A shuttle came hurtling toward Black Sand City at tremendous speed, charging along with no regard at all for any rule of navigation.
Had it not been for a certain signal the shuttle was sending, Black Sand City's defense weapons would long since have "intercepted" it.
In the end the shuttle did not even land, but slammed hard into the hangar, smashing a great hole in the wall.
The ground crew, frightened, backed far away, looking at the smoke and dust of the crash, and for a long time did not dare go near.
But soon came the sound of two pairs of feet touching down.
They saw two figures land on the floor, and only as the smoke cleared did they make out who the two were.
At once the ground crew present all saluted.
"Greetings, Lord of Black Sand City!"
"Greetings, Second Master of Black Sand City!"
The newcomer was none other than the Lord of Black Sand City, the eldest of the three brothers, Sha Meng.
And beside him was Black Sand City's second master, Sha Xiong.[1]
"Urgh… urgh…"
Just then someone heard the sound of retching, with grumbling words besides.
"Big brother… how many years has it been since you flew fast… that landing was far too rough. If I'd known you'd fly this fast, I'd never have ridden in your shuttle. Urgh…" A rather younger figure was sprawled at the shuttle's hatch, retching outward, his face rather a bad color.
"Look at you, no backbone at all; can't even take a little shaking like that. You really do need toughening up. Don't just stand there; get down here quick. That gentleman is still waiting; we have to get over there at once." Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, glanced at his third brother, Sha Ji, as if looking at a good-for-nothing child of his own.
Sha Ji, the third brother, came stumbling down, and before he could find his feet,
he was simply tossed by Sha Xiong, the second brother, into a hover car.
He saw that it was still his eldest brother in the driver's seat, and the churning in his belly, which had only just eased, seemed faintly about to rise again.
"Wait… I…"
Before he could say anything, Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, simply shot off at full speed.
The dust it raised blew dirt all over the faces of the ground crew present.
They stared blankly at the mess left behind, wondering what on earth had happened to make Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, always so calm and steady, so worked up.
And all three masters of Black Sand City gathered here, at that.
Mind you, that was a very rare thing.
The last time the three masters had gathered seemed to have been at the Four Capitals' Conference a year before.
Very soon the car came to the gate of that courtyard.
But this time, in stopping, Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, was not reckless as he had been in the crash landing; he slowed down early and stopped very decorously at the spot farthest from the courtyard,
as if afraid of making the least noise and startling the guests in the courtyard.
Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, got out of the car and at once asked the second brother beside him, "Second, take a look at how I look; nothing wrong, is there?"
"Nothing wrong." Sha Xiong, the second brother, nodded, but looked with some hesitation at the third brother getting out of the car. "But Third Brother, the state he's in…"
Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, glanced at the third brother and curled his lip. "Look at the state of him; nothing of the master of a house about him at all. It seems I'll have to send him off to some remote star region afterward for some proper seasoning."
Hearing this, Sha Ji, the third brother, groaned inwardly; he might not match his eldest and second brothers, but he was not that bad.
It was really that no one could stand his eldest brother's knocking about.
He had come off fairly well; an ordinary person would probably have passed out already in that crash landing of the shuttle.
Just then someone came hurrying over.
"Your subordinate greets my lord the City Lord, the Second Master and the Third Master." This was the adjutant Sha Xiong, the second brother, had left behind.
Seeing the adjutant come up to him,
Sha Xiong, the second brother, frowned at once and scolded him: "Didn't I tell you to stay at that honored guest's side? You dare disobey my order and laze about here!"
"N… no, it's not that! It was the guest who had us withdraw, so they could rest in the courtyard on their own. You told me to carry out that gentleman's words without condition, so… I waited outside the courtyard. I promise I wasn't lazing at all; I've been waiting outside the courtyard the whole time. I only came over just now when I saw the three of you arrive," the adjutant protested at once, aggrieved.
