After lying low for a few years, this family, on the strength of these profitable projects, was bound to rise again in a short time.
So the blame was Weitz's to carry, for certain.
And with that the matter was settled at a single blow of the hammer; no one would ever pursue anything about it again.
The Secretary-General looked out of the viewport at the star port the four families had built, falling slowly away.
A trace of contempt came into his eyes.
They had no idea what kind of enemy they had brought on themselves.
That was the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire,
a terrifying power that ranked in the top three among the known interstellar civilizations in military might.
To dare provoke such a power: these four families were truly tired of living.
Mind you, because of this business,
their Burns Supreme Consul, once bitten by a snake and ten years afraid of a well rope, had issued order after order outright,
not only sealing up the news of contact with the Owl Dragon Emperor, but also canceling every recent plan to send military fleets abroad.
The whole direction of growth was changed from outward expansion to development at home.
Since the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire had now set down a piece in the Luohe Star Region of the Cancer Interstellar Civilization Universe, who knew whether it had made such arrangements in other universes as well?
This time they had been lucky and slipped clear by chance.
And next time?
If they offended this Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire and it truly declared war on the Burns Interstellar Civilization, they dared not even think of the consequences!
To keep such a thing from happening again,
the Burns Supreme Consul simply chose to cut off every factor that might lead to it.
……
On the other side, the four family clan heads in the star port looked at one another in dismay.
To this moment they still had not worked out what on earth had happened.
Why had the Burns Interstellar Civilization, after agreeing to everything so nicely, chosen at a time like this to turn its back on them and cancel all cooperation?
What on earth had happened?
"Old Xie, just what's going on here? You've been the one making the introductions all along. We've worked with you all along too. And we promised that once the new federal government was set up, your Xie family would hold the biggest share. And now, with our damned trousers already down and about to piss, we're made to hold it in?" The Meng clan head glared at the Xie family's clan head.
"Yes. Both sides' interstellar legion fleets are all set out here now. The Luohe Kingdom opposite has the hundred-thousand-ship reinforcements it brought in. And on our side, the Burns interstellar legion fleets we were promised are actually leaving now?"
The several family clan heads were all demanding answers of the Xie family's clan head.
Clan Head Xie's forehead was covered in beads of sweat too; he himself had never foreseen such a thing happening now.
It was wholly beyond what he had expected.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, then said, "You… don't be anxious. I'll find a way to contact the people on the Burns Interstellar Civilization's side right now. There must be some misunderstanding in this. There must be some misunderstanding."
When he had said this, Clan Head Xie began making contact at once, without another word, right in front of them.
All this while, the cooperation with the Burns Interstellar Civilization had been brokered by his Xie family.
But what he had never expected
was that every request for communication Clan Head Xie sent out next was cut off, without exception.
He even received a piece of news:
some of the Burns Interstellar Civilization's people who had been staying as guests in his Xie family's territory had suddenly, in a frantic hurry, all boarded their own starships and left.
When asked why they were leaving, they gave no explanation,
and their faces were very ugly besides.
"How… how can this be……" Several minutes of trying to make contact came to nothing at all.
Clan Head Xie had never expected it.
He looked at the eyes of the three family clan heads around him, which seemed ready to tear his sinews out and flay him.
He hurried to explain, "I… I still have a way; we can go straight to the Burns Interstellar Civilization's universe. If I go and see those people directly, I'm sure I can clear up the misunderstanding! Our cooperation can still go on. It's sure to go on!"
Before the Xie family's clan head had finished speaking, the Meng clan head was the first who could not hold back; he swung his fist straight into the old fellow's face.
"A misunderstanding? You damned well still say this is all a misunderstanding? The Burns Interstellar Civilization's own Supreme Secretary-General has come with the supreme commander's decree. And you're still lying here. The Burns Interstellar Civilization people staying as guests in your territory have all left now. Isn't that plain enough! We've been abandoned!"
"How can this be… the other side still has a T6 interstellar civilization's help. We can't possibly be a match for them." The Hu family's clan head swayed on her feet as though she might collapse to the floor at any moment.
"It's over, completely over. We're all finished. That crowd in the Luohe Kingdom won't let us go!" There was fear in the Tai family clan head's eyes.
They all knew very well that the Luohe Empire had fallen because of their families' betrayal at the crucial moment.
Had their families not rebelled back then, the Luohe Empire, however weakened, could never have come to its present plight.
