LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 16 - Meteor Mercenary Group
Chapter 16: Meteor Mercenary Group
At this moment, the group was flushed with excitement.
Without reaching the upper echelons, one wouldn’t understand the status of psionicists. It could be said that over 70% of the Federation’s renowned heroes were psionicists, while mechanical cyborgs and genetic evolvers make up the remaining 30%, leaving no place for ordinary people.
Anyone willing to put in the immense effort to become a captain harbors dreams of becoming a hero of the starry seas.
However, the mere requirement of talent alone excludes 99% of people. The harsh reality would show them what it means to be grounded.
But now, a shortcut to greatness had appeared!
“Big brother, we’ll train! We’ll train to the death!” Lin Ke gritted his teeth and made up his mind.
“Don’t overdo it! This needs to be done gradually. If you damage your body, all hope will be lost!” Lin Zhichen glared at him, concerned.
“Don’t rush. Start training slowly. Once we have enough money, I plan to set up a hydroponic farm to cultivate psionic plants. These are as valuable as heavenly treasures, and just one bite will be enough to sustain your training for half a day!”
“Is there really such a good thing?” The group was pleasantly surprised.
“Of course. I’ve already taught this body refining technique to my NPC crew members and instructed them to practice it once in the morning, afternoon, and evening each day. Judging by their progress, they might only get started in about a month. By then, they can train alongside you,” Lin Zhichen said nonchalantly, leaving the group stunned.
“Is that even possible?!” Wei Peng’s eyes nearly popped out. “Big brother, you’re planning to cultivate a psionicist army!”
A psionicist army, the legendary elite special forces of the Federation, was known only by name and never seen. Their infiltration operations were almost always successful, and there was very little information about them online, with much of it being deliberate misinformation.
“We’re aiming for great things, and we need capable helpers to achieve them. When your crew members arrive tomorrow, hand them over to me. After a month of training, they’ll be completely transformed!” Lin Zhichen said.
“I’ll head to the asteroid belt first. Tianyi, when your and Ak’s ships return, take Dapeng along and join me!”
“Big brother, do we have a use for the army?” Wei Peng was taken aback by the suggestion.
“This time, I found a pirate base. Let’s see if we can take it down in one go!” Lin Zhichen said.
“Alright!”
After some lively discussion, the group dispersed late at night to rest.
Early the next morning, Lin Zhichen piloted the “Qinyuan” towards the asteroid belt.
At first, he didn’t use the spatial jump. He wanted to test the speed after upgrading to ion engines. Combined with the pilot’s navigation skills, the speed was incredibly fast.
“The ion engine increased the ship’s speed by 25%, and the pilot added another 26%. The ship’s speed has increased by half!”
Feeling joyful, Lin Zhichen noted that this was purely the frigate’s own speed. If they used the gravity propulsion system, it would be 50% of the speed of light, which is remarkable for regular travel speed!
After a brief test, he didn’t delay further. He pinpointed the coordinates of the asteroid belt and jumped directly to a space area tens of thousands of kilometers away from it.
This time, he didn’t let his own crew pilot the ship. Instead, he used the crew members recruited by Lin Ke and the others. They trained while navigating, bumping along towards the pirate base within the asteroid belt.
“It seems that my talent works better the closer someone is to me?”
Lin Zhichen discovered that the skills of his direct subordinates grew rapidly. Even now, their training speed was faster than that of Lin Ke’s recruits—nominally, both Lin Ke and his subordinates were under Lin Zhichen’s command, but the skill growth rate was noticeably different when they were under Lin Ke’s supervision.
A week later, the ship encountered three pirate vessels.
“Pirate raiding ships, not bad. Perfect for some practice!” Lin Zhichen’s eyes lit up. He was about to order the new crew members to ambush them but then paused. “I remember I’m a fleet commander now, right? It would be a waste to just attack like this!”
With that thought, he paused and opened the star network to search.
Generally speaking, personal forces had two development paths: one was a mercenary group, and the other was a business association.
Mercenary groups follow the path of warfare. They took on tasks from employers during peacetime, and some combat missions were also handed out by the military, guiding mercenary groups to complete them. During wartime, they were conscripted by the United Government, serving as reserve forces.
Business associations, on the other hand, followed the path of commerce. Initially, they focused on trading across various star systems, transporting and selling products. Later, they moved towards industrial production, such as pharmaceuticals and the cultivation of psionic plants.
While these paths seem distinct, there was no clear boundary between them. The difference mainly lied in their focus.
“We will follow the path of warfare!” This was the established plan. Lin Zhichen directly opened the Mercenary Guild’s homepage to register.
As a subordinate unit of the military, the Mercenary Guild naturally had his relevant information. Such an operation would not be allowed on a normal administrative planet, as it would turn into private armies for various military leaders, becoming uncontrollable.
However, for newly joined administrative planets, there was exceptional leniency. Soon, a mercenary group named “Meteor” was born.
There was no need to worry about duplicate names because the leader and other key personnel of each mercenary group serve as its unique identifiers.
“Name: Meteor
Type: Mercenary Group
Level: 1
Military Merit: 0
Task Completion Rate:
Members: 1/100
Warships: Psionic Frigate*1
Base: Earth
Evaluation: A fledgling novice!”
A simple mercenary group panel, at the lowest level.
Casually pulling Lin Ke and the others in, the mercenary group finally had some members.
Not in the mood to look closely at the details, he recorded the pirate information he had just scanned and uploaded it to the military database of the Earth Defense Directorate.
Soon, the AI completed the review, and a task list was returned.
“Clear Pirates 562
Mission Intelligence: Fleet Size: Micro, initially judged to be three frigates
Mission Level: Gray
Mission Requirements: 1. Mission Duration: 1 week; 2. Mission Objective: Destroy the pirate fleet
Mission Reward: 1 Military Merit, 1 Energy Credit
Mission Description: As the solar system integrates into the new universe, the signs of gamification are becoming increasingly apparent over time. Some dangerous pirate fleets have been refreshed, threatening the safety of Earth’s billions of inhabitants and the interstellar trade routes.”
“Self-sufficient!” Lin Zhichen completed the review with satisfaction and casually accepted the mission.
This was truly seamless!
According to the normal mission release process, the space radar station first scanned the pirate fleet, then sent the information to the military database. The military AI automatically evaluated and reviewed it, followed by a secondary review by a commander or chief of staff-level officer, before finally sending it to the Mercenary Guild’s database to issue the mission to various mercenary groups.
Lin Zhichen’s operation designated the mission recipient, bypassing the Mercenary Guild and directly assigning the mission to his registered mercenary group—as a high-ranking officer in Earth’s military, he could directly issue missions.
By doing this, not only would he eliminate the three pirate ships, but he would also earn an additional 1 energy credit. Most importantly, he would gain 1 military merit, which could be used to upgrade the mercenary group.