"All right, we understand. You did nothing wrong. Now take us at once to see that honored guest." As he spoke, Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, straightened his clothes once more.
Then he glanced at his third brother again. "And you, boy, tidy yourself up, quick."
Sha Ji, the third brother, had no choice but to tidy himself up; he knew too that the honored guest they were to see this time was very important.
Otherwise he and his eldest brother would not have come rushing over at his second brother's word.
"Please follow me." The adjutant at once led the way ahead, obediently.
On reaching the gate of Jingshan Courtyard, the adjutant knocked carefully,
as if they were the guests at this Jingshan Courtyard.
The gate was opened.
Facing them stood a woman soldier who followed that honored guest, an attendant of some kind, it seemed.
But the adjutant did not dare show her the least slight or disrespect either, and said with a smile, "Would you be so good as to pass a message? The three masters of our Black Sand City have come, and beg to see your lord."
The humble air of it could not have been fuller.
The three masters of Black Sand City behind him had no objection at all to this.
For with the gentleman inside, there was nothing wrong with it at all.
"Understood; one moment." The woman soldier closed the gate, and one could hear her footsteps going away.
About a minute passed, and footsteps came again.
The gate opened with them, and this time the whole gate was opened.
"My lord invites you in."
To anyone who did not know, it really would have looked as if the three masters of Black Sand City were the invited guests.
"Yes." Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, had no objection at all; he nodded slightly, then followed this woman soldier into the courtyard he knew so very well.
But this time they behaved very stiffly,
as if they truly were guests.
Very soon the four of them reached the courtyard and saw several people gathered around a stove, brewing tea and chatting.
Among them there was only one man.
As for the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, they naturally knew of it; even if they had not known much before, they had done their homework before coming this time.
Among the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's top ranks there was almost only one man!
That was the Owl Dragon Emperor.
"The Owl Dragon Emperor in person: Black Sand City's humble house is graced. We failed to come farther to meet you; please forgive any discourtesy, Your Majesty the Owl Dragon Emperor." Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, stepped forward quickly and bowed.
Zhao Chen stood up too, bowed slightly and said, "Not at all; our visit this time was a hasty one, and somewhat discourteous. It's only that the matter we've come to discuss is rather urgent and special. I think the Second Master has already told you both the purpose of our coming."
Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, turned his head to glance at his second brother; at first, on learning that the Owl Dragon Emperor had appeared in person in the Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation, he had been surprised at most.
But on hearing the whole of it, Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, had hurried back at once.
"I've been told." Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, nodded.
"Then let's go straight to the point: can we reach an agreement?" Zhao Chen came straight to the point, asking Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, outright.
So direct a question was something Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, had not expected.
But he soon recovered; he looked at the Owl Dragon Emperor before him and asked cautiously, "There are a few points I still have questions on, which I'd like to ask face to face."
Zhao Chen pointed to Li Yaqi beside him by way of introduction: "This is our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's Minister of Commerce, Li Yaqi; she's chiefly responsible for this universe trade alliance plan. Other related trade cooperation is her responsibility too. Whatever questions you have, you can raise them now, face to face. We'll answer them all for you."
On hearing who Li Yaqi was, Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, greeted her at once: "So this is the Empire's Minister of Commerce; I've long heard of you."
Minister Li Yaqi nodded slightly and said, "His Majesty is very direct in talking business, so we can go straight to your questions."
Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, thought to himself: It seems this way of doing things runs through the whole Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
That's fine too; it saves all the beating about the bush.
Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, took a deep breath and asked straight out, "On setting up the universe trade alliance, I don't really have much objection. But on the second plan I have some questions. His Majesty the Emperor has said he's willing to open the sales rights to Eden-class starships to us. Then may I ask to what extent these sales rights will be opened, and whether there'll be any change in price?"
