Only a few people had the standing to contact Zhao Chen directly and ask him outright about this quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought.
And only one of them would go about it so freely.
"Hey, hey, hey, what's the story with this quasi-T7 interstellar warship?"
"I thought you were only holding a New Year ceremony; who knew you'd been holding in a big one all this time!"
"Can this quasi-T7 interstellar warship of yours really be mass-produced?"
"Come on, come on, do me a favor and share some core data for me to have a peek at."
"With the partnership between us, inviting me aboard for a look round is no problem, right?"
The Bluewater Elf Queen watched the Flame Elf Queen beside her send the Owl Dragon Emperor message after message; because of the special circumstances at the moment, any video call to the Owl Dragon Emperor showed as being forwarded.
The only way to reach the Owl Dragon Emperor directly was by leaving messages like this.
But… this fellow countrywoman of hers chatted so boldly; wasn't it rather too blunt?
Mind you, on the other end was the Owl Dragon Emperor of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
They were allies, true, but they were still two interstellar powers, after all.
"Salaman, isn't contacting the Owl Dragon Emperor like this a breach of etiquette?" the Bluewater Elf Queen could not help saying beside her.
Being one who worked in diplomacy, she truly could not help speaking up to remind her.
But the Flame Elf Queen waved her hand breezily and said, "It's fine; I know that man Zhao Chen very well now. In public we do things as they're supposed to be done; I understand all that. In private, there's no need for all that empty show. We get on well; we just talk directly. That's also why I get on well with this young fellow: he won't fake feelings with you or put on false politeness; he treats you as a friend and says whatever he wants to say. In private he hasn't a scrap of an Emperor's airs. Last time we had skewers together, you didn't see him playing the cook; and I'll say this, his skill at grilling skewers is pretty good!"
As she spoke, the Flame Elf Queen even swallowed, as if remembering the taste.
The Bluewater Elf Queen was lost for words, and could not help picturing the scene in her mind:
the Owl Dragon Emperor who had just been, before the eyes of the whole Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, so commanding without anger and so overpowering,
in private wearing an apron, both hands busy, grilling skewers.
The two pictures did not belong in the same painting at all.
But to be honest, it was very like the Flame Elf Queen's own character.
The Flame Elf Queen in front of her subordinates, at serious work,
and the Flame Elf Queen at ordinary times, were two different people entirely.
Beep beep beep.
Just then a new-message chime sounded in the text communication window before the Flame Elf Queen.
The Bluewater Elf Queen could not help looking over out of curiosity too.
It truly was the Owl Dragon Emperor's reply.
"Come if you want. As it happens, I've been worn out lately; come keep this master company over a little drink. Bring those fine wines you've got stashed away!"
Very flippant words.
The corners of the Bluewater Elf Queen's mouth twitched slightly; she had never imagined such an Owl Dragon Emperor would say such things.
Had she not known the Owl Dragon Emperor's character, on seeing a message like this, the Bluewater Elf Queen would most likely have stuck a very bad label on him in her heart outright.
"The fellow is always thinking about my wine collection," the Flame Elf Queen muttered. "It looks like if I want aboard his starship this time, my wine cellar will have to bleed heavily."
Thinking this, she called over her adjutant and told her to bring some wines from the collection and get a shuttle ready.
The Flame Elf Queen noticed the surprised look of the Bluewater Elf Queen beside her, and said as though it were nothing new, "This fellow, the Owl Dragon Emperor, hasn't many hobbies. The biggest is eating and drinking; one thing he's always saying is 'eat well, drink well.' And talking business with him, it's often at the dinner table, enjoying fine food and fine wine. I wasn't used to it at first, but after talking business with him a few times, I'll say this: in that setting, I'm actually quite comfortable. The Owl Dragon Emperor and his people aren't used to our Holy Elf Empire's dishes, but they love our fine wine; every time he calls me to a dinner to talk business, he always has me bring some fine wine."
Elven fine wine had always been a luxury in other interstellar civilizations' universes.
And this was an Elf Queen's own collection.
What grade it was can be imagined.
"All right; let's go and see this quasi-T7-grade interstellar warship. Perhaps we can coax some news out of that young fellow's mouth; we can't let him drink our wine for nothing. A pity that old fossil the Emerald Elf King isn't here; if he were, perhaps he could study this quasi-T7 interstellar warship of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire with his skills. Heh, heh, heh, I bet when the news of this quasi-T7 interstellar warship gets back to our Empire, that old fossil the Emerald Elf King really will lose all appetite for tea and food," the Flame Elf Queen said, grinning.
