Chapter 3: The Legend Beckons: Arrival on Warstar

Brain development assessments are always handled with the utmost seriousness.

Anyone caught falsifying results will face severe punishment from the Human Federation.

It doesn’t matter how powerful or influential they are—no one is exempt.

Of course, that’s only on one condition…

The deception has to actually be ‘discovered’.

“Admiral, just who would dare pull something like this?”

“Who else but that old fox from the First Fleet? His son ranked fourth in the graduation exam. Sure, geniuses get priority, but what if the top three are all geniuses too?”

Ye Lingwei suddenly understood.

She knew of that First Fleet commander. He’d had a child late in life…

To secure his only son’s future, he really would stoop to something like this.

So, in that case… could it be that Lin Yu…

Is actually a genius with more than 20% brain development?

And what’s even more important—he dominated both the theory and the combat simulation this year, blowing everyone away with perfect scores and top marks in every subject?

“After I learned about this, I struck a deal with that old fox.”

While Ye Lingwei was still reeling, Mu Qingxue, sitting on the captain’s chair, went on.

“I’ll keep his dirty secret, but Lin Yu belongs to me!”

“I don’t care about the specifics, but I want to see Lin Yu step onto the Qiongxiao as a combat operations officer—and get promoted straight to captain.”

“From what I know, that old guy burned nearly all the connections and favors he’d saved up over decades just to make this happen.”

“He’s probably regretting it now. If he’d known, he might’ve just poured all those resources directly into his son instead.”

Mu Qingxue couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

The idea of making the First Fleet’s old fox take a loss clearly brought her a lot of satisfaction.

Still, just having ties to the Kanbes family wouldn’t be enough to get Lin Yu onto the Qiongxiao, let alone let him skip past the trainee stage and straight into a bridge operations post.

Behind the scenes, Mu Qingxue had done some maneuvering as well.

But of course, those are things she’d never admit.

“Admiral, what exactly is Lin Yu’s brain development percentage?”

“No idea.”

“Huh? You don’t know?”

Ye Lingwei was caught off guard.

She’d assumed Lin Yu’s brain development was sky-high, which was why her admiral had gone to such lengths to bring him over.

Turns out… they don’t know?

“Correct. There couldn’t be any evidence, so they covered their tracks very carefully.”

“First they brought Lin Yu into the testing room, but kept all the equipment shut off the whole time. No data was ever recorded.”

“Then, they used a stand-in they’d prepared in advance—someone with exactly 19% brain development—to do the actual test.”

“So, the report in the Federation’s database right now is just that stand-in’s result.”

Mu Qingxue shook her head slightly, but her eyes flashed with a hint of darkness.

There may not be hard data, but she was convinced the real figure…

Was definitely no less than 25%.

Otherwise, the core data in the simulated battle system wouldn’t have triggered her Quantum Resonance.

……

……

Ye Lingwei was still puzzled.

If they didn’t know the result, why go to so much effort for Lin Yu?

Sure, she and the First Fleet commander didn’t exactly get along.

But was it worth risking an all-out feud just for Lin Yu?

“Don’t look at me like that!”

“Didn’t you ever check Lin Yu’s physical test reports or his simulation battle records from the academy?”

What was she getting at?

Ye Lingwei looked even more confused.

“His physical stats even beat mine back in the day.”

“A lot of his simulation battles have been useful references for me. That’s why I suspect…”

“His brain development might even surpass mine!”

Ye Lingwei’s eyes went wide in shock.

She didn’t know Mu Qingxue’s own innate brain development percentage, but it had to be high—maybe right up against the current human limit of 25%.

But what had Mu Qingxue just said?

She claimed Lin Yu’s brain development might actually be higher than hers.

That was…

Practically unbelievable!

——

With his bag in hand, Lin Yu stepped off the gangway and swept his gaze over the spaceport, eyebrows raised.

To his surprise, at least a third of the ground crew here were women.

