Chapter 36: The Core of the Zhulong: Next-Gen Power and Human Ambition

Core energy chamber of the Zhulong.

Mu Qingxue followed Lin Yu inside.

When the Zhulong first arrived, she’d wanted to check it out before Lin Yu left.

After all, this so-called next-generation warship was actually part of her own fleet.

No matter how you looked at it, she should really see it for herself.

She’d missed the chance back then because she got called in for a sudden meeting at Headquarters.

Now that Lin Yu had returned and reported in—

Mu Qingxue was even more interested.

“Admiral, this is the zero-point energy module!”

“Yeah, this energy theory has been around for over six hundred years now. I always thought it was just a fantasy, but it actually works…”

Honestly, it wasn’t just Mu Qingxue—over six hundred years, just about everyone assumed this was nothing more than a pipe dream.

Even if it ever did become possible, people figured it’d take thousands, maybe tens of thousands of years.

Because the way you harness vacuum zero-point energy is—

Frankly, it’s unbelievable.

In theory, this is energy that exists within the quantum vacuum, and to get at it, you’d have to squeeze it out of space-time itself.

What does that even mean?

Basically, within this universe—or rather, in regular space—it’s outright impossible.

So if you want to tap into this kind of energy, you have to take a very different path.

And that already steps into the realm of space technology. Even today’s humans—let alone the most advanced civilizations in the Milky Way—haven’t scratched the surface of it.

So even if it just happened as a lucky outcome from some experiment, and humans managed to grab hold of vacuum zero-point energy, in the grand scope of the galaxy—

It’s still absolutely shocking.

Not to mention, while the experiment itself might not be repeatable, it gave humanity a mountain of new data—just enough to pry open the locked doors of space tech a crack.

From here, it’s just a matter of time.

Humans might end up being the most unique civilization in the Milky Way.

Because—

Who else stumbles onto space technology as a first-level civilization?

Never mind just the Milky Way, there might not be another case like this in the whole universe.

“That’s it? It’s so small?”

Mu Qingxue stared at the device in the center of the chamber, watching the zero-point module at work, her face showing surprise.

And just as she said—this thing was—

Ridiculously small.

It looked just like a transparent crystal column, glowing a vivid blue from within.

Roughly thirty centimeters long and about five centimeters in diameter.

Something that compact, yet it could power the Zhulong for three years straight.

And not just normal operation—three years of full combat intensity.

Yeah, we’re talking nonstop firing, twenty-four-seven battle conditions.

Scientists even claimed that one of these could supply enough energy for a city of ten million for a hundred years.

Talk about unbelievable.

If they managed to solve all the technical problems and mass produce these—

Humanity would be set for takeoff.

They’d have enough confidence to pick a fight even with third-level civilizations.

Fourth-level civilizations, though, were out of the question. Those guys have energy shields—just impossible.

The real pity—

Right now humanity only had three zero-point modules total.

Want to mass produce them—

Best case scenario, it’d be at least ten years.

If things went poorly, a few hundred or even thousands of years wouldn’t be surprising.

“So basically, this is just a battery?”

Mu Qingxue sized up the zero-point module again.

“Yep, honestly it’s just a container for zero-point energy. Once it’s out of power, you can’t use it unless you manage to refill it with zero-point energy again.”

“But unfortunately, the Science Department can’t pull that off yet.”

That really was disappointing news.

Mu Qingxue nodded.

Then she followed Lin Yu over to the hangar.

The Zhulong had two hangars in total. If you stacked both and filled them with fighters,

They could hold over three hundred ships.

But with mechs, that number was a lot smaller—about one hundred and forty, almost cut in half.

Even so, with fewer mechs, the fighting power—

That was another story entirely.

Right now, the second hangar only had three mechs in it, and the space felt eerily empty.

“Mechs… They really are the next generation of shipborne weapons, huh?”

“Lin Yu, you’ll need to pay extra attention to the 101st Mech Regiment’s training.”

“I’ve got a feeling: when our standoff with the Klein in the Asteroid Belt begins, the mech units will be more important than the warships!”

“As for production, they’re already working on it. They can’t multiply output several times over, but I hear they can at least double it!”

Lin Yu finally felt a weight lift from his mind.

He’d been worried this whole time that by the time the Klein arrived, the 101st Mech Regiment wouldn’t have enough mechs.

Now it seemed that wouldn’t be a problem.

“Got it!”

Lin Yu gave a firm nod.

——

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, three months had gone by.

By now, the Battle of Nyx at Pluto had ended more than four months ago. The main Klein fleet had already passed Uranus and was heading straight for Earth.

The Third Fleet, which had originally been stationed at Uranus, was now just two months’ travel from Jupiter.

There, they’d merge with the Second Fleet and wait for the First and Fifth Fleets to arrive.

The Federation’s last four major fleets would converge at the Jupiter defense line, carrying out the mission called Operation Ignite Jupiter. Whether that operation succeeded or failed would decide humanity’s fate.

Meanwhile—

In the Asteroid Belt, Lin Yu’s special operations unit was no longer just the lone Zhulong.

Now, they had thirteen warships.

The heavy cruiser Zhulong served as the flagship.

Alongside it were four destroyers and eight frigates.

They were still short two ships for a full complement—a high-speed reconnaissance vessel and a medium-sized carrier.

The recon ship was already en route from Mars, while the carrier was just beginning outfitting and wouldn’t be ready for two more months.

As for the 101st Mech Regiment: its subordinate 77th Mech Battalion was now fully swapped over to new machines, while the 78th had just begun training and would start getting mechs next month.

This regiment was stationed on the Zhulong. As for the carrier coming in two months—

The mechs wouldn’t be spread that far. Its ten air squadrons would still only fly fighters into battle.

That just couldn’t be helped.

Even though Bai Ze Mech production had increased, there still weren’t enough for all the carrier’s hundreds of pilots.

If, when the Asteroid Belt standoff began, even just one squadron could swap to mechs, they’d be lucky.

At the same time—

Aboard the Warstar Qiongxiao.

Mu Qingxue stood before a holographic interface, a three-dimensional tactical starmap unfolding before her.

Red and white fleets were displayed.

The red side showed two fleets, more than fifty warships strong.

The blue side had just one fleet—and only thirteen warships.

Any way you looked at it, it was a completely uneven fight.

But—

Mu Qingxue’s opinion was just the opposite.

“Ling Wei, how big a price do you think Lin Yu will pay to win this battle?”

Ye Lingwei’s eyes went wide, a row of question marks practically appearing over her head.

Thirteen against fifty-seven…

Nearly five to one. Yet instead of asking whether Lin Yu could win, her admiral—

Had already decided Lin Yu would win, and was only wondering what the cost would be.

“Admiral, are you serious?”