"Three or five times, I suppose," Zhao Chen said carelessly.
Renee the Angel Queen stared at Zhao Chen, a tangle of feelings in her eyes. "Who would have thought it, in so short a time. The man who back then still had to stand to face us Angel Sovereigns upon our thrones has now, of all things, built an interstellar empire that rules the whole universe. It truly is hard to believe."
"If all you mean to say is idle talk like this, I have no time to waste keeping you company here," Zhao Chen said impatiently.
"Very well, I can do without seeing you. But I still have some conditions, and in return I will tell you some of the intelligence you want." Renee the Angel Queen laughed lightly.
Zhao Chen stared at Renee the Angel Queen and said coolly, "Say it."
"My condition is very simple. I want to know the news from outside, how the war goes, and so on."
Renee the Angel Queen stared at Zhao Chen, a teasing look on her face. "I want to watch how Your Majesty the Emperor's empire is destroyed by Order."
So that was the condition.
Somewhat odd, but acceptable.
"You are so sure, then, that Order will descend upon this world? And that it can defeat us?" Zhao Chen narrowed his eyes at Renee the Angel Queen across from him.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha." Renee the Angel Queen laughed somewhat wildly. "Of course! The Great Existence is invincible. Were it not for this universe's barrier protecting you, you would long since have bowed beneath the Great Existence's glory. And this barrier will fade in the end, and then every power that defies and opposes the Great Existence will surely pay the price! And we, its followers, shall have eternal life!"
This woman had gone thoroughly mad.
"Very well, I can agree to this condition. Then what can you tell me?" Zhao Chen narrowed his eyes at Renee the Angel Queen.
"I will tell you part of the intelligence only once a month. Rest assured, I will not string you along without end. In three months, I will tell you the great secret the two Hive Nests are hiding! How is that? A very good condition, isn't it?" Renee the Angel Queen said with a light laugh; with that hideous face of hers, she was like a devil.
Zhao Chen thought it over a moment and answered, "I agree to your proposal."
"Very well. First, then, the intelligence for the first month. I can tell you every hidden figure who has infiltrated the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire this time, and where they may be carrying out acts to split the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire." Renee the Angel Queen threw out startling news right from the start.
Zhao Chen knit his brows and stared at Renee the Angel Queen.
He could not quite make this woman out.
If she truly believed in Order, she ought not to have told him such important information.
Yet what she was doing now, if one forced an explanation, it was that she was mad, mad through and through.
"You should not be revealing this to us. Don't you believe in and follow this Great Existence you speak of? Is behavior like this not betrayal?" Lilith asked from the side.
"Perhaps behavior like this will earn me the Great Existence's punishment. But I would much rather see the look on your faces as you break. That feeling of thinking you have grasped hope, only to fall into hell in the blink of an eye." Renee the Angel Queen laughed wildly.
This woman was thoroughly mad.
That was how Zhao Chen defined her.
"Nothing else to say?" Zhao Chen asked coolly.
"That is all for now. If you want to know more, come find me next month." Renee the Angel Queen laughed lightly.
Zhao Chen turned his head to Lilith and signaled with a look, and Zhao Chen's holographic image faded away.
In this cell there were once more only Lilith, Renee the Angel Queen, and the warden.
"Now you may tell me the information you just spoke of…"
……
Half an hour later.
Before Zhao Chen, aboard the Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought, Lilith's holographic projection appeared.
"How is it?" Zhao Chen asked.
"Following the leads Renee the Angel Queen gave, we checked three of the named persons first, as fast as we could, and found something on each. It is all essentially accurate. We can judge that the intelligence leads Renee the Angel Queen has given us are sound." As Lilith said this, there was a troubled look in her eyes.
Zhao Chen noticed Lilith's look and asked her directly, "You are trying to guess what this Renee is really after in doing this?"
Lilith nodded. "From the standpoint of reason, it cannot be explained at all."
"Then perhaps she truly has become a madwoman," Zhao Chen said coolly.
Lilith did not dwell on the question any longer, and went on: "As for the news that we are holding Renee the Angel Queen, should the Angel Race side be told?"
"Tell those two Angel Sovereigns first. Let us see how they react first," Zhao Chen said.
"Yes."
"How do things stand in the Judgment Angel star system?" Zhao Chen asked.
One of the chief reasons for leaving Lilith in the Owl Dragon Star System was to have her keep watch on the Judgment Angel star system.
Because the star had been detonated, the undead host within the Judgment Angel star system was splitting and growing at an astonishing rate.
It was a great threat no less than the Order hive-race.
"By the reports sent back by the interstellar stealth scout ships we have placed within the Judgment Angel star system, at least 1,000,000 undead starships and 3,000,000 undead life-forms have now appeared within the Judgment Angel star system. Among them have even appeared at least ten undead life-forms or undead starships of T6 energy grade. But so far they have shown no intention of crossing the star system's boundary space and spreading toward the surrounding star systems. Perhaps the mass splitting and evolution in the sudden onrush of the stellar explosion has sent them into a dormant state. There is no knowing when they will attack again. The undead armies elsewhere have for the most part been held down within the smallest order of magnitude, and pose no great threat. But to wipe them out completely, we cannot spare that many forces at present." Lilith laid out all of this about the undead armies in great detail.
"Very well. Matters at home, and the matter of the undead. Take extra care with them," Zhao Chen instructed.
"Rest assured, Your Majesty the Emperor, and Grand Marshal Charlotte. Leave matters at home to me; on the logistics side, too, I guarantee there will be no mishap of any kind," Lilith vowed.
Zhao Chen nodded.
The communication ended.
No sooner had Lilith finished speaking with Zhao Chen than she contacted Zhao Waner and handed her a list.
"What is this?" Zhao Waner looked at the detailed information on it, then at Lilith in surprise.
"This is the intelligence Renee the Angel Queen gave us after agreeing to cooperate. They are all people who have infiltrated our Empire, and some fellows who have turned traitor at heart. His Majesty the Emperor is fighting on the border right now. We must never let this lot throw the Empire into chaos. Waner, this is all in the hands of your Shadow Hunter ace fleet group. See to them, without fail, in the shortest time and with the least disturbance," Lilith said gravely.
"I understand." Zhao Waner looked at the list as though looking at a herd of prey, and the corners of her mouth turned faintly up.