The front-line battlefield where the Luohe Kingdom and the four families faced each other
An interstellar fleet had appeared on the battlefield, no one knew when.
It was only a bare three thousand interstellar warships, yet it was given every regard.
The interstellar warships of every family made way for these three thousand interstellar warships.
At the front-line military star port the four great families had built, where berths were scarce enough already, room had been made by sheer force for these three thousand interstellar warships.
And the senior figures of the four great families were all in the star port's long gallery now, waiting to receive the honored guest who had come from afar in this fleet.
"You're really something. I'd heard you were staying in your own family's territory, and here you are, not three hours later. Aren't you afraid of wearing out those old bones of yours?" The Hu clan's woman head did not forget to tease the Meng clan head beside her.
"Aren't you just the same, you old woman? We all know perfectly well what everyone has in mind. Let's not have the pot calling the kettle black here," the Meng clan head said with a cold laugh.
"Quiet, all of you; the guest has arrived. Don't make fools of yourselves in front of the guest." Hearing the bickering of this crowd, the Xie clan head rebuked them at once.
Only then did they fall silent.
Everyone was watching the gallery at the far end, the one connected to one of the other side's T6 interstellar warships.
The docking hatch of that interstellar warship opened, and first a squad of soldiers came down and walked along the gallery,
stopping one every meter on either side.
Very soon both sides of the gallery were lined with soldiers.
Then a humanoid man in splendid clothes appeared before them all.
Fair skin; had it not been for the two pairs of antennae on top of his head, he would likely have fit human tastes in a man rather well.
This humanoid man with antennae came slowly down and walked the length of the gallery,
and appeared before the four family clan heads.
"A warm welcome to Mr. Weitz on his visit to our Luohe Star Region. On behalf of the whole Xie family, I welcome Mr. Weitz!" The Xie clan head spoke first, his manner very respectful.
"Our Meng family also warmly welcomes Mr. Weitz. If he has time, our Meng family would also welcome Mr. Weitz to visit our Meng family's territory. We'll be sure to entertain Mr. Weitz very well!" The Meng family's clan head smiled fawningly.
An old man who looked seventy or eighty, fawning and smiling there: however you looked at it, it made one uncomfortable.
Seeing the Meng clan head say so,
the other two clan heads were surely not willing to fall behind, and at once came out with flattering words of every kind.
But no trace of pleasure could be seen on this Mr. Weitz's face.
He said coldly, "I haven't come here to listen to this drivel of yours."
Seeing Mr. Weitz somewhat angered, the three family clan heads shut their mouths at once.
The Xie family's clan head mocked them inwardly in secret glee: these three fools had truly patted the horse on the hoof.
They had no idea that what this Mr. Weitz hated most was this kind of fawning; without even knowing his character, they had come up and flattered blindly.
Behavior like this only put them at a disadvantage, and left a very bad impression in Mr. Weitz's mind.
"Mr. Weitz, forgive the spectacle. Please first rest a while in our reception hall." The Xie family's clan head spoke now; his face wore a smile, and he was very respectful,
but no excessive fawning could be seen.
He did not forget to add, "In the conference hall I'll brief you on the present situation in the Luohe Star Region in detail, and discuss with you what we should do next."
At the Xie family clan head's words, the look on this Mr. Weitz's face grew a good deal friendlier at last.
He nodded, then said, "Mm; we'll do as you say."
Then, led by the Xie family's clan head, Mr. Weitz walked toward the reception hall that had long been prepared.
The other three family clan heads were taken aback for a moment, but still hurried after them.
Their words before seemed not to have had the effect they wanted, but this was only the first meeting; there would be many more chances later to show themselves.
This was a rare chance to deal with the Burns Interstellar Civilization's envoy; even if he showed them a cold shoulder now, they would warm his cold shoulder with their own warm faces.
Very soon the party came into the reception hall the Xie family's clan head had long prepared.
Here stood a huge round table, and on the round table a holographic picture had already been opened.
And this hologram was nothing other than the present state of the Luohe Star Region's interstellar battlefield.
At the sight of it, Mr. Weitz's gaze grew plainly sharper.
The corners of the Xie family clan head's mouth turned up slightly, and he cast a disdainful glance at the three family clan heads behind him.
Did they know what truly catering to someone's tastes meant?
This Mr. Weitz was no simple-minded man to be puffed up to the skies by others' flattery and fawning.
What he cared about more was whether you could offer real value.
So at their meeting before, the Xie family's clan head had only shown the respect that was due.
By now the three family clan heads had realized this too, and looked coldly at the confidence on the Xie family clan head's face.
