Lilith introduced herself straight out: "We come from the far-off universe of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire. I am Lilith, Chief Secretary-Officer of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire. This is our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's supreme leader, the Owl Dragon Emperor."
The Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire?
The words sounded strange, and yet she seemed to have heard them somewhere.
General Leng Qian tried hard to remember.
The secretary-officer beside her leaned in at once now with a shocked look, and whispered a few words in General Leng Qian's ear.
"The Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire is an interstellar empire of the T6 technology grade. Not long ago it defeated the Devourer Civilization's universe, which invaded theirs. It even struck back once at the Devourer Civilization's universe. I don't know about anything else, but in military strength it's very strong."
Hearing the secretary-officer's explanation, General Leng Qian at once remembered the intelligence she had learned at the time.
At the time there had been a great deal going on inside the Luohe Kingdom; besides, the gap between a T5 interstellar empire and a T6 interstellar empire was still very great.
One ruled a whole interstellar universe; the other was only clinging to life within a single star region.
As she had thought then, she would most likely never in her life have any dealings with such a colossus.
She had never imagined that the Owl Dragon Emperor of report would actually appear before her.
For several seconds after learning this, General Leng Qian was stunned, and took a good long while to come back to herself.
At the same time, her heart, which had been like dead ashes, began to stir again.
For she had made a connection.
The mighty Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's Owl Dragon Emperor appearing here was surely no simple matter of wandering by; he had surely come prepared.
And contacting her directly meant he had most likely come for the Luohe Kingdom.
As for this being the outside power those few fellows had called in: with what little strength they had, they were nowhere near fit to call in the help of a T6 interstellar empire.
So……
could it be……
General Leng Qian thought of a certain possibility, but did not say it at once.
Instead, holding back the excitement in her heart, she looked at the Owl Dragon Emperor across from her, made a very solemn salute, then said slowly, "I have long heard of the Owl Dragon Emperor's mighty name. May I ask what brings the Owl Dragon Emperor here this time?"
Zhao Chen raised his head; his sharp gaze seemed to pass through the quantum space of the video link and fall straight on General Leng Qian.
He said slowly, "You're no fool. You should be able to guess what we've come to you for this time."
"I dare not guess too much," General Leng Qian said with her head bowed.
Zhao Chen said coldly, "And if I want to hear your guess?"
Could this be a test?
General Leng Qian calmed her excitement.
She raised her head to look at this man of authority without anger, and said slowly, "Then I'll overstep myself. The Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire is a T6 interstellar empire, a power that can stand against the Devourer Civilization head-on; among the universes' civilizations known to us, the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's military strength ranks in the top three at least. And though our Cancer Interstellar Civilization Universe is a large universe, it's at the T5 technology stage itself, and has no rare resources. So there's only one possibility that could bring the Owl Dragon Emperor here in person: that Your Majesty the Owl Dragon Emperor values the Cancer Interstellar Civilization Universe's position. You want to do something in the Cancer Interstellar Civilization Universe. And as far as I know, though the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire has now beaten the Devourer Civilization's first offensive, that can't count as defeating the Devourer Civilization outright. What the Devourer Civilization is, nearly every interstellar civilization knows. So you, as the Owl Dragon Emperor, won't make any great show of force in the open at a time like this. But if you can't make a great show of force in the open, and still want to take control of an interstellar universe of strategic standing, there's only one way: to back a puppet government in this interstellar civilization's universe, a puppet government that takes its orders from the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire. And you and your fleet appear here, and are even willing to lower yourself to speak with us. Then I'll… make a bold guess: is our Luohe Kingdom one of the candidates in Your Majesty the Owl Dragon Emperor's mind?"
A trace of a smile appeared on Zhao Chen's stern face.
Then he clapped and said, "Worthy of the Luohe Kingdom's most renowned commanding general. To guess our purpose in so short a time."
Then the smile vanished from Zhao Chen's face in an instant, and he looked straight at her with cold eyes. "In that case, can you tell me your choice now?"
General Leng Qian was taken aback for a moment; she had not expected this Owl Dragon Emperor to ask so directly.
It left her stunned for a good while.
Then she said slowly, "This matter… is rather weighty; it needs our Queen……"
"I don't care about queens or no queens. Who this queen is doesn't matter to me. If you're willing, you can be this queen too," Zhao Chen said.
At these words, General Leng Qian's body gave a shiver.
Not a few of the NCOs nearby who heard it looked at General Leng Qian without thinking.
At any time before this, had these words got out, it would have been a very grave matter indeed.
After all, General Leng Qian had royal blood in the Luohe Kingdom; she was the present Queen's aunt.
