"You mean the two interstellar civilizations of this Fifth System?" a subordinate asked curiously.
The leader of the Lanners civilization nodded and said, "That they can beat the Dax Empire civilization shows they have strength. Yet they can't defeat the Dax Empire either. That suits us exactly. Even after the Dax Empire is defeated, if we then move to clear away these two Trial civilizations, it won't be any problem at all!"
The subordinate's eyes lit up, and he said, "You've already thought that far ahead."
"The Trial of the Gods. Every Trial civilization is our rival. But in the midst of it, we can also ally and maneuver. Arrange starships to visit these two Trial civilizations of the Fifth System. Tell them this idea of ours. We'll fight the Dax Empire together, destroy the Dax Empire first, and talk of what comes after later."
"And if they're not willing?"
"The Dax Empire is stronger than they are; that they could win this battle was because they were prepared. Next time it may not be so. If they cooperate with us, we can share our intelligence with them. They have no reason to refuse. Do as I've said," the leader of the Lanners civilization said.
"Yes!"
The leader of the Lanners civilization raised her head and looked at the stars overhead.
"Beautiful. But not as beautiful as our homeland. It's been over ten years since we came to this world. When will we be able to go back to our homeland? In the Trial of the Gods, our Lanners civilization must win!"
————————
The Fierce Dragon Kingdom: the Continent.
In an underground palace.
Zhao Chen walked into this palace and gazed at the hundred-odd little flags hanging in it, names written on them.
These were all those of the ten thousand who had died over these years.
This time there were flags with a dozen-odd more names.[1]
Zhao Chen looked at these names, and their faces seemed to rise before his eyes.
He recalled how, when they had followed him into the Trial of the Gods,
they had not feared life or death, only wishing to share his hardships with him.
"Over ten years. I wonder how Charlotte, Lilith and the others outside are doing now." Zhao Chen could not help thinking of the world outside.
Though time in this world and the world outside flowed at different speeds,
just how long had really passed outside, no one knew.
Perhaps ten days, perhaps ten months.
——————
The Fierce Dragon Starship Academy: the refresher class.
Fire Lydia sat in the front row of the classroom; the other students coming in, seeing Fire Lydia, would all greet her and salute.
Those who came here were basically all serving Fierce Dragon officers.
After that battle ended,
the Fierce Dragon fleet had entered a period of rest and recovery.
And unexpectedly, the higher-ups had selected a batch of officers and crew and sent them to the refresher class, saying they were to learn something or other.
Some officers were not very happy inside.
For they had all graduated from the Starship Academy's examinations only with great difficulty; who would have imagined that after going round and round they would be back here again?
When a teacher walked in,
everyone present sprang to their feet.
For this person's standing in the Fierce Dragon Kingdom was something else:
Salaman, the Flame Elf Queen!
The Flame Elf Queen Salaman was dressed as a teacher at this moment; she walked behind the lectern.
Though she was not a front-line commander, many of the present Fierce Dragon petty officers were her students.
As an elf she had very rich combat experience and could answer students' every kind of question, and back among the elves she had served as a teacher too.
She was better suited to being a teacher than Chu Xuan and the others.
So the head of the Starship Academy was she,
specially appointed by Zhao Chen.
"Class begins."
"Good morning, teacher!"
Everyone kept their wits about them twelve times over and stood to greet her.
They did not dare slack in the least in this head's class.
Never mind that this head looked like a peerless beauty; her ways of punishing people were terrifying.
One of them was to throw a person straight into the space environment, letting you face that feeling of death head-on.
But don't worry:
there would be medical staff dedicated to your safety; even frostbitten all over, you could be brought back.
But that feeling of facing death in the pitch-black universe was truly not pleasant.
Of the students who had been through this punishment, not a single one dared misbehave in class.