Federation-wide, women make up about 27% of all fleet personnel, but in frontline combat units it’s usually less than 10%.

And among frontline support crews, women are usually even rarer.

This kind of staffing was highly unusual.

A woman in uniform strode briskly toward him.

“Captain Lin Yu?”

“That’s me!”

He nodded, lightly tapping his left wrist to wake his tactical interface.

A virtual display opened in midair, showing his orders from the higher-ups.

Once she’d checked everything, the woman saluted again.

“Please follow me!”

To be honest, Warstar was truly massive.

He followed the female officer for a full ten minutes, even taking an elevator across more than twenty decks before finally reaching his destination.

A single-person cabin awaited him.

It wasn’t big—just over ten square meters.

Small, yes, but all the essentials were there, even a private bathroom.

That’s the kind of single-occupancy room only officers get. If you’re a field-grade or flag officer, the perks get even better.

Ordinary soldiers? They bunk eight to a cabin.

Of course, that’s just how Warstar operates. On other ships, accommodations aren’t nearly this good.

“Your uniform, insignia, and tactical interface are all prepared. Once you’ve changed, please report to the bridge.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

He returned the salute and watched her leave, then crossed the room to the bed.

Two sets of navy-blue uniforms lay neatly folded, gold captain’s bars glinting under the lights, and his military interface pulsing with blue data streams.

No point wasting time—he changed on the spot.

Time to head to the bridge. After all, the youngest admiral in Federation history awaits—one of the great legends of the fleet. Wouldn’t want to make a bad first impression.

Three quick moves, and Lin Yu was in his brand-new uniform, radiating confidence and authority.

The Federation fleet’s uniforms really were a work of art.

He pinned the Fifth Fleet insignia to his chest. It hummed to life while his wrist console projected a holographic guide—essential if he didn’t want to get lost inside this steel giant.

A few minutes later.

He paused at the threshold of the bridge.

Two heavily armored guards stood watch, their visor displays flickering with streams of data, running a full scan in an instant.

They confirmed his identity immediately.

Lin Yu returned their salute and stepped confidently into the heart of the ship.

“It’s huge…”

That was his first, gut reaction as he stepped onto the Qiongxiao’s bridge.

He’d graduated from the Federation’s premier military academy, and he’d seen countless starship bridges in holographic simulations.

But Warstar’s bridge was on a scale beyond anything he’d imagined.

This kind of top-secret design had never appeared in their training sims.

Just one look told him there were easily over a hundred people in here.

And it wasn’t even at full combat capacity—many stations were empty at the moment.

The hundred-meter-diameter ring-like space was split into upper, middle, and lower levels, with hundreds of control consoles arranged like stars in the night sky.

A huge holographic star map floated in the center, spinning slowly, casting a deep blue glow over Mu Qingxue’s long silver hair.

The admiral herself was seated on the command throne, eyes locked on the strategic display through her quantum vision.

Her deputy, Ye Lingwei, stood at her side, her uniform perfectly tailored, posture crisp and commanding.

Ye Lingwei was Mu Qingxue’s top aide—and also, in private, her closest friend.

Neither of these women were ordinary.

One had become an admiral at just thirty-two, leading the Fifth Fleet—one of the Federation’s five main armadas, regarded as a living legend.

The other was already a colonel at age twenty-eight. At thirty-two, she’d be up for brigadier general—no match for Mu Qingxue, maybe, but still guaranteed to reach flag rank.

That was just a matter of time.

The youngest admiral and a rising star acknowledged as the next general.

A true monster duo.

Looking at the two women ahead, even Lin Yu couldn’t help but think those exact words to himself.

“Reporting as ordered! Lin Yu, present!”

He circled to the front, heels clicking together with precision, right arm raised in a textbook salute.

That historic first meeting was captured and immortalized by the bridge’s monitors.

A thousand years later, that photo still sits in a bulletproof crystal case at the Federation museum…

Bathed quietly in starlight.