The present Queen was the daughter of General Leng Qian's late elder brother.
Before this, some nobles had pushed for General Leng Qian, who had already shown no small talent, to take the throne.
But General Leng Qian had chosen to let it cool at the time, and no one had said anything more.
But the talk had gone on passing among some in the Luohe Kingdom's upper ranks.
When the Luohe Kingdom had been developing well before, everyone had accepted the young Queen.
But now the Luohe Kingdom's situation had taken a sharp turn for the worse, and that had led people to start thinking again of the outstanding General Leng Qian.
As for why the Luohe Kingdom had come to its present pass, that crowd did not care; they only looked at the Luohe Kingdom's present situation and thought it was all the young Queen's fault.
And the man before her was an Emperor from a T6 technology civilization; with his backing, these words of his now were enough to change the whole situation of the Luohe Kingdom.
Nor did General Leng Qian think the Owl Dragon Emperor was joking; perhaps if she only nodded now, a new ruler of the Luohe Kingdom would appear.
General Leng Qian said at once, "Your Majesty, I have no interest in the Luohe Kingdom's throne. And my niece, Leng Yun, is very capable herself; if the other few kingdoms hadn't held her down on purpose, the Luohe Kingdom would surely be doing very well now."
A look of impatience crossed Zhao Chen's face. "Then back to the earlier question: what do you think of my proposal? I don't have much patience."
General Leng Qian's thoughts turned over and over; she knew very well that one sentence from her now might decide the Luohe Kingdom's future fate.
A puppet government… a proxy……
"I accept," General Leng Qian said.
Her tone in that moment became very firm.
That rather surprised Zhao Chen; he had thought she would hesitate somewhat, or bargain a while longer.
Deciding so decisively raised his opinion of her a few more notches.
"You've agreed so fast? You don't want to learn a bit more first? You're not worried I'll sell you all off?" Zhao Chen said in a teasing tone.
General Leng Qian shrugged helplessly, her eyes full of helpless resignation. "I know our Luohe Kingdom has no standing to bargain before you. In our eyes there's only one Luohe Kingdom. But in yours, there can be many 'Luohe Kingdoms' in the Cancer Interstellar Civilization Universe. And I expect you already know the Luohe Kingdom's present plight. Without your help, the Luohe Kingdom is doomed to perish. I don't know how things stand on the capital planet now… perhaps… if this chance is missed, the Luohe Kingdom will perish for good. And now you are our only straw to clutch at. What demands could we have left to make?"
Zhao Chen clapped again and said, "You're a very clever person; I like working with clever people."
"Your Majesty is too kind." When General Leng Qian had said this, a look of urgency came into her eyes, and she asked, "Since I've agreed to work with you, may I ask your legion fleet to come to the battlefield's support now? The situation here: if my legion fleet goes on like this, the losses will be very great."
Zhao Chen nodded, and at once told Lilith beside him, "Tell Xiong Xiangxiang she can move."
"Yes." Lilith nodded, and began passing on the Owl Dragon Emperor's order.
"Is there anything we can do?" General Leng Qian asked at once.
Zhao Chen shook his head and said, "No need. You need only have your legion fleet stand by where it is and hold off the enemy interstellar legion fleets' attack. Leave everything else to my fleet. We'll talk about other things here while we wait for them a while."
General Leng Qian nodded, startled inwardly.
Worthy of the Emperor of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire: in his mouth, a battle like this sounded as light as a game.
But it was understandable too, for it was said this Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's legion fleets were a mighty power that could defeat the invasion fleets of the Order civilization.
They need only send a hundred or two hundred thousand interstellar warships over at random, and dealing with the fewer than five hundred thousand enemy ships here would be very easy indeed.
"Let me ask you. If I had you recover the territory of the former Luohe Empire in a short time at the least cost, what would you do?" Zhao Chen looked at General Leng Qian and threw out another question.