The Bluewater Elf Queen could not help laughing, for the Flame Elf Queen was most likely right on every point.
Once this news reached the Holy Elf Empire, it was bound to cause an uproar, and the Empire's attitude toward the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire would change somewhat too.
And in all this, the Emerald Elf King, Mansfield, was easy to read: his thoughts would be mostly curiosity about this quasi-T7 interstellar warship and the wish to study it.
Then he would surely keep pestering the Elf Sovereigns, even ask to go to the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire himself to see this interstellar warship.
And it was plain that neither the High Council nor the Elf Sovereigns would agree to it.
And there would surely be another round of wrangling between the two sides.
Luckily she was in the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire for now, so her ears would be spared the Emerald Elf King's pestering.
And now the Bluewater Elf Queen was all the more curious what that quasi-T7 interstellar warship truly was.
Just then she felt someone nudge her in the stomach.
She looked over: it was the Flame Elf Queen.
"At our dinners before, that fellow has already fished a good deal of my wine collection out of me. You must have plenty of fine wine on your side too. This time, for the sake of our intelligence-gathering, shouldn't you bring some out and make a contribution?" The Flame Elf Queen winked at the Bluewater Elf Queen.
Seeing this, the Bluewater Elf Queen, who was no good at refusing, could only helplessly contact her own adjutant and have her bring some fine wines from her flagship's wine cellar.
Seeing this, the Flame Elf Queen's mouth broke into a grin.
The Bluewater Elf Queen followed the Flame Elf Queen aboard an interstellar shuttle.
The shuttle was filled with the scent of wine; these wines were all sealed, but wines of such quality gave off a fragrance even sealed.
It stirred the taste buds even of the Bluewater Elf Queen, a High Elf always so pure of heart and few of desires.
Among the elves there was no elf who did not love fine wine, the High Elves above all; one of their great pleasures was tasting wine, especially wine made from fruit of high quality.
Even the Bluewater Elf Queen only held back how much she drank in front of outsiders, minding her bearing and manners; it was not that she never touched a drop.
That was also why Zhao Chen thought so highly of elven fine wine.
For though Zhao Chen could have people grow the Holy Elf Empire's fine fruit varieties with interstellar Eden-class ships, wanting to brew fine wine of the Holy Elf Empire's grade
was truly very hard to imitate.
"Nearly there! This quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought's hull is no small thing. Look at its length: two hundred kilometers at least; not counting the Owl Dragon line's few super-flagships and its heavy carrier starships, this interstellar warship should count as very large indeed. An interstellar warship this big surely carries a great many weapon systems in its belly." The Flame Elf Queen had already begun studying this interstellar warship.
As an officer and a captain, even if her knowledge of interstellar warship building was not complete, she had seen enough pigs run to know something of a pig's frame and the basics.
The larger an interstellar warship's volume, the larger the power system it could carry, and the more engine systems it could have, and so the faster it could be.
And then it could carry more interstellar weapons, and store more interstellar ammunition and strategic supplies,
and so show greater fighting power in battle.
At last the two of them boarded this quasi-T7 interstellar warship.
From the hangar alone, beyond seeing that this was an interstellar warship not long in service, nothing special could be seen for now.
But the Flame Elf Queen let no chance slip; she looked all around her.
"Your Excellencies, both Elf Queens, please come with me. His Majesty our Emperor has a meal ready." A secretary-officer on reception came up to them and invited them.
"No hurry about eating; show us round first?" The Flame Elf Queen grinned at the secretary-officer.
The secretary-officer said, "As for touring the starship, His Majesty said he'll arrange it for you two Elf Queens after the meal."
The Flame Elf Queen pressed a few more words, but seeing her still impossible to move, could only go obediently to the banquet the Owl Dragon Emperor had prepared.
The banquet was laid in a private room of one of the starship's dining halls; a large round table seating ten was already covered with all kinds of fine dishes.
The Owl Dragon Emperor Zhao Chen, Secretary-Officer Lilith, Marshal Charlotte, Chief Engineer Annie, Chief Engineer Nana and a few Owl Dragon officers were present.
Besides them, places had been left just for the two of them, at the Owl Dragon Emperor's side.
Seeing the two honored guests arrive, Chief Engineer Annie said at once, excited, "Now everyone's here, we can start eating, right?"
As she spoke, Chief Engineer Annie made to pick up her chopsticks.
But Chief Engineer Nana slapped her hand at once and glared. "Wait until the guests are seated first."
