"Three days from now, whatever the situation, whatever the hour, once I give the order, I require these legion fleets to be able to step into the breach for me anywhere, at any time! Can you do it!"
"We guarantee the task will be done!"
"Dismissed."
This conference, bearing on the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's first formal cross-universe interstellar war abroad, came to an end for the time being.
But it was only the calm before the storm.
Walking down the gallery now, Zhao Chen looked at Lilith, who had caught up beside him.
"What do you make of Charlotte's operational plan this time?" Zhao Chen asked.
At the conference, because of her position, Lilith could not well give her own views; her position was more that of housekeeper, and in military matters she ought not to interfere much; her duty was more to assist.
"A very fine operational plan, but very risky too. For our Owl Dragon legion fleet groups it's a great test, and a still greater test of these Owl Dragon marshals' ability," Lilith gave her judgment.
Zhao Chen nodded in agreement, then said, "Charlotte said just now that a month's reserve of war resources would be enough. But we're the ones in charge of logistics at the rear. Once this war starts, anything at all can happen. We have to be ready for every possibility too. Go and arrange it: allot at least three months' worth of war resources for this war. And prepare a backup plan at the same time; if things go worse still, we must be ready even if it means fighting for half a year, or even a year."
That was Zhao Chen's character: in arranging anything, he would always consider the worst case, and be ready to meet the worst case.
Lilith nodded; the pressure of this was no small thing, since the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire was short of resources everywhere now, and war burned resources more than anything.
All the more so with the Owl Dragon war machine; once its tens of millions of ship's guns opened fire, it was hard to imagine what a terrifying figure that would come to.
And the enemy it faced was the Devourer Civilization, a mighty T6 interstellar civilization opponent.
"I know; I'll prepare a plan for every possible case," Lilith said seriously.
Zhao Chen nodded with satisfaction.
Just then he stopped walking too.
He looked out at the stars of the universe.
A look of appreciation came over him in spite of himself, and the grave expression on his face eased a good deal.
He drew a deep breath and said quietly, "We kept the calm for half a year and more with such effort, and now it's to be broken again. The ship that is our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire really doesn't have much luck; it's in for another storm."
Lilith said beside him, "Only after a storm can you see the more beautiful view."
Zhao Chen laughed, happily and confidently.
"Yes, you're right. The view after the storm is more beautiful!"
…………
The Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire · the Starlight Kingdom · a certain star system
In an estate on a certain planet.
"All the dishes are out; hurry up and try them. These are all your dad's cooking. Knowing you'd be home on this leave, your dad started buying the ingredients a week ahead. These ingredients are surely the very best!" A lovely middle-aged woman carried some dishes toward a dining table set out in the open air.
"Madam, let us do this sort of thing." Several servants hurried after her, trying to take the plates from her hands.
But the lady glared at them. "Didn't I tell you this is our family dinner this time? What's wrong with my serving a dish to my two precious daughters? Go on, all of you; we don't need you here. This is the family dinner of the four of us."
At this, the servants exchanged a look and could only leave the garden obediently, though they stayed within the bounds allowed, so that if Madam had any need at all they could appear at once.
The two sisters, Zhong Xiaoxia and Zhong Xiaoyun, came forward to help.
But their mother glared at them too. "Don't! Don't get up. I told you: today the two of you just sit here nicely and enjoy the food. You don't need to lift a finger for anything else."
Zhong Xiaoxia and her younger sister exchanged a look, helpless.
How could they not know their parents' character?
Once they had decided something, they would not change their minds.
They could only sit there obediently and wait for the meal to begin.
Very soon a middle-aged man in an apron came in carrying a clay pot.
"Why haven't you started eating yet? No need to wait for me; just go ahead." The middle-aged man set the clay pot in the middle of the table and rubbed his ear with his hand.
"It's a family dinner; naturally it only counts when our whole family's all here together." Zhong Xiaoxia pulled out a chair for her father.
"Heh, heh, heh, our eldest daughter always says the nicest things." Father Zhong laughed.
Zhong Xiaoyun at once poured wine into her father's glass and pouted. "Yes, Dad only has eyes for big sister with her nice words; not for me."
