Galactic Star Calendar, year 3036, late December · the Dragon Emperor
Within a dim great hall,
Zhao Chen walked slowly in, and looked upon this hall made over out of a ship's compartment, a full two football fields in size.
Upon either side of the hall stood stone giants holding sharp swords, three carvings to a side.
Zhao Chen came before a stone giant and raised his head to that sword of over ten meters; upon the blade a stretch of history was carved.
These six stone giants stood for the six years of history since the Owl Dragon fleet's founding.
Upon the great sword in each giant's hand were set the chief events of each of the Owl Dragon's years.
Zhao Chen walked beneath the blades of the stone giants, one after another.
The Northstar Starship Military Academy; three old interstellar warships bought and assembled into the Blizzard Zero, the Owl Dragon fleet in its very first state.
…
The first Owl Dragon-line T3 interstellar warship: the first appearance of the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser!
And after that, when the two academies' fleet was attacked by the hive-race and stranded in the disaster upon that planet, Zhao Chen led a single T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser in person to their relief.
And brought back the teachers and students of both academies.
…
Civil strife in the Starlight Empire; the Prince of Yan raised his rebellion; the Owl Dragon Legion came forward, set the Princess Qin Xiaolei upon the throne to be Empress of the Starlight Empire, and broke the Prince of Yan's plot.
…
Within Zhao Chen's mind the memories of the six years past rose one after another.
From one ship and a few hundred people at the first, to several hundred thousand interstellar warships now, and above a hundred million crew!
And the territory the Owl Dragon Galactic Interstellar Group controlled was vaster still.
Zhao Chen went up the steps, tier upon tier, and saw at last that golden dragon-patterned throne.
Though there was no lamp lighting it round about, this golden dragon-patterned throne was conspicuous indeed.
Zhao Chen stroked the dragon pattern upon the throne, and laughed at himself: "Zhao Chen, Zhao Chen. When you first came into this world, did you ever think that one day you would sit in such a place as this?"
No.
Zhao Chen could be certain that from first to last the aim of his life had never been a chair like this.[1]
But now he had no choice.
For the affairs and the people he must consider were too many; he stood no longer alone with his own shadow, and could no longer think only of himself.
At some point two soft forms had pressed close behind Zhao Chen.
"How is it that you have come?" Zhao Chen turned his head and looked at Charlotte and Lilith.
"Panther-Girl said you were not to be found. And I guessed you would have come here." Charlotte gazed at Zhao Chen and spoke softly.
Zhao Chen smiled and shrugged: "I saw there was nothing much that needed doing by me. I thought I would walk about a little, and walking and walking I came here. What do you make of this throne?"
Lilith looked at the golden dragon-patterned throne and said: "It is cast from the rarest golden gemstone in the universe. It has no practical value, but being rare and fair to look upon, it has always been a collector's piece among the several kingdoms and family powers. And its yield is exceedingly low. It comes out of crystal mines, being a derivative of crystal-stone. But one crystal mine, over a whole year, may yield only a single piece of this golden gemstone the size of a fist. The golden gemstone needed to cast a throne like this, we searched the whole known universe for, and spent half a month gathering it before it could be melted and cast. Reckoned by the value of the market outside. It comes to above a billion star coins."
Hearing Lilith's words, Zhao Chen snorted with laughter and gave the hard thing a kick with his foot: "This thing here, worth a billion star coins?"
Charlotte too wore a look of astonishment, and looked the golden dragon-patterned throne over in her curiosity.
"Then let me first try what it feels like to sit upon a chair worth a billion star coins." So saying, Zhao Chen turned about and plumped himself down upon it.
Zhao Chen sat there, silent for several seconds.
Then shook his head and said: "This chair is not so comfortable as those sofas I sit on. It digs into you."
Lilith snorted with laughter.
Charlotte blinked: "Is it truly uncomfortable? I have seen not a few people who love to sit in chairs of this kind. When my father was chieftain of the White Tiger tribe, he was particularly fond of that chair of his."
"Then come up and sit." Zhao Chen patted the place beside him.
For the throne was very large; to say nothing of a chair, it would have served perfectly well for a bed.
Charlotte thought nothing of it, and sat straight down; she shifted about, and then said in all earnestness: "It really is uncomfortable to sit on."
Lilith beside them covered her face helplessly.
In other places a throne of this kind is a thing of the greatest moment.
For an ordinary person, to say nothing of sitting upon it, even to come near is impossible.
Not at all as Zhao Chen was doing now, treating it as some chance chair at home, and pulling people up to sit upon it outright.
"Lilith, don't you want to sit a while?" Zhao Chen said all of a sudden, looking at Lilith with a smile.
Charlotte beside them was still stroking the throne.
But Lilith heard sharply that something was not right within Zhao Chen's words.
She made at once to step back, but Zhao Chen caught her hand outright, and with one pull drew her onto his lap.
Lilith's back was pressed against Zhao Chen; she swallowed, and said, struggling: "Do not play about."
But how should this little succubus struggle free of Zhao Chen's strength?
"I am not playing. Don't you want to try it, here?" Zhao Chen breathed upon Lilith's earlobe.
In that instant even Lilith, succubus as she was, shivered from head to foot, and sank limp and powerless into Zhao Chen's arms.
But her reason was in her mind still, and with her breath coming short she said: "Not… not here. Back… back… to the captain's quarters… let us…"
"But it is here that I want it. Don't you?" Zhao Chen bit lightly at her earlobe.
At this Lilith was wholly lost; the will within her mind scattered utterly, and a little demon took the high ground of it.
Charlotte beside them had not yet grasped what was happening; but when she saw the two of them cheek to cheek, she perceived that something was amiss.
In an instant her whole face went crimson, and her tail stood straight up.
Without a word she rose to her feet, meaning to flee.
But her tail had already been caught by a hand.
And that hand was playing with her tail besides, as though it meant to tie a bow in it.
At that moment this great white cat had no more chance of escape.
In the gallery outside the great hall,
two women of the crew, passing by, were talking of the great event soon to come.
Suddenly one of them stopped, and looked about her in suspicion.
"Did you hear some strange sound just now?"
Her companion laughed outright: "You have watched too many horror films. What strange thing could there be?"
The woman looked about her again and knit her brows slightly; then, seeing her companion walk off without heeding her, she could only quicken her step and follow!