Chief Engineer Annie pouted and muttered under her breath, "The food won't taste good once it's cold."
"Please sit." Zhao Chen pointed to the seats beside him in invitation.
The Bluewater Elf Queen had meant to say a few polite words first.
But before she could speak, the Flame Elf Queen simply sat down in the seat beside Zhao Chen.
At the same time, a little automatic food cart followed behind her.
"I've brought the wine you wanted. These are all from my private collection. If you drink this old girl's wine, you have to let me get a good look at this starship of yours!" the Flame Elf Queen said straight out.
Zhao Chen glanced at those exquisite wines, at once put some of them on the table with a beaming smile, and set the rest quietly down behind himself.
"Ha, ha, ha; we're eating now. Eating comes first; we'll talk about other things as we eat. Look: we've been waiting so long the food's nearly cold." As he spoke, Zhao Chen opened a bottle of wine outright and signaled that everyone could start eating.
The moment Zhao Chen's words ended, the first to pick up her chopsticks was Chief Engineer Annie.
Chief Engineer Nana wanted to remind Chief Engineer Annie to mind her manners.
But Chief Engineer Annie grinned at the Flame Elf Queen across from her and said, "Big Sister Salaman and I are old friends already; we needn't stand on ceremony, just eat however's comfortable. This big sister is so pretty and looks so friendly, I'm sure she won't mind either. Pretty big sister, let me tell you: these dishes here are the tastiest, and you have to eat them while they're hot."
Chief Engineer Annie greeted the Flame Elf Queen across from her like an old friend from the start, while not forgetting to chat with the Bluewater Elf Queen.
No one would dislike such a lovely little girl.
Besides, the Bluewater Elf Queen knew who this interstellar dwarf was too: the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's highest-ranking chief engineer, who had overseen the building of almost every Owl Dragon-line interstellar warship.
She could be called a priceless treasure of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
"It's no matter; everyone do as you please," the Bluewater Elf Queen said politely.
"Let me see something first. Or I won't be able to eat a bite." Watching Zhao Chen take a sip of her fine wine, the Flame Elf Queen at once filled his glass to the brim, grinning as she said it.
"You want to see it now?" Zhao Chen looked at the Flame Elf Queen with an air of mystery.
The Flame Elf Queen nodded at once.
Zhao Chen kept nothing back; from the moment he had shown this quasi-T7 interstellar warship at this New Year ceremony, he had never meant to hide it.
Some might say a trump card like this could perfectly well have been kept hidden until the next battle with the Devourer Civilization.
That would have been one way, too.
But as things stood, bringing out this interstellar warship at this time also had great benefits for the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
First, it raised the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's prestige and standing among the many interstellar civilizations' universes.
After all, the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire was now the first interstellar power known to have mass-produced quasi-T7 interstellar warships.
That way, everyone would naturally think more highly of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
Wouldn't the interstellar powers that had secretly allied with the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire be all the more willing to work with it, and not harbor other loyalties?
At this stage, that in fact weighed a great deal.
Only if these interstellar powers behaved themselves could the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's growth speed up.
At the same time, the Holy Elf Empire, learning of this interstellar warship, might on the one hand grow wary of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
But on the other hand, wouldn't it also think more highly of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire?
The two were allies, but mind you, only two of equal strength could truly sit as equals!
That was the arrangement Zhao Chen had made after weighing everything.
And now, letting the two Elf Queens learn more of this interstellar warship's information directly was also to draw the two of them closer.
Just then an electronic display appeared before the Flame Elf Queen.
On it was a brief introduction to this interstellar warship.
The Bluewater Elf Queen beside her could not help looking over too.
And the Flame Elf Queen looked at the interstellar warship's basic figures as if gazing on a rare treasure.
【Quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought
Ship type: interstellar dreadnought
Technology grade: quasi-T7
Hull armor strength: 40 million units – 45 million units
Star-shield energy value: 800 million units
Cruising speed: 1,500 star-knots
Warp engine: grade-9.9 warp engine
Length: 200 kilometers
Mass: 210 million tons
Complement of posts: 10,000
Starship weapons: 3 super-bio-plasma pulse cannon bow main guns
36 electromagnetic bio-railgun heavy guns
900 electromagnetic energy main guns
3,000 fully automatic high-density point-defense guns
100 interstellar missile launch units (storing 30,000 quasi-T7 standard medium-range interstellar missiles)
1,000 squadrons of Bronze-Scarab drone swarms · hangar (3,000 Bronze-Scarab interstellar drones per squadron)
3,000 quasi-T7 Silver-Scarab-class Unmanned Medium Interstellar Interceptors】
Zhao Chen, beside her, said nothing, enjoying the fine wine and the fine food.
