Annie, after a full 20 hours of calculation, at last reported up to Zhao Chen a construction-plan outline.
Annie looked at Zhao Chen in earnest.
"Lord Commander, according to my simulation-calculations: supposing we use T2 Iron Hammers to undertake this batch of 120,000 interstellar warships' construction task — it would need close to 30,000 months of build-labor-hours for a single T2 Iron Hammer. If we used a single T3 Furnace, it would need 1,000 months of build-labor-hours. By our existing interstellar industrial ships, along with the Northern Goose Group's side, we'd find it very hard to complete all the construction tasks within 20 months; we'd have to expand and build a batch of interstellar industrial ships. 30,000 months of build-labor-hours per T2 Iron Hammer — so, by the 500 T2 Iron Hammers Northern Goose currently possesses, to complete this construction task would still need 60 months of build-time."
Zhao Chen nodded; expanding the interstellar industrial ships was a thing that absolutely had to be done.
What now needed determining was just how many interstellar industrial ships to expand by.
This figure was very important; too few would affect the whole construction plan, and too many would affect the completion time of the subsequently produced interstellar warships.
"Besides, we also need to take note that the Northern Goose Group is, at present, still bearing the imperial army's arms-purchase construction task." Annie paused here, and looked toward Zhao Chen.
"Lord Commander — since in the future we're to be enemies with the Prince Faction, and a portion of the interstellar warships Northern Goose currently builds will flow into the Prince Faction's interstellar legions — do we still have Northern Goose go on completing the subsequent construction tasks?"
Zhao Chen smiled faintly.
"They paid the money; of course we're to deliver this batch of interstellar warships." Within his smile was a depth of hidden meaning.
This batch of T2 Tibetan Mastiff-class Medium Interstellar Destroyers provided to the imperial army — if, in the future, they appeared amid Zhao Chen's enemy fleets, that was, on the contrary, something Zhao Chen would be glad to see.
When the time came, he could give the other party a delightful surprise.
To dare use interstellar warships he'd produced to fight against him — likely they didn't know how the word "death" was written.
Annie didn't think too much about it; she went on, "In that case, then, my suggestion is that the Northern Goose Group's T2 Iron Hammers be expanded straight from the current 500 to 3,000! The construction time needed is three months, and the expansion cost is around 5.5 billion star coins. At the same time, we ourselves must also expand a batch of T3 Furnaces; I suggest expanding from the current 10 to 30, with an estimated construction time of three months and an expansion cost of 1.5 billion star coins. Roughly, on the premise of not affecting our and Northern Goose's production plans, at the latest we can complete the interstellar-industrial-ship expansion task before the end of this year. And as for the production-and-construction task of the 120,000 interstellar warships — combining Northern Goose's and our own production capacity, at the fastest it can be done by June of next year, and at the latest all delivered before the end of next year at the very outside! Reckoned this way, of the 20-month time limit we'd still have close to six months of surplus time; and by then, even if you had some other production plan, we'd have the spare capacity to take charge of producing it."
Hearing the interstellar-industrial-ship manufacturing-and-production plan Annie laid out, Zhao Chen was very satisfied.
On the one hand, it completed the immediate task of producing 120,000 interstellar warships; and, on the other, it also expanded the Northern Goose Group's industrial system.
3,000 T2 Iron Hammer-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ships — so terrifying a starship-manufacturing industrial system.
By all estimates, not a single starship manufacturer in the whole Starlight Empire had such a capability.
"Afterward I'll arrange for Li Yaqi to contact you directly; you'll serve as the Northern Goose Group's production advisor, with the authority to contact the Northern Goose Group directly on my behalf." Here Zhao Chen directly granted Annie an exceedingly great authority.
Annie nodded, her two eyes shining with light.
Don't misunderstand — it wasn't this authority she was excited about.
She was thinking about her T2 Bronze Eden…
Annie was fantasizing about possessing a T2 Bronze Eden of her own; when the time came, she'd expand the husbandry zone and raise more, ever more, of the dear little cows!
And then she could invite Sis Bull over for a grand feast, too!
Zhao Chen looked toward Lilith at his side.
"On the supply of funds and raw materials, is there any problem?"
"On the Northern Goose Group's side, they can be self-sufficient. And by the current production speed, it's estimated that before the end of this year they'll deliver all the arms-purchase-order interstellar warships and receive the arms-purchase order's final payment! And, moreover, on account of being affected by the Starlight Empire's current situation, the Northern Goose Group's starship orders are increasing too, with an average monthly book-earning of 1 billion star coins! In a situation where the Starlight Empire's situation doesn't ease, this state of things will continue for a very long stretch! Besides, in our cooperation with the Chu family, the third batch's final payment of the starship-authorization fee is, too, soon coming due. And so at present, so long as we don't join in a large-scale interstellar war, on the financial side there won't be too great a problem. The more so since that Princess money-tree of ours will, besides, be transporting us great quantities of raw-material supplies in a ceaseless stream," Lilith said.
"And the 3,000-interstellar-warship manufacturing plan Charlotte drew up? How high is its feasibility?" Zhao Chen at last inquired into Charlotte's legion-construction work.
Charlotte looked toward Lilith; being the commander, she was only responsible for putting forth the requirements — as for the matter of spending the money, that still had to be the charge of Lilith, this matron-of-the-household.
Lilith raised a hand and opened up a starship-production plan Charlotte had just given her, upon which were marked out the various types of T3 interstellar warship required — among which, for some ship-types the Owl Dragon Legion did not yet have, the market average price had been used as a stand-in.
"3,000 T3 interstellar warships — estimated to require raw materials worth 100 billion star coins. Supposing they were undertaken by a single T3 Furnace, it would need at least 3,000 months of build-labor-hours. And though a portion of the T3 interstellar warships can be built by T2 Iron Hammers, to build 3,000 T3 interstellar warships we still lack enough T3-grade interstellar industrial ships," Lilith said.
Zhao Chen looked toward Annie at his side.
"Annie, you find a way — on the premise of completing those construction plans set out earlier, to devise every means to expand and build more T3 Furnace-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ships. Set no upper limit; the more the better!"
"No problem! I guarantee to complete your instruction." At this moment, as for Zhao Chen's demand, Annie didn't have so much as a trace of hesitation — she directly agreed to it straight off.
"Then if there's no problem, this high-level meeting draws to a close here; the future development and construction of the Owl Dragon Legion will all advance according to this direction we've laid out," Zhao Chen said in earnest.
Charlotte, at this point, raised a hand.
"There's still one small problem."
"Speak." Zhao Chen looked toward Charlotte.
"We may have to face the problem of lacking crew. If in the future we commission 3,000 T3 interstellar warships, then at present we'd have a gap of close to 10 million interstellar soldiers. Relying on the Owl Dragon System's source of female troops alone is already not enough," Charlotte said.
The ship-spamming was too fast; they'd run short of people.
And, what's more, the Owl Dragon Legion's recruitment standard was very strict — it even exceeded the imperial army's interstellar-soldier recruitment standard.
Zhao Chen would not permit any situation of unqualified stopgaps filling out the ranks to appear in his Owl Dragon Legion.[1]
Zhao Chen knit his brows slightly, and thereupon said, "This one, I'll find a way for."