Seeing his younger daughter like this, Father Zhong said at once, "Our daughters are both good, our daughters are both good. All right, all the dishes are out; hurry and start eating. These dishes may not be as grand as the state banquets you have with His Majesty, but they're all the dishes you like."
Zhong Xiaoxia looked at the simple four dishes and a soup before her,
a table not very large, with no special arrangement.
But it was a mood she loved very much.
For before she became an Owl Dragon officer, this was just how their family had spent every day:
simple, and happy.
"Master, Master."
Just then a voice came from outside.
Mother Zhong, who had just raised her chopsticks, frowned at once on hearing the footsteps and words outside.
She slapped the table and shouted at the one who burst in, "You take my words for wind past your ears, do you? Or am I too easy on you as a rule? How many times have I told you: my precious daughters seldom come home. Unless the sky is falling, no one is to disturb our meal."
Seeing her mother angry,
Zhong Xiaoyun at once soothed her: "Mom, don't be angry. There must be some reason; listen first to what it is."
Then she signaled with her eyes for the man to speak quickly.
The one who had burst in said at once, "It's… it's that outside there's the master's elder brother with all his family, and some friends, come to call. And there are a good many more……"
"Enough!" Mother Zhong flared up again. "This crowd is forever scurrying over here as it is. Now they've heard our two daughters are home, every one of them is pushing his way in. Do you think I don't know what they have in mind? Master, you tell me: how is this to be handled? Can we still eat a meal in peace or not!"
Mother Zhong threw a look at her husband.
Father Zhong said at once, gravely, "Pass on my order: from now on, unless it's His Majesty the Owl Dragon Emperor's decree, no one is to be seen, whoever comes. My elder and younger brothers and sisters and other kin, ask them all to go home as well. Say that for these few days our Zhong family receives no guests. If anyone still won't leave the gate, tell them that whoever dares linger, or force their way into my Zhong family, can't blame us if we stop being kin!"
Father Zhong's words were very harsh; he left his relatives no face at all.
For they had never been on good terms with these relatives to begin with.
In the days of the Starlight Empire, the Zhong family had been a family come down in the world.
Father Zhong himself was only of a cadet branch.
A son of the family in name, but in truth at most what could be called a middle-class household:
a little plot of ground of their own, not too worried about food and drink, just able to send their two children to a starship academy.
No more than that.
And in those days, if they wanted to go back to that old Zhong family house, they were not welcome at all; for the yearly family dinner, this cadet branch was not even sent an invitation.
And the turning point in all of it, naturally, was their own pair of daughters joining the Owl Dragon legion fleets, and rising to very high standing:
one an imperial general now, the other an imperial lieutenant general,
each now serving as deputy commander of an imperial legion fleet group.
Two generals from one house.
That was enough to make their cadet branch of the Zhong family soar at once.
And what followed was indeed so.
Without Father Zhong doing anything himself, a great many people sought to work with Father Zhong.
Nor did Father Zhong let it go to his head; he chose carefully and cautiously, seeking no great wealth or rank, only not to hold his pair of daughters back.
After that, with the investment of some other family powers, and some of the rewards his two daughters sent home,
Father Zhong built up the holdings of their own Zhong family.
In this star system where they lived now, over half the businesses had to do with their family, and they had shares in several other interstellar companies besides.
With that, the power of their cadet branch of the Zhong family went far beyond the other Zhong family powers.
When people spoke of the Zhong family, they no longer meant the old Zhong family house, but this branch of theirs.
After all, two generals from one house was enough to secure this branch of the Zhong family's wealth and honor.
Had Father Zhong been only a little greedy, then even if not among the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's four great family powers, it could at least have ranked among the top five families in the Starlight Kingdom.
But Father and Mother Zhong had no such ambitions; the holdings they had built up now were only so that their pair of daughters could live well once they left the service.
Beyond that, they asked for nothing.
And now the other Zhong family members had naturally caught the scent, and all crowded close to claim kinship with them.
It was the same with Mother Zhong's own family too.
Father and Mother Zhong had not refused them outright either, but had picked some suitable people from among these relatives and given them some good posts.
But at a time like this, a pair of parents who had always cared so much for their daughters naturally resented this crowd very much.