Hearing these rather insolent words, the highest general of the capital planet's garrison frowned.
He began to weigh things in his mind.
By rights, meeting someone like this, he was perfectly free to open fire.
But for some reason, looking at the man before him, he felt uneasy at heart.
This man did not look like any fierce brute; he seemed clean-cut enough, with a half-smile on his face.
That he could serve as highest general of the capital planet's garrison showed well enough his standing in the Burns Interstellar Civilization; he was one who could meet the Burns Interstellar Civilization's leadership.
He had even met the Burns Interstellar Civilization's Supreme Consul many times.
None of them had this man's air of authority without anger.
He truly felt that if he crossed this man today, it would bring the Burns Interstellar Civilization very great trouble.
Just then Lilith, beside Zhao Chen, stepped forward to smooth things over.
"We won't make things hard for you. I'm sending you a file now; give this encrypted file to your Burns Interstellar Civilization's Supreme Consul. When he sees this encrypted file, he'll come to meet us. If you're suspicious, you can look at it yourself, but I'd advise you not to let anyone else see it, or the consequences will be more than you can bear." As she spoke, Lilith sent the other side an encrypted electronic file.
Zhao Chen folded his arms across his chest and said in a rather cold tone, "My time is limited. Don't keep me waiting too long."
As he spoke, Zhao Chen even yawned, looking impatient.
And as his words ended, the communication channel was simply closed.
The highest general of the capital planet's garrison looked at the black screen, a mix of feelings in his heart.
How had he come to run into something like this?
Just then he did indeed receive an encrypted document on his side.
He thought for a moment, sent away those around him, then opened a shielded space around himself; to be safe, he even cut off contact with every software system aboard the starship.
And he scanned the document several times with antivirus software.
Only once he was sure the document held no danger did he slowly open this encrypted document.
It was called an encrypted document, but in fact it had only a simple lock on it; a single click would open it.
There was not much in the document; there was only a picture!
That was right: a single picture.
That left this highest general of the capital planet's garrison all the more at a loss.
And on the picture was a dragon pattern, apparently some kind of fleet crest.
Wait.
A fleet crest?
In that moment, this highest general of the capital planet's garrison seemed to think of something.
He stared at the dragon-pattern fleet crest before him.
Where had he seen this crest?
A dragon pattern……
A dragon pattern……
A T6-grade interstellar civilization……
Suddenly a name came to him.
The T6 Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire!
The T6 Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire that had defeated the Devourer Civilization's invasion fleets!
The highest general showed a look of astonishment, then at once put the document away,
closed the barrier around him,
and looked at his adjutant. "Pass on my order. No one, without my order, is to attack this fleet, or go near it. From now on, with this fleet at the center, the area around it is a no-fly zone! No interstellar warship is to go near. At the same time, keep this interstellar fleet under close watch; report any move to me at once."
When he had said this, he ran into a small room nearby, leaving his adjutant at a total loss.
The adjutant did not understand, but still did as his superior had told him, like a good soldier.
On the other side, the highest general, once in his private office, at once began trying to reach the Supreme Consul on the capital planet.
He swallowed, waiting anxiously.
Time passed bit by bit.
At last the video call went through.
But on the other end was not the Supreme Consul, but the Supreme Consul's Secretary-General.
"Lieutenant General, you have no authority to contact the Burns Interstellar Civilization's highest office directly. Please explain what you're doing," the Secretary-General demanded with a cold face.
This lieutenant general of the capital planet's garrison said at once, "I have a very important, urgent matter for which I need to reach Lord Supreme Consul. It has to be now, at once, this minute!"
The Secretary-General frowned slightly and said, "Whatever it is, you can tell me first."
The lieutenant general meant to speak, but remembered those visitors' warning.
He thought a moment and put his words in order.
Then he said gravely, "Just now we found an interstellar fleet of unknown origin appearing on the outskirts of the capital star system. We made contact with it and held a video call. They come from a… powerful interstellar civilization. They sent me a document, and in the document is an important piece of information. This information is for the Supreme Consul's eyes only!"
