"Report: all 3,000 sets of the ordered goods have been delivered. We have 130 sets to spare," a subordinate reported to Huaya Nini in haste.
Hearing the report,
Huaya Nini glanced at the time, let out a breath, and looked at the eldest son of the Lord of Gold-Mountain Shire with a smile. "Hello. There are still fifteen minutes before the order's final deadline. We've delivered every item in the order as required. Our Bailan Interstellar Trade Group has completed this order with your side; is there any objection?"
The eldest son of the Lord of Gold-Mountain Shire looked at Huaya Nini with a somewhat complicated expression.
He had not thought this order would actually be filled, and at the last moment at that.
Strictly speaking, getting the goods they wanted on time was naturally a good thing.
Had it been somewhat late, it would have been better still.
Or had it been a few dozen short of the 3,000, that would have done too.
That way they would not have had to pay the steep shipping fee.
But now that things were as they were, there was nothing to say.
"Mm, the order's in order. We'll pay you for the goods afterward." When the eldest son of the Lord of Gold-Mountain Shire had said this seriously, he glanced at the interstellar warships of the mercenary legion fleet that had escorted the last interstellar transports into port.
"Which mercenary legion fleet is that?"
Faced with the question from the eldest son of the Lord of Gold-Mountain Shire,
Huaya Nini answered, "The Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet."
"The Villain-Envoy." The eldest son of the Lord of Gold-Mountain Shire repeated the name as if committing it to memory, then turned and left.
Having taken delivery of the goods, he still had a great deal of work on his side to see to.
The assembly of those 3,000 T5 interstellar warships was very important too.
Seeing the eldest son of the Lord of Gold-Mountain Shire leave,
Huaya Nini let out a long breath at last, went back to her own interstellar transport, and threw herself onto the sofa; in this moment it was as though the heavy burden on her shoulders had been set down at once.
"With this order filled and the payment in, it won't be enough to make our Bailan Interstellar Trade Group rise again. But at least it'll keep our Bailan Interstellar Trade Group breathing a while longer," Huaya Nini murmured to herself.
Then she looked at her subordinate and said gravely, "Call in the head of the part of Bailan Interstellar Transport Fleet No. 1 that stayed on the battlefield; I want to see her!"
"Yes." The subordinate set about it at once.
Not a video call, but a meeting in person.
That showed well enough how serious Huaya Nini was being now.
Very soon a Flower-Fairy in charge of Bailan Interstellar Transport Fleet No. 1 appeared hurriedly before Huaya Nini.
"My lady, what are your orders?" this Flower-Fairy asked.
"Tell me what happened to that part of the interstellar transport fleet that stayed on the battlefield after we broke out and left!" Huaya Nini said gravely.
That the rest of Bailan Interstellar Transport Fleet No. 1's interstellar transports could appear here was beyond anything she had imagined.
It could be called sweet rain fallen from heaven.
But as a cautious interstellar trader, she naturally needed to get to the bottom of it.
This Flower-Fairy cadre at once set out everything that had happened then, point by point.
"At the time we did as you told us. Once you'd broken out with part of the interstellar transport fleet, the part of us left behind was to surrender. Just as we were getting ready to surrender, with some interstellar transports even having surrendered already, the Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet suddenly arrived. And their commander gave us orders to move off at a steady speed in one direction and leave the battlefield. At the same time, their interstellar warships destroyed the interstellar warships attacking us like a gale sweeping away dead leaves."
"Like a gale sweeping away dead leaves, you say? The enemy had nearly 50,000 interstellar warships, but they had only 2,000. With the two sides' numbers of interstellar warships more than twenty to one apart, how could it be like a gale sweeping away dead leaves!" Huaya Nini asked in disbelief.
