Perhaps it was because of what had just happened, but the girl had turned off her Sensory Field skill.
She truly trusted Lin Zhen, and was completely unguarded around him.
As a result, Lin Zhen easily asked her everything he wanted to know.
The area was littered with Shipwrecks, space was fractured, and it was so dim that even the Stellar Light couldn’t penetrate.
There were even signs of unknown life forms’ activity.
Without exception, these were all marks of an ancient battlefield!
There really was an ancient battlefield here!
Lin Zhen’s heart surged with excitement. Even if he tried to remain calm, he couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across his face.
“Brother Zhen, your mood… seems to have suddenly improved?” Yun Ruoxi looked at him with a hint of confusion.
“Did you activate your Sensory Field again?”
“No way!” Yun Ruoxi puffed up her cheeks. “I can see that much even without that ability!”
“All right then.” Lin Zhen scratched his cheek, laughing awkwardly as he stood up and stretched.
“It’s getting late, let’s get to sleep.”
“Brother Zhen, you’re not sleepy at all!”
“Is that something you can see with the naked eye too?” Lin Zhen was astonished.
“Of course not!” Yun Ruoxi gazed at Lin Zhen with a touch of melancholy. “That’s what I saw with my Sensory Field.”
Lin Zhen: “…..”
“Bengbu can’t take it, Lao Lin’s been seen through to his very core.”
“Wait, isn’t it supposed to be Little Xi whose core got seen through?”
“That’s true, haha, a literal meaning of being seen through.”
“With this skill, I can already imagine the daily life of the little couple after marriage. Little Xi: ‘You were out with another woman!’ (points at her own eyes), Lao Lin: sweating profusely.”
“If you’re not sleepy, can’t you still go to bed? Keeping your Biological Clock regular is very important for Starsea navigation.”
Rarely, Lin Zhen displayed some elder brotherly authority and half-forced Yun Ruoxi back to her room.
He watched her lie down, obediently pulling the covers over herself, before turning and heading back to the central control room.
But with the once-busy control room suddenly left to him alone, and the usual silence restored, he actually found himself somewhat unaccustomed.
Lin Zhen sat on the high stool, staring blankly for a while, then shook his head and turned his gaze back to the star chart.
Although Yun Ruoxi, upholding her role as a leader, hadn’t told him the Base Coordinates of Class Nine, to be honest—
Even though Yun Ruoxi hadn’t directly stated the coordinates of the base, Lin Zhen had still managed to piece together the direction of the enemy base relative to Base No. 3 from her words.
“This silly girl… really says everything, I’ll have to remind her to be more careful in the future… watch what she says.”
Speaking of being careful, Lin Zhen thought again of that brief, stunning glimpse, and felt a rush of heat surge through him.
Hmm, boundaries in posture need to be watched, too.
He shifted the star chart, clicked in the direction of Base No. 3, and drew out several lines according to Yun Ruoxi’s description, finally locking onto a space nearly six light-days away.
“So the ancient battlefield is near this region…”
Lin Zhen murmured to himself.
He wanted to go to the ancient battlefield, but he couldn’t let the camp realize that his real goal was just the ancient battlefield.
So, even now, knowing the location, he could only bide his time for now.
He needed to come up with a suitable excuse.
But as for excuses—
Lin Zhen’s gaze drifted to the area opposite that region, where the territory of Class One’s Mo Yuan lay.
Wasn’t that a ready-made opportunity?
As long as he made Class One the next opponent, he’d have the excuse of “taking a detour” to approach the ancient battlefield.
***
The next morning, after breakfast, Lin Zhen, who hadn’t slept all night, began to put his plan into motion.
He called on Yun Ruoxi, whose attire had finally returned to normal, and Shun Ying, who was currently at Base No. 5—their connection relayed via the ship’s comms system.
Though there was some delay, it was still usable with some effort.
At the meeting, Lin Zhen didn’t mention Class One at all.
Instead, he advocated for swift and decisive action: before the other classes could form alliances, they should sweep the surrounding regions clean of any other possible teams.
This proposal was accepted by both Yun Ruoxi and Shun Ying.
Then Lin Zhen pointed out: around Class Three, only Class Five and Class Six remained.
Class Five had already been eliminated, and Class Six had joined an alliance.
So the next hunting target would have to depend on intelligence that Yun Ruoxi and Shun Ying had about other classes.
Sure enough, Yun Ruoxi brought up the existence of Class One.
But Lin Zhen was still in no hurry.
He was afraid others would find out his real goal was the ancient battlefield.
He even suggested they deal with Class Two first, as mentioned by Shun Ying, and leave the true target for last.
After all, with Mo Yuan’s strength, as long as Yun Ruoxi didn’t get involved, he could definitely hold out until the end.
After the meeting, Lin Zhen repeatedly considered whether there were any flaws in his wording and plan.
His plan was indeed very simple.
But the simpler it was, the lower the risk, and the harder it was for anyone to spot a loophole.
After all, his opponents were not ordinary people, but the camp’s instructors and the keenly perceptive Mo Yuan.
“There shouldn’t be any issues. Class One was brought up by Yun Ruoxi. The instructors shouldn’t guess that my destination is the ancient battlefield, since no one would know that my goal from the beginning has always been the Zhe Yue Engine.”
Lin Zhen’s eyes sparkled as he watched Yun Ruoxi board the ship and return to Base Nine to prepare for the hunt against Class Two.
Class Two, after all, had once boasted the 0002 Highglow.
Unlike Class Four, which had already been chased down relentlessly by Yun Ruoxi and exhausted much of its manpower and ships.
A full-strength Class Two—even with three classes joining forces—had to be dealt with cautiously.
***
On the fourth day after the meeting, the three classes, with a grand total of one hundred and twenty ships, sailed into the starfield where No. 2 Base was located.
Though Highglow liked to act high-profile, he wasn’t lacking in ability; he’d already arranged his ships on the perimeter as sentinels.
However, the alliance of Yun Ruoxi, Lin Zhen, and Shun Ying hadn’t bothered to hide their presence at all from the start—their aim was to launch a full-scale frontal assault.
So, being discovered was inevitable.
After all, a monk may run, but the temple stays put. Ships can be moved, but can you relocate the base?
This was an open and aboveboard strategy.
Highglow realized what they were thinking and felt extremely stifled.
This was just bullying!
One hundred and twenty ships firing in a round—how could a single class withstand that?
But he couldn’t give up either.
All he could do was grit his teeth, call all his ships over, and hope to win with micro-management.
Yet—
Yun Ruoxi and Lin Zhen were both renowned as ship-killers, able to destroy ships without Stellar Shields using their abilities alone.
Combined with an overwhelming numerical advantage, the war was over almost as soon as it began. In less than half a day, all of Class Two’s ships were either captured or destroyed.
And the United Fleet arrived at No. 2 Base, successfully entered the Class Nine key into the central system, and completed the occupation.