That fellow had surely done it on purpose, keeping back what he knew of this envoy's character just to wait for them to make fools of themselves at a moment like this.
A low, shameless fellow.
The Xie family's clan head paid no heed to the angry eyes of those three, and stepped forward to brief Mr. Weitz on the intelligence of every kind in the hologram.
"First, a brief account of the Luohe Kingdom as it is now. With the help of an unknown T6 interstellar power, the Luohe Kingdom has cleared out most of the agents we'd planted in the Luohe Kingdom, and some of the noble powers that had come over to us. Even some noble powers that weren't cleared out, who had been in touch with us before, have cut off contact with us lately, for fear of drawing the fire onto themselves. The Luohe Kingdom now is, on the surface at least, a single iron plate. Then, at present the Luohe Kingdom has massed nearly five hundred thousand interstellar warships on the border, and besides that the unknown T6 interstellar power has massed a hundred thousand interstellar warships, which are about to reach the border battlefield very soon. They may very well launch an attack on us at any time now! Considering that these hundred thousand interstellar warships come from a T6 interstellar civilization and are fitted with great numbers of T5 and even T6-grade interstellar warships, it will be very hard for our few families' fleets alone to hold off this T6 interstellar civilization's invasion. So we urgently need the Burns Interstellar Civilization's help! Please tell the Burns Interstellar Civilization's leadership that we urgently need your interstellar legion fleets to come to our support."
Hearing the Xie family clan head's words,
Mr. Weitz frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "Only a hundred thousand interstellar warships? Are you sure?"
"Yes. Our means of gathering intelligence inside the Luohe Kingdom have been affected, but the movement of a hundred thousand enemy interstellar warships still can't be wholly hidden from us. This news has been confirmed from several sides," the Xie family clan head said firmly.
Mr. Weitz looked disdainfully at the four family clan heads before him. "A mere hundred thousand interstellar warships, and you're scared into this sorry state. And you mean to come over to us, the Burns. Even I'm ashamed of you."
At Mr. Weitz's scorn, the Xie family clan head showed no anger at all, but said helplessly, "My lord, I know this situation is shameful. But the enemy is a T6 interstellar civilization. As far as we know, before this, with only three thousand interstellar warships, they defeated three of our legion fleets one after another, nearly nine hundred thousand interstellar warships. They cost us nearly four hundred thousand interstellar warships in losses outright. And by report, of the enemy's three thousand interstellar warships, apart from some hull damage, not one fell in the fighting. And those three thousand interstellar warships were all of the T5 grade at the least, with a few T6-grade interstellar warships besides. And their range of ship types was very complete, with a certain number of little-used, rare interstellar warships too: interstellar heavy-artillery ships, interstellar missile ships, interstellar long-range hunter-killer ships and so on. Their fighting quality is very high. So… with ourselves alone, it's truly very hard to deal with the situation before us. True, the other side has only a hundred thousand interstellar warships now, while we have three million interstellar warships drawn up. Even if in the end we could hold off the attack of those hundred thousand elite ships, most likely very few of our three million interstellar warships would be left. Then the interstellar federation we set up would have no interstellar fleets enough to keep order. And we'd have no way to work for you and the Burns Interstellar Civilization with all our heart and strength."
When he had heard the Xie family clan head out,
the disdain left Mr. Weitz's face too.
But he still said calmly, "All right, I understand the matter. I'll send word back at once. Within three days, our Burns Interstellar Civilization will send three legion fleets, a million interstellar warships, into the Luohe Star Region. Then that T6 interstellar civilization of unknown origin over there will see what a true T6 interstellar civilization is."
Speaking of his own side's might, Mr. Weitz's face showed pride.
The Xie family clan head said at once, "That's right! The might of the Burns Interstellar Civilization is beyond compare. Following the Burns Interstellar Civilization will be the wisest choice. The great Burns Interstellar Civilization will build us a powerful interstellar federation, and even come to hold the whole Cancer Interstellar Civilization Universe! It will become the mightiest T6 interstellar civilization!"
The Xie family clan head's words, fired off like a cannonade, sounded very pleasant to Mr. Weitz.
The three clan heads beside them looked on in astonishment.
This Mr. Weitz did not like crude flattery, but that did not mean he disliked hearing pleasant words.
Mr. Weitz spoke again now: "Of course, if the enemy can be talked into backing off, that's the best course of all. Get in touch with the other side once more and give them a last notice. So long as the Luohe Kingdom surrenders, and the T6 interstellar civilization over there withdraws from the Luohe Star Region and declares it will never set foot in the Luohe Kingdom again, our Burns Interstellar Civilization will treat this matter as if it never happened!"