The Secretary-General frowned. "A suspicious fleet has appeared on the outskirts of the capital star system? Lieutenant General, when something like this happens, you shouldn't need me to tell you what to do. What you ought to be doing now is first taking control of this fleet, finding out who they are, and making sure they pose no threat to our capital planet. If they won't cooperate, take control of them by force at once. Not contacting Lord Supreme Consul here. If you need to contact Lord Supreme Consul over a thing like this, your career in this post has about reached its end, I'd say."
Seeing the Secretary-General take this attitude,
the lieutenant general was so anxious he was going round in circles; he looked at the document, and thought of that line again:
the fewer people who knew of this, the better.
But as things stood……
The lieutenant general drew a deep breath and looked gravely at the Secretary-General. "Secretary-General, I'm sending you that document now; what you do with it is your affair. But I want to tell you plainly: I've seen the information in that document, and it's very important. You'd best hand it straight to Lord Supreme Consul to look over; if you want to see it yourself, make sure no one else is with you, and don't let the information in the document out to anyone. Otherwise… the consequences are more than you or I can bear. Mind you, our Burns Interstellar Civilization has become a T6 interstellar civilization, but among so many universes, there are still a great many stronger than us!"
When he had said this, the lieutenant general sent the document straight to the Secretary-General.
The document arrived on the Secretary-General's side.
He looked at the lieutenant general in puzzlement; he had not quite worked out what the lieutenant general was going on about.
What could there be in a document like this, to scare a lieutenant general into such a state?
It made him study the document warily.
"So what's in it?" the Secretary-General asked the lieutenant general again.
The lieutenant general no longer much cared now; he simply shrugged and said, "If you want to know what's in it, you're welcome to open it and see for yourself. Either way, I've put the thing in your hands; however the Secretary-General wants to deal with it, see to it yourself. So long as you're willing to bear the consequences that go with it."
The Secretary-General hesitated a moment, and in the end he did open this electronic document; but he heeded the lieutenant general's warning, and opened the document only in a wholly hidden setting, with no one else present.
When the Secretary-General saw what was in the document, his first reaction was puzzlement, which very soon turned to shock, even fear.
Without a word he closed the document.
He looked in shock at the lieutenant general across from him, who by now looked as if he did not care at all. "You're saying this thing was given to you by that interstellar fleet that broke into the outskirts of our capital star system?"
The lieutenant general nodded.
"Why didn't you warn me sooner what was in it?" The Secretary-General felt a chill down his back now.
He knew very well the power behind this thing.
It was truly no presence their Burns Interstellar Civilization could compare with.
And on top of that, when the other side had asked for it to go to their Supreme Consul, he, a secretary-officer, had been the first to see it.
It made him want to slap himself of a minute ago.
Curiosity truly does kill the cat.
"I did warn you before. All right, let's not waste time here. You've seen it anyway. Hurry and take this thing to Lord Supreme Consul; that fleet is still waiting out there. Mind you, they're people we can't afford to provoke. And… and… do you know who it was I saw?" The lieutenant general's eyes held awe.
"Who?" the Secretary-General asked, puzzled.
"A man," the lieutenant general said seriously.
"A man? What kind of answer is that? A m… m… a man!" The Secretary-General seemed to understand, disbelief in his eyes.
Having recognized what was in that document, related material had naturally come to his mind.
He knew too what a man meant.
In that moment he realized deeply how extraordinary this matter was.
"I'm going to see Lord Supreme Consul right now. Remember: whatever you do, don't provoke that fleet. If… if anything happens, it'll be a disaster!" On his side the Secretary-General was running fast, while not forgetting to warn the lieutenant general.
The lieutenant general rolled his eyes. "I don't need you to tell me that. Otherwise I wouldn't have warned you just now. You'd better hurry. He warned us before that they won't wait too long. If their patience runs out and something bad happens because of our delay, we'll be the sinners of the Burns Interstellar Civilization for all the ages!"
At the lieutenant general's words, this Secretary-General went faster still.
Luckily where he had been was not far from the Burns Interstellar Civilization's Supreme Consul's office.
Very soon he was at the door.
"Don't hang up; I can't explain this to Lord Supreme Consul on my own!" Before opening the door, the Secretary-General did not forget to warn the lieutenant general.
The lieutenant general nodded helplessly.
Then the Secretary-General knocked, heard a voice inside, and pushed the door open and went in.
It was a room the Secretary-General knew very well, but today he felt every step he took was full of tension.