"All of you are now serving officers of the Fierce Dragon fleet. You surely have doubts, or complaints, about coming back here to hear me teach. I can understand that too. But for the Fierce Dragon fleet as it advances quickly now, if you don't study, you'll very soon be phased out by the Fierce Dragon Kingdom of today. And what I'm going to teach you is nothing else but the several classes of interstellar warship the Fierce Dragon fleet is about to bring into service. So that the moment these interstellar warships enter service, you'll know how to operate them, and how to command battles aboard them! The motto of our Fierce Dragon fleet has always been: better the crews wait for the ships than ever let the ships wait for the crews!"
As she spoke,
the Flame Elf Queen Salaman raised her hand, and a holographic projection of an interstellar warship appeared over everyone's heads.
By its shape, it was an interstellar battleship.
Snow Mastiff-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship
Class: interstellar battleship
Tech level: T2
Hull armor: 500–700 units
Cruising speed: 30 star-knots
Warp drive: grade-4
Length: 280 meters
Mass: 138,000 tons
Crew: 50
Weapons: one T2 heavy 1800mm-caliber Snow Mastiff railgun main gun (single shot, 180-second interval); six T2 heavy pulse-laser secondary guns (single shot, 90-second interval); thirty 130mm T2 medium close-in guns (no interval on fire).
"You may open your study materials. I've already sent today's courseware. It's all about this interstellar warship. This interstellar warship is our T2 interstellar battleship, named the Snow Mastiff. It's a heavy interstellar warship…"
Fire Lydia studied the knowledge of the new class of interstellar warship with great care, like a fish on the beach longing to get back to the sea.
When others rested, she studied.
After class she would chase after the teacher who had taught the class and ask about things she did not understand.
When the first T2 Snow Mastiff-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship was about to enter service,
the list of personnel to serve aboard this interstellar warship was drafted too.
The Flame Elf Queen Salaman called Fire Lydia to her office.
A knock came at the door.
"Come in."
Fire Lydia pushed the door open and walked in.
"Teacher, you called for me." Fire Lydia stood before the desk, expectation and excitement in her eyes.
"You've all surely heard the news that the first ship of the T2 Snow Mastiff-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship is coming off the line into service. You must have guessed why I called you here, too. You'll serve as captain of this Snow Mastiff No. 1. This starship needs fifty combat personnel. This is the list of suitable people from our first screening; there are five hundred in it. Choose your crew team from it. The only requirement is this. Within three days, your crew team must be fully broken in. In three days, you'll board this T2 Snow Mastiff-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship No. 1 and formally take over this starship. After that you'll be given three days of trial training; after three days there'll be a series of assessments. The requirement is: able to fight! Well? Can you take it on?" The Flame Elf Queen Salaman looked at this student of hers.
Fire Lydia, almost without any hesitation at all, raised her head and said loudly, "Rest assured, teacher. Your student will never disappoint you!"
"Good. Go and get ready." The Flame Elf Queen Salaman waved her hand.
"Yes."
Fire Lydia walked out of the office, and the very moment she shut the door, she pumped her fists in excitement.
Wonderful!
She could have an interstellar warship of her own,
and the newest T2 Snow Mastiff-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship at that.
This interstellar warship was her favorite interstellar warship right now.
Her hard work all this while had not been in vain after all.
After a brief burst of excitement, she went back to her single quarters, called up the list of those five hundred, and began choosing her crew from it.
"This one has navy experience from before, and good marks too."
"This one's a new recruit, but learns fast and has real insight."
"This one fought in the first interstellar war before; combat experience."
After Fire Lydia's several rounds of screening, the big list of fifty was soon settled.
Once she had sent it to the Flame Elf Queen Salaman, it was soon approved.
These fifty people received the latest information too.
In a certain classroom,
Fire Lydia looked at the time; there were three minutes left before the agreed hour.
She took a deep breath
and pushed the door open and walked in.
In an instant, the fifty soldiers and petty officers in uniform in the classroom stood up.
"Good day, Captain!" they said in unison.
Fire Lydia swept her eyes over these fifty; the names and personal details of these fifty she had already learned by heart.
