Chapter 108: A Fleet Set Sail for the Unknown

Just like that, half a year slipped by in the blink of an eye.

It’s been over seven months since that decisive battle.

At this moment, apart from the Fourth Fleet—which, while currently being restructured, has sent a detachment to the Kuiper Belt to reestablish a base and defense line—and the Third Fleet, which has moved out beyond Uranus…

The rest of the fleets are basically all resting and recovering at the rear.

They’re also in the process of replenishing both ships and personnel.

Three months ago, the Sixth Fleet dropped its ‘experimental’ tag and was officially commissioned.

According to the Federation Fleet Headquarters, the Sixth Fleet will be composed of one Warstar, nineteen Zhulong-class heavy cruisers, thirty-six destroyers, and one hundred and eight frigates—a total of 164 warships.

That’s right, there isn’t a single battleship in the entire fleet.

First reason—every fleet needs more battleships, but the production queue stretches three years into the future.

Second, the Zhulong-class heavy cruiser’s firepower is truly absurd. One cruiser can match several battleships at once.

So skipping battleships wasn’t Headquarters denying them, but Lin Yu’s own choice.

Especially now that the Bai Ze Mechs are being mass produced, Lin Yu isn’t keen on space fighters anymore. Add in the fact that nineteen Zhulong-class ships can each carry a mecha wing—thirty-eight mecha regiments between them.

With that setup, who needs aircraft carriers?

And so, the fleet’s current formation: no battleships, no carriers.

Lin Yu’s plan is for nine of the nineteen Zhulong-class warships to split into groups of three, each group matched with twelve destroyers and thirty-six frigates, making three large squadrons with fifty-one ships each.

The other ten Zhulong-class cruisers will team up with the Warstar, forming a fast strike group of just eleven ships.

After all, Lin Yu’s Warstar uses three Zero-Point Modules for power—a next-gen warship that can hit speeds up to 380 kilometers per second.

In that case, pairing it with last-generation destroyers and frigates would only hold the strike group back. Only the Zhulong-class can keep up with the new Warstar’s tempo.

Of course, all that is still just Lin Yu’s vision right now.

Because…

At present, the Sixth Fleet—including newly transferred destroyers and frigates—barely numbers fifty ships.

Even with the Federation still running on a wartime production system, the Sixth Fleet isn’t expected to reach full strength for another fifteen months.

Especially the Warstar—it won’t be service-ready for eighteen more months.

Anyway, according to Fleet Headquarters, the wartime production will continue for another three years.

By then, all three of the Federation’s main fleets will be at full strength.

And humanity’s large-scale interstellar colonization…

Will officially begin.

But before that happens…

——

Moon—Federation Fleet Headquarters.

Mu Xingchen, Vladimir, Ryan, and President Friedrich—four of the most powerful people in the Federation—all sat down together.

Clearly, this was no ordinary meeting.

“Everyone’s here, so let’s get started!”

After glancing at the others, Mu Xingchen, as the one who called the meeting, started…

A meeting that would profoundly shape humanity’s future.

Three hours later.

The conference ended, and Federation Fleet Headquarters on the Moon sent an order to the Zhulong.

Inside the captain’s office, Lin Yu opened the file. After a quick scan, his eyes narrowed sharply.

“What happened?”

“I might miss my child’s birth…”

Lin Yu gave Mu Qingxue a soft look, his voice tinged with guilt.

Yes, Mu Qingxue was pregnant.

Though only a bit over three months, her belly had already started to show.

These days, Night Lingwei had fully taken over Fifth Fleet operations, and Mu Qingxue had simply moved into the captain’s quarters aboard the Zhulong.

But it hadn’t even been a few days since she moved in, and already—

“Looks like they chose you after all…”

Mu Qingxue hadn’t seen the order herself, but after hearing Lin Yu’s words, she had a pretty good idea what it meant.

Now that the existence of the Cosmic Current was confirmed, large-scale colonization beyond their borders was inevitable. The only reason it hadn’t started yet: the Federation needs time to rebuild its fleets.

Another reason—the bases and defense lines at the Kuiper Belt, Uranus, and Jupiter, all wrecked by the Klein, still need time to recover.

So while large-scale expansion is on hold for now, in two or three years, it’ll surely happen.

Which means someone has to scout ahead before then.

Mu Qingxue understood all this; it was clear this mission had fallen to Lin Yu.

Even a roundtrip to Proxima Centauri—the nearest star system at 4.22 light years—would take two years at best, even if everything went smoothly.

After all, just traveling from Mars to the Kuiper Belt takes nearly six months on the Zhulong.

Then there’s the trip deeper into the Kuiper Belt, all the way to the Cosmic Current’s entrance—another month or more. So…

Before they’d even left the Solar System, seven months would be gone.

“When do you leave?”

“A team from the Far East First Research Institute is already on their way. Once they arrive, we’ll depart. About a month from now.”

“Alright, just go without worrying about me, I’ll be fine.”

It would be impossible for Mu Qingxue to have no feelings about it.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have moved onto the Zhulong—just to see Lin Yu every day.

After all, pregnancy is when a woman most needs her husband by her side.

Mu Qingxue may be a strong woman, but she’s still a woman—and this was no exception.

Still, both she and Lin Yu were Federation officers.

So, even with all the reluctance, Mu Qingxue still managed to smile and see Lin Yu off.

——

One month later.

The Far East First Research Institute team’s arrival brought over a hundred personnel, led by an old acquaintance of Lin Yu’s—Dr. Lu. Full name: Lu Bo!

Yes, as long as you just call his given name and drop the formalities, that’s all there is to it.

His surname is Lu, with ‘Bo’ as his only given name.

Meanwhile, Lin Yu had finished handing over command. The newly promoted chief of staff, Colonel Qin Qiong, stayed behind to manage new ships and recruits and supervise training.

Mu Qingxue, meanwhile, moved back to the Qiongxiao, where a specialized medical team looked after her.

For efficiency, Lin Yu wouldn’t bring the whole fleet for this mission, just nineteen Zhulong-class warships.

The Zhulong-class were fast enough. If destroyers or frigates came along, it’d just slow the fleet down—not worth wasting time.

Once everything was ready—

Lin Yu led the nineteen Zhulong-class warships toward the Kuiper Belt…

And set off.