Chapter 52 Plans for a Psionic Force

The Psychic Commander was undoubtedly an extremely powerful profession.

However, to unleash its full combat potential, Ethan still needed to create a suitable army.

Without compatible troops, a Psychic Commander’s strategic capabilities would be severely diminished.

Psychic Commanders were somewhat similar to hero units in *Heroes of Might and Magic*.

They possessed considerable individual combat power, but their various abilities could only reach their full potential when they commanded the appropriate armies.

That was both the profession’s weakness and its greatest strength.

According to the knowledge contained within the Psychic Commander Training Manual, conventional soldiers were poorly suited to a Psychic Commander’s psionic command methods.

Consider the familiar world of *Command & Conquer: Red Alert*.

One of its factions, Yuri’s Empire, specialized in psychic abilities.

Even the faction’s most basic infantry—the Initiates—possessed psychic powers that allowed them to launch fiery blasts.

Ethan could command ordinary human troops, but the problem lay in their minds.

A normal human psyche simply couldn’t maintain a prolonged psychic link.

Without establishing such a link, Ethan couldn’t activate his army-scale battlefield perception.

Using the link once or twice during a short engagement wouldn’t cause too much harm.

However, if he maintained psychic links with ordinary soldiers throughout a prolonged battle, they would require at least several months of recovery afterward.

Therefore, Psychic Commanders generally used clone soldiers whose emotions and independent minds had been erased, genetically evolved warriors, psionic soldiers, or other similarly advanced troops.

Alternatively, they could command beings created through mechanical ascension, such as YoRHa androids, Tactical Dolls, or shipgirls.

Fortunately, after using the Psychic Commander Training Manual, Ethan had received a building blueprint.

The Psionic Warrior Academy.

Once this facility was constructed, Ethan could use it to identify suitable candidates with psionic potential and train them.

However, the price made his expression stiffen.

Constructing it required 50,000 Rumor Points, and it could train 3,000 basic psionic recruits every three months.

Ethan glanced at his balance, which had only just surpassed 100,000 Rumor Points.

Gritting his teeth, he decided to build it anyway.

Rather than directly purchasing more Foundation support, he spent the remaining Rumor Points on several highly cost-effective sets of technical data and production licenses.

These included Puppet-Type Clone Soldier Production Data, sample data on T-series viral products from the *Resident Evil* universe, an MTF-I Combat Exoskeleton Production License, and an Owl-I Intelligent Drone Production License.

Instead of wasting points on the system’s overpriced support packages, it made far more sense to purchase permanent production rights from the outset.

The Foundation’s two existing Mobile Task Forces were already sufficient for the time being.

Ethan also possessed the Krieg Regiment Military Whistle.

He could summon a 10,000-soldier Krieg regiment every month.

There was no longer any need to waste Rumor Points purchasing Foundation reinforcements directly.

Ethan already had enough conventional forces.

What he needed next was to develop various forms of elite combat power.

At the very least, he first needed to assemble a complete force of clone puppet soldiers specifically suited to his abilities as a Psychic Commander.

Psionic forces would become one of the Foundation’s primary paths toward developing high-end combat power.

After gaining sufficient combat experience, every psionic recruit under Ethan’s command could advance into various higher-level roles.

He could then assign some of the elite psionic soldiers to conventional Mobile Task Forces, improving the Foundation’s overall combat strength and creating a virtuous cycle.

Once he had settled on this direction, Ethan immediately summoned Miss 2B, who served as both his adjutant and security officer.

“I’ll be expanding the Foundation base.

Engineers and other personnel from Foundation Headquarters will arrive soon.” “One of the new facilities will be a Psionic Warrior Academy dedicated to training psionic soldiers.

Pass the order along to the Mobile Task Forces.

Any suitable candidates who are interested may enroll at the academy for training.” “Understood, Commander.” As he watched Miss 2B leave to relay his orders, Ethan couldn’t help thinking about Queen Yukikaze, another artificial intelligence.

Now that everything had finally settled down, he naturally had to use this rare free time to enjoy a man’s favorite pastimes!

Guns, artillery, machinery, tanks, aircraft, warships, and mechs—what man wouldn’t love those things?

After advancing to become a Psychic Commander, Ethan’s body had surpassed ordinary human limitations.

He could now operate certain unconventional weapons and equipment.

Take the FFR-41MR electronic combat fighter Yukikaze, for example.

Its maneuverability was so extreme that a large portion of the aircraft’s performance had to be restricted simply to protect its pilot.

Even an exceptional test pilot could die on the spot from the gravitational forces produced by its tremendous acceleration.

In many cases, aircraft were designed the way they were because the pilot’s physical limitations prevented the airframe from demonstrating its full performance.

The same was true of human firearms and artillery.

The necessary technology often already existed, but the weapons’ power had to be limited because the human body could only withstand so much.

It was easy to imagine that, as increasing numbers of superhuman Foundation operatives emerged, the Foundation would eventually have to design an entire range of equipment specifically for those enhanced soldiers.

For now, Ethan had already changed into a complete flight suit.

He slowly approached his newly acquired aircraft.

The most powerful fighter jet in the world— The FFR-41MR, Queen Yukikaze!