In the end it was settled to use the permanent universe star-gate technology the Sacred Elf Empire provided: the 'Water Dragon Gate · Star-Gate Type.'
When the time came, apart from low- and middle-end parts, which industrial plants on both sides would be in charge of producing and assembling, the core parts would be supplied directly by the Sacred Elf Empire.
And as to the cost of building, the Sacred Elf Empire's side had first tried to charge something for it.
But once Zhao Chen said that his own star-gate technology could do without that charge,
the several Elf Sovereigns said no more, which counted as tacitly bearing the cost of building the core modules.
By the agreement signed on this point, the two sides must finish this universe star gate in the shortest possible time.
By the Emerald Elf King's judgment, it was estimated a small 'Water Dragon Gate · Star-Gate Type' could be finished in three months.
Apart from fewer warships able to pass through it, there was no great difference.
For to build a large universe star gate directly would take at least more than a year.
A year was something neither the Owl Dragon Empire nor the Sacred Elf Empire could afford to wait.
For now, this small universe star gate was the best choice.
As for why the several Elf Sovereigns all chose not to speak of using the Owl Dragon Empire's star-gate technology:
in truth Zhao Chen had foreseen this point entirely beforehand; what he had handed the Emerald Elf King as the Owl Dragon Empire's 'universe star gate' was in truth only a framework, and its core technology had never been completed at all.
For Zhao Chen, building the rough shape of a universe star-gate framework on the theoretical knowledge he had built up so far was more than easy.
And on the excuse of not being able to make core technology public, he could naturally muddle through.
And Zhao Chen was sure that even had he said the Owl Dragon Empire's star-gate technology could be used, the other side would not have accepted it.
The reason was very simple.
The Sacred Elf Empire was a rather proud existence to begin with; that they could cooperate with the Owl Dragon Empire at all was wholly because of the Devourer Civilization's threat.
Otherwise, a great many of the articles of the alliance they would never have agreed to.
And a universe star gate able to join two universes was, in truth, vital to either side, whether in political worth or in military worth.
And for the Sacred Elf Empire it had one more meaning.
They had already put up with the Owl Dragon Empire stationing troops in their universe.
If even this universe star gate were to use the Owl Dragon Empire's star-gate technology,
wouldn't that mean they had let an enemy get a grip on their throat?
They were allies now, true, but who could swear what would happen next?
Not only had Zhao Chen thought of this point; these Elf Sovereigns were no fools either.
And using the Sacred Elf Empire's Water Dragon Gate · Star-Gate technology would at the same time show the 'leading position' the Sacred Elf Empire held in this alliance and cooperation,
and so cover up the concessions in the other articles of the alliance.
Zhao Chen had seen through all this, and that was why he had made these arrangements.
As for the universe star gate, Zhao Chen naturally knew very well how important it was.
But it was no use: even the cleverest wife can't cook without rice.
However unwilling Zhao Chen was to use the Sacred Elf Empire's universe star-gate technology, the plain fact was that their Owl Dragon Empire truly could not produce this kind of cross-universe permanent star-gate technology now.
So he could only make the choice before him!
And in the course of it, though this star gate's core technology modules would be built by the Sacred Elf Empire and then shipped over for assembly,
the other parts alone could benefit the Owl Dragon Empire greatly, and speed the growth of the Owl Dragon Empire's own universe star-gate technology a great deal.
And with that,
the two sides' alliance negotiations could be said to be wholly over.
The next day
The Sacred Elf Empire held a great ceremony, at which the five Elf Sovereigns and the whole High Council were present.
Of course, that was only in the footage; in fact no few of them were still there by hologram.
But at least, to the world outside, it was a very grand show,
and it added to the Owl Dragon Empire's influence within the Sacred Elf Empire.
Before the eyes of all, Zhao Chen and the Radiant Elf King, as representative, signed their two names on the alliance agreement.
With that, the Owl Dragon Empire and the Sacred Elf Empire concluded a covenant of alliance.
The two sides became allies.
At the last stage the two sides even took a group photo, to count as a record for history.