Add to that how, all these years, their four families had kept the Luohe Kingdom down in every way.
So they were sure that once the Luohe Kingdom had its chance,
the first ones it would root out would be their four families.
Before the Luohe Kingdom, their four families had no chance at all!
"Report: latest news. The Burns Interstellar Civilization's legion fleets that appeared behind the enemy's positions have begun to withdraw!"
The sudden news broke the calm on the Luohe Kingdom legion fleets' side.
"What?" General Leng Qian was astonished; she sprang to her feet. "Is the news certain?"
"The news has been confirmed; we've even captured video of it. It's certain: the legion fleets from the Burns Interstellar Civilization are withdrawing!" her subordinate reported.
How could this be?
Weren't these Burns Interstellar Civilization legion fleets the four families' reinforcements?
Hadn't they come to help them fight?
Why were they suddenly withdrawing now?
Could it be?
General Leng Qian suddenly thought of the Owl Dragon Emperor; she remembered how, on learning that a million Burns Interstellar Civilization interstellar warships were coming to support the other side, the Owl Dragon Emperor had still worn a calm look.
She was sure now that the Burns Interstellar Civilization's legion fleets pulling out now had something to do with the Owl Dragon Emperor directly.
"So this is the Owl Dragon Emperor's power…… Facing a T6 interstellar civilization, he subdues the enemy without a fight." General Leng Qian's opinion of the Owl Dragon Emperor and the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire rose another level in her heart.
Before this, she had known only that the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire was a T6 interstellar civilization, an interstellar civilization with very strong military power.
But perhaps she had not yet had a true grasp of this Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's military strength.
The Burns Interstellar Civilization, a T6 interstellar civilization like the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, knew very well what the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire was.
And facing so mighty an Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, to fight it would be very unwise.
Hence what was happening now:
with no regard for face, its great army simply withdrew.
Just then a message from the Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship came in on General Leng Qian's communication channel.
The message was very simple.
All it said was that in ten minutes, operations against the enemy would begin according to the original operational plan.
It was an operational plan she had known about before.
The operation was very simple: an ordinary battle of annihilation.
Before, she had thought nothing much of this operational plan.
But on learning the Burns Interstellar Civilization would send a million interstellar warships, she had had little confidence left at the time.
For before that, even with the families' legion fleets opposite mustering three million interstellar warships, she had thought nothing of it.
The Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's hundred thousand interstellar warships set here were enough to awe the other side,
and with the support of their own five hundred thousand-odd interstellar warships besides, they were fully able to fight.
But with the enemy adding the Burns Interstellar Civilization's million interstellar warships, that was another matter altogether.
At the time she had tried to contact the Owl Dragon Emperor.
The answer she got was to proceed by the original plan in everything; if anything changed, she would be told in time.
Worried at heart as she was, General Leng Qian, knowing well where they stood now, could only keep silent.
And now General Leng Qian understood: this was what the Owl Dragon Emperor had planned from the start.
All of it had been within the Owl Dragon Emperor's reckoning.
She had been thinking too much.
Having understood this, General Leng Qian's face was full of excitement, and she began at once giving orders and making battle dispositions: "Pass on my order. All the Luohe Kingdom's legion fleets, go into combat condition. Prepare to launch flanking attacks on both of the enemy's wings!"
……
The Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship · the bridge
"Your Majesty the Owl Dragon Emperor, this was all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. We never imagined that Weitz, the fellow who moved the Burns legion fleets into the Luohe Star Region campaign on his own authority, would move legion fleets without leave. Had we not found out in time, he'd truly have done great harm. So I came over specially to stop it, and have arrested him to take back to the Burns Interstellar Civilization for court-martial."
The Burns Secretary-General, who before the four family clan heads had shown no face at all, now smiled sheepishly at the Owl Dragon Emperor on this side of the video window.
Zhao Chen waved his hand with a smile and said, "It's nothing; so long as it's a misunderstanding, that's fine. I still trust the Burns Supreme Consul's sincerity very much. When you get back, give him my regards."
"Yes, yes, yes. I'll be sure to pass them on!"
The communication window closed.
Zhao Chen looked at Lilith beside him. "By that attitude, it seems it really was a misunderstanding."
