"But we'd need to invest at least 500 T3 Prospectors; the building of these T3 Prospectors alone would need 5 billion star coins — and that's not yet reckoning in the time it would take to produce these interstellar mining ships. For, after all, our interstellar-warship production tasks at present are already quite heavy; some of the production tasks have even already been scheduled a full year out. Apart from this, there's the construction of the corresponding supporting facilities besides; these aren't of great technical difficulty, and need only an investment of 10 billion star coins." Lilith laid out this investment cost for Zhao Chen.
To speak truly, this was an investment of sure profit and no loss; Zhao Chen wished nothing more than to produce all these needed T3 Prospector-class Heavy Interstellar Mining Ships right away.
Go mine ore for me, the whole lot of you!
But the problem was that Zhao Chen's interstellar-industrial-ship production capacity was, at present, severely insufficient; just as Lilith had said, the interstellar-warship production tasks were already scheduled a year out.
Zhao Chen knit his brows slightly; forging up the Morton System was, to be sure, important — but at present there were still more important construction tasks.
And, moreover, by the look of it now, Zhao Chen wasn't short of resources in hand; for, after all, there was that windfall provided by that great money-bags, the little Princess.
And so the construction of the Morton System could, for the time being, be put on the back burner a while.
"Let's do this, then: the arrangement of the T3 Prospectors is to be deferred first — planned to be arranged within the coming half-year to year. But some of the other industrial facilities can be set going now; on the funding side, get it into place step by step." Zhao Chen instructed.
"Very well." Lilith noted down the Commander's words, and then said in a soft voice, "Um… Lord Commander, I've got to go see to matters — could you let go of me first?"
Only at this point did Zhao Chen come to his senses — that a moment ago, in his excitement, he was still gripping both of Lilith's shoulders.
"My apologies; I forgot." Zhao Chen released his hands.
Lilith, her face faintly reddened, took her leave and departed the office.
Zhao Chen carried on with his own work, at the same time turning over in his mind just how he was to complete that quarterly mission without a soul or ghost the wiser.
……
In the blink of an eye, a month's time went by.
The Morton System and the Ellis System, with funds injected — and, adding to that, that they'd, to begin with, been under the Xu family's management, with a set of their own established systems — soon recovered to their original order, with only some follow-on reconstruction work remaining.
Besides, Li Yaqi of the Northern Goose Group had, in early October, delivered ahead of schedule the full complement of the imperial arms-purchase order's T2 Tibetan Mastiff-class Medium Interstellar Destroyers, and the arms-purchase order's final payment, close to 40 billion star coins, had all been credited to the account.
At the same time, Li Yaqi began to carry out the task Zhao Chen had charged her with: the across-the-board expansion of the production of T2 Iron Hammer-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ships, estimated, at fastest, to expand to 3,000 T2 Iron Hammers before mid-December.
When Li Yaqi received this instruction of Zhao Chen's, even she herself was quite astonished.
To expand so vast a number of interstellar industrial ships all at once — this took on the bearing of very great pressure.
Some of an interstellar industrial ship's equipment-modules were rather special; once they began running, it was very hard to stop them again, and if they were stopped and then restarted, the cost of that was very great.
And so, generally, an interstellar industrial ship would keep running on and on, all along engaged in production-and-construction tasks.
But if there were no starship-construction tasks, then these interstellar industrial ships could only halt production.
And to meet the production tasks for 3,000 T2 Iron Hammers, even Li Yaqi rather didn't dare believe it.
But Commander Zhao Chen had already promised that the corresponding subsequent production tasks had been arranged; she need only expand the interstellar industrial ships.
Just now, the Northern Goose Group's true controlling person was Zhao Chen, and Li Yaqi was merely one working for him; she could only meekly and obediently complete this task.
……
All the way until early November, a small interlude occurred in the Reef Star Region.
When the incident occurred, Charlotte was, just then, dining with Zhao Chen at the starship dining hall aboard the T4 Vermilion Bird-class Medium Interstellar Cruiser.
Charlotte looked at a new dish that had been brought up before her, and asked in bafflement, "Isn't this called Squirrel Mandarin-Fish? How is there no squirrel?"
Zhao Chen, sitting opposite, very nearly spat out the drink in his mouth.
He said with a laugh, "This question of yours is rather like asking why there's no wife inside a wife-cake?"
"So — why is there no squirrel?" Charlotte blinked her eyes, looking at Zhao Chen.
Well then.
She hadn't grasped the teasing meaning within Zhao Chen's words.
"For this Squirrel Mandarin-Fish, the 'squirrel' at the front is merely a figure of speech; when the fried mandarin-fish is brought to the table, and the steaming-hot sauce is poured over it right after, it begins to 'cry out' with a sizzle-sizzle — and because it's like a squirrel, it got the name," Zhao Chen explained in detail.
"So there's no squirrel after all." Charlotte seemed somewhat disappointed.
Zhao Chen couldn't hold back from inquiring, "You like eating mice too?"
"Back in the rebel-army days, there was a kind of rodent that was comparatively easy to farm; it was, apart from nutrient rations, one of the very few natural food ingredients we could get to eat. Only, the taste is, after all, no match for fish. It can only be ranked the number-two ingredient!" Charlotte explained.
Fond of eating fish and mice?
Zhao Chen looked at Charlotte suspiciously — was this girl truly of the White Tiger clan?
And not a great big white cat?
It was just at this moment that an emergency-contact notice-window appeared before Charlotte.
This left Charlotte quite put out; what she most hated was for others to disturb her while she was eating fish.
But seeing that it was an emergency contact, she nonetheless cast a lingering, reluctant glance at that squirrel-less Squirrel Mandarin-Fish on the table, and first accepted the video contact.
Charlotte didn't shield it from Zhao Chen, so Zhao Chen, too, could see the video window that appeared before Charlotte; opposite was, of all things, Medusa of the Reef Star Region.
"General Charlotte, I'd like to ask you something — do you have, say, a twin sister?" Medusa asked, at the very outset, a very strange question.
"Why do you suddenly ask this?" Charlotte's gaze changed.
Medusa, seeing that there was, besides, Zhao Chen within the video image, briefly explained the reason for this sudden contact.
Just a moment ago, an interstellar fleet had suddenly barged into one of the Reef Star Region's star systems, and had been intercepted by Medusa's interstellar fleet; and just as the two sides' standoff-battle was on the very verge of erupting, Medusa had suddenly called a halt to the fighting.
All because, when she'd been conducting the video contact with this interstellar fleet, she'd seen a "familiar" figure.
White fur, a fierce, ferocious gaze, and the tiger-fangs showing at the corner of the mouth.
So very alike!
It was, quite simply, as though it had been carved from the same mold as the Owl Dragon Legion's General Charlotte!
And so Medusa had urgently called a halt to the fighting, and at the same time contacted the Owl Dragon Legion, naming General Charlotte specifically.
"It's Midai'er! It's got to be her!" Charlotte sprang up all at once, an expression of delighted surprise all over her face.
Rice-Bag?[1]
Zhao Chen was taken aback — what a strange name this was.
Zhao Chen looked inquiringly toward Charlotte.
Charlotte, mastering her somewhat joyful emotions, explained, "If Medusa's description isn't wrong, this person should be my half-sister, of the same father but a different mother — she looks very like me, and is named Midai'er!"
Having said this, Charlotte looked at Zhao Chen with a somewhat imploring gaze.
"Since that's the case, then let's just take the T4 Vermilion Bird and go have a look." Zhao Chen saw through Charlotte's wish; he, too, wanted to go take a look at this suddenly appearing fleet.