The slaver starport.
"Still haven't traced out the whereabouts of the Bloody Mary Mercenary Company!" Scarface asked, seething with resentment.
"No. Ever since that operation, the Bloody Mary Mercenary Company's been as though it vanished into thin air. Still, it's just as well — from that time on, our slave-transport fleets haven't once come under attack again, which counts as having achieved our original aim." Another thin, small man said carelessly, a beauty cradled in his arms.
Scarface shot to his feet. "Number Two, what do you mean by that! Have you forgotten that band of unknown fellows attacked our interstellar fleet, dealt us enormous losses, and destroyed our T3 warship!"
"And is that not all on account of your incompetence? Hmph. Handed a whole interstellar fleet like that, and with an inside man working in concert besides, and you could still get ambushed by someone — letting the cooked duck fly right off the plate at the last. Were it not for His Highness the prince's magnanimity — had it been me, I'd long since have sold you off as a slave into the beast-arena, to fight beasts to the death!" Skinny Number Two made not the slightest effort to hide his mockery.
As the Number Two and Number Three of this slaver starport, Skinny Monkey and Scarface had never gotten on; they'd often fight and scramble over each other's interests, and there'd even been instances of one plundering the other's slave fleet to pass off as his own gains. The two of them very nearly came to blows — and had the prince behind them not, unable to bear it, stepped in to call a halt, threatening to punish first whoever dared to squabble within the nest again, these two would have had to fight it out to the death before they'd be satisfied.
Suddenly — a gunshot.
Fresh blood splashed across the person of Skinny Number Two; Number Two looked at the woman collapsed in his arms, his whole face a picture of astonishment.
"Enough. Or is it that you want me to relay your words to His Highness the prince, and have His Highness come in person to take a look at the laughable state of the two of you! And you, Number Two — have you forgotten what I said? Before any outsider save the three of us, you are not to speak of His Highness the Grand Prince. And next time, the muzzle of my gun will be aimed at your head!" A big man some three meters tall, seated in the main seat, put away his own laser pistol and rebuked them in anger.
Facing this big man, Number Two and Number Three were plainly much afraid.
The big man raised his head, revealing his single eye. The helmsman of this slaver starport under the Prince Faction was not, in fact, a human at all, but of the one-eyed giant-folk. The one-eyed giant-folk have a humanoid structure, but average over three meters in height, and their most notable features are a bald pate and a great eye that takes up a quarter of the face. And so he'd come by a nickname: the Big-Eye King.
"That interstellar fleet that attacked us and rescued the Bloody Mary Mercenary Company — we'll pursue and investigate it. But for now the pressing matter is completing the task His Highness the prince has laid down. Of late His Highness has demanded an increase in the numbers of the slave trade, and this year only 80% of the standard has been met! Were it not for me pleading on your behalf before the two princes, the two of you would have lost at least one arm apiece. In the first quarter of next year, I want you to complete at the least 130% of last year's same-period quota!" the Big-Eye King said in earnest.
"130%? This… this is far too tall an order. These past few months we've expanded the numbers of the slave-hunting, and some of the interstellar races on the surrounding systems have grown wary; the cost of capture has climbed enormously," Skinny Number Two said, his face screwed up in bitterness. And Number Three, too, cried out one grievance after another.
The Big-Eye King stepped forward and, with a hand apiece, seized each of them straight by the throat. "I'm not discussing this with you — I'm relaying His Highness the prince's order. If next quarter's quota isn't met, then the two of you can make up the numbers with your own selves!"
"Yes…" Number Two and Number Three, left no choice, agreed to it.
"Boss, this… why has His Highness the prince suddenly, this past half-year, been demanding we capture more slaves?" Skinny Number Two asked, curious. The very next second, he took a slap from the Big-Eye King. "Forgotten the rules? Don't ask what you have no business asking!"
Beside them, Number Three — Scarface — saw this and was secretly delighted in his heart; but soon he, too, took a slap.
"Number Three, your past pilfering on the sly I can let pass. But now is a crucial time; you dare pull any of these little tricks again, and I'll lop off your hands!"
