Galactic Star Calendar 3036, April 1
【Quarterly mission: The Allies' War
Mission content: make certain that the allies' losses do not exceed a set figure.
Requirement one: the Angel Race's loss of interstellar warships must not exceed one million.
Requirement two: the Machine Race's loss of interstellar warships must not exceed one million five hundred thousand.
Mission reward: 10,000 task points】
This quarter's mission came exceedingly punctually.
Refreshing very nearly at the first moment, and making besides a wonder of two quarterly missions standing at once.
"Ten thousand task points?" Zhao Chen was somewhat startled.
By the look of it this quarterly mission is expressly for the delivering of task points.
Zhao Chen thereupon opened that system option at which he had once cast an eye, and never looked at a second time.
【Requirements for the opening of the T6 shop】
Zhao Chen's T5 shop has been open a long while; and that Zhao Chen has never spoken of upgrading to a T6 shop.
Is because that one glance then made Zhao Chen feel these requirements stood high beyond all reaching.
【T6 shop missions】
Mission content:
Mission one: the task points within the host's account reach a value of 10,000.
Mission two: the system points within the host's account reach a value of 1 billion.
Mission three: the host's (the Owl Dragon Legion's) fighting-type interstellar warships in service reach 500,000.
Mission four: the host's (the Owl Dragon Galactic Interstellar Group's) auxiliary-type Owl Dragon-line warships now held reach 2,000,000.
Mission five: the host's (the Owl Dragon Galactic Interstellar Group's) monthly output reaches 10 trillion star coins. [Complete]
Mission six: open the shop's timed mission (if not completed within the time allowed, the shop mission shall start again one year hence)
The conditions for opening the sixth-grade shop answer exactly to six shop missions.
Of which the mission upon monthly output, under the working of that housekeeper Lilith, Zhao Chen's industries had already completed at the end of last year, reaching the mark of 10 trillion a month.
And saving the shop's timed mission, the other five missions had until now been existences Zhao Chen might look upon and never reach.
But now!
Zhao Chen saw hope.
Let but this quarterly mission be completed and ten thousand task points enter the account, and mission one is complete.
Mission two's completion is a matter of time only, for Zhao Chen's passive income now runs above two hundred million system points a month, and as the Owl Dragon legion fleets grow, that passive income can only grow higher.
Mission three requires five hundred thousand fighting-type warships.
Of the fighting-type warships now in the Owl Dragon Legion's service — if the warships lost by those ten old legion fleets be made up, and with the newly built Owl Dragon legions besides, and the mark of one new Owl Dragon legion every two months within the plan.
Quickly, within half a year; slowly, within a year; it may be reached.
Mission four requires two million auxiliary-type warships, and the map marked out for it is the Owl Dragon Galactic Interstellar Group; upon which point Zhao Chen had inquired of Lilith before.
It is in the main not far off; and as the Fifteen Star Regions are developed, the use of these auxiliary-type warships will grow more and more — it is no hard thing.
Seen so, it is as though everything stood ready, and only a shop mission were wanting.
"But this shop mission has a time limit; it will not be very short, I hope?" Zhao Chen was somewhat anxious.
The system gave a prompt at this time.
【The time allowed for a shop's timed mission is generally not less than half a year】
Half a year!
That time is very fair, and answers in the main to the time wanted to complete the several missions above.
And half a year lets Zhao Chen prepare and answer besides.
"Then open it!" Zhao Chen hardened his heart and opened this timed shop mission outright.
Within the line of the shop's mission six the prompt-words that had been there began to fade, and thereafter new words floated up.
【Mission six: enter the Gate of Gaia within the Machine Race's royal court】
The Gate of Gaia?
Zhao Chen narrowed his eyes; of this thing he has never so much as heard.
But Zhao Chen can in the main reason it out.
Within what that little girl of the Machine Race disclosed to him before, the Gaia Empire of old had once had dealings with a certain existence from beyond the sphere; then there must be a passage.
And the Machine Race, being a thing left over from the Gaia Empire, must assuredly have charge of guarding that passage.
Then this Gate of Gaia is in high likelihood that very passage leading to the existence beyond the sphere.
The mission itself is not hard; the hardness lies in how it is to be worked, and whether the Machine Race will consent to Zhao Chen's using it, and whether there be danger upon the other side of the gate.
What is hard is the unknown!
"Half a year… in half a year that girl should surely be back.
"And then I may discuss it with her.
"It is one gate only; she can hardly refuse to let me across.
"And by then, having settled the Demon Race as agreed, the two of us shall stand as allies, and there should be no very great difficulty." Zhao Chen turned it over within himself.
Seen so, the key to all of it lies upon the Demon Race.
"Demon Race, O Demon Race.
"By the look of it, it is not I alone who cannot abide you.
"Even the will of heaven will not suffer you to stay.
"Once last month's quarterly mission has run out its term, that will be the time for me to try a fall with you in earnest." Zhao Chen stretched himself.
His humor at present is very fair indeed.
For the opening of the T6 shop is in prospect.
And T6 technology is, within this universe, an existence far and away ahead.
And by that time, need Zhao Chen trouble himself at all?
He might well retire, and enjoy himself thoroughly.
------
Within a pitch-black space
No stellar body whatever could be seen; the only light came from burning Machine Race warships, one upon another.
A vast interstellar warship of mechanical fashion · the bridge
A woman of tall figure, in a pitch-black uniform, sat in the captain's chair.
"Reporting — this round of the enemy's attack is ended.
"We have destroyed every one of the enemy's warship units.
"But we have lost near five hundred thousand warships besides." A subordinate came before the woman and reported it.
The woman's manner was cold and unmoved, as though she had long since grown used to all such losses. "Sweep the field; repair such warships as may be used.
"Those that cannot be used, break down for parts where they lie.
"The old way; I need say no more of it."
"Yes."
The woman stood up and walked slowly to a viewport upon the bridge; she looked far off, and those particular pupils of hers let her see clearly a prospect at a distance no deep-space telescope could detect.
Sheet upon sheet of Machine Race warships.
Of these battle-damaged warships, those preserved whole were dragged by interstellar transports to the rear to be repaired.
More of them were broken down where they lay, and the parts of high value loaded upon transports and carried to bases in the rear.
And as for the other parts, those were pushed straight onto a pitch-black structure in the shape of a long strip.
And of those long-strip structures there are very many, spread over that whole side of the void, and at either end one cannot see to the finish of them.
Like… a Great Wall of black steel!
"The prospect here… is truly ugly." The woman muttered it coldly.