"At least the result now is the one we wanted. We don't fear this T6 Burns Interstellar Civilization, but going to war with a T6 interstellar civilization at this stage would be beyond doubt very much against our interest. And as for the battlefield before us: the enemy's three million interstellar warships, plus a million interstellar warships of the enemy's T6 interstellar civilization. The hundred thousand interstellar warships we've brought over alone would be far from enough; it would mean drawing off still more interstellar legion fleets, which would surely affect the fighting elsewhere too," Lilith analyzed beside him.
Zhao Chen nodded in agreement.
Then Zhao Chen looked at Xiong Xiangxiang in the video window, and at another commander.
This commander was Zhong Xiaoyun, deputy commander of the Owl Dragon Ninth Legion Fleet Group, a lieutenant general of the Empire.
She was human, born in the former Starlight Empire, an Owl Dragon-line officer trained by the Owl Dragon military academy (the Goddess Academy-class starship), and was counted among the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's fourth generation of officers.
The Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's fourth-generation officers were basically all true Owl Dragon line, the great majority of them trained by the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's own military academy system.
And her elder sister served as deputy commander in the Owl Dragon Fourth Legion Fleet Group under Xue Xiaoxiao.
The hundred thousand ships Zhao Chen had drawn here this time came from Leona's Owl Dragon Fifth Legion Fleet Group, already at work in the Cancer Interstellar Civilization Universe.[1]
The one in charge of these hundred thousand interstellar warships was this Lieutenant General Zhong Xiaoyun.
"Next, we carry out our original plan. The two of you, Xiong Xiangxiang and Zhong Xiaoyun, will command the battle. Because the Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship is rather special, letting it join the fighting might raise the risk of exposing us as Owl Dragon. So the Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship is not to be used if at all possible. End this battle in the shortest time. In the shortest time, with the fiercest attack, cause the enemy the heaviest casualties you can. I don't require you to wipe the enemy out. But this is the crucial moment for helping the Luohe Kingdom take rule over the Luohe Star Region in a single battle. Fight this battle well, and it can play a very important part, saving the Luohe Kingdom a great deal of time in the Luohe Star Region in future." Zhao Chen looked at the two commanders.
"Understood," Xiong Xiangxiang and Zhong Xiaoyun said together.
"Then command is yours. I only look at results." Zhao Chen waved his hand.
"Yes."
In that moment, Xiong Xiangxiang and Zhong Xiaoyun took over command of the battlefield.
But Zhao Chen would still keep watch over their command the whole time as an onlooker; if there were truly anything amiss in their command of the battlefield,
Zhao Chen would step in at once.
But as a rule such a thing would not happen.
Zhong Xiaoyun and Xiong Xiangxiang had known this operational sequence well beforehand, and had naturally talked over several operational plans in advance.
"We'll carry out the first operational plan we agreed on before. My legion fleet group will attack first, storming the enemy from the front. Then your Emperor's Guard Fleet carries out a decapitation plan against the enemy's elite fleets. As for the Luohe Kingdom's legion fleets, let them follow the original plan, swinging round the edges of the battlefield to surround the enemy, helping us destroy more of the enemy more effectively," Zhong Xiaoyun said seriously.
"Then that's settled." Xiong Xiangxiang nodded.
In truth, by rank Xiong Xiangxiang stood above Zhong Xiaoyun.
But in commanding a large-scale battlefield, Zhong Xiaoyun, as a legion fleet group's deputy commander, was beyond doubt the more experienced.
Add to that, the hundred thousand interstellar warships were all ones she had brought, and as deputy commander she had more practiced experience in handling them.
Xiong Xiangxiang did not contend for command either; she need only see to commanding her own three thousand ships of the Emperor's Guard Fleet.
The battle dispositions were done.
What came next, naturally, was to begin the battle.
While the four families' legion fleets opposite were still in a flurry, with no idea at all what was going on, sunk in confusion,
the Owl Dragon Fifth Legion Fleet Group's hundred thousand interstellar warships moved first, forming a single line and pressing forward all along the front.
Every interstellar warship went into combat condition.
This move naturally could not be hidden from the four family clan heads opposite.
But at this moment they were still arguing over the matter in hand, with no single answer at all.
And with three million interstellar warships gathered in one place without unified command, it would all turn into a pot of porridge.
"All you lot know is to keep dumping the blame on me. You ask me what to do? What can I do now? I can't reach the Burns Interstellar Civilization's people in a short time. Is that my fault? All our Xie family has is here too. If I didn't want to win, would I be here gambling everything with you?" The Xie family's clan head, scolded on and on by the three before him, had been driven to the edge too now.
