Queen Medusa looked at Zhao Chen with some surprise; once she'd confirmed this was truly Zhao Chen's wish, she mused a moment, then said, "Then let's do this. I'll have my people tally the value of these gains. Though if it's rather complicated — to convert it all into ready resources and materials — my Snake-folk may not be able to bear the whole of it."
"I understand — a fair amount will do." Zhao Chen knew well that, by his terms, a clean 50/50 split was no longer possible. For how was one to reckon the future, indirect value of those systems? And take that Fire Salamander starport he'd waved off — clearing it would still cost over a month of arranging industrial ships to dismantle and break it down. There was cost and time invested in the middle. Since Zhao Chen wanted ready resources outright, a true 100 was out of reach.
Having set her subordinates to tally the figures, Queen Medusa looked at Zhao Chen with a smile. "I've heard of this battle in the Lion King System. A T3 stealth bomber, a T3 battlecruiser, and a T2 missile ship, a T2 battleship, T2 frigates, a T2 carrier — every one of them far surpassing its class. The T3 stealth bomber above all, stealing in for a surprise strike, destroying four T3 warships outright! And the T2 missile ship's superb fire-strike power. I even regret not having seen that magnificent battle with my own eyes!"
Zhao Chen smiled and said nothing. The T3 stealth bomber's action Commander Qingman hadn't witnessed; Queen Medusa had likely learned of it, through some channel, from the enemy fleet.
"To possess warships so terrifying — it's truly enviable," Queen Medusa said with a sigh of admiration.
Zhao Chen looked at Queen Medusa with a smile. "Does Your Majesty like these warships?"
"Of course — who wouldn't like warships like these!"
"If Your Majesty wishes, I could sell them to you."
Sell them to you?
Queen Medusa's heart gave a jolt. She'd praised these warships only to draw closer to the other party; she'd never dreamed he'd toss out a "bomb" like this. It left her stunned for a few seconds. The weight of information in that one sentence was staggering. Since the other side dared say "sell," it meant either that he had a channel to sell these warships, or that he was himself the maker of them. Either way, it spoke to his strength!
"Commander, do you mean that truly?" Queen Medusa was tempted; at the thought of those warships' battle data, how could she not be.
"Of course. We've had a first cooperation; we can have a second," Zhao Chen spread his arms and said with a smile. "Though the price of these warships of mine may be a touch high…"
"Might you tell me first?" Queen Medusa asked. If they truly could be bought, she wouldn't mind buying a few. Those warships' power was genuinely formidable — genuinely tempting.
Zhao Chen soon drew up a ship price sheet. On it were brief introductions to each warship — only the unimportant details, revealing none of the vital battle data. Besides that, there were the prices.
T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser — price: 520 million star coins.
Charlotte, standing at Zhao Chen's side just then, saw the figure and couldn't help swallowing. She knew the T3 Blizzard's rough build cost — around 13 million. And the price the Commander had just quoted was a full 40 times that! It was, admittedly, the normal way of the ship market. But at so terrifying a price, Charlotte still felt a private relief — thank goodness this was a warship the Commander researched and built himself. Until now she'd rather forgotten that the ship she commanded was worth over 500 million…
Seeing the 520-million-star-coin T3 warship, Queen Medusa knit her brows slightly. It wasn't that she didn't know the prices of most T3 warships on the market — even a new ship averaged only 250 million. A price as high as 520 million was genuinely daunting to behold. Then there was the upkeep. Warships needed maintenance, after all; the pricier the ship, the more terrifying its maintenance cost, and combat consumption was a fearsome figure too. For a warship not in combat and taking no battle damage, the routine maintenance and the resource cost of a hundred years' voyaging came to about the purchase price of the ship itself. Which was to say: own a warship a hundred years, and you've as good as bought a second one just like it. Reckoned so, this T3 Blizzard's yearly upkeep came to 5 million star coins! With the technology in hand oneself, that upkeep cost would be considerably cheaper.
Queen Medusa wanted such a T3 warship badly, but on reflection she gave it up — for now. She looked at the other warships.
T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship — price: 30 million star coins.
The interstellar missiles it carries — 12,000 star coins each (full load: 500 missiles).
Queen Medusa recalled the scene of the interstellar-missile scouring Commander Qingman had described. That was no missile-scouring — it was plainly star coins flung in the enemy's face. A T2 missile ship like this, firing off its full load of missiles, was as good as burning 6 million star coins! The corner of Queen Medusa's mouth twitched; she felt the ache of it in her flesh.
T2 Snow Mastiff-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship — price: 26 million star coins.
T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier — 30 million star coins.
T2 Black Rhino-class Interstellar Heavy Assault Frigate — 5 million star coins.
Apart from the T2 Black Rhino, on which Zhao Chen took a 50-times markup, the other T2 ships were all at 20 times. Why 50 times on the T2 Black Rhino? Consider that the T2 Hyena-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer sold for only 3 million star coins. That was a destroyer — and this frigate of yours cost more than someone's destroyer? Heh, heh. Had you ever seen a frigate that could take on a battlecruiser single-handed? Anyone who'd seen the T2 Black Rhino run riot on a battlefield would feel the price steep, yes — but never think it unreasonable.
"These warships of yours really are quite expensive." Queen Medusa wore a somewhat surprised expression. The price of one such ship was three to five times what she'd pay for a warship of the same class.
"If there's any Your Majesty likes, buy 20 or 30 and I can give you a discount," Zhao Chen said, all smiles, and even took it upon himself to warmly talk up that T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship. So long as Queen Medusa bought this missile ship, then whenever the "bullets" ran low afterward, she'd have to buy them from Zhao Chen. Otherwise, however strong a missile ship, it was but a hunk of scrap iron. And the profit in that was no less than selling a T3 warship outright!