"All right, we won't waste any more of your time. Hurry up and withdraw, and wait for us over at Gold-Mountain Shire." When Lilith had said it, she cut the communication without another word.
Then the interstellar warships of the Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet that had come to help could be seen heading the opposite way past their interstellar warships, through the gaps between their interstellar warships, charging straight for the battlefield they had fled in the distance,
trading fire all the way with the enemy interstellar warships coming after them.
And, it had to be said, the exchange of fire showed the Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet holding the upper hand.
"Boss, what do we do now?" The commander of the Ranger-Hunter Mercenary Legion Fleet asked Huaya Nini's view, and went on himself, "The Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet may have the upper hand right now, but that's because they haven't met the enemy's main fleet. And fighting the enemy and covering an interstellar transport fleet's withdrawal are two wholly different levels of thing. If we keep lingering here, we could fall into danger too. The urgent thing is to get these goods to the destination first!"
Hearing this from the Ranger-Hunter Mercenary Legion Fleet's commander, Huaya Nini was silent a moment.
As a Flower-Fairy interstellar trader, she was a very practical person, one who put interest above all.
She knew very well that at a time like this the wisest choice was just what this mercenary legion fleet commander said.
She drew a deep breath and said seriously, "Plot the course at once, and make for Gold-Mountain Shire as fast as we can."
"Right."
Huaya Nini turned and looked back at the Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet plunging without hesitation into that battlefield.
She hoped they could bring out a few more interstellar ships in the end.
And little did they know
that this truly was a lamb walking into the tiger's mouth, asking for death.
But the ones asking for death were those attackers' interstellar warships.
The Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship · the bridge
Zhao Chen sat in his chair, running a finger along his chin, and said calmly, "Commander Xiong, does this battle need the Dragon Emperor to step in?"
Commander Xiong Xiangxiang said with a smile, "Your Majesty, are you joking with me? If shrimps like these needed the Dragon Emperor's help, I might as well meekly hand my post as Emperor's Guard Fleet commander over to someone else."
"Then how long will it take?" Zhao Chen asked crisply.
Commander Xiong Xiangxiang thought a moment and answered, "To clear up the trouble here, no more than five hours at most."
The Emperor's Guard Fleet had only 2,000 interstellar warships here, while opposite were 50,000 interstellar warships.
But in Xiong Xiangxiang's eyes they were targets.
Still, shooting at targets took a little time too.
"It's in your hands," Zhao Chen said calmly.
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty." Xiong Xiangxiang took the order, then looked at those rabble with a scornful smile.
On any ordinary day, clearing up rabble fleets like these would never have fallen to the Emperor's Guard Fleet.
To be laid to rest under the guns of the Emperor's Guard Fleet could only be called an honor for these small-fry starships.
Then a fine show of slaughter began here:
a slaughter of 50,000 interstellar warships by 2,000!
And the captains and NCOs on the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group's interstellar transports who witnessed all this went from fear at first, to delight, to worry, and then to shock that lasted the whole battle.
Every one of them had disbelief in their heads.
……
Gold-Mountain Shire · Gold-Mountain Port No. 1
By now the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group's interstellar transport fleets had begun to appear at this port in twos and threes.
And at this port the eldest son of the Lord of Gold-Mountain Shire had long been waiting anxiously.
Seeing interstellar transport after interstellar transport reach the port,
without a word he had people start unloading at once; once the unloading was done, his men would ship those core modules to the starship factories at once,
to finish the final assembly of those T5-grade interstellar warships.
After all, these T5 interstellar warships were a lifeline for Gold-Mountain Shire!
But things now did not look hopeful.
The eldest son of the Lord of Gold-Mountain Shire strode onto a gangway where the star port docked, and saw Huaya Nini stepping down from an interstellar transport.
He went straight up to her and asked anxiously, "Your Excellency Huaya Nini, so far your interstellar transport fleets have delivered only 2,300 of the 3,000 sets in our order; you're still 700 short! And there are only the last five hours left before our agreed handover deadline. Are you sure you can fill this order? You must know these goods are a matter of life and death for our Gold-Mountain Shire! If your Bailan Interstellar Trade Group can't deliver the ordered goods on time and in full as agreed, you'll have to pay a huge penalty for breach of contract! Mind you, we're paying ten times the market price for shipping this time, and not for nothing!"
Huaya Nini felt the anxiety pouring off him.