Among them were her classmates, and some transferred from other departments.
"Don't call me captain yet. This position of mine is only temporary too. If we don't pass the assessment for taking over the starship later, then the bond between us ends here." Fire Lydia's eyes swept over these fifty.
She said earnestly, "And don't think that because I've chosen you now, you're members of this starship's crew. In the next few days we'll train as this whole ship's crew team. Each of you gets at most three chances at minor mistakes. More than three, and I'll send you packing at once. I have a pile of other people here to choose from. Someone may ask, what if I make a serious mistake?"
Fire Lydia's eyes went cold: "Those I've chosen are all the elite of the elite. If you make a serious mistake, then get yourself out of here. Don't let me see you. Or I won't promise not to cut open your skull with my dagger and see how many catties of dung-water are in it!"
Training, training, and more training.
After several days of training on end,
the crew team Fire Lydia led could already handle this T2 Snow Mastiff-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship with skill.
And on the day of the real assessment,
in the Dragon Palace Starport, Zhao Chen had specially invited Fire Phoenix.
"Your Fierce Dragon Majesty." Fire Phoenix, seeing Zhao Chen, first saluted respectfully.
"We count as old friends; no need for ceremony. Today is your sister's first simulated live-combat assessment leading her own starship. So I've specially invited you up to watch." Zhao Chen had Fire Phoenix sit beside him.
"My sister?" Fire Phoenix was somewhat startled.
The last he had heard of his sister, she was serving as an adjutant at Marshal Chu Xuan's side.
Then, after the last battle ended and she sent word she was safe, there had been no news of her until now.
As a soldier, being out of touch for a while was perfectly normal.
So Fire Phoenix had not worried much.
Never had he imagined that when he next heard news of his sister,
she would already have become captain of a starship.
When he saw that starship slowly sail out,
Fire Phoenix was even more astonished.
It was not that he had never seen a starship.
But this class of starship before him was bigger, with thicker guns, a class of interstellar warship never seen before.
"Your Majesty, why have I never seen this starship before?" Fire Phoenix said in surprise.
"This is the newest class of interstellar warship our Fierce Dragon Kingdom has built and brought off the line into service, named the T2 Snow Mastiff-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship. This is No. 1; because your sister performed outstandingly, she's the acting captain of this No. 1. As for whether she can fully carry out the post, that depends on all of today's assessments," Zhao Chen said with a smile.
Fire Phoenix swallowed; along with his surprise, he was proud of his sister's excellence too.
At the same time he felt a little disappointed and downcast inside.
He too was a soldier; how could he not want an interstellar warship like this?
But he still had the Frost Dragon Kingdom to govern, and could not be as unattached as his sister.
"The assessment of T2 Snow Mastiff-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship No. 1 formally begins," the adjutant beside them said.
Then the T2 Snow Mastiff-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship could be seen carrying out one assessment item after another:
sailing, maneuvering, defense, combat and so on.
Each assessment item, though Fire Phoenix did not know them well, he knew the navy, and could see roughly how they took shape.
And that Fierce Dragon adjutant beside them would keep updating every kind of score and giving the assessment team's comments too.
"The turning angle was well chosen, but the speed could be a little faster."
"Target acquisition was a bit slow."
"Good accuracy; nailed it in a second."
"The order of choosing targets to attack was right too."
At last, after a whole series of assessments had ended,
the adjutant presented a report to Zhao Chen.
Fire Phoenix, beside him, found he was actually somewhat nervous inside.
The feeling was just like a parent called to the school by the teacher, waiting for the teacher to give the final grades.
"Not bad; she passed every assessment. Fire Lydia can become this starship's formal captain." Zhao Chen looked with a smile at Fire Phoenix beside him.
Fire Phoenix clasped his fists and bowed deeply to Zhao Chen: "For this I still have Your Majesty's cultivation to thank. Without Your Majesty's cultivation and trust, my sister would never have come to this day!"