And the footage concerned was recorded and kept as well, as a witness of history.
After the alliance ceremony came, naturally, a grand dinner and celebrations.
But none of this mattered to Zhao Chen; all these things were given over to the Imperial ministry of foreign affairs.
There were members of the ministry of foreign affairs especially good at social occasions of this kind, who would build up ties at this banquet with the Sacred Elf Empire's great figures.
That too was one task of the ministry of foreign affairs.
And after this they would also have to set up in the Sacred Elf Empire the Owl Dragon Empire's first embassy abroad, and so naturally needed to deal a good deal with the people here.
And at this moment, outside the banquet, on an open-air terrace,
Zhao Chen stood before a railing formed of plants, looking down from a height of over a thousand meters on this special planet before him.
"Now at last we have a chance to talk." An excited voice sounded beside Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen smiled slightly and looked at the Flame Elf Queen beside him. "So we do; I've very much wanted a good talk with the Flame Elf Queen too."
"I hear there was another Mechanical Race in your universe, and they suddenly disappeared not long ago?" the Flame Elf Queen asked straight out.
Zhao Chen nodded. "Yes."
"Where did they go? Did you defeat them and drive them out of your universe?" the Flame Elf Queen asked.
Zhao Chen shook his head with a smile. "No; we're friends, you might say. Only, for the survival of our universe, our home, they went to another battlefield, a distant battlefield. There they fight to guard our universe, our home. And one day I'll go and bring them back."
The Flame Elf Queen looked as though she only half understood.
"Have you fought a lot of Order's armed forces before?" The Flame Elf Queen blinked and looked at Zhao Chen.
"Haven't you?" Zhao Chen asked.
The Flame Elf Queen shook her head and held up two fingers. "We've only fought Order's Pitch-Black Legion fleets, and the armed forces under the Devourer Civilization it raised up. As for the Order hive-race and the Order undead that appeared in your universe, we've never heard of them. The hive-race, though, I've heard of, but back then they didn't seem to be on Order's side. They were the kind you couldn't communicate with at all; once they appeared, they would invade the planets around them without aim. The interstellar hive-race appeared in our universe before too; we tried to make contact, but there was no way. They breed very fast, and even devour every plant ecology we've raised to breed. After that, our High Council laid down a rule: if the interstellar hive-race appears in our universe, it is to be wiped out entirely. For an interstellar race you can't communicate with, that knows only fighting, can never live in peace with us."
Zhao Chen looked at the Flame Elf Queen. "I suppose you bring up the interstellar hive-race because you know there's an interstellar hive-race in our Owl Dragon Empire too."
The Owl Dragon hive-race fleet's existence had been touched on in the agreement between the two countries.
But Zhao Chen had declared to the outside that it was the Owl Dragon Empire's military strength, one of its technological secrets, and so not convenient to make public;
and had brushed it off on that excuse.
The Flame Elf Queen nodded at once. "Yes. I know you weren't very willing to talk about this hive-race of your Empire's before. But my standing now is that of supreme commander in charge of military cooperation between the Sacred Elf Empire and the Owl Dragon Empire, and in future I'll go to your Owl Dragon Empire in person. Then, when the Devourer Civilization invades, I think I'm bound to meet this hive-race of yours, so I'd still like to learn as much about it as I can."
"If any of your other Elf Sovereigns were asking me this here, I might not answer them," Zhao Chen said offhandedly.
"Is it the elves' pride you dislike? Before this, when we dealt with other interstellar races, some said the same of us," the Flame Elf Queen said.
She paused, and went on, "In truth it may be our race's nature. I have this 'pride' in me too. But in my heart, my pride is for the weak; the strong I respect."
As she spoke, the Flame Elf Queen fixed her eyes on Zhao Chen, blazing like torches.
"In your eyes, I'm one of the strong." Zhao Chen could not help laughing.
The Flame Elf Queen raised her hand, and a huge electronic window surfaced, on which line after line recorded a great many things, all about the Owl Dragon Empire.
And some passages enlarged within it were about the Owl Dragon legion fleets!