Minister Li Yaqi said straight out, "On opening the sales rights to Eden-class starships: first, naturally, it depends on our production capacity. We can set the numbers supplied each year. For instance, we sign an agreement in advance that each year our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire provides the Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation with at least a hundred thousand T2 Bronze Eden-class starships, ten thousand T3 Silver Eden-class starships, a thousand T4 Golden Eden-class starships, a hundred T5 Diamond Eden-class starships and so on. All this can be written into the cooperation agreement. If you want to order more, we'll add some as is reasonable, according to our output that year. As for price, there'll be no great change from our present official published prices; that we can guarantee. You all know that the price our Eden-class starships have been driven up to on the market is already very high, but our official price has never changed."
Zhao Chen listened to all this beside her without the least change of look.
For what Minister Li Yaqi said was not wrong.
The Eden-class starships they sold officially all went at the official price; as for those they sold off privately on the market, those naturally did not count as official sales, and did not fall within this.
"But to keep this portion of Eden-class starships from flowing onto the market, we need to add a clause. Because these Eden-class starships are supplied specially to the Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation, if someone deliberately resells this batch of Eden-class starships, it would be bad for the market, and bad for our cooperation. I hope you can understand that," Minister Li Yaqi said gravely.
Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, nodded; he understood this too, naturally.
If they could get this batch of Eden-class starships from the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire at the official price, they need only turn them around and sell them on to make over fifty percent profit outright.
With a profit that large, there would certainly be people blinded by greed who would do such a thing.
"This I can guarantee: the Eden-class starships we buy under this cooperation will all be for our Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation's own use, and will not be sold on outside," Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, said sincerely.
Minister Li Yaqi said with a smile, "We all know that promises like these in fact mean nothing. However many promises are made, it's better to bind things directly. First, we'll install a back-door program in this batch of Eden-class starships supplied specially to the Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation; this back-door program won't affect the interstellar ship's own operation in any way. But these Eden-class starships may not leave the bounds of the Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation's universe; the moment one leaves, these back-door programs will start. First they'll raise an alarm with us, and we can lock onto the Eden-class starship's position; next, all the main programs inside will shut down, and the Eden-class starship will be reduced to scrap. And should that happen, we'll confiscate the Eden-class starships concerned, and fine you ten times the value of the interstellar ships involved; as for how you deal with the people involved, we won't interfere. If the fine isn't paid before the end of that year, the next year's Eden-class starship trade will be suspended for the time being. Is there any problem with all that?" Minister Li Yaqi set out her thinking.
Sha Xiong, the second brother, frowned slightly; isn't that rather too many restraints?
But Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, agreed without a second word: "No problem; I can agree to all of it."
The Eden-class starships they got could be used only within the Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation's universe, but their aim from the start had been to feed the races within their own Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation's universe and give them better living conditions.
"Have you any other questions?" Minister Li Yaqi asked.
Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, paused; as he came to voice this question he stopped a moment and glanced at the Owl Dragon Emperor beside her.
Then he gathered his courage and asked, "I've heard from my second brother that Your Majesty is willing to cooperate with us and provide us with the technical drawings for Eden-class starships, and even the technical drawings for other Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships!"
"Yes." Minister Li Yaqi nodded.
"Then may I ask in what way we'd cooperate?" Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, asked, his eyes burning.
Even they of the Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation, who had resented the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's existence before, had to admit, having seen Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships with their own eyes, that these Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships were truly very strong.
Minister Li Yaqi said, "There are several ways of cooperating. Let me speak first of technology licensing. For low-grade interstellar warships, such as T2 and T3-grade interstellar warships, we can license the interstellar warship technology in full. You take on all the production, and when it's done our sales agents sell it all. In this process you bear the cost and the building, and we provide the technology and the final sales. We split the profit fifty-fifty."
It was called fifty-fifty, but because the other side had to bear the building costs, plus the upkeep of the building equipment, the hiring and training of the building craftsmen and so on, the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's side in fact got more.
The sales channels and the like were all ready-made for the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
For the Owl Dragon-line interstellar warship brand hung right there.
The Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire was as good as using its own technology to catch a wolf with bare hands.
Hearing this way of cooperating,
Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, put on a thoughtful look; he knew the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire got the better of such cooperation, but he knew too that in such cooperation the side holding the technology held the initiative.
They could work with anyone they liked.
That they had come to him was only because they had taken a fancy to the Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation's industrial foundations.
"Then for interstellar warships of T4 and above: some we can license to you in full; for the others, you take on the production of some important parts, which are then shipped to places the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire designates for assembly. Our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire will be responsible for making the core modules and the final assembly. For interstellar warships of this kind, if they're for export, you get thirty percent of the profit and we take seventy. If they're interstellar warships for our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's own use, we'll pay you the market rate for labor. The latter doesn't look profitable, does it?" Minister Li Yaqi added at the end.
Even Sha Ji, the third brother, nodded without thinking.
With the latter they would get only the cost of labor, which basically meant little income.
"But to carry on this kind of cooperation with our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, you have to take on this share of orders that look like thankless work," Minister Li Yaqi said.
The three masters understood at once.
It was a kind of bundled-sale trick.
You want to produce in full the interstellar warships that sell at a good price? Fine.
Then you work for the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire first, and so earn the building orders for those interstellar warships.
It counted as a kind of trade.
"The exchange ratio between the two we can discuss later. At least we won't let you lose by it," Minister Li Yaqi said.
"Please go on." Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, had Minister Li Yaqi go on, which basically meant he had no problem with this.
After all, their Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation lacked everything else, but the last thing it lacked was heavy-industrial production capacity.
"There's another kind of cooperation too: our two sides jointly set up some interstellar warship building groups and create a whole new brand line. We'd still be responsible for the technology and you for production and building; the division of profit on this we can discuss," Minister Li Yaqi said, putting forward another good proposal.
Hearing this proposal, Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, was tempted once again.
What did their Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation lack? What it lacked was innovation in technology.
And the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire had exactly that.
If they really could cooperate, nothing could be better.
"Besides, considering the Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation's present special situation, in the first three years of cooperation we can supply the Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation with grain each month at far below the market price. We can also upgrade and convert the Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation's present industrial base to some degree. In that case, in future you might even produce T4-grade interstellar warships in full, or even T5-grade ones," Li Yaqi said.
At that moment Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, seemed already to be dreaming of a fine future.
They knew very well themselves that the Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation's heavy industry had no problem producing low- and mid-range interstellar warships and parts, but was nowhere near up to producing high-end interstellar warships.
So far, their failure rate in producing T5-grade interstellar warships was still very high, above all for ship types with high technical demands.
Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, looked at his two brothers.
In fact, before coming, they had basically talked it over and decided.
And now most of his questions had been answered.
So only one question was left.
"Owl Dragon Emperor, what comes next is my last question. We've all seen the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's power and its rise. To be frank, our Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation resented the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's existence before, because our two sides overlap in a great many fields. And in these overlapping fields we fall short of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire in all of them. Naturally that deepened the resentment. The other thing is the worry whether the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, with such strong military power, will expand outward. If we cooperate going forward, the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's military strength is bound to keep growing. I'd like to ask: will you in the end swallow up our Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation?" Sha Meng, the Lord of Black Sand City, looked Zhao Chen straight in the eye, waiting for this Owl Dragon Emperor's answer.
Zhao Chen said with a smile, "My aim has never been to invade and control other interstellar civilizations' universes. I only want to protect all that I have, and the people around me. And the reason we're in such a hurry to raise our military strength now: you all know how locked we are with the Devourer Civilization and Order. We have no choice; if we don't advance, we fall back. So we can only follow this road to the end. As for using force on you, I can promise that so long as our cooperation goes smoothly and your Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation doesn't stand against our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's armed forces will never set half a foot in the Searing Holy-Hammer Free Federation without your invitation or permission…"