"Can't even a mouthful of food plug up that mouth of yours?" Zhao Chen looked at this beast-folk female crew member of such considerable nerve.
The beast-folk crew member bit down on the chopsticks in her hand. "Whether it's plugged up or not… isn't that still for you to decide, Commander?"
Zhao Chen was momentarily at a loss; he began to suspect he'd perhaps been too good to them in the ordinary run of things, that they'd now actually dare to tease him.
"Though they're of slave status, you didn't abuse them, didn't humiliate them; on the contrary, you gave them a place to settle in peace, and living treatment as generous as this. You're not the same as those who buy slaves for a selfish craving of their own," Chitong said, with great firmness.
Zhao Chen gave a faint smile. "I'm not so noble as you make me out to be."
Chitong looked at the man before her; to speak the truth, she now found this man very much out of the ordinary too.
"Let's talk of serious matters. What do you mean to do from here on?" Zhao Chen looked to Chitong. "Your Bloody Mary has met with cruel persecution and lost a great many warships. Your home base has been laid waste, and going forward those enemies you spoke of may well go on hunting you down. And now, besides, you have a whole crowd of… dead weight to carry along."
Chitong looked at the food on her plate. "To speak the truth… I don't know what to do either…"
"I have a suggestion — not sure how you'll take it." Zhao Chen fixed his eyes on Chitong.
"Commander, do go ahead and say it." Chitong's manner toward Zhao Chen was very good — perhaps because the man had the grace of having saved her life. It was worlds apart from the first time they'd met, when she'd "held him off with the threat of her own death."
"If you don't mind it, you could bring your people and join my interstellar fleet. Don't misunderstand — I'm not looking to swallow you up. You can join temporarily, since it happens I'm short of hands over here. We could set up a cooperation agreement of somewhere around one to three years. Over that stretch, I'd be, in effect, your employer; you'd work for me, and I'd provide you the same benefits and treatment as my own crew. At the same time I can guarantee your safety — you've seen my fleet's strength, I take it? Warships of combat power like this — I still have a great many of them." Zhao Chen gestured at the fine food those beast-folk crew all around were enjoying.
Hearing this suggestion, Chitong's expression showed a faint hesitation — but she was, indeed and truly, moved by it.
Seeing that look of Chitong's, Zhao Chen knew there was hope; and at once, striking while the iron was hot, he cast out a still more tempting condition.
"And what's more — I can help you take your revenge!"
Ding! The follow-up branch mission "Chitong's Revenge," of the hidden mission "Recruit the Bloody Mary Mercenary Company's Commander · Chitong," has been triggered. Please complete the current mission first before the branch mission's details can be viewed.
Chitong looked at Zhao Chen with some surprise, and said with a slight hesitation, "As I said before, behind those enemies of mine stands the Prince Faction…"
"Prince Faction, Eunuch Faction, whatever the hell they are… it doesn't matter. All you need do is say whether you're willing." Zhao Chen fixed his gaze on Chitong. "Once we've gone back and regrouped for a spell, we'll find a way to get hold of the location of this lot's home base. And take the whole pot of them out in one go!"
Hearing what Zhao Chen said — that revenge, above all!
Chitong was genuinely moved.
She knew well that, on her own strength alone, to seek revenge was, basically, a very hard thing. As things stood now, revenge was the least of it — even keeping the companions of Bloody Mary safe was no simple matter.
"You… you truly are willing to take us in?" Chitong looked at Zhao Chen and said slowly.
"Of course." Zhao Chen extended his hand toward Chitong. "Before, we were cooperative partners; now, all the more, we're comrades-in-arms fighting shoulder to shoulder — so long as you're willing!"
Chitong stood up, and with a serious expression gripped Zhao Chen's hand. "Within three years, I and my subordinates will render you our absolute and loyal service."
"No need for pledges of loyalty; you can look on it as the simplest of interest-relationships. I give you what you want, you help me bring about what I want — just that simple." Zhao Chen felt Chitong's hand in his own — calluses on the palm, the sort of mark left only by long practice with a sword.
Hidden mission: Recruit the Bloody Mary Mercenary Company's Commander · Chitong. Complete.
Please claim your mission reward.
Branch mission activated: Chitong's Revenge.
Once they'd finished enjoying this meal, Zhao Chen and Chitong returned to the bridge — only, in the space of a single meal, the standing between the two of them had become something altogether different from before.
Chitong first had to get in touch with Sister Pei, the vice-commander, and the others, and inform them of her decision. Though within the Bloody Mary Mercenary Company Chitong was one whose word was law, she was nonetheless in the habit of making her thinking plain to her subordinates; and unsurprisingly, everyone agreed to the proposal.
Over on his side, Zhao Chen sat in the captain's chair in an attitude of resting with his eyes closed, and claimed his mission reward.
Congratulations — acquired: 5,000 System points.
Though the reward was System points alone, that was precisely what Zhao Chen needed.
System Points: 18,320.
Seeing his present tally of System points, Zhao Chen, without a word more, opened the System mall and redeemed that T3 interstellar industrial ship he'd been longing after for so very long.
Expend 18,000 System points and 30 task points to redeem the item "T3 Furnace-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ship" technical blueprint?
Confirm redemption!
Congratulations — acquired the "T3 Furnace-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ship" technical blueprint.
Before — System points: 18,320
Before — task points: 45
Spent — System points: 18,000
Spent — task points: 30
After — System points: 320
After — task points: 15
In that one instant, Zhao Chen's System points were, once again, back to square one overnight. But happily, Zhao Chen had thereby fulfilled one important metric of his quarterly mission — the redemption of a T3 starship technical blueprint from the System mall! What remained of the quarterly mission's completion needed only the follow-on commissioning of combat-type interstellar warships into active service; that was merely a matter of time.
This T3 Furnace-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ship — Zhao Chen had been longing after it for a very long while indeed. It was, beyond any doubt, the finest of all the T3 interstellar industrial ships Zhao Chen knew of! Its build space was several times larger than the T2 Iron Hammer-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ship's! And its efficiency in constructing ships was raised as well. For instance, if the T2 Iron Hammer were to build a single T3 Blizzard, it would need over two months. But using the T3 Furnace, one could build five T3 Blizzards all at once, and in a mere one month's time besides.
That said, this T3 Furnace's build cost was likewise quite terrifying. The cost of a single unit ran to a full 60 million star coins! Four or five times that of the T3 Blizzard! But set against the advantages, that was of no importance whatsoever. So long as he could possess a few T3 Furnace-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ships, with a sufficient supply of raw materials, Zhao Chen could mass-equip his own T3 interstellar warships! The mere thought of it was rather thrilling.
And beyond that, he could also build that T4 Reviver-class Clone Ship! This was a move of the utmost importance for the Owl Dragon Fleet's rise in full!