"Zhao Chen, once only a baron and lord of the Starlight Empire. But later he suddenly soared into the sky. On the strength of the technology he kept bringing out, he built a powerful Owl Dragon Legion. In the short span of under ten years, he not only brought the Owl Dragon Legion to its present height and founded the Owl Dragon Empire, but raised a whole universe's level of civilization from T4 grade at the start to T6 grade now. I don't know how you really made such a record. But however it was, it's proof enough of your strength. And you've fought Order many times; whatever the situation, in every war, you and your Owl Dragon Legion have always won. These few days I've read in detail the records of the campaigns your Owl Dragon Legion has fought. You and your Owl Dragon Legion are a strong existence that commands my respect! Your Excellency the Owl Dragon Emperor." The Flame Elf Queen's eyes made even Zhao Chen feel a burning heat.
Had Zhao Chen not known this Elf Queen's character, he might have mistaken it for his own personal charm having grown strong to some degree.
Zhao Chen smiled slightly, looking at the scenery in the distance. "The hive-race in my Empire I call the Owl Dragon hive-race fleet; it's a hive-race wholly under my control, and at enmity with Order. As for how I came by them, and how I raised them, forgive me, I can't tell you that. But what I can tell you is this. On any battlefield in future where you fight shoulder to shoulder with our Owl Dragon Empire, they'll be wholly reliable partners. You can boldly trust your backs to them. I know that however much I say now, it may not change your fixed idea of the interstellar hive-race. But I believe that on the battlefield, once you've fought shoulder to shoulder, you'll know how strong and reliable they are."
The Flame Elf Queen pressed no further, but said hopefully, "Very well; I look forward to the day I get the chance to fight shoulder to shoulder with your country's Owl Dragon hive-race fleet!"
"Then about your country's strongest warships at present. Your T6 Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought… and the T6 Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship……" The Flame Elf Queen was like a curious child of a hundred thousand whys, putting question after question.
Not only about the Owl Dragon Empire's warships in active service, but about the opponents the Owl Dragon Empire had faced too:
the Pitch-Black Legion's quasi-T7 pitch-black interstellar warships, and the undead armies of the Order undead, and more.
She even began writing it all down right in front of Zhao Chen, and now and then raised questions.
She even put forward her own ideas on the Owl Dragon Legion's battle dispositions in a certain campaign before.
Had Zhao Chen's brain not been remade, and had he not, by being around Charlotte and those other military commanders for so long, picked up enough to count as a decent commander himself,
he might truly not have been able to handle the Flame Elf Queen's questions.
And Zhao Chen did not let slip this chance to learn about the Sacred Elf Empire either.
The two sides commonly took turns: you ask one, I ask one.
And the questions were all just right; if the other chose to pass over a question, both sides would very sensibly turn the talk and ask something else.
"I hear your Sacred Elf Empire's most advanced T6 warships are all made from the World Tree's raw material. Before I go back to the Owl Dragon Empire, might I have the chance to see it with my own eyes? I won't hide it from Your Excellency the Flame Elf Queen: I used that universe-exploration instrument before precisely because I'd run into the bottleneck of T7 technology. I wanted to search other universes for a way to break it," Zhao Chen asked earnestly.
The Flame Elf Queen hesitated a moment, and said gravely, "If you want to see the World Tree's raw material, that's no problem. But there's one thing I must tell you beforehand. If you seek an opening to T7 technology, at least in our Sacred Elf Empire there's no hope of it at all. And the World Tree can only meet the needs of T6 technology. So don't hold too great hopes of the World Tree."
Zhao Chen was slightly puzzled. "You're so sure the World Tree has no chance of a breakthrough to T7 technology? That World Tree seems a marvel to me. So marvelous a creation ought to have a still more marvelous power."
"On that I can't explain it to you now. I can only say: don't hold too great hopes of the World Tree." There was a helpless feeling in the Flame Elf Queen's gaze.
It gave Zhao Chen the feeling that the Sacred Elf Empire too was in truth hiding some secrets unknown to others.