He pointed at the three before him. "Now that there's trouble, every one of you dumps all the blame on me, is that it? When I invited you to join this cooperation before, not one of you took this attitude. So you're not willing to bear the least risk, is that right! If you're so capable, go and drag in a T6 interstellar civilization's reinforcements yourselves. If you can, I have no objection to your taking the biggest slice of the Luohe Star Region's cake. If you can't, you'd best shut up now!"
Seeing the Xie family's clan head driven to the edge, the several family clan heads all fell silent.
In fact they all knew in their hearts that this was most likely not the Xie family clan head's fault.
Some change must have happened on the Burns Interstellar Civilization's side.
What that change was, they had no way of knowing now.
But it surely could not be put right in a hurry.
And as for dragging in reinforcements of a T6 interstellar civilization's grade themselves, they naturally had no such power.
There were not many T6 interstellar civilizations among the known universe's civilizations; they might look like T5 interstellar civilizations, but mind you, the number of T5 interstellar civilizations was hundreds of times that of T6 interstellar civilizations.
So the two were not of the same order at all.
That was also why, on seeing a T6 interstellar civilization, they behaved like lapdogs:
the gap between the two was simply enormous.
"Then what do you say we do now? We don't want to quarrel either. But now that we've all come to this point, we can't be left stuck on the tiger's back, can we?" the Meng family's clan head said, displeased.
Just as they were about to start discussing what to do next,
the four family clan heads received word from their own people at almost the same moment.
"Report, Clan Head! The Luohe Kingdom's side has moved!"
"Report: the enemy's hundred thousand interstellar warships have launched an attack from the front."
"This is bad, Clan Head; the enemy's interstellar fleet will come within firing range in five minutes!"
"Clan Head, latest news. The enemy has begun military action; the enemy's interstellar warships are advancing very fast; what do we do next?"
The Luohe Kingdom's side had attacked?
At this news, the four family clan heads were all taken aback for a moment.
They had never expected the Luohe Kingdom's side to strike first.
It drove them to the edge of a cliff where they had to decide in the shortest time.
"That crowd in the Luohe Kingdom don't take us seriously at all, do they? They've got a T6 interstellar civilization's help behind them, true. But it's only a hundred thousand interstellar warships, and on our side we've three million interstellar warships, after all!" the Meng family's clan head said angrily.
But the Hu family's clan head said with some worry, "But the enemy is a T6 interstellar civilization, after all. Only a hundred thousand, true. But don't forget: those three thousand interstellar warships before could threaten our legion fleet group of three hundred thousand interstellar warships. Now it's a hundred thousand interstellar warships against our three million. The ratio between them is even narrower than when it was three hundred thousand interstellar warships against the enemy's three thousand."
"You can't put it that way. My people have observed that those three thousand interstellar warships were several grades higher in quality than these hundred thousand interstellar warships now. Those three thousand interstellar warships should have been an elite fleet that T6 interstellar civilization sent, while these hundred thousand interstellar warships are a regular legion fleet. Naturally the two aren't of the same grade in fighting power," the Tai family's clan head said earnestly.
Now the Xie family's clan head, who had led all along before, said firmly, "In truth we have no choice now. That T6 interstellar civilization is plainly helping the Luohe Kingdom. And is there any chance of talking between us and the Luohe Kingdom? Given the least chance, either side would like nothing better than to finish off the other. And the Luohe Kingdom's hatred of us goes without saying. So fighting on is our only hope. And as Old Tai said just now, those hundred thousand enemy interstellar warships aren't the same in fighting power as those three thousand interstellar warships. And we have three million interstellar warships; in numbers of interstellar warships we far outdo them. A battle isn't out of the question. At the same time, it can buy us time. In that time I can go to the Burns Interstellar Civilization myself; I believe that with the connections I've built in the Burns Interstellar Civilization, I can surely persuade the Burns Interstellar Civilization to back us again. What happened before must have been some misunderstanding!"
Hearing the Xie family clan head's words,
the three family clan heads fell into thought.
The Xie family's clan head went straight on: "Don't hesitate; this is our only choice now! Or do you have a better choice? Oh. There is one: take your families now and flee the Luohe Star Region like stray dogs, giving up everything here. That way you might still survive, but you'll be a family in flight, with none of the standing and everything you have now. Are you really willing to give up everything you've built here over so many years?"