Only once the Flame Elf Queen had finished this brief introduction did she ask, unable to help herself, "Do you really have the capacity to mass-produce this interstellar warship? Do the weapon modules on it really reach the quasi-T7 level? And they're not T6-grade interstellar weapons?"
The Flame Elf Queen's questions could be said to strike straight at the vitals; their answers were crucial to judging this interstellar warship's worth.
"Since I said before that we can mass-produce this interstellar warship, naturally we can. But this is a quasi-T7-grade interstellar warship after all. Mass production on a large scale takes a great deal of resources; even for our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, it would be hard to produce quasi-T7 interstellar warships in large batches in a short time. As for the true strength of the weapon modules, by our own assessment it reaches quasi-T7-grade fighting power. But what the truth of it is, beyond doubt, only its showing in real battle can say," Zhao Chen answered.
The Flame Elf Queen nodded; Zhao Chen's answer was indeed how things stood.
"Looking at this interstellar warship's outline, did you use the hive mothership's biological starship technology?" the Flame Elf Queen asked again.
Worthy of the Holy Elf Empire's finest general and fleet commander:
even having never eaten pork, she had seen pigs run,
and keenly spotted some of the technology this interstellar warship used.
"To build this interstellar warship, we used every technology we could master." Zhao Chen did not deny it, but did not admit it directly either.
When they had finished this fine meal, Zhao Chen himself took the Flame Elf Queen and the Bluewater Elf Queen round the inside of this quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought.
Of course, the great majority of the places they saw were no core secrets.
"Wow! So this is the strongest weapon on this interstellar warship? The super-bio-plasma pulse cannon bow main gun?" Looking through the viewport before her, the Flame Elf Queen saw directly an enormous bow main gun on the right side of the bow.
There were three of these bow main guns, all at the bow: at the left side, the right side, and the center of the bow.
"This weapon, against the super main gun on that T6 Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought of yours: which is stronger?" the Flame Elf Queen asked outright.
The Bluewater Elf Queen beside her felt her heart lurch: asking such a rather secret question, wasn't that presumptuous?
But to her surprise, the Owl Dragon Emperor answered calmly and directly, "On that score it doesn't match the T6 Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought. The difference between it and the T6 Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought is that in burst firepower over a short time, the T6 Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought has the edge. But in all-round fighting ability over a long time on the battlefield, none of the super-flagships we have in service matches this quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought."
Hearing Zhao Chen's explanation, the Flame Elf Queen understood at once.
She nodded and said, "Come to think of it, those few super-flagship classes of yours have really reached quasi-T7 grade in strength too. But you've been playing the pig to eat the tiger all along, telling outsiders they're only T6-grade interstellar warships. Whose T6 interstellar warship carries weapon systems of that grade?"
The Flame Elf Queen rolled her eyes at Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen laughed and did not take it up.
"Since you're using a bio-plasma cannon as a weapon, there must be a biological power source. Have you imitated the hive mothership's core and built such a power system?" The Flame Elf Queen looked at Zhao Chen, guessing.
Zhao Chen smiled and said nothing.
The Flame Elf Queen most likely never imagined that it was not a biological power system built to imitate one, but a hive mothership's heart fitted straight into this interstellar warship.
This quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought, strictly speaking, counted as a semi-biological interstellar warship.
When Zhao Chen gave a vague answer, or simply changed the subject,
the Flame Elf Queen tactfully asked no more.
The Bluewater Elf Queen beside her seemed to work out how the two of them talked: bold, direct questions, but never presuming to press to the bottom.
Very soon the party came to a section like a storehouse.
Zhao Chen tapped a few times on the gallery wall, and very soon the whole gallery turned transparent, so that the scenes in the sections on both sides and overhead could be seen.
It was rank on rank of stored interstellar missiles.
Each interstellar missile was the size of a T1 or T2-grade interstellar warship,
sleeping quietly here; looking at them, it was hard to believe what terrifying power they had when they exploded.
"So these are the interstellar missiles this interstellar warship carries? Do they really have quasi-T7-grade explosive power?"
The Flame Elf Queen thought a moment and went on, "Against the interstellar missiles on your T6 Holy-Blood Hell-Angel-class Heavy Interstellar Strategic Missile Ship, which is more powerful?"