Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 210 Now I am a glorious space force soldier!
When the 'Golden Fleet' circumnavigated the Earth and headed towards the outer edge of the Kuiper Belt.

[Paradox Engine] Starship flagship.

Luo Qing and the captain of the 'Golden Fleet' and the 'Paradox Engine Heng' stared at each other.

How come there are acquaintances here?
"I vaguely remember you being the NATO Supreme Commander 180 years ago. How did you become the captain of the Paradox Engine?" Luo Qing looked at the Commander-in-Chief Qian, who was over seventy years old but still sitting upright in front of him, with a strange expression.

"NATO Commander-in-Chief? That's all outdated. Now I'm a glorious soldier of the Solar System Fleet!" Qian Mengjian shouted.

Qian Mengjian, the Supreme Commander of NATO from Crisis Era 8 (2014) to Crisis Era 28 (2035), is an American of Chinese descent. His great-grandfather was an official who went to the United States during the Self-Strengthening Movement and later settled in the United States. His ancestors experienced World War I and World War II and graduated from West Point Military Academy.

In the third year of the Crisis Era (2010), due to the threat of the Trisolaran crisis, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) absorbed China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea as members, and was reorganized into the Northern Hemisphere Treaty, historically known as the New NATO.

In response to the need for political balance between East and West, Qian Mengjian, a Chinese-American military general of mixed Chinese and American descent, eventually took up the post of commander of the new NATO, serving for as long as 20 years until the new NATO was reorganized by the Planetary Defense Council.

Luo Qing had met this NATO Supreme Commander several times.

In the 15th year of the Crisis Era, the Trisolaran rebels launched a campaign to seize the European Hadron Collider and obtain macroatoms. During this campaign, the Trisolaran rebels used a large number of ball lightning weapons to break through the NATO defenses, and thousands of NATO soldiers were turned into quantum ghosts and wiped out.

After the Great Hadron Collider failed, the NATO Supreme Commander immediately went to the Jura Mountains and directed the main NATO forces to surround the entire area. (See Chapter 49, Ball Lightning, for details.)
Before the Wallfacers arrived, it was the NATO Supreme Commander who, against all odds, coordinated the release of the first earth-penetrating nuclear bomb from a Russian Tu-160 strategic bomber. Although it missed its target, it successfully slowed down the Trisolaran rebels' acquisition of macro-atoms. The same Supreme Commander then immediately coordinated the release of a second earth-penetrating nuclear bomb from a US B-2 bomber. (This bomb was promptly stuffed back into the belly of the aircraft by the arriving Wallfacers and did not explode.)

After the Wallfacers cleared out the Trisolaran rebels, he was in charge of the follow-up work and flew back to Paris with the Wallfacers to hold emergency talks on the Trisolaran rebels.

During the military operation of [Pacific Coordination-2015], although Qian Mengjian did not directly participate in the direct command of the Wall-facers, he was responsible for the entire process of mobilizing 2000 human naval warships in [Pacific Coordination-2015], and together with other heads of state, he watched the Wall-facers' 'manifestation before the people' battle.

Luo Qing's interactions with this NATO commander-in-chief ended there, and he didn't really pay much attention to the subsequent fate of this Commander Qian.

“I hibernated in the 39th year of the Crisis Era,” Qian Mengjian explained. “I briefly woke up during the Great Depression and was fortunate enough to witness the Omnic Rebellion of MOSS and the arrival of the Risk Takers. I then hibernated until I awoke in the 178th year of the Crisis Era.”

Luo Qing asked, "How did you become the captain of the [Paradox Engine] again?"

"When I hibernated, I was in the U.S. Space Force's 'Reinforce the Future' program, so my military status was retained. After being unfrozen, I became a senior civilian officer in the American Fleet. But as you know, I prefer frontline combat, so I later transferred to the European Fleet and spent 22 years transforming myself from a complete idiot who knew nothing about space warships into the captain of the European flagship. My aptitude isn't as good as other hibernators, but it took me fifteen years to advance from the mid-stage of the Acquired Realm to the current peak of the Innate Realm."

Luo Qing admired him greatly.

A former top military leader on Earth, starting as a lowly soldier, spent 22 years becoming the captain of a starship, a flagship, and eventually the frontline commander of this expedition. His ambition and perseverance are truly admirable.

"Within the Fleet International, among the people of the Century, are there many who have achieved what you have?"

