And so Zhao Chen's fleet reached the Stone Kingdom's capital planet without a hitch.
Here many buildings could be seen in a style like rock; the space city Zhao Chen had just reached, for instance, looked from afar like a single huge boulder.
And here Zhao Chen would meet the Stone King of the Stone Kingdom.
"You are the Owl Dragon Emperor."
Zhao Chen looked at the huge "Stone Man" before him, nearly three meters tall; whether or not it was a trait of the Stone Kingdom's race, the higher a "Stone Man's" rank, the burlier his build.
Besides being bigger still, the Stone King before him was dotted all over with diamonds and other glittering ores.
On top of his head was a crown made from a single piece of seven-colored ore.
"Stone King, it's a great honor to meet the King of the Stone Kingdom here." Zhao Chen nodded slightly.
The Stone King looked Zhao Chen up and down as well, and nodded slightly. "Owl Dragon Emperor, I've long heard your name. That battle of yours with the Devourer Civilization's invasion fleets, I've learned something of it too."
"Then let's talk business plainly. I expect Prince Ahmed has already told you why I've come. I wonder what you think of the request for cooperation we've put forward." Zhao Chen came straight to the point and laid out the purpose of his journey.
"The Owl Dragon Emperor seems a straightforward man. That suits the temper of our Stone Kingdom's people well; we don't like those who hide crooked thoughts either."
The Stone King paused, then went on, "What you told Ahmed, he has told me. The cooperation projects you put forward and the terms you offered are indeed very tempting. But this matter is very important; we may need to discuss it before we can give you an answer."
Seeing the Stone King say so,
Zhao Chen pressed no further, but pointed at the Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships hovering in space outside. "In that case, why doesn't the Stone King come with me now and look over the Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships I've brought?"
At Zhao Chen's suggestion, a look of some interest showed on the Stone King's face.
For like the ordinary people of the Stone Kingdom, he was very interested in powerful interstellar warships.
And the Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships' name had long since spread across the world because of that battle.
The Stone King did not refuse; they boarded a shuttle so that, with Zhao Chen leading the way, they could look over the interstellar warships Zhao Chen had ordered brought from the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
All the while, Huaya Lanlan kept them company at one side.
She herself was very interested in these Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships too.
Zhao Chen took the Stone King through one combat interstellar warship after another,
including even a T6 Lord-of-Thunder-class Heavy Interstellar Destroyer; when the Stone King and the others stepped off this interstellar warship,
their faces wore an excitement they could not hide, and the look of a child who has seen a fine toy and wants it.
Now Zhao Chen led them into a special interstellar warship.
From its outward shape they could not make out at all what type of interstellar warship it was.
"Your Majesty the Owl Dragon Emperor, what class of ship is this? Why is it so unusual?" the Stone King asked curiously, sitting in a hover car once they had entered the compartment.
Zhao Chen explained with a smile, "This is a civilian auxiliary interstellar warship now in service in our Owl Dragon line."
A civilian auxiliary interstellar warship?
At the name, the Stone Men present lost a good deal of their interest at once.
What they liked more were those combat interstellar warships; in their eyes those interstellar warships were like works of art.
Even if they could not be put to use on a battlefield, seeing those interstellar warships in their collections every day was a deep satisfaction to their hearts.
And if they could ride those interstellar warships now and then on tours of their own domains, it satisfied the value they set on such feelings all the more.
But very soon, what they had been thinking was turned on its head.
For they saw an incredible scene.
The long, narrow compartment suddenly opened wide before their eyes, and ahead was a great bright space; anyone who did not know would have thought they were on the surface of some habitable planet.
For all the eye could see was green.
Everywhere were estates growing crops, and far off could even be seen ranges where all kinds of livestock were kept, the ranges all lush green grassland.
On the other side was lake water clear to the bottom, and in the lake all kinds of water creatures could be seen, every one of them plump and fine.
Besides that, far off there were tracts of every different kind of scenery:
snowy mountains, deserts, sea, streams, and more……
"What is this?" the Stone King asked in astonishment.
"This is the inside of this T5 Diamond Eden-class Starship," Zhao Chen explained.
"Diamond Eden-class Starship?" the Stone King repeated the name of the class, puzzled.
