Zhao Chen looked with a smile at the male of this race before him.
His body was mostly grayish yellow; his skin plainly had the grain of earth, and there was no hair at all on his face or head.
There were even cracks to be seen in his face, like dried-out ground.
The whole of him looked very burly.
This was what the Stone Kingdom's race looked like.
Their nickname: Stone Men.
For to look at, they were humanoid creatures made up of so many stones.
It had to be said that among the many races of the universes, this was a rather unusual interstellar race.
"You're the Owl Dragon Emperor!" Adil first sprang to his feet in shock, staring in disbelief at the plainly dressed, ordinary-looking man before him.
It was hard to believe this was the Emperor of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, which by report had fought the Devourer Civilization and still come out the victor and survived!
Then he asked, "You say you'll give us a T5 Holy-Redeemer-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Heavy-Artillery Battleship? Are you serious?"
Sure enough, here was someone with a passion for collecting interstellar warships; after his shock at Zhao Chen's identity, what interested him more was still the T5 Holy-Redeemer-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Heavy-Artillery Battleship Zhao Chen had spoken of!
"When I say a thing, could it be false?" Zhao Chen shrugged.
Huaya Lanlan added at once beside him, "The Owl Dragon Emperor's coming in person this time already shows his sincerity. And a T5 Holy-Redeemer-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Heavy-Artillery Battleship sells, as far as I know, for at least 800 trillion star coins! Can you still not see the Owl Dragon Emperor's sincerity in that?"
Huaya Lanlan plainly leaned hard on those last words.
To be honest, Huaya Lanlan herself was a little jealous.
An interstellar warship worth 800 trillion star coins, and the Owl Dragon Emperor gave it away as soon as he said so.
He could truly be called a big spender.
Mind you, the business loan for her Bailan Interstellar Trade Group's first cooperation with the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire had been only 100 trillion.
Jealous; truly jealous.
Of course, that was only the selling price.
Huaya Lanlan knew too that the higher the grade of an interstellar warship, the more frightening the profit in its selling price.
She estimated that for a T5 interstellar battleship like this,
the building cost was somewhere around 80 to 100 trillion star coins.
What would Huaya Lanlan have felt, had she known that in the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire the building cost of such a T5 Holy-Redeemer-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Heavy-Artillery Battleship was in fact only 4 trillion star coins?
To be honest, though, among the many universes at present, there was basically no trade in T6-grade interstellar warships for payment alone; there were always some extra conditions attached.
And trade in T5-grade interstellar warships was only slightly on the market; prices were usually very dear, and sellers set out rules and restrictions too.
So the Owl Dragon Emperor's move now, bringing out a T5 interstellar warship outright as a meeting gift,
was more than Adil, representative of the Stone Kingdom, wealthy and lavish as it was, had ever imagined.
"Then I wonder whether we may see Mr. Ahmed now," Zhao Chen said with a faint smile.
Facing an interstellar civilization's universe passionately fond of interstellar warships, there was no better brick to knock at the door with than an interstellar warship.
And if one was not enough, two!
"This… I need to contact Lord Ahmed first. Please wait here a moment, both of you." Adil rose at once, and as he left he even bowed slightly to Zhao Chen; it was plain his manner toward Zhao Chen had changed greatly now.
"Your Majesty is truly generous. A starship worth 800 trillion star coins, given away as a meeting gift just like that." Huaya Lanlan looked at Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen smiled faintly. "A starship is a thing too, and the worth of a thing is set by people, and by where it's used. Put somewhere else, this starship might not even be worth a hundred million star coins. But here, its worth is more than 800 trillion star coins. Just as the worth of a T6 Star-Sea Whale-class Super-Heavy Interstellar Transport is wholly different to you interstellar traders than to others."
He paused, and looked at Huaya Lanlan with a smile. "If our cooperation goes well in future, I'll prepare a rich gift for the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group too."
Holding out a painted pie was something Zhao Chen had long since grown practiced at.
And if Huaya Lanlan truly could satisfy Zhao Chen, this pie was not one she could never eat.
Very soon Adil sent his answer.
Ahmed was on his way, and asked them to wait a while longer.
Zhao Chen and Huaya Lanlan exchanged a look; it seemed this brick for knocking at the door worked very well.
Five hours later,
a burly figure two and a half meters tall appeared before Zhao Chen and Huaya Lanlan.
He too was a "Stone Man," but beyond his burly frame, this two-and-a-half-meter Stone Man's skin was darker still, and dotted with minerals like so many pieces of obsidian.
There were some glittering diamonds on his face too.
This was an ornament only nobles of high station in the Stone Kingdom had.
Long before coming this time, Zhao Chen had learned who this Ahmed was.
