Zhao Chen made a show of rubbing the corners of his eyes, as though he had laughed himself to tears.
Zhao Chen lowered his hand and looked at the Black-God Sovereign opposite with a light laugh. "You're one of the Devourer Civilization's Three Sovereigns, after all. I never thought you'd actually ask such a question. If I were willing to surrender, do you think I'd surrender to you? And add one more seat to the Three Sovereigns for me?"
The corners of Zhao Chen's mouth turned up slightly in a mocking look. "Believe it or not, if I were willing, I'd talk directly to your boss behind you, Order. And then the Devourer Civilization would have only one leader."
The Black-God Sovereign's face could not be seen, but the air around him could be felt to grow colder still.
And he said nothing for a long while.
Perhaps he too had thought of it: what Zhao Chen said really did make some sense.
There was the worth this Owl Dragon Emperor had shown so far, and Order's express instruction before: to destroy this Owl Dragon Empire first!
Mind you, before this Order had never valued even the Sacred Elf Empire as much as this Owl Dragon Empire.
Put that together with some of what they knew about the Owl Dragon Empire,
and in truth one could understand why Order was so wary of this Owl Dragon Empire.
From the time the whole universe was still at the stage of researching T4 technological civilization, to now, when it had stepped into the T6 technological civilization stage,
this Owl Dragon Empire had taken less than ten years all told!
Ten years!
Mind you, for other interstellar universes' civilizations to make these leaps, never mind ten years, a thousand or ten thousand years might not be enough.
One could imagine how great a threat the Owl Dragon Emperor himself was, who had founded the Owl Dragon Empire and worked these miracles!
That Order valued him was wholly understandable.
If such a being were willing to go over to Order,
it was entirely possible Order would remove the Three Sovereigns and back this Owl Dragon Emperor alone!
"Perhaps you do have that worth. But right now, to the Great Existence, you're one of those on the death list. Do you think the Great Existence would forgive you if you surrendered on your own? Only if we plead for you will you and your people have a sliver of a chance," the Black-God Sovereign said.
Zhao Chen laughed a few more times, and shook his head. "An august Sovereign, still playing these little games here."
He raised his head and looked at the Black-God Sovereign with scorn in his eyes. "Put in a good word for me with Order? What do you think you are? You're nothing but dogs Order raised. One more of you is nothing; one less is nothing. Since when has a dog had any face before its master?"
Zhao Chen's words were very simple, but they went like a knife's edge into the chest of this Black-God Sovereign before him.
Had anyone been able to see the face under his helm now, they would have found it twitching, his teeth clenched tight.
For what Zhao Chen said was the truth.
And the truth is often what hurts most.
"What? Hurt your fragile feelings? Then I apologize to you here. Lord Black-God Sovereign of the Devourer Civilization?" Zhao Chen even made a show of nodding slightly with a smile, looking all "respectful."
"Do you think I wouldn't dare give the order to wipe you out? At one word from me, the Devourer Civilization's interstellar legion fleets can trample your Owl Dragon Empire flat!" the Black-God Sovereign said.
Zhao Chen gave a scornful laugh; he leaned back in his throne and crossed his legs, utterly dismissive. "If you really meant to, you'd have given your legion fleets the order long ago, instead of flapping your lips here. If you really want to fight, attack now. My legion fleet groups and I are waiting right here. If you don't want to fight, then take your shrimp soldiers and crab generals and get out, the sooner the better. Board and lodging aren't included here."
On the far side of the video window beside them, the Flame Elf Queen was on the one hand delighted at Zhao Chen's attitude, knowing he had no thought of surrender,
and on the other worried that this attitude of Zhao Chen's might enrage the other side and so escalate the war.
She could not help clutching her head; she had always thought her own temper fiery enough.
She had never thought this lord would be so blunt too,
not giving the Black-God Sovereign opposite the least bit of face.
"Very good. You're quite something. I hope you remember what you said today. Next time, when I lead a great army in person to campaign against your Owl Dragon Empire, when I crush your skull and your throne, I hope you can still wear the look you wear now."
When he had said it, without waiting for Zhao Chen to speak, the Black-God Sovereign cut the communication outright.
Looking at the dark communication window, Zhao Chen pursed his lips and grumbled, "No manners at all; hanging up without so much as saying goodbye. You can tell at a glance he's a child with no upbringing. Next time I see your parents, I'll have to have a proper word with them about you."
The Flame Elf Queen could not help laughing; covering her face, she said, "All right, he's hung up. Whatever you say now, he can't hear it."
She paused.