In her heart she was quietly anxious too.
By the original plan, she had already bought an extra batch of the ordered goods, so that even with some likely intercepted, the order would at least be filled.
And by the original plan, by this time most of the interstellar transport fleets should, barring accidents, already have reached their destination, Gold-Mountain Shire's port.
As for why they had not arrived yet, there was only one possibility left: they had been attacked too, and since they had still not arrived, things were likely bad for them.
"There are still five hours before the order's final deadline. Please, Your Excellency, trust our Bailan Interstellar Trade Group. Even if in the end we truly can't complete this shipping order, we'll keep our promise and pay you the penalty you're due!" Huaya Nini said, neither humble nor overbearing.
It was what her sister had taught her from childhood: as an interstellar trader, whatever happened, even knowing you were about to lose money,
you had to keep your composure.
"You…… you…… fine, I'll wait right here." This eldest son of the Lord of Gold-Mountain Shire sat right down on the floor, with no regard at all for his manners.
Perhaps he knew too that if Gold-Mountain Shire could not get through the crisis before it,
whether there would still be a Gold-Mountain Shire then was hard to say; and at that point, manners and bearing would not matter at all!
Only staying alive mattered!
Huaya Nini looked at the eldest son of the Lord of Gold-Mountain Shire sitting there in a huff, then looked toward the depths of the universe far off.
For some reason, she thought of that Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet.
Perhaps…… they really could bring back Bailan Interstellar Transport Fleet No. 1, trapped back there?
But the moment the thought arose, she laughed at herself.
In that situation, how could the Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet's two thousand interstellar warships alone, surrounded by enemies several times their number,
bring back Bailan Interstellar Transport Fleet No. 1?
That was impossible.
In this moment Huaya Nini could only pin her hopes on the other Bailan interstellar transport fleets, hoping they could get free and arrive here in time.
Time passed bit by bit.
With only the last hour left before the order's deadline,
the eldest son of the Lord of Gold-Mountain Shire had got his feelings back under control too; he stood, brushed the dust off his trousers, and said coldly,
"I hope the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group will keep its promise and pay the penalty for the breach when the time comes."
As things stood now, it would be very hard for Gold-Mountain Shire to survive, true.
But they would still want this payment from the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group, for by then the family of the Lord of Gold-Mountain Shire would very likely flee.
Once they had fled, whether to survive in future or to rise again, they would need money.
So the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group's penalty was money they would be fools not to take.
Huaya Nini bit her red lip lightly and clenched her palms.
If they really had to pay this penalty, she and her sister's Bailan Interstellar Trade Group would most likely go bankrupt.
In the Flower-Fairy Federal Tribes, to protect the good name of the Flower-Fairies' commercial empire,
once any Flower-Fairy interstellar trade group went bankrupt like this, it would come unconditionally under the Flower-Fairy Federal Tribes' bankruptcy administration.
Then all its property would be liquidated, and its last duties carried out, such as delivering the ordered goods due, or paying the penalties, and so on.
If, after the bankruptcy liquidation, not all its debts could be settled,
the rest would be borne by the Flower-Fairy Federal Tribes on its behalf.
Of course, those bankrupt interstellar traders would have to work for the Flower-Fairy Federal Tribes for the rest of their lives to repay the debt.
Such a system was also why the outside world trusted the interstellar trade groups under the Flower-Fairy Federal Tribes.
Just as the eldest son of the Lord of Gold-Mountain Shire turned to leave,
suddenly someone, who knew who, on the star port's loading platform pointed into the distance and cried out: "Look over there! There seem to be interstellar warships heading this way!"
"Those are all starship engine glows; by the number of them, it's tens of thousands of interstellar ships!"
At these words, Huaya Nini could not hide her excitement; she all but pressed her whole face against the floor-to-ceiling window before her, wanting only to see clearly the interstellar fleet sailing in from afar.
The eldest son of the Lord of Gold-Mountain Shire came over eagerly too now, asking his subordinates at the same time just who these interstellar warships heading their way were!
Very soon the answer was revealed.
For a video communication appeared before Huaya Nini.
It was a familiar communication account.
For only a little while ago, the owner of this communication account had saved them!
The Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet!
"Hello, Boss. We've more than fulfilled the task you gave us this time. Shouldn't the bounty go up a little?" A teasing look showed on Lilith's face.