"I know I was wrong." Before their boss, the Big-Eye King, Number Two — Skinny Monkey — and Number Three — Scarface — were as meek and docile as a pair of lapdogs.
And these three bosses had no notion that danger had, at this very moment, descended upon their heads.
The outer region of the slaver starport.
Five T3 Phantom Assassin-class Light Interstellar Stealth Bombers were drawing near to scout; even a passing slaver warship, or a patrol fleet, simply could not detect these interstellar stealth bombers hidden right under their very noses. Zhao Wan'er, having finished gathering intelligence, at once reported it over to Zhao Chen.
"The slaver starport's defenses are indeed exceedingly tight. Docked within the starport are only 500 warships; but there are another 2,500 warships as well, forming five region-blocks that surround the starport from five directions. Unless one sneaks in stealthed, as our T3 Phantom Assassin does, it's very hard to draw near the slaver starport."
Zhao Chen rubbed at his chin; this had been in the intelligence Chitong reported long ago.
"Then let's execute our combat scheme." Zhao Chen shot a glance at Chitong beside him, who by now had her fists clenched, working hard to keep her own emotions in check. If a look could kill, then Chitong would beyond doubt have destroyed the slaver starport before her outright already.
System Mission Update
Branch mission: Chitong's Revenge
Content: Investigate and kill the leading figures of the slave-trading organization under the Prince Faction, along with the fleet commander who attacked the Bloody Mary Mercenary Company's home base.
Mission targets: Kill the boss, the Big-Eye King; the Number Two, Skinny Monkey; the Number Three, Scarface.
Challenge task: First capture one of the target figures alive, then bring them before Chitong to be killed — reward: 3,000 System points.
Reward: one T4 starship technical blueprint.
Zhao Chen's face changed. Was this System truly out for thrills? Killing these great figures was one thing — but to actually demand that he capture one alive.
Yet a single one was worth 3,000 System points; three would be 9,000 System points. It had to be said… Zhao Chen was tempted.
And after that he discovered, more surprised still, that before his eyes there actually appeared three points of light-and-shadow, and above those points of light a string of numbers.
(3 hours, 59 minutes)
Zhao Chen looked carefully at the positions of these three points of light, and judging by the star chart, discovered — of all things — that these three points of light lay precisely at one spot within the slaver starport. One of them was the largest in build, exceedingly similar to the one-eyed giant-folk he'd learned of in the intelligence! So the System, in order to get him to complete this task, had gone and served Zhao Chen up a direct target-mission fix?
Zhao Chen looked at those ticking numbers, and understood what they meant. That was the time limit on this positioning; once that time limit was exceeded, the positioning function would be canceled. And then, in a boundless "sea of people," for Zhao Chen to try to capture these three mission targets alive would truly be harder than climbing to heaven.
This System was far too good at tempting a man; knowing this challenge task was of great difficulty, it had gone and opened a "bug" for Zhao Chen outright. It was for all the world as though it kept tempting Zhao Chen without cease: Sir? Tempted, aren't you? Better to act than to sit there being tempted! Come on, baby — let's go!
System mission "Rescue the Imprisoned Slaves" triggered
Content: Within the slaver starport, and among the slaver interstellar fleets around it, there are imprisoned slaves. By rescuing a certain number, activate the task's completion rate.
Completion rate above 90% will earn a T3-grade interstellar warship technical blueprint!
Zhao Chen clenched his fists; so the System was coming at him from two directions at once! One "ravishing beauty" not enough, so it served Zhao Chen up a "pair of sister-flowers"? Did it reckon he, Zhao Chen, would fall for this trick?
And yet, it had to be said — Zhao Chen genuinely did fall for this trick!
Though Zhao Chen knew that carrying out these two tasks was of no small difficulty, there was an old saying that put it well: risk and profit go hand in hand! The present situation of the Starlight Empire did not allow Zhao Chen to turtle up and grow at his leisure!
"Wait!" Zhao Chen called a halt to everyone, who'd been about to act, and said in earnest, "I need to modify part of the combat plan; and next, I'll announce the new combat plan!"