Chapter 124: New Dawn for the Sixth Fleet

It’s not just about firepower.

The Houyi can also carry three Bai Ze Mecha Regiments and up to ten Heavy Orbital Paratrooper Regiments.

At the same time, it’s powered by a robust energy supply and fitted with the latest generation engine.

Even with its massive length of 5.7 kilometers, this beast can cruise easily at 380 kilometers per hour and, when pushed to the limit, nearly hit 500 kilometers per hour.

Of course, nobody would push it that far unless there was a real emergency.

That’s because overclocking the engines drastically shortens their lifespan.

Houyi’s armor is impressive too. It doesn’t have the energy shields of a Tier Four civilization, but it does use cutting-edge tech.

Take the armor for example—the average thickness across the ship is 6.8 meters, and the thickest spots reach an incredible 16 meters.

But it’s not just about piling on more armor. The newest armor can deflect more than 90 percent of the force from kinetic weapons by using kinetic deflection technology.

Basically, unless you’re facing a Tier Three civilization or some kind of anomalous tech, Houyi’s untouchable.

After all, most main weapons of ordinary Tier Two civilizations are kinetic weapons like railguns firing physical rounds.

Lin Yu was more than satisfied with the warship’s design.

Now, all that’s left is to get the rest of the crew aboard and take the fleet out for a test run.

Setting aside Houyi’s documents, Lin Yu pulled up the Sixth Fleet’s dossier.

He’d been gone for two years. In his absence, the reception of new warships, incoming recruits, and everyday fleet operations were all managed by Chief-of-Staff Qin Qiong on Mars.

Now, the Sixth Fleet was no longer that experimental unit with just nineteen warships—it had become a fully equipped core Federation fleet!

Warstar x1 (Houyi, Flagship)

Zhulong-class Warship x10

These eleven warships now formed a Warstar Strike Group, and a fast strike group at that.

The rest would be divided into three large sub-fleets.

Each sub-fleet was kitted out as follows.

Zhulong-class Warship x3

Fire Rat-class Destroyer x12

Qingluan-class Frigate x36

Each sub-fleet boasted an impressive force—fifty-one warships per group.

And it’s not just quantity. With three Zhulong-class in each group, their firepower was nothing to scoff at.

Looking at the setup as a whole, Lin Yu managed to form the Sixth Fleet into four strike groups, making sure every battle group packed a punch.

If this were a few years back, they could’ve beaten the Klein to tears.

Of course, right now only the Sixth Fleet in the Federation could pull off an arrangement like this.

After all, only thirty-five Zero-Point Modules exist. During the decisive battle against the Klein, one was even used to trigger a cosmic repulsion event.

Of the remaining thirty-four, twenty-two were installed on Houyi and the ten Zhulong-class warships.

There’s simply no way to field another fleet like this one.

In short, with one hundred sixty-four warships, the Sixth Fleet has truly become the strongest fleet in the Federation.

Even the First Fleet, with its more than three hundred warships, can’t begin to compare.

Still, the Federation’s headquarters spent a long time discussing where to station the Sixth Fleet.

Remember, all five defensive lines in the Milky Way now have their own fleets assigned. Here’s the breakdown…

The Fourth Fleet covers the Kuiper Belt–Pluto approach.

The Third Fleet handles the Uranus line.

The Second Fleet is in charge at the Jupiter front.

The Fifth Fleet defends the Mars line.

And the First Fleet is responsible for Earth’s sphere.

So where should the fully assembled Sixth Fleet be stationed?

Fleet Headquarters debated this endlessly, but Lin Yu’s recent return and the intel he brought from Proxima Centauri finally settled things.

A final decision was made at Fleet Headquarters.

Even though the Federation had already decided to launch large-scale colonization, communication difficulties made the leadership uneasy about these plans.

One misstep, and you could have a colonial rebellion on your hands.

When there’s almost zero communication, the distance is vast, and early colonists have to rely on themselves, there’s just no way for the Federation to give large-scale and timely support.

Classic case of ‘the mountains are high, and the emperor is far away’…

That’s why the people chosen for this have to be picked with extreme care.

In the end, after much discussion, they decided Lin Yu would command the fleet, but as for administration…

Friedrich offered up some names, but none could win full approval from the other Three Leaders.

So things hit a bit of a snag.

But in any case, nothing would be done until the negotiations with the elven delegation finished. Only then would the Sixth Fleet set off for Proxima.

Judging by the timeline, it’d be quite a while.

And the Federation also needs to prepare for migration. This time they’re planning to set up an administrative district on Proxima Centauri V, with the first wave alone moving at least a million people there for initial development.

Personnel, supplies, equipment, fleets—

All of these will take a ton of time to prepare.

Besides, the necessary legal framework will need to be set up and improved as well.

For humanity, there’s zero experience to draw from; they have to figure it all out as they go.

——

“Qingxue, is this your decision?”

Mu Xingchen gazed at his granddaughter, looking complicated.

The Mu family had been a military lineage for centuries, pouring every resource and connection into the Federation Fleet.

Besides, thanks to an unspoken rule set when the Federation was founded, only people from the three major founding nations could ever rise to the very top of the administration—or run for president.

So…

These families from the original three powers never put much energy into administration.

Instead, they focused on climbing the ranks within the Federation Fleet.

But now Mu Qingxue was telling Mu Xingchen she planned to leave the military for politics instead.

How could Mu Xingchen not have mixed feelings about it?

Still, he knew very well why Mu Qingxue made this decision.

With things going the way they were, Lin Yu would barely have time to stay in the Solar System, and with the Fifth Fleet responsible for the Mars line, Mu Qingxue couldn’t leave her post there.

“I understand!”

Mu Xingchen let out a small sigh.

He knew his granddaughter well—once she made up her mind, nothing could change it.

Rather than forcing her hand, maybe it was better…

Just let her go.

“So, what do you plan to do about the Fifth Fleet?”

“If possible, let Ling Wei take over. Her rank is a bit lower, but she’s more than capable.”

“Understood!”

——

Half an hour later.

Mu Xingchen gathered Vladimir, Ryan, and current President Friedrich for a meeting.

He explained Mu Qingxue’s intentions.

“Old Mu, you’re really letting her go? You know there’s no future in taking the administrative route.”

“That’s right. If she stays in the Federation Fleet, she’ll eventually be promoted to your post. But if she switches to administration… the most she’ll ever be is the head of an administrative district.”

Both Vladimir and Ryan tried to persuade him.

Some unwritten rules had become shared understanding—everyone knew them, and they couldn’t be crossed.

No exceptions.

But if you don’t cross the line, like Ryan said, the highest Mu Qingxue could aim for would be a district governor.

That would be her ceiling.

“Qingxue’s already decided. Let it be.”

“Friedrich, I’ll leave the arrangements to you.”

Friedrich looked troubled.

Mu Qingxue wasn’t just anyone—she was someone impossible to ignore.

The first human born with a brain capacity exceeding 25 percent, and already a young admiral commanding the Fifth Fleet.

Someone like that—it would be ridiculous to give her just any random job.

Maybe…

“Why not go all the way? Just appoint her as Governor of Proxima?”

“You… you’re serious?”