"Not many." Qian Mengjian shook his head with a sigh.

"The commander of the Asian Fleet is an anomaly. I will probably never reach his level, even though in my time he was just an ordinary political commissar of the Chinese Space Force. Only after I reached this point did I realize how terrifying he really is. Among all the military personnel in the 'Reinforce the Future' program, I am the one who has gone the furthest, apart from the commander of the Asian Fleet. I can barely sit at the table of the Solar System Joint Conference, although only in a corner."

"As far as I know, the highest-ranking soldier from the Common Era was only the captain of an ordinary star-class warship. His name was Chu Yan, and he had a background in the future history school. Chu was the captain of the [Blue Space], which belonged to the Asian Fleet. Some of the rest went on to become vice-captains of star-class warships, and some went on to become captains of planetary warships, but most of the soldiers from the Common Era were just ordinary crew members or operators of some weapon systems."

Luo Qing nodded. "It's inherently unfair to let the people of the Common Era compete for the right to speak with the new humans in an unfamiliar era." "There's no such thing as fairness. In terms of familiarity with the new era and warships, the people of the Common Era are indeed no match for the new humans. They are the future hope of humanity."

"Hope for the future?"

Luo Qing curled his lip: "In the two years since I came out of seclusion, I've seen a lot of chaos among the new humans. They've all been spoiled by entertainment and desires."

"So you've noticed this problem too," Qian Mengjian said with a smile.

"I've always known this, and I've been conflicted about it too, otherwise I wouldn't have gone on this expedition with you. In comparison, Fleet International feels much more comfortable to me than the United Government."

The total population of Fleet International is only a little over one billion, which is only 1/10 of the total human population, but it does represent the current 'advanced power' of mankind. Whether it is the average quality of the citizens of the three major fleets (note: the three major fleets have become three independent sovereign states in fact), or the total contribution to human society, Fleet International is far superior to Earth International (United Government).

Qian Mengjian said, "You are still too soft-hearted. If the chairman of the Solar System Joint Conference or the chairman of the United Government had your appeal, the era of great reform would have started long ago."

"We need to get the car moving on its own, instead of just pushing it. I see that some people on Earth are already reforming themselves, which is great. I hope they keep it up."

Qian Mengjian nodded in agreement: "Trust in people's own wisdom."

In this vast universe, the star-class warship that Luo Qing and Qian Mengjian were aboard was merely a part of the boundless star sea.

If someone were to view the interstellar fleet from a third-person perspective, they could clearly see that the lead ship, the Paradox Engine, resembled a silver ray cleaving through the darkness—the radiance of its nuclear fusion engine. As the view widened, more silver rays emerged from the darkness.

Three, ten, a hundred ships, sparsely spaced thousands of miles apart, forming a cone-shaped array that cuts through the darkness. When the nuclear fusion engines are lit, the fleet array transforms into a neat meteor shower, with sparse ice dust from the depths of the solar system occasionally shimmering in these artificial suns.

As the field of vision receded, more meteors began to appear.

Beyond the silvery glow of these 500 stellar-class warships lies a golden glow composed of 5000 warships powered by low-power controlled nuclear fusion engines—humanity's planetary-class fleet. Compared to the stellar-class warships, whose hulls generally exceed one kilometer in length, these planetary warships, only 300 meters long and the size of aircraft carriers, emit a relatively fainter glow. Yet, they too form shimmering dotted lines along predetermined orbits, their intricate patterns creating a golden dotted array that wanders deep within the solar system.

In order to avoid the influence of the heat from the tail of the warships in front on the warships behind, the warship group adopted a three-dimensional wedge formation with spatial staggers for advancement.

Within this nebula, a tapestry of gold and silver woven together by human power, the fleet is slowly accelerating and will reach the expected speed of 1% of the speed of light in three days.

Luo Qing sat quietly at the very front of this interstellar warship composed of the 'golden fleet,' waiting for 5500 human starlight to surge towards the abyssal ring that could devour planets.

Six months later, the expeditionary fleet will arrive near the Devouring Ring and launch the first expeditionary operation in human history.

Half a year is a long time, and Luo Qing felt that perhaps she could continue to do something.

Since his reckless actions in his previous life, Luo Qing's personality has changed drastically. Right now, he prioritizes stability. With a win rate of less than 98% in this battle, he needs to play it safe.

The phantom images of evil and good corpses flashed past behind him.

(End of this chapter)