The quasi-T7 interstellar warship had only just been brought out, and already they were thinking of selling it abroad.
Secretary-Officer Lilith was quite bold now too, but this was the result of careful thought as well.
First, there was her assessment of the threat from the Holy Elf Empire: for now at least, the Holy Elf Empire's threat looked very low, and with that way they had of drawing a circle on the ground and making it their prison,
for them to build a quasi-T7-grade interstellar warship of their own now would be extremely hard.
And a quasi-T7 interstellar warship like this, costing 2,000 trillion star coins to build, could surely sell then for tens of thousands of trillions of star coins, and that with the Holy Elf Empire having to sign some agreements on gains besides.
For an interstellar warship of this grade could no longer be described by worth alone.
So long as Zhao Chen was willing, its price could be any astronomical figure.
"How much will our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's earnings come to over the coming year?" Since the Empire's yearly income had come up, Zhao Chen grew somewhat curious.
In recent years, as the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire grew larger and larger, Zhao Chen had gradually let go of financial matters; after all, leaving professional matters to professionals had always been Zhao Chen's basic principle.
He only paid some attention at a few important points in time, or listened to Lilith's reports.
All in all, most of the time it came to no more than this: enough to get by, enough to build interstellar warships, enough to fight one war, but not enough to fight a long war of attrition.
It was basically one of these few situations.
"By the development plan for the coming year we've drawn up so far: our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's yearly earnings will be 50,000 trillion star coins; the Bailan Interstellar Trade Group will provide us 20,000 trillion star coins; the Stone Kingdom will provide us 40,000 trillion star coins; the Cancer Interstellar Civilization Universe's two interstellar powers, the Mohadis Star Empire and the Fire-Sigil Interstellar Alliance together will provide us 50,000 trillion star coins. That comes to 160,000 trillion star coins in all. This income in fact far exceeds the planning report we drew up at first, and it's possible that this year actual growth will go far beyond what we expect; then the figures will be updated as we go. That's only the ordinary income. Up to now, the arms export orders already signed for the coming year have reached 100,000 trillion star coins. We expect that after we bring out this quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought, though no interstellar power can afford this interstellar warship, it's a signboard and an advertisement. It will let more people see our Owl Dragon-line interstellar warship products. Then the number of orders will rise again; we expect it to reach around 200,000 trillion star coins in the end. That way, the budget for running our Empire can just about break even."[1]
At this point Secretary-Officer Lilith paused, and said with a grave expression, "The one great unstable factor in this is an invasion from the Devourer Civilization's universe. Once they launch a war of invasion against us, the uncertainty of becoming a battlefield at any moment will greatly affect our production and trade. And what's used up in the fighting will be a burden on our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire too. By what we've worked out so far, the Owl Dragon Empire's normal reserves of war supplies can meet two months of fighting at the usual scale for our front-line combat fleets now."
Secretary-Officer Lilith could be said to have carried her duty as housekeeper to its utmost,
thinking of every side of things.
"Doing this much is already very good. Next, it comes down to how we work from this base." Zhao Chen looked at Charlotte beside him. "The pressure on you in the military is very great. Not only do you have to keep the development of the several interstellar civilizations' universes under our control on track, you have to guard against the Devourer Civilization's attack at the same time. You must prepare every contingency plan, and be ready for everything that might happen."
Marshal Charlotte nodded and said, "Rest assured; we've prepared for all of this. Our military department's staff are also working on some plans that may win our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire some time and room. But it's still only at the outline stage for now; once it's developed further, I'll report to you."
Zhao Chen nodded with satisfaction; the people under him were all very good, every one of them doing her duty to the full.
Zhao Chen walked over to the two chief engineers.
"A pity Chief Engineer Iris isn't here today; pass a word on to her for me: work is important, but she must mind she gets some rest too." Zhao Chen looked at Chief Engineer Nana, asking her to pass it on.
Only Chief Engineer Annie and Chief Engineer Nana had come today.
And Chief Engineer Iris, the Spider Queen, in charge of front-line production work, was still at her post.
She had only shown her face at the New Year's Eve banquet and gone back.