Zhao Chen described it in detail: "Eden-class Starships are mobile ecospheres our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire developed specially for growing things in a space environment. Here all kinds of crops and meat can be grown and raised. Everything uses a recycling ecology, and since it's inside a starship, it can move at any time, and when need be it can even draw near a star and take in energy on its own. Apart from the energy it takes to start it up when it first enters service, for the rest of its whole service life it needs almost no more energy at all. The whole ecosystem is sustainable and self-recycling. It can supply all kinds of food without end."
So Zhao Chen described it.
Huaya Lanlan, beside them, hearing such a description, had eyes grown a good deal brighter.
Next, Zhao Chen himself took them strolling at their leisure through this world of its own.
Passing through an orchard, he would pick some fruit at random and hand it to them.
When the Stone King and the others tasted these fruits, they all looked astonished, for the fruit tasted a great deal better than the fruit they bought.
"Miss Huaya Lanlan. Why is the fruit here better than the fruit and produce you Flower-Fairy interstellar traders buy for us?" Prince Ahmed looked at Huaya Lanlan none too kindly.
Perhaps he thought they had been cheated, that the Flower-Fairy interstellar traders had palmed off inferior goods on them.
Huaya Lanlan explained at once, "The fruit and produce we Flower-Fairy interstellar traders buy are all top-grade goods from each place; we'd never pass off the inferior as good. As for the fruit here, it's very good indeed……"
Huaya Lanlan looked at Zhao Chen somewhat pleadingly.
For she too did not know why the fruit here was so sweet and fragrant, so much better than even the top-grade fruit they bought.
Zhao Chen did not leave Huaya Lanlan to squirm any longer; he explained with a smile, "Prince Ahmed, you've wronged Huaya Lanlan and her Flower-Fairy interstellar traders there. In their dealings with you, they'd never pass off the inferior as good. As for why my fruit here is sweeter, it's a feature of this Eden-class Starship of ours: it uses growing technology of the T5 technology grade. And we've recently upgraded our seedlings too. Fruit we grow here without any special effort counts as top-grade fruit at the least on the market outside. And there's premium fruit as well, which tastes better still. When we leave in a while, I'll have people prepare some specially for you all to take back."
Zhao Chen said it with a smile.
For the seedling upgrade, thanks were due to the Holy Elf Empire; the Holy Elf Empire's seedlings were very fine indeed.
Paired with the technology of the Eden-class Starships, it was simply two swords joined into one!
Hearing Zhao Chen's explanation, Huaya Lanlan let out a breath.
At the same time she looked at Zhao Chen with eyes keener than ever, and kept sweeping them over the inner space of this starship as well.
"Oh. Then may I ask: is this Eden-class Starship part of the cooperation plan between our two sides as well?" the Stone King asked, tempted.
In their Stone Kingdom, goods like fruit and vegetables had always been luxuries,
usually costing dozens of times the price to have Flower-Fairy interstellar traders buy them from outside.
If they had this Eden-class Starship, didn't it mean they could produce these fruits and vegetables themselves?
Zhao Chen said with a smile, "Of course. All these interstellar warships I've brought to show this time are part of our cooperation projects. So long as you need them, you can buy any of these interstellar warships."
Zhao Chen had made his plans before coming; the starships he had brought were all what the Stone Kingdom wanted most.
Not only those interstellar mining ships and interstellar warships, but these Eden-class Starships now too.
At the same time, this counted as opening up a market as well.
For within the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's borders now, the food trade market for Eden-class Starships was very nearly saturated.
Not every citizen within the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's borders could eat top-grade fruit, true.
But fruit for the basic needs of life, to the point of two or three apples per person a week, could be fully provided.
Anyone wanting to enjoy something higher would naturally have to work for it themselves.
Zhao Chen understood very clearly that the desire for "enjoyment" was an important reason carbon-based life like them kept striving.
Once you satisfied the great majority of their desires, they would stop where they stood, and work inefficiently in every way.
So Zhao Chen met only their lowest needs for living, while setting better things before them in whatever parts of their lives they could reach.
That way, they would keep striving for a better life.
Back to the matter at hand.
Seeing the attitude of these people before him now, Zhao Chen knew this move of his had been perfect.
And even Huaya Lanlan, beside them, was drawn in by this move of Zhao Chen's.
The food trade was also a project Zhao Chen meant to work on with the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group.