinesis-type to mend the space? Xiaoxi is a Nianli-type Ability User!”
Lin Zhen’s eyes lit up, but he quickly shook his head.
“Never mind whether Xiaoxi’s star-energy index is high enough to mend the rift, I couldn’t possibly attempt a jump on the battlefield.”
“The ship has to be built first, hidden somewhere, gather everyone, then act together.”
Though it may sound cruel, Lin Zhen didn’t plan to take too many people with him.
The more people, the bigger the target, the easier to expose. There’s also a higher chance of someone betraying them.
They’d been at the training camp for two years now.
Compared to the first year, after becoming official trainees, although it was more tiring, the camp’s treatment of them had improved dramatically.
Not only was there plenty of delicious food and drinks every day, they were finally allowed to keep some personal items in the dormitory.
Even Instructor Behemoth’s attitude towards them had softened considerably.
Occasionally, the camp would even organize group activities that could just about be called entertainment.
For example, under the instructors’ direction, they’d watch major operations by the Hand of Saints, write summaries, and then enter a virtual copy of the mission to try it themselves.
Or take them on survival training in harsh environments outside the base.
If not for the scenes of nearly killing a roommate and hunting criminals still flashing in his mind from a year ago, Lin Zhen’s urge to escape might have gradually faded as well.
Let alone the others.
There were already quite a few trainees in the camp who regarded themselves as future members of the Hand of Saints, fully abandoning their pasts, maintaining the camp’s order, taking pride in the Hand of Saints, and clustering tightly around 0001 Mo Yuan.
So, to be safe, the people Lin Zhen planned to escape with, aside from a few close friends from his squad,
were just his roommate, Yun Ruoxi, and Aili.
Even Aili was included only because of Yun Ruoxi.
“This is Stockholm Syndrome!”
“Or maybe it’s just brainwashing—after all, these are a bunch of kids not even thirteen yet.”
“It’s mostly because the camp’s tactics are just too effective. The first year, they grind you to dust, don’t even let you use your name; the second year, they give you a new name and better treatment, make you take pride in the camp. I bet they’ll have something new for the third year.”
“No kidding, this series makes the camp so real, I’m actually kind of scared of that place.”
***
In a training ground within the base.
Yun Ruoxi sat cross-legged, floating in midair, with hundreds of fine Flying Needles circling her like a ring of stars.
She wore only the innermost layer of her star-energy combat suit. Her developing figure barely appeared neat and trim in the tight uniform—after all, her “little buns” had yet to grow into proper ones.
Swish, swish, swish!
Sweat beaded continuously on the girl’s temples as the swarm of Flying Needles changed formation at an extremely slow pace.
It looked like she was dividing her psionic power to the extreme, honing her control to the finest degree.
But in fact, a part of her mind was focused on watching an anime.
“The third year… I remember the camp gives trainees even more perks, letting them enjoy Hand of Saints’ privileges in advance, and even having them kill the Hand’s enemies…”
“All carefully-designed brainwashing methods.”
Yun Ruoxi stirred her psionic power again, and several more Flying Needles floated up from the ground.
In response, more sweat trickled from her temples, and even veins began to bulge one by one.
But actually, she wasn’t even close to her limit. All of this was just for show.
After redeeming Level 1 Star Energy Control and Level 1 Brain Domain Computing Power from the system, within the Level 1 Star Energy User range, her psionic control was practically unmatched in the history of Star Energy Users.
After all, someone capable of mastering both skills to this extent couldn’t have weak talent. Normally, they’d have already reached Level 2.
So what Yun Ruoxi was really doing every day was putting on a performance to hide her true progress from both the viewers and the camp.
Of course, it’s not that she spent the whole year acting, or didn’t put in any real effort.
At the very least, she’d thoroughly digested the “Beginner’s Guide to Psionic Development”.
She’d developed several highly practical techniques.
She’d even raised her star-energy index to 150!
It might seem unimpressive to have increased her star-energy index by only 90 over a year, compared to the initial jump of 10 in a few days.
But the star-energy index is exponential!
The higher it goes, the harder it gets to raise.
Even with extreme training, the gains weren’t bad, but when faced with the huge exponential gap between levels, it was still a drop in the ocean.
The real way to quickly raise one’s star-energy index is simple—battle.
One battle after another, fights on the brink of life and death!
Only the extreme emotions stirred at the edge of life and death can truly stimulate the star-energy bloodline and allow a Star Energy User to grow rapidly.
It could be said that in this Star Sea, there isn’t a single true powerhouse forged by training alone.
Almost all of them survived mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
In the era after the Hundred-Year War, why did star pirates and adventurers run rampant?
The book Lin Zhen read only explained the surface reasons, not the core.
It’s not because there are endless ancient battlefields.
It’s because the Star Energy User system itself is a source of chaos.
After making slow progress on their home planets, one after another, Star Energy Users, driven by the desire for strength, take to the stars.
The more Star Energy Users there are, the more frequent battles become, the more imperial order collapses. And the more chaotic things get, the more people crave power.
This is a dead-end Cycle of Death with no way out.
This is also the price the Empire paid to defeat the Eye Clan—drinking the poison that is “Star Energy Users,” an act of desperate self-destruction, and now suffering the consequences.
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