Chapter 24: The Federation’s Next-Generation Warship: Dawn of the Zhulong

Federation Fleet Next-Generation Warship Project.

Zhulong-class heavy cruiser, flagship: Zhulong.

Developed by the Federation Far East First Warship Design Bureau.

At this point, Lin Yu finally understood why this warship was named Zhulong.

After all, the Far East First Warship Design Bureau is one of the Federation’s top three ship design bureaus, and it’s led by Huaxia.

Come to think of it, the Qiongxiao Warstar was also designed here.

Compared to the current cruisers in each fleet, the Zhulong-class heavy cruiser uses a wealth of cutting-edge technology—especially when it comes to energy, where it’s achieved a monumental breakthrough.

That’s right. This warship doesn’t run on controlled nuclear fusion reactors, but on…

Vacuum Zero-Point Energy!

They’ve actually managed to make this technology a reality?

Lin Yu was stunned.

This is a power source that’s way more advanced than controlled nuclear fusion.

And it’s not just a little bit more advanced—it’s a whole different level. The gap between the two is massive.

Lin Yu really never expected that something considered science fiction even in the Federation era could be achieved already.

Huh?

As Lin Yu read on…

He instantly frowned.

It’s just a lab prototype. If they want to mass-produce it, there are still tons of problems to solve.

Estimated: at least another ten years?

And apparently, only three zero-point vacuum energy modules have been created in the lab. One of them is installed on the Zhulong.

Unlike a controlled fusion reactor, the zero-point module is more like a battery.

But the energy stored in this ‘battery’ is enough to keep the Zhulong at peak combat readiness for at least three straight years.

Once it’s drained, it needs to be recharged.

The most critical issue: humanity still has no way to recharge these modules.

Even the three we have now contain energy accumulated from a one-off, unrepeatable experiment that succeeded by sheer luck.

No matter what, though, this single breakthrough means the last barrier to equipping human warships with energy weapons has been shattered.

Because of this, the Zhulong’s weapon systems are a complete break from the Federation’s existing warship designs—energy weapons make up the bulk of its arsenal.

According to the previous sea trials report of the Zhulong…

Its main gun can hit targets up to 1.8 million kilometers away, and it’s even more powerful than the ion cannon on the Warstar.

After every shot, it takes thirty seconds to recharge.

Besides the main gun, the Zhulong did away with railguns entirely, equipping the entire ship with 168 secondary guns—all ion cannons.

Of course, these have a much smaller caliber than the main gun and a shorter range—just 500,000 kilometers.

But the upside is that their firing speed is blistering.

Each shot only needs seven seconds to recharge.

For close-in defense, though, it’s still using electromagnetic rapid-fire cannons.

Ion cannons are powerful, but due to their slow recharge, even shrinking the caliber can’t make them fire noticeably faster.

So for point defense, electromagnetic rapid-fire cannons still have the edge.

After digging through the energy and weapon systems, Lin Yu checked out the rest and discovered…

This warship is outrageously powerful.

It’s not just energy and weapons—it’s superior across the board.

No wonder the documents call it the ‘Next-Generation’ Warship Project, instead of the Fourth-Generation (the Federation is still on third-generation ships).

Those three words—’Next-Generation’—really carry some weight.

No exaggeration there.

Even though the Zhulong is technically a cruiser, its combat power is way above the Federation’s third-gen battleships.

It might even rival the Warstar.

In certain scenarios, it could even take down the Warstar.

And honestly, that wouldn’t be surprising.

Of course, that’s just for now.

Once they solve the zero-point vacuum energy mass-production problem, all Federation warships will be upgraded, and as for the Warstar…

They probably won’t scrap it for a brand-new ship, but heavy refits and upgrades are a sure thing.

With a vessel that huge, once it gets enough energy and isn’t held back by power constraints, plus all sorts of advanced weapons…

It’ll be more than ten times stronger than it is now.

An hour later.

Lin Yu had finished going over every document on the Zhulong-class heavy cruiser, imprinting all the details firmly in his mind.

He even ran quick simulations for various battle scenarios using that information as a foundation.

Wait a second—those eight simulations just now? They only took five minutes?

All of a sudden, Lin Yu realized something and his eyes went wide.

His combat simulation scores in the military academy had always been top-tier for a very important reason.

Lin Yu was able to set countless parameters in his mind and run fully-detailed battle simulations all up in his head.

He’d always assumed this was something everyone could do.

Even all the way up to graduation, he thought so.

After all, the instructors did teach techniques for quickly constructing scenarios in your brain and analyzing the flow of battle.

But Lin Yu never realized that what the instructors described and his own mind’s simulation ability—on par with the academy’s system—weren’t even the same thing.

They really weren’t the same at all.

Even before graduation, running battle simulations of this complexity used to take him at least half an hour.

It was never easy processing that much data at once.

And every time he finished, he had to rest for hours or it was too much strain.

But what’s going on today?

In just five minutes, he’d run eight different scenarios inside his head.

And…

He wasn’t the slightest bit tired.

At that moment, Lin Yu suddenly remembered something Mu Qingxue once said.

If your innate brain development surpasses 25%, you’ll awaken certain special abilities!

Lin Yu always assumed that his awakening was some kind of precognition.

But as Mu Qingxue pointed out…

Before your ability fully awakens, there might be signs, but those are just manifestations of the ability—not the real thing.

So, could his true special ability actually be hyper-speed calculation?

Precognition…

Yeah, that’s right—precognition is basically a form of hyper-speed calculation. That checks out.

The brain absorbs all sorts of information and, based on that, works out what might happen in the future.

That process feeds back as a vague sense of premonition.

When you think about it, that’s just another application of hyper-speed calculation, isn’t it?

Of course, that’s only one way to use it. Running high-precision battle simulations in your mind is another.

That, too, is just another use for hyper-speed calculation.

If his guess is right, then—

The ability he’s about to awaken is absolutely terrifying.

Because depending on how it’s used, this power might have limitless potential.

——

One day later.

Inside Lin Yu’s quarters.

At the moment, multiple holographic interfaces shimmered into existence around him.

Every single one held detailed records of a different person.

There were hundreds in total.

So many holographic displays hovered in the air that they nearly filled the entire room.

That’s right—Lin Yu was choosing people.

He needed to pick the department heads for every position on the Zhulong’s bridge.

And just then—

Mu Qingxue sent him a file.

Lin Yu manipulated his computer and opened it up.

He glanced at the screen—

And his eyes went wide.

It was someone’s transfer application for Fifth Fleet.

And the name on that request was—

George Campbell.