General Leng Qian showed no sign of alarm at all, and said calmly, "The former Luohe Empire's territory is now held by five interstellar kingdoms. One of them is the Luohe Empire's legitimate heir, today's Luohe Kingdom. As for the other four, they are the Meng Kingdom, the Hu Kingdom, the Xie Kingdom and the Tai Kingdom. These four interstellar kingdoms were each one of the Luohe Empire's four great noble houses; when the Luohe Empire fell on hard times, they took the chance to rebel and carve up the Luohe Kingdom. Luckily there were rifts among them too, so they didn't wipe out our Luohe Kingdom in one push back then. That's how we came to the present situation of five interstellar kingdoms holding the whole Luohe Star Region. The five interstellar kingdoms' military strength is basically about the same. Each has around a million interstellar warships in its interstellar legion fleets, with T5-grade interstellar warships as flagships or main warships, and T4- and T3-grade interstellar warships making up the bulk. T2- and T1-grade interstellar warships have basically all been retired. Our Luohe Kingdom, for instance, has three full-strength legion fleets of three hundred thousand interstellar warships each, plus the Luohe Royal Legion Fleet with a hundred thousand interstellar warships, under the royal house's direct control, guarding the capital planet and the royal house's safety. And this time the Meng family and the Hu family have joined to besiege my Third Legion Fleet, trying to wipe us out here. And inside our Luohe Kingdom's borders besides; something must have changed inside our Luohe Kingdom for this to happen. If it's as I guess, a coup is breaking out in the Luohe Kingdom's capital star system right now, with some of the Luohe Kingdom's upper ranks joining the Meng family and the Hu family to try to overthrow the Luohe Kingdom. So the most urgent thing should be to end the Luohe Kingdom's internal crisis in a short time; only then can the Luohe Kingdom throw itself wholly into expanding outward. And with enough armed force committed, that would take only a day."
Zhao Chen looked at this woman general in some surprise; her mind was very clear, and she seemed to have had an operational plan worked out long before.
"So you're not worried about your niece now? Not worried about the coup in the capital star system? Perhaps your Luohe Kingdom has long since changed hands," Zhao Chen asked in return.
General Leng Qian smiled faintly, trust in her eyes, and said, "Your Majesty, as I said before, our Queen is young, but she has talent and ability. I don't know how things stand in the capital star system now. But first, what can be sure is that the Royal Legion Fleet's hundred thousand interstellar warships are surely under my niece's control. The worst case is no more than that something has gone wrong with the other two legion fleets. First, the First Legion Fleet's taking part in the rebellion can be ruled out. The First Legion Fleet's commander is a veteran general who can be trusted. And it's posted on the border defense line facing the Xie family's and the Tai family's territories; it couldn't possibly be moved in a short time to threaten the capital star system. Then the likeliest is the Second Legion Fleet. The Second Legion Fleet's commander belongs to a cadet branch of our royal house; by blood, he's the husband of the daughter of my father's cousin. Just what that makes him, I couldn't say offhand. But his standing in our Luohe Kingdom is very high, because it was a political marriage. The man's side is a newly risen family in our Luohe Kingdom, among the top three in the Luohe Kingdom today in family strength. The man is named Chang Liqun, the eldest son of the Chang family. He, I and the old general of the First Legion Fleet are together called the Three Marshals of Luohe. If I'm not wrong, most likely it's this Chang Liqun and the Chang family behind him making trouble. And with the Chang family alone and the Luohe Second Legion Fleet in Chang Liqun's hands, three hundred thousand interstellar warships or even more, though they be, if the target of their assault is the Luohe Kingdom's capital star system, they still can't take it quickly. Not, at least, while my niece is still there."
From this General Leng Qian's tone, it could be seen that she truly trusted this niece of hers very much; one could even say she held her in very high regard!
There was a note of pride in her tone as well.
"Go on with what you were thinking before," Zhao Chen asked, somewhat interested.
General Leng Qian went on, "So long as we have enough armed help, we can settle the Luohe Kingdom's internal problems within a day. After all, with my standing and my niece's, even if some harbor other loyalties, so long as there are enough ship's guns, they'll have to behave. After that, as for the four interstellar kingdoms, it's the same again: so long as there are enough ship's guns, dealing with the four interstellar kingdoms is only a matter of time. By the fastest way, within a week I can control the four interstellar kingdoms. Within twenty days I can wholly master every interstellar power in the Luohe Star Region."
Zhao Chen narrowed his eyes at Leng Qian and asked, "Then for these two moves, how many ship's guns do you think you'd need? Reckon it by the overall fighting strength of your Luohe Kingdom's legion fleets now."
General Leng Qian thought for a moment, then answered, "The first step, ending the coup and restoring order in the Luohe Kingdom, carried out within a day: that needs at least five Luohe Kingdom legion fleets, that is, a million and a half interstellar warships. The second step, controlling the four interstellar kingdoms and wholly mastering the whole Luohe Star Region, done within twenty days: that needs thirty Luohe Kingdom legion fleets, an estimated ten million interstellar warships."
She paused,
and looked at the Owl Dragon Emperor. "Of course, that's reckoned by the fighting strength of our Luohe legion fleets. With the fighting strength of your Owl Dragon legion fleets, the number of interstellar warships would fall sharply. As for exactly how many would be needed, that I can't be sure of, because I don't yet have detailed analysis of your Owl Dragon legion fleets' fighting power."
