An old man watched three video windows before him slowly come clear.
Very soon the figures on the other side of the three video windows appeared.
"Everyone's here. Then let's begin," the old man said.
"Begin what? What's there to talk about? Just wait until the Burns Interstellar Civilization's interstellar legion fleets arrive. Then take the Luohe Kingdom in one push," one of them, a woman, said.
"Right. Old Xie, aren't you the one in touch with the Burns Interstellar Civilization? How do things stand; when will their interstellar legion fleets arrive?" another, a thin old man, asked.
The middle-aged man called Old Xie looked at the two of them, displeased. "What are you two in such a hurry about here? If your Meng and Hu clans hadn't struck first, would we be in this situation now? Do you know how much pressure I've taken from the Burns Interstellar Civilization? The original plan was to begin three months from now. And you went and moved it up by three months."
From this exchange, one could tell
that this video conference was in fact a joint meeting called by the other four family powers of the Luohe Star Region.
The reason, naturally, was what was happening in the Luohe Star Region now.
The Meng clan head and the Xie clan's woman head looked away somewhat guiltily, for things had indeed come to this because of them.[1]
Keeping the other two families in the dark, they had struck at the Luohe Kingdom first.
And the whole aim of it had been to make a better showing before the Burns Interstellar Civilization, so as to get more when the spoils were shared out in future.
But who would have thought it would come to this?
The Tai clan head, who had not spoken all along, said with a cold laugh beside them, "You two had it all nicely worked out before. Leaving us out, wanting to make a good showing before the Burns Interstellar Civilization. Now there's trouble, and you send Old Xie out to do the talking. A fine bit of reckoning indeed. If you ask me, if the Burns Interstellar Civilization sets any extra conditions, you two clever fools bear all the consequences. I won't pay for your stupidity!"
At the Tai clan head's words, the Meng clan head and the Hu clan's woman head were displeased at heart, but they also knew the blame for this lay with them, and there was little they could say to argue now.
The Xie clan head spoke up now too: "The Burns Interstellar Civilization did set a few small conditions. I agreed to them all. Just as Old Tai said, this part of the conditions is for your Hu and Meng families to bear; there's nothing to discuss about it. If you're not willing, you can talk to the Burns Interstellar Civilization yourselves."
In this business of the four families joining with the Burns Interstellar Civilization, it was the Xie family that led, and it was also because the Xie family had some connections with that Burns Interstellar Civilization
that things had come to the present plan of setting up a federal power in the Luohe Star Region.
"All right; we're willing to bear a share." The Meng clan head agreed, for he knew there was indeed no room to bargain over this.
What mattered most now was first to settle this business of the Luohe Kingdom, and put things back on their original road!
The Hu clan's woman head on the other side was displeased at heart, but she said nothing either; only the look on her face was none too kind.
"Tell us what's arranged next. When exactly can the Burns Interstellar Civilization send interstellar legion fleets over? The informers I've planted inside the Luohe Kingdom have already reported that over the past few days that woman Leng Qian has carried out a great purge inside the Luohe Kingdom. Now she's on her way to the border, leading their Luohe Kingdom's legion fleets and the interstellar fleet of that unknown T6 interstellar power. If the Burns Interstellar Civilization doesn't come out, then for the likes of us to stand against a T6 interstellar civilization's interstellar fleet, even of only a hundred thousand interstellar warships, would be very dangerous for us!" The Tai clan head looked at the Xie clan head.
Only now did the Xie clan head say slowly, "I've already been in touch with the Burns Interstellar Civilization. What they mean is that they can send legion fleets over early to carry out the operational plan of clearing out the Luohe Kingdom. But before that, they'll first send an envoy to find out how things stand on our side."
"An envoy?"
At the word "envoy," the eyes of the several clan heads seemed to light up at once.
"Most likely today. The envoy will look over how things stand on our side, then make detailed arrangements. After that, the time for the Burns Interstellar Civilization's legion fleets to come over will be fixed." As the Xie clan head said this, there was a note of pride in his words.
For of everyone present, only he had connections with the Burns Interstellar Civilization.
In the plan agreed before to set up a federation, his Xie family's share of the gains was the largest as well.
Naturally, among the four families now, the Xie family took the lead.
That was also why, when he had just demanded that the Meng and Hu families bear the losses of this affair, those two families had not dared say a word.