The Flower-Fairy cadre said at once, "My lady, I'm not exaggerating in the least; it truly was like a gale sweeping away dead leaves. All through the fighting this Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet worked together perfectly; damaged interstellar warships would pull back, and friendly ships would move up to cover them. And they had a certain number of interstellar missile ships too! The fire of the interstellar missile ships' interstellar missiles struck enormous fear and damage into the enemy on the battlefield. Besides that, they had many classes of interstellar warship…… or rather, their ship complement was perfect, covering almost every major class of interstellar warship. And the many classes worked together with each other perfectly too. In the end, after destroying about 20,000 enemy interstellar warships, the remaining enemy interstellar warships lost all wish to fight on, and scattered like birds and beasts. And I watched closely at the time. You may not even believe it. After a battle like that, the Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet lost fewer than 100 interstellar warships. And most of those interstellar warships weren't destroyed outright; they were badly damaged and given up by their own side. At the same time, those badly damaged interstellar warships would cast off a great many escape pods, and the other friendly ships would pick up the crews escaping in them on their own. Apart from those, there were only some lightly damaged interstellar warships."
Having heard her cadre out,
Huaya Nini's face was full of disbelief.
Fighting nearly 50,000 interstellar warships with 2,000 interstellar warships, and in the end not only defeating them but losing fewer than 100 interstellar warships of their own:
was this truly only an ordinary mercenary legion fleet?
At this thought a grave look came into Huaya Nini's eyes; she said seriously, "During the fighting, did you record footage of the battlefield?"
"We did."
"Send me all that battlefield footage. If anyone else asks about this, don't discuss it or let it out."
"Yes," the Flower-Fairy cadre answered.
"All right; go back and see to these things."
"Yes. I take my leave."
The Flower-Fairy cadre took her leave.
Huaya Nini walked to a viewport; through it she could see, far off, the anchorage where the Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet's interstellar warships were berthed.
Looking at those interstellar warships,
Huaya Nini said in a low voice, "Villain-Envoy…… just where do you come from…… fighting power at this level is certainly no ordinary mercenary legion fleet's. And what aim do you have in drawing close to our Bailan Interstellar Trade Group?"
In this moment Huaya Nini had already begun to doubt this Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet's background.
After she received the battlefield footage the Flower-Fairy cadre sent, she watched it carefully over and over.
Having watched these videos, she was sure there had been no exaggeration at all in what her subordinate had said just now!
This Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet truly did have astonishing fighting power.
And by her observation, she now had reason to suspect that the battered-looking interstellar warships in active service in this Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet
were at least all above T4 grade, and very likely included T6-grade interstellar warships!
It was not that mercenary legion fleets never had T6-grade interstellar warships in active service.
Some mercenary legion fleets could get some T6-grade interstellar warships by certain means.
But this Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet had another trait too: their way of fighting was nothing like a free-and-easy mercenary legion fleet's.
If anything, it was very like a legion fleet that had been through regular training!
"Get me the commander of the Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet." Huaya Nini glanced at the time.
Half an hour had passed since the Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion entered the anchorage outside the port.
Apart from that first communication, they had not contacted her once since.
She had been thinking that if the other side really had some aim in mind, then after such a showing they would surely contact her.
But so long had passed, and still no contact.
Were they testing her patience?
By rights, as an interstellar trader, patience was a must.
But for some reason, faced with this "Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet" of unknown origins, she felt her composure slipping.
It made her think of another lesson her sister had taught her.
If you're truly curious about something, and it's affecting your feelings and your thinking,
then don't think too much; come straight out with it.
That was why Huaya Nini now chose to contact the supreme commander of this Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet directly.
Since the other side had shown outright in this escort task the formidable strength to take on nearly 50,000 interstellar warships with 2,000, it meant they had no real intention of hiding who they were entirely either.
Very soon a video window popped up.
On the other side were two people, as before:
a man and a woman, the woman standing, the man seated;
the woman with a black pattern on her face, the man with a strange mask on his.
"Just who are you?" Huaya Nini asked straight out, her expression very grave.
"Huh? We're the Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet, of course. Boss, why the sudden question?" Lilith said with a smile, teasing her on purpose.
"The Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet did have no small strength in itself, true, but even at its very strongest it didn't have the fighting power to take on 50,000 interstellar warships with 2,000," Huaya Nini said.
She paused, then went on, "I don't know who you are, but since you were willing to step in at a time like this and help us fill this order, it shows you mean us no harm. So most likely you have some idea about our Bailan Interstellar Trade Group. If so, we may as well lay it all out plainly."