The family behind him was one of the Stone Kingdom's four great families, with a very high standing in the Stone Kingdom, and he was a prince besides,
with ties to the blood of the Stone Kingdom's royal house.
"This is His Majesty the Owl Dragon Emperor." Prince Ahmed looked at Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen nodded slightly.
"The Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire: I've long heard its great name, like thunder in my ears. I never thought I would have the good fortune to look upon the Owl Dragon Emperor's noble face here today. An honor, an honor," Prince Ahmed said with a smile, and made a bow to show his respect.
Zhao Chen nodded slightly; in his bearing he still showed the manner of one above.
After all, by rank, Zhao Chen was the Emperor of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
Had this not been, so to speak, a visit "incognito," by rights the only one fit to meet Zhao Chen and sit down to talk would have been the Stone Kingdom's king.
"I wonder what the purpose of the Owl Dragon Emperor's journey may be. To meet me here through the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group's relations with us: I expect the Owl Dragon Emperor has some very important business?" Prince Ahmed said with a smile; up to this point he had made no mention at all of the T5 Holy-Redeemer-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Heavy-Artillery Battleship.
For with his standing, to bring up the T5 Holy-Redeemer-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Heavy-Artillery Battleship at the outset would have seemed very beneath him.
At the same time, he believed an Owl Dragon Emperor would not fool anyone over a matter like this.
"I've come on this journey to seek a chance to work with the Stone Kingdom," Zhao Chen said, coming straight to the point.
Hearing this, Prince Ahmed's expression did not change; by the look of it, he had heard requests like this who knew how many times.
Not only the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire; a great many interstellar civilizations and powers before it had wanted to work with the Stone Kingdom.
Once one had close cooperation with the Stone Kingdom, it was as good as owning a source of resources of the very best value for money!
"The Owl Dragon Emperor should know that our Stone Kingdom has always kept outsiders away; to this day, apart from our long-standing cooperation with the Flower-Fairy Federal Tribes, we have no dealings with any other interstellar civilization or power. So……" Prince Ahmed did not say anything final outright, his eyes on Zhao Chen.
If this Owl Dragon Emperor before him was no fool, then in coming here he must know how hard this request was, and would surely not have come without any preparation.
And how could an Emperor who had defeated the Devourer Civilization's invasion fleets be a fool?
"That was other people. What's here is the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire." The corners of Zhao Chen's mouth turned up slightly as he said it with confidence.
Prince Ahmed looked at Zhao Chen with interest. "I wonder, Your Majesty, what difference that makes?"
"Because what they have, our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire has; and what they don't have, our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire has too. Work with us, and you'll get a great many of the things you want: advanced interstellar mining ships, industrial facilities, powerful, advanced interstellar warships too, and steady trade in all kinds of products over a long time. Our two sides could perfectly well reach a long-term partnership," Zhao Chen said with a smile.
Prince Ahmed fell silent; he narrowed his eyes at Zhao Chen. "You mean you're willing to trade Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships with us?"
The words had barely left his mouth
when Zhao Chen snapped his fingers.
Hologram after hologram appeared before them.
From the lower-grade T4 series of interstellar warships: the T4 Vermilion Bird-class Medium Interstellar Cruiser, the T4 Paladin-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Escort, the T4 Blue-Eyes White Dragon-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Battleship, the T4 Tyrant-class Heavy Interstellar Missile-Battlecruiser, the T4 Fallen-Angel-class Super-Heavy Carrier Starship, the T4 Gorgon-class Heavy Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship, the T4 Hell-Angel-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship;
on to the T5 grade: the T5 Chaos-Knight-class Heavy Assault Interstellar Destroyer, the T5 King-of-the-Hill-class Heavy Interstellar Comprehensive Strategic Escort, the T5 Lightning-Wraith-class Heavy Assault Interstellar Cruiser, the T5 Holy-Redeemer-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Heavy-Artillery Battleship, the T5 Fire-Qilin-class Heavy Carrier Starship, the T5 Frost-Tyrant-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Battlecruiser, the T5 Spear-of-Sin-class Heavy Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship……
There were even the data panels of a few T6-grade interstellar warship classes:
the T6 White-Jade Black Tortoise-class Heavy Interstellar Strategic Escort, the T6 Wind Sprite-class Light Interstellar Cruiser, the T6 Seraph-Ballista-class Interstellar Long-Range Hunter-Killer Ship……
At the sight of these holograms of interstellar warships, Prince Ahmed, whose expression had been calm until then, now had eyes that burned.
He steadied his breathing, swept his eyes over those interstellar warships a few times, then looked at Zhao Chen. "You're willing to sell us these interstellar warships? Including those few T6-grade interstellar warship classes! Are there any other demands?"
Prince Ahmed's gaze was somewhat cold.