At this very moment, within the North Wind Star Region, a model of interstellar battlecruiser was, for all the world like a firefighting hero, appearing without cease on the battlefields of one system after another. Just as they were resisting the interstellar hive-race's attack, three T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruisers would come killing their way in all of a sudden. With an unstoppable, irresistible offensive they'd slay the T3 Hive Mothership within the hive-race fleet, and then leave outright, without a backward glance.
And before long, this news reached the ears of the North Wind Governor.
"Multiple T3 Blizzards appearing on interstellar battlefields all over?" The North Wind Governor wore a face full of astonishment.
"Yes; this is the imagery the relevant fleets captured." A subordinate put up some dozens of images — every one of them, without exception, a scene of a T3 Blizzard making its entrance. "As of now, of those on record, at least nine T3 Hive Motherships have already been destroyed by them! And come to think of it, it's strange — their target seems to be T3 Hive Motherships alone; toward any target other than a T3 Hive Mothership, they simply won't give it the least attention, unless, in the course of the operation to annihilate a T3 Hive Mothership, that target gets in their way!" the subordinate said, finding it beyond all reason.
A combat style of this kind was unheard of.
"Get me in touch with Zhao Chen at once!" the North Wind Governor said gravely. Only Zhao Chen had T3 Blizzards; these T3 Blizzards that had appeared were beyond doubt the Owl Dragon Fleet's. But so great a number of them… a dozen and more, at the very least!
Before this, he'd greatly valued this grandson-in-law, whose talent in the matter of ship manufacture was exceedingly astonishing. But he hadn't imagined that, at a time when he was scorched to his very wits' end by these interstellar hive-race swarms, it would be this kid making his shining entrance.
"Before, I'd only heard this T3 Blizzard was strong; now, having seen it with my own eyes, I can be said, at last, truly to believe it. A warship of this kind is indeed exceedingly well-suited to this sort of high-mobility, support-style annihilation combat," the North Wind Governor said in admiration.
And it was just then that the subordinate said hurriedly, "Governor, we're now connecting through to Viscount Zhao Chen."
A comm window appeared before the North Wind Governor; because it hadn't yet connected, it was, for the moment, still black.
Before long, a rather blurred stretch of video appeared before the North Wind Governor; on the other end was a somewhat hurried sound of breathing, and a somewhat noisy environment.
"Commander… behind you… behind!"
"Never mind its front or its behind — this old man'll run it through top to bottom with one spear! Eat my shot!"
Boom.
Bang, bang, bang.
Hiss, hiss, hiss.
All manner of sounds rose and fell one after another, for all the world as though it were somewhere upon a battlefield.
The video began to grow clear, but this image was all of Zhao Chen's face; he seemed to be wearing a tactical helmet, its built-in camera helping him to communicate.
"Ah, it's the North Wind Governor? What is it you need me for at a time like this…? I see this big backside of yours is asking for a beating! Eat my shot!"
The odd words left the North Wind Governor's side somewhat taken aback.
"What is it you're doing just now?" the North Wind Governor asked.
"Fighting bugs! These bugs really are numerous." Zhao Chen's breathing had, by now, grown somewhat hurried.
"Fighting bugs?" The North Wind Governor was astonished.
"This… it's too much bother to explain — see for yourself." Over on his side, Zhao Chen adjusted his image, and the picture went from Zhao Chen's head to the head of a savage bug. A hand was gripping its head. The very next second, this bug head was crushed apart outright. Bug-ichor splashed in all directions.
This sight came far too suddenly, and startled several of the subordinates behind the North Wind Governor; some of the civil-post female officials went pale in the face all at once, very nearly vomiting.
And in the distance of the picture, one could see it was a city — a city that seemed to be burning. Bugs of every kind were to be seen everywhere throughout the city. The city's guards were locked in bloody battle with these bugs, paying casualties every moment without cease. And up in the sky, several T3 Blizzards hovered in midair, giving fire support to the ground. One T1 Hive Mothership and T2 Hive Mothership after another plunged toward the ground like a meteorite. Around Zhao Chen, moreover, there were dozens of T2 Black Knight mecha fighting, forming a line to resist the bugs' attack.
The whole picture left one somewhat dizzy and dazzled to watch, because Zhao Chen kept moving without cease; in his hand he held a silver-white long spear. This was no cold-steel weapon. For within this weapon, a long spear in outward form, there were other technological performances. First, it had a laser-gun emission port, which could carry out ranged attacks, firing lasers. At the same time, at the spearhead position a magnetic field could be activated, to increase the muzzle's destructive power. It was a modernized close-combat weapon. For dealing with these bugs it was as fitting as could be.
Someone noticed that at the bottom of the picture there was, by now, a great pile of bug carcasses heaped up — indeed, in all likelihood, what Zhao Chen trod underfoot was not even the ground, but the remains of bugs.
"Where are you now?" the North Wind Governor asked.
"The Sapphire System's Third Planet," Zhao Chen answered while fighting.
The North Wind Governor cast a glance at the subordinate beside him, who at once marked out on the star chart the position of the Sapphire System's Third Planet, along with the latest news from there. The Sapphire System was also a disaster-struck system, and one of the more severely afflicted ones at that. Within this system, there'd appeared two tier-3 cosmic bug-nests, eight tier-2 cosmic bug-nests, and 29 tier-1 cosmic bug-nests. Dozens of planets had already suffered the invasion of these bugs.
The North Wind Governor hadn't imagined that Zhao Chen would, of all things, support the frontline battlefield this quickly.
"As a fleet commander, you ought to command the battle from aboard a ship; to go to the front line in person like this is far too dangerous!" the North Wind Governor reminded him.
The bugs around Zhao Chen had, just now, thinned out somewhat, and he could at last catch his breath. "It's fine — I just can't hold still inside the bridge; idle too long, and I wanted to come down and stretch my bones a bit," Zhao Chen said, light and easy as a passing cloud.
Stretch his bones?
Who ever stretched their bones with bugs?
"Whatever the case, you must mind your own safety!" the North Wind Governor said gravely, and then returned to the business he'd sought Zhao Chen out for. "T3 Blizzards have appeared on the battlefields of every bug-struck system. Was this arranged by you?"
"Arranged by me? Is there some problem?" Zhao Chen said outright.
The North Wind Governor asked, "Why is it that your T3 Blizzards attack only the T3 Hive Motherships, and then, once the T3 Hive Mothership is destroyed, they leave?"
"I hold that the foremost task in dealing with the hive-race is to first destroy their T3 Hive Motherships. By my combat experience, an interstellar hive-race fleet that's lost its T3 Hive Mothership drops greatly in strength. And the number of my T3 Blizzards is limited; so, in order to destroy as many T3 Hive Motherships as possible and steady the whole broader situation, the task I've assigned my T3 Blizzards is simply to strike those T3 Hive Motherships," Zhao Chen said, his words firm and well-founded.
After all, he could hardly say that he was doing it because he was in a hurry to complete a mission, could he?