Her thinking was that over the New Year she should give her subordinates as much holiday and rest as she could, but without letting it affect the production tasks either.
So she, the chief engineer in charge of front-line production, naturally had to see to things in person, to make sure nothing went wrong on any production line.
"I'll pass it on," Chief Engineer Nana said with a nod.
Zhao Chen patted Chief Engineer Annie, beside him, on the shoulder. "You don't work on the front line, and few people know how hard you work and how much you give. But I know very well your worth and how important you are. Over the coming year, I hope you'll show what you can do at your posts too!"
"Rest assured, Your Majesty; we'll do our duty to the full, and make sure every production task is carried through perfectly!" Chief Engineer Nana held her head high and her chest out, looking every bit a hot-blooded warrior charging on the front line.
And Chief Engineer Annie beside her answered lazily, looking so drowsy she might topple over at any moment.
It was not that she was too tired; she had simply eaten far too much just now, and was rather "food-drunk."
Zhao Chen bent his head and said in Annie's ear, "Our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire has always had rewards and punishments. I'll keep watching you all too; if you do well, naturally you'll be rewarded. But if I find someone slacking, then even some things rewarded before, some interstellar Eden-class ships for instance, might be taken back. But I'm sure our excellent Lady Chief Engineer keeps herself strictly in hand, doesn't she?"
Zhao Chen's words made Chief Engineer Annie shiver all over, and she was wide awake at once.
She stared wide-eyed at the Owl Dragon Emperor beside her, as though looking at a "devil."
What the fellow had just said was surely a threat to her!
Surely it was!
…………
For the next five days, the Owl Dragon Emperor toured every part of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire with the Emperor's Guard Fleet and those five quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts.
Nearly everywhere they passed and everywhere they stopped drew great crowds to follow and watch.
Some came because they worshipped the Owl Dragon Emperor, some because they wanted to see the splendor of the Owl Dragon fleet, and some, likewise, because they were curious what a quasi-T7-grade interstellar warship looked like.
After all, this was a quasi-T7-grade interstellar warship, the only quasi-T7-grade interstellar warship publicly known among the known universe's civilizations so far!
Zhao Chen's first destination on this journey was the royal capital star system of the Starlight Kingdom.
This was, after all, where the Owl Dragon fleet had first got its start; it was part of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire now,
but with humans as its main race, and its special background, it had always been a vital piece of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's map.
Here Queen Qin Xiaolei had long been waiting with the Starlight Kingdom's ministers.
In the largest star port of the Starlight Kingdom's capital planet, they watched that colossus, the quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought, draw slowly near.
The moment they saw this interstellar warship, they could feel an overwhelming, terrifying presence.
It was as though this were not merely an interstellar warship, but a terrifying interstellar beast!
The star port's berth began docking its gangway with this quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought.
"So this is the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's most advanced interstellar warship now; how mighty it looks."
"Who'd say otherwise; and it's a mass-produced interstellar warship at that. It's only quasi-T7, not a true T7-grade interstellar warship yet, but in this little patch of ground of ours, it's enough to settle the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's supreme standing."
"How I'd love to own an interstellar warship like this; even to be its captain for one day, I'd die without regret."
"Then you'd better stick to dreaming. I've heard that a captain of this quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought has to hold at least the rank of lieutenant general in the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire! That's someone who could serve as a legion commander in the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, even a fleet group's deputy commander!"
Among the waiting ministers there was naturally a buzz of talk now; none of them could hold back their excitement.
Very soon the gangway finished docking.
A squad of soldiers "flew" slowly out from the quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought's end, for the gangway itself was very long; on foot alone it would take a dozen-odd minutes at least.
There was no time to waste on that here.
So each soldier had a simple flying device under her feet, giving her the power of low-speed flight.
Very soon this squad of interstellar marines appeared first before the ministers; their sharp eyes made the mood on the ground a good deal heavier.
There was much less talk.
Then everyone saw a larger flying platform float out from the quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought's end.
A squad of guards stood around it, the Owl Dragon Emperor guarded in their midst.
The flying platform floated slowly over.
The moment the Owl Dragon Emperor appeared, the place fell utterly silent.
That was the Owl Dragon Emperor!