The Devourer Civilization's universe
In a pitch-dark palace, three thrones faced one another.
Had the figures on the three thrones not stirred a little, one might well have taken them for three statues.
After who knew how long, a deep voice sounded.
"Troll, you bear the main responsibility for this affair. Any objection?" It was the Black-God Sovereign's voice.
The Troll Monarch's usual laughter could not be heard at all now.
He said in a low voice, "I don't deny my responsibility in this command. But……"
"But what? Troll, are you still trying to wriggle out of it? Because of your stupidity, we've used up fourteen shares of the raw materials and supplies for cross-universe fleet deployment from first to last. And besides that, we've lost 30 million interstellar warships. Seven star systems destroyed. And the dead fighting personnel have reached a number never seen before." It was the thin Sovereign's voice.
The Troll Monarch said, unwilling, "I don't deny my responsibility in this, but it's also because we underestimated the Owl Dragon Empire's fighting power. That super-weapon: I knew nothing about it before. And…… and I think we can perfectly well launch a new round of attack in one go, so long as we use our full strength. This Owl Dragon Empire is no match for us at all! The final outcome won't change!"
It could be seen the Troll Monarch was very displeased with this setback,
eager to wash away the disgrace with a war.
The Black-God Sovereign said coldly, "When will your brain think a little further? Yes, the interstellar legion fleets we can move now are enough to wipe out the Owl Dragon Empire. But what about everything else? So far, those Owl Dragon interstellar hive-race that turned up in our universe are still running riot, causing enormous damage in our domains everywhere, hurting production, transport, industry and every other front. If they aren't cleaned out in time, the damage to our universe's domains will keep spreading. Then, even if we wipe out the Owl Dragon Empire, we ourselves will suffer enormously. Besides that, this setback of ours has already spread through the other few universes, and those few universes have always had their eyes on us. Before, they feared us because of our great strength. But if they learned that all our interstellar legion fleets had been thrown onto the Owl Dragon Empire's battlefields, I promise you that lot would bide their time and launch revenge attacks on us. And then there's their ally, that pack of cowards in the Sacred Elf Empire. They're cowards, but that doesn't mean they're fools. That they could cooperate and ally with the Owl Dragon Empire this time already shows they're changing. What then, if that lot in the Sacred Elf Empire attacked our home universe? Are we to run the risk of our own survival for the sake of one Owl Dragon Empire?"
Hearing the Black-God Sovereign, the Troll Monarch shut his mouth, unwilling.
The thin Sovereign beside them laughed lightly and said, "But this affair must never be let go so lightly. In all our Devourer Civilization's history to now, we've never suffered so great a defeat. It isn't only at the physical level, costing us a great many interstellar warships. The greatest effect is on our prestige. It's made the other interstellar civilizations stop fearing us as they did before, and given them the idea that they can beat us. And that, if anything, is an enormous threat to us!"
"Then if we can beat the Owl Dragon Empire and wash away the disgrace, won't those fellows put away their little schemes!" the Troll Monarch said at once.
"The Owl Dragon Empire must certainly be beaten. But not now. We need to deal with the mess in front of us first, then make preparations, to be sure of beating the Owl Dragon Empire outright in one go in the next battle!" the Black-God Sovereign said in a deep voice.
"Then what do we do now?" the Troll Monarch asked.
The Black-God Sovereign answered in a deep voice, "The first thing, naturally, is to rest and refit our interstellar fleets and bring them back to their best fighting condition. At the same time, we must clean out those Owl Dragon interstellar hive-race that have slipped into our universe in the shortest time, and not let them make chaos in our universe's domains. After that, we need a little time. Go back, each of you, and have the starship factories everywhere work overtime from now on, every production line running around the clock. Build as many interstellar warships as can be built. Full expansion of the armed forces! I want the fighting power of our interstellar legion fleets restored in the shortest possible time!"
Hearing the Black-God Sovereign's plan, the other two Sovereigns both nodded in agreement.