This woman was rather rigorous.
Zhao Chen said, "Then take a good look now, and tell me your answer."
General Leng Qian was taken aback for a moment, then understood the Owl Dragon Emperor's meaning.
At this moment the two family legion fleets outside were already under attack.
Shells by the tens of thousands came down like a forest of spears, piercing interstellar warship after interstellar warship.
Under the attack of those energy shells, these interstellar warships were no match at all, not for a single exchange.
Some T3-grade interstellar warships, even with their star shields at full energy, were finished in a single hit, exploding outright in the void and becoming dazzling balls of fire.
Nor was it only T3-grade interstellar warships.
Even T4-grade interstellar warships could not take more than a few blows of this kind of attack.
"This is……" General Leng Qian stared fixedly at the scene, astonishment on her face.
She had only let her mind "wander" for a moment just now; how had the battlefield been turned upside down?
She at once looked for whoever was making these attacks.
She had at first thought it was because the Owl Dragon legion fleets had entered in great numbers.
But looking carefully, she found that not a single extra interstellar warship had appeared on this battlefield.
It was still the same interstellar warships as at the start.
And the only ones taking part in the fighting were the three thousand interstellar warships from the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
It was those three thousand Owl Dragon interstellar warships making the attack now.
But the intensity of these three thousand Owl Dragon interstellar warships' attack was quite terrifying.
And those firing the terrifying balls of energy were interstellar heavy-artillery ships, one after another!
The interstellar heavy-artillery ship was a rare class of ship, but it was not that Leng Qian had never seen one.
Yet this fighting power, this intensity of attack,
truly did not look like ordinary interstellar heavy-artillery ships.
Wait……
This power……
Could these interstellar heavy-artillery ships be?
Leng Qian looked in disbelief at the man on the other side of the video window.
Zhao Chen noticed her gaze; as the proxy he meant to cultivate, she naturally needed to see more of his authority now.
Zhao Chen said, "The T5 Spear-of-Sin-class Heavy Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship: twenty-one million tons, fitted with six thousand Spear-of-Sin particle-energy heavy guns. The power core it's paired with lets this Spear-of-Sin-class Heavy Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship deliver high-intensity fire strikes for a short time. That's the effect you're seeing now."
T5-grade interstellar heavy-artillery ships!
General Leng Qian swallowed, and looked again at those roaring interstellar heavy-artillery ships; among them she even found an "odd one out."
It could not really be said that she found it; it was just that this "odd one out" was truly too obvious.
For the intensity of its attack, that terrifying barrage, made the scalp prickle even more than the T5 Spear-of-Sin-class Heavy Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ships.
The T5 Spear-of-Sin-class Heavy Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ships just now were terrifying enough; then this one, which also looked like an interstellar heavy-artillery ship, wouldn't it be……
Now Zhao Chen spoke up at the right moment: "The Wrath-of-Heaven-Goddess-class Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship, a T6-grade interstellar heavy-artillery ship, nearly seventy million tons in all, fitted with 10,000 Wrath-of-Heaven energy heavy guns. It carries several power cores, enough to meet this T6 interstellar heavy-artillery ship's needs in battle."
So this was a T6-grade interstellar warship.
And a T6 interstellar heavy-artillery ship at that!
General Leng Qian, a woman general usually so calm, could not help showing excitement now, her eyes fixed on that T6 Wrath-of-Heaven-Goddess-class Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship.
In fact it was not that she had never seen a T6-grade interstellar warship.
But an interstellar warship with fighting power as terrifying as this T6 Wrath-of-Heaven-Goddess-class Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship, this was truly the first she had seen.
This terrifying command of the battlefield!
With the blanket of fire from a single interstellar warship alone, it was beating at least thirty thousand interstellar warships opposite until they had no strength to strike back, and even had to find ways to dodge.
For one heavy shell from this T6 Wrath-of-Heaven-Goddess-class Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship, even a T5-grade interstellar warship with its star shield at full energy would be knocked senseless by a single hit.
As for T4-grade interstellar warships, they were truly reduced to cannon fodder,
able only to pray these attacks would not land on them.
But the density of this T6 Wrath-of-Heaven-Goddess-class Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship's covering fire was simply too terrifying; within its range of fire there was almost no chance of survival.
This was only the first contact.
With the attack of only a few dozen of the three thousand interstellar warships, the hundreds of thousands of interstellar warships opposite were being made to eat bitter defeat.
It was the first time General Leng Qian had ever seen such a thing.
But it was a fact set right before her eyes.
Perhaps… these three thousand interstellar warships alone truly could settle the five hundred thousand enemy interstellar warships before them?