Having settled matters with Li Yaqi, Zhao Chen piloted the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser away from Northstar Academy, giving out that he was returning to the Owl Dragon Star System for a spell.
The academy thought nothing of Zhao Chen's itinerary. The place was awash with news of him just now, and he truly couldn't stay there in any case; and having only just been raised from baron to viscount, any normal person would return home in glory to show off his achievements before the nobles of his own domain.
Now the T3 Blizzard — nominally bound for the Owl Dragon Star System — once again returned to the Owl Dragon base. First Zhao Chen arranged for the T2 Iron Hammer-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ships to give the T3 Blizzard a thorough, all-around repair.
T2 Bronze Eden-class Ship
Zhao Chen, Lilith, and Charlotte sat by a pond, fishing rods in hand. It had to be said, the environment inside the T2 Bronze Eden-class ship really was fine — perfectly suited for coming to, on a holiday.
Charlotte had been unwilling to come at first, but the moment she heard Zhao Chen say they were going fishing, she had a shuttle ready then and there. Now, though, Charlotte's two eyes were fixed on the float of her rod bobbing on the water without the slightest twitch — so frustrated her tiger fangs had come bared.
"The selection of the first batch of fleet core personnel — how are you two coming along with it?" Zhao Chen asked Lilith beside him.
Lilith set her rod in the holder by her feet and used her handheld terminal to project a holographic list — name after name, each with a likeness.
"First, on the industrial-ship side: Annie is indeed excellent — not only highly skilled as an artisan and extraordinarily gifted, but with a fine head for coordination too. There'd be no problem at all with her serving as captain of an interstellar industrial ship in future. Then there's a senior starship engineer like Jenny; she can't command the whole picture, but on ship craft she's sound enough — worth cultivating in particular. There's also a bear-folk artisan who's quite good, currently captain of T2 Iron Hammer Number Two. And here are four more — four deputy captains — who could be cultivated in future as well."
Having gone through the technical talents, Lilith began introducing the others.
"Among my succubus race there are a few talents too — this Aili, for one. Her aptitude for learning is second only to mine; while we were away this past stretch, it was she who stood in for my duties, and she handled everything quite well. And these several beast-folk here are combat-type talents, all very well suited to serving as ship captains."
As Lilith was speaking, Charlotte, beside her, pointed at the picture of one of the beast-girls. "The wolf-girl — Sister Bai. A very fine warrior. We served aboard the same warship once, a while back."
Sister Bai?
What a strange way to address her.
But at a glance, this wolf-girl truly did have white fur everywhere one could see; and by the look of her, she was indeed somewhat older than Charlotte.
Having heard Lilith's and Charlotte's introductions, Zhao Chen was well satisfied with the list. "Good. Then we'll focus on cultivating these for now." The cultivation of talent was of the utmost importance; otherwise, the people Zhao Chen had on hand to use were simply too few.
"Commander, your rod's moving!" Lilith suddenly called.
Zhao Chen at once hauled up his rod, and soon a fish over 50 centimeters long was on the hook.
"I've got one over here too!" A fish had bitten on Lilith's line at the same moment.
Zhao Chen and Lilith were both reeling in fish — yet over on Charlotte's side, her hook showed not the least stir.
"It's that there are too few fish in this pond!" Charlotte muttered, making excuses for herself.
"Too few? Doesn't seem few at all." Zhao Chen looked at his own bucket, brimming with fish. Even Lilith had several. Charlotte alone had, to this moment, a haul of zero.
Charlotte looked at Zhao Chen's bucket, then at her own — and in an instant every hair on her stood on end. She flung her rod aside, snatched the laser pistol at her waist, and leveled it at the pond, for all the world as if she meant, the very next moment, to vent her fury on the accursed water.
"Any fish you shoot dead come out of next month's meals!" Zhao Chen's one sentence worked like a binding hex, freezing Charlotte stiff where she stood.
Slowly she lowered the laser pistol, glaring resentfully at the pond before her — as though turning over the thought that, given the chance one day, she'd drain the accursed thing dry!
"Let's have grilled fish today." Zhao Chen looked at the full haul and proposed.
Lilith said, "As it happens, I know how to grill fish — leave it to me."
"Mm, I'll assist you," Zhao Chen said beside her.
Charlotte alone said nothing all the while, only crouching by Zhao Chen's bucket, staring at the fish inside.
"Charlotte, what are you doing?" Zhao Chen asked, looking at the one person with nothing to do.
Charlotte hesitated, then pointed at her own mouth. "I can eat!"
Zhao Chen and Lilith exchanged a glance, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Charlotte, then let me teach you to grill fish." Lilith drew Charlotte along, handing her a prepared fish to grill over the campfire.
Half an hour later, what had started as a little white tiger had become a big black one.
"What happened to you?" Zhao Chen came back carrying some seasonings, and looked at the soot-faced, grimy Charlotte, fighting down his laughter.
Charlotte spat out a mouthful of ash and said nothing for a long while, a charred-black fish still in her hand.
"Charlotte had better just wait to one side while we finish." Lilith understood completely now: apart from combat, Charlotte was a total novice at everything else. Let Charlotte keep grilling fish, and there'd likely not be enough fish left for her to ruin.
In the end, through Lilith's busy efforts, a grilled-fish feast was at last made ready.
"I plan to set out in three days. Charlotte will come with me; I'll take the one ship, the T3 Blizzard, and go. Lilith, you'll stay here and coordinate our follow-on construction work. I've also given instructions to Wan'er — she'll make a trip back to the Owl Dragon Star System and arrange a suitable planet there as the place to settle the dwarf race afterward. In this same span, Lilith, you'll be responsible for drawing up an industrial-development plan for a planet. When the time comes, those male dwarves and their kin will be set to work on that planet; the female dwarves who are willing and qualified can come work on our T2 interstellar industrial ships." Zhao Chen began laying out a set of tasks.
Because of that earlier luck-value requirement, there could be no males in Zhao Chen's fleet. But going to a dwarf tribe, one couldn't very well take only the female dwarves away — they'd surely come with whole families in tow. So the male dwarves needed somewhere to be settled too. Since they couldn't remain aboard the ships, they'd be arranged in the Owl Dragon Star System — where these dwarves could conveniently be put to use establishing a measure of basic industry.
"Yes." Lilith was uncomplaining and diligent; she had not the least question about the Commander's arrangements, nor did she mind why the Commander recruited only female dwarves.