"Besides that, Drought-Fiend, find a way to watch the Owl Dragon Empire's every move. The reason we came off worse before was that we didn't gather intelligence on the Owl Dragon Empire thoroughly enough. Use this chance to collect as much intelligence on the Owl Dragon Empire as you can, and keep it under close watch too. I expect the Owl Dragon Empire won't sit quiet in this time either; they'll find ways to meet our next attack. This time, we'll know them inside out!" The Black-God Sovereign looked at the thin Sovereign.
The thin Sovereign slowly raised his head; a trace of a smile showed on his shriveled skin. "Rest easy, Black God. I'll keep a close eye on them; the moment they make any move, I'll tell you both at once. I won't be like a certain other fellow, who can't get anything done and can only spoil things."
Hearing the mockery in the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's words, the Troll Monarch would once have snapped back without fail.
But having just stumbled so badly, the Troll Monarch naturally had no grounds now to bicker with the Drought-Fiend Sovereign here.
"Then that's how it is for now. This time, Troll, your responsibility is great. In the plan to build interstellar warships to come, you'll have to put up the most raw materials and resources; it's time you brought out those reserves you've hidden away. If the next campaign turns out like this one, the Great Existence won't spare you a second time." The Black-God Sovereign looked at the Troll Monarch.
It hurt somewhat, but the Troll Monarch knew too that for this setback of his, though he might be spared death, he would not be spared punishment.
Naturally he had to pay some price.
"I understand. I'll put up my raw materials and resources, and make sure the interstellar warship building plan goes ahead smoothly," the Troll Monarch said meekly.
The Black-God Sovereign nodded, satisfied.
After that the three Sovereigns briefly discussed a few matters, and settled on a period of rest and recovery for some time to come, sharpening their weapons and waiting for war.
……
The Owl Dragon Empire's universe
Three days had passed since the interstellar war with the Devourer Civilization ended.
In these three days, though the war was over, there was no let-up at all in the Owl Dragon Empire's military-industrial facilities.
Interstellar warship after interstellar warship pulled off the battlefields was waiting for repairs, which kept the staff busy.
And the crews of those interstellar warships naturally had some time to rest.
Zhao Chen, as the Owl Dragon Emperor, had no such time to rest now.
At this moment the Flame Elf Queen had come back to the Owl Dragon Empire again, and had come in person to the bridge of the Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship to hand Zhao Chen a set of files on several universes' civilizations.
At the same time she told Zhao Chen of the High Council's attitude on the Sacred Elf Empire's side this time, and the Elf Sovereigns'.
"That's about how things stand. In principle our side has agreed. As for the technical files on universe exploration, I've brought a team of researchers over; not only do they have the technical documents, they'll stay here for up to half a month. Within this half month, whatever your researchers don't understand, they can ask them and learn from them. That can let you master this technology in the shortest time," the Flame Elf Queen said.
Hearing the Flame Elf Queen's arrangements, Zhao Chen was delighted; he had only asked for the technology, and had never thought the Flame Elf Queen would think of everything and even send technical people over.
That way the time to learn could be cut greatly.
"Then…… could we build while we learn?" Zhao Chen asked tentatively, looking at the Flame Elf Queen.
The Flame Elf Queen coughed and pointed at a few people on the list. "These few are close to me. When the time comes, you can have them help you. Officially, say they've been assigned to supervise your work and study. That way you can speed up building your universe-exploration equipment."
Zhao Chen understood, and gave the Flame Elf Queen a thumbs-up. "Thank you so much, truly, thank you."
"There's no need to say that. We're allies; we're partners. This is our technology trade, too; helping you some is in truth helping ourselves," the Flame Elf Queen said calmly.
She paused, and went on, "And about the content of our technology deal: I'm no expert in this area; the Emerald Elf King will lead the team that works with you. And because of the Emerald Elf King's special standing, the place for this is set within the Sacred Elf Empire. You'll need to get to the Sacred Elf Empire within three days to make the trade."
Zhao Chen nodded; he had expected this before. He said, "No problem. Once I've given a few instructions on my side, I can set out right away."
"And one more thing: if in future you use force against other interstellar civilizations' universes, our side will send someone to oversee it; the moment anything is found that goes beyond the principles we agreed on, our side has the right to demand you stop the armed action at once. On this matter, someone wants me to keep clear. So the one who'll oversee you then will be the Bluewater Elf Queen."