"That's wonderful. With an envoy coming to us, we must prepare properly! Why not arrange it at our Meng family's capital planet? We can lay on a welcome banquet!" the Meng clan head said very warmly.
The other two clan heads put forward their own ideas too.
The Xie clan head snorted coldly and swept his eyes over the three of them.
What little schemes they had in their hearts, did he not know?
Weren't they just trying to use the chance to get close to the Burns Interstellar Civilization's envoy, so as to get more when the cake was cut in future?
How could he let this crowd get away with it?
"The envoy will go straight to the front-line battlefield, so don't think about those little things in your hearts," the Xie family head said.
At this, the three clan heads were somewhat disappointed, but said nothing.
After all, going to the front-line battlefield was acceptable to all of them; so long as no one else got the better of them, there would still be chances when the time came.
Now the clan heads not yet at the front-line battlefield were already arranging their journeys, making sure to be on the spot before the envoy's fleet arrived,
to show their families' warm attitude toward the Burns Interstellar Civilization.
"All right, that's about how things stand. We'll talk about the details when we meet. It mostly comes down to the Burns Interstellar Civilization envoy's attitude. I'm warning you: this Burns envoy is no ordinary person. You'd all best behave yourselves and stir up no more trouble; if you make some mess, don't blame me for turning on you." The Xie clan head left these words,
and cut the communication outright.
The other three clan heads ended the communication too, and went to see to their own business.
On the other side,
The Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship · the bridge
"Your Majesty, from the intelligence we've gathered, it's confirmed that the T6 interstellar civilization behind those families is one called the Burns Interstellar Civilization." Lilith stood at Zhao Chen's side, reporting the intelligence.
"The Burns Interstellar Civilization?" Zhao Chen repeated the name and brought up the material on this T6 interstellar civilization.
Since it was a T6-grade interstellar civilization, it could not be missing from the intelligence the Holy Elf Empire had given him before.
The Burns Interstellar Civilization's intelligence file appeared before Zhao Chen.
It was an interstellar civilization that had only just stepped into the T6 grade, and in fact held little T6-grade technology.
And in its legion fleets, so far, there were only two T6-grade interstellar warship classes:
a T6 interstellar destroyer and a T6 interstellar cruiser.
Strictly speaking, an interstellar civilization like this could only count as quasi-T6; it had not wholly stepped into the T6 technology civilization stage.
And at present the Burns Interstellar Civilization had been growing fast all along, with faint signs of expanding outward.
By conjecture, the Burns Interstellar Civilization had realized too that entering the T6 technology stage would draw Order's covetous eye.
But the Burns Interstellar Civilization was unwilling to be an ostrich; its only choice, naturally, was to raise its military strength in a short time, so as to have the power to fight before Order, or at least before the Devourer Civilization.
And because of the Cancer Interstellar Civilization Universe's special position, the Burns Interstellar Civilization had set its eyes on it too.
They wanted to set up a bridgehead here, then infiltrate and take control of the whole Cancer Interstellar Civilization Universe bit by bit.
And this bridgehead had naturally been chosen in the Luohe Star Region.
For the situation in the Luohe Star Region was very suitable:
there was the foundation of an old interstellar empire, and it was broken into pieces now, making everything very easy and convenient to handle.
When he had read through the material on this Burns Interstellar Civilization,
Lilith said beside him, "As things stand, we don't fear the Burns Interstellar Civilization's military strength. But going to war with a T6 interstellar civilization would still be a heavy burden for us."
Zhao Chen closed the material on the Burns Interstellar Civilization, smiled faintly, and said easily, "No need to worry about that. I've already thought of a way to handle this Burns Interstellar Civilization."
Lilith looked at Zhao Chen in some surprise, curious about his plan.
"Get ready; we're going on a business trip." Zhao Chen stretched.
"A business trip? Where to?" Lilith asked.
"The Burns Interstellar Civilization's capital planet," Zhao Chen said outright.
"Huh?" Lilith was greatly startled; to run off to the Burns Interstellar Civilization's capital planet now was delivering themselves to the door.
Zhao Chen looked at Lilith and said, "What you said just now is right: as we stand now, it isn't wise to go to war with a T6 interstellar civilization. So we'll use a different means. We'll pay a call on our neighbors. And while we're at it, shake the mountain to frighten the tiger."
Zhao Chen leaned hard on the words "shake the mountain to frighten the tiger."