The Flame Elf Queen looked at Zhao Chen curiously. "You dared provoke him like that just now because you knew he hadn't come here for a decisive battle with you?"
From the last thing the Black-God Sovereign had said, it could be heard
that his purpose this time was not a decisive battle.
Otherwise he would never have spoken of a "next time."
That let the Flame Elf Queen breathe easier now too, while she wondered whether Zhao Chen had seen through it all along, or had been guessing from the start.
"Half a guess," Zhao Chen said with a shrug. "When I saw the way he was standing, I could tell he'd most likely come to make a show of strength at us. I expect it's because they got a bloody nose in the war before, and we even fought our way into their universe's domains; they lost face in a big way. Coming this time to take back those remnant fleets of theirs, if they didn't throw some tough talk at us, they'd likely not know where to put their faces. A bloodthirsty, warlike interstellar civilization like that, if it really meant to fight us, wouldn't waste words like this before the fighting started; it would have opened up on us with everything from the first. Would it sit there and talk with you calmly?"
The Flame Elf Queen nodded in agreement; Zhao Chen's words did make some sense.
She looked at the relay footage of the several battlefields; the Devourer Civilization's interstellar legion fleet remnants could be seen, under the protection of the Devourer legion fleets that had just come through,
beginning in good order to pass through the black caverns, back to the Devourer Civilization's universe on the other side.
It seemed these Devourer legion fleets they had mistaken for reinforcements were in fact Devourer legion fleets sent to hold the line against any stepped-up attack by the Owl Dragon Empire's fleets.
Their task was nothing but to see these Devourer legion fleet remnants safely back to the Devourer Civilization's universe, and then withdraw themselves,
completing the whole plan of a covered retreat.
With that, the fighting between the Owl Dragon Empire and the Devourer Civilization could be said to have come to a pause for now.
The Flame Elf Queen let out a long breath; nearly three months of fighting
had truly kept even an Elf Queen's nerves strung tight the whole time.
At the same time her heart was full of joy and excitement.
This was the first setback the Devourer Civilization had suffered in a war of invasion against another interstellar civilization's universe since it began invading the outside world!
And it could even be counted a great defeat.
In three months all told, it had lost nearly 30 million interstellar warships.
Even its own home universe had been attacked.
It was nothing short of a monstrous humiliation,
something that had never happened since the Devourer Civilization was founded.
And the Black-God Sovereign had even come to their door to bluster, and then slunk away.
At the thought of all this, the Flame Elf Queen felt as though she had let out a long, stale breath; the weight that had always pressed on her chest because of the Devourer Civilization's existence had lifted a great deal at a stroke.
So the Devourer Civilization's legion fleets were not invincible after all!
"As things look now, this fighting of ours has come to a pause for now. But from what I know of the Devourer Civilization, they'll never let it rest. The moment they have the chance, they'll certainly come again in force, and the next attack will certainly be far more intense than this one!" The Flame Elf Queen put her joy away and looked at Zhao Chen gravely.
Zhao Chen nodded; this feud between him and the Devourer Civilization was now sealed for good, with no room left to talk.
And the Devourer Civilization's invasion would certainly come again, and exceed this one in intensity.
Only the time of the invasion was uncertain.
"With this war over for now, we can breathe a little easier too. At least it gives us a chance to rest and refit. Both sides' legion fleet groups have been under great mental strain in these nearly three months of fighting; if we fought on like this, even if our interstellar warships held up, our crews wouldn't stand fighting at such intensity."
Zhao Chen smiled slightly, then looked at the Flame Elf Queen and said, "As for the Devourer Civilization coming again in force later, I'll have to trouble the intelligence network you have on the Devourer Civilization's side. The moment they make any move, please let us know in time."
Zhao Chen had now planted some spies and undercover agents of his own in the Devourer Civilization's universe too, but compared with the Sacred Elf Empire, which had been clashing with the Devourer Civilization for many years,
his people counted for nothing at all.
So on this front, the Sacred Elf Empire's help was still needed.
"That's no problem. We're still allies now; we ought to help each other in attack and defense anyway. I'll step up our watch on the Devourer Civilization in this time. The moment there's any sign, I'll tell you at once," the Flame Elf Queen promised solemnly.
In this war the Sacred Elf Empire had given the Owl Dragon Empire no small help, true, but at the same time there had been some dragging of feet on the High Council's side as well.
To the Flame Elf Queen herself, that was a great embarrassment.
So small requests like Zhao Chen's now, the Flame Elf Queen agreed to every one of them, by way of making amends.