First off, to build this T5 Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought required interstellar industrial ships of at least the T4 grade to undertake the construction.
It called for the expenditure of at least 3 trillion star coins' worth of raw-material resources.
This figure made Zhao Chen's very heart quail to look at it.
This truly was a super-warship that could be built only by gathering the whole strength of a nation.
Up to now, the most costly thing Zhao Chen had ever built was the T4 Reviver-class Clone Starship, and its build-price had been a mere 10 billion.
From this one may well imagine just how staggeringly costly this T5 Hades was.
And besides, one must bear in mind — one of its core devices was, moreover, directly furnished by the system, and there was no telling yet what the price of that contraption might be.
"3 trillion star coins…" Zhao Chen scratched his head.
Well then.
Never mind the T4 interstellar industrial ships — the 3 trillion-star-coin build-cost alone was something Zhao Chen's present capacity simply couldn't manage.
"By the look of it, this T5 Hades's technology can only be sealed away for the time being." Zhao Chen was somewhat at a loss.
He very much wanted to see just how strong, just how different, this T5-grade interstellar warship was.
But there was nothing to be done — his present capacity was limited.
Zhao Chen cast a glance at his own system page.
Host: Zhao Chen
Profession: Top-Tier Starship Engineer
Special Attributes: Fleet Luck-Value Bonus; the Eye of Insight
System Points: 1,450,000 (single-month fleet income: 28,000 points)
Task points: 410
Starship Count: 3,131 ships
Mission: empty
Warehouse: the Hades Matrix Module; the T3 Storm-Fortress-class Large Star-Port technical blueprint…
The Zhao Chen of this moment could be summed up in a single word: rich!
"Lilith, get in touch with Princess Qin Xiaolei. Tell her the first batch of 3,000 interstellar warships can be delivered to her Princess Legion before this year is out," Zhao Chen said with a smile.
"Yes."
In under an hour's time.
Qin Xiaolei and Zhao Ruyue came before Zhao Chen.
"In so short a time, you can deliver 3,000 interstellar warships?" Zhao Ruyue looked at Zhao Chen with some astonishment.
Zhao Chen raised a hand and pointed straight into the holographic-projection star-firmament before them, at a stretch of interstellar warships then sailing there.
Those were, one and all, the Owl Dragon Legion's interstellar warships.
Densely teeming, their number was, beyond all doubt, upward of 3,000!
Only, the overwhelming majority of them were T2-grade interstellar warships.
"At present it's still a little short, since there's a stretch of time yet before year's end. Come next year, this interstellar-warship output will greatly increase; on average, in a single month we might well be able to deliver you a legion fleet's worth," Zhao Chen explained.
Zhao Ruyue looked at her younger brother in astonishment; she truly had never imagined that her younger brother would, of all things, possess so terrifying a starship-manufacturing industry.
To say, moreover, that come next year a single month could deliver a 3,000-ship legion fleet.
"I notify you ahead of time precisely so that you can ready the crews for the handover. For now, these interstellar warships are, for the time being, in the charge of my crews for their trial voyages," Zhao Chen said.
"The moment I return, I'll go and arrange it!" Zhao Ruyue nodded.
With Zhao Chen's leave, the Princess Legion had already begun to levy troops in the Reef Star Region.
True, when it came to welfare and treatment, the Owl Dragon Legion's was beyond doubt the better — who'd pass up the Owl Dragon Legion to go to the Princess Legion?
But the trouble was that the Owl Dragon Legion's recruitment requirements were exacting, and it took women only besides.
The Princess Legion, under such requirements, paid no mind to sex, and its recruit requirements, too, were lowered by several grades.
It was nothing more than recruiting into the Princess Legion those recruits the Owl Dragon Legion had washed out.
Not elite, true — but for operating these T2-grade interstellar warships they were more than enough and to spare.
"And how do things stand in the Empire at present?" Qin Xiaolei looked toward Zhao Chen, and inquired.
Zhao Chen said, "These past few months the Prince Faction over in the Empire has made very few moves; after all, they've only just begun meddling in state affairs and seizing power, and dare not stir up too great a commotion. Were they to rouse the fury of the masses, then even the Prince Faction would have to spend no small effort to clean up that shambles again. Your imperial mother, and Governor Chu Changhe, are both quite safe. Their comms with the outside have all along remained open — though it's possible they're under watch. But at the very least, each day Governor Chu Changhe conducts a comm with his granddaughter Chu Xuan."
Hearing this, Qin Xiaolei was set considerably more at ease.
Zhao Ruyue consoled the Princess.
"Your Highness, what we must do now is lie dormant, and await the coming of the moment of our revenge."
Qin Xiaolei nodded, and said with firm resolve, "It will come! I will assuredly take my revenge!"
Qin Xiaolei turned her head to look toward Zhao Chen.
"You've delivered the first batch of interstellar warships; I'll hand over to you the balance to follow, along with the deposit for what comes after. You need only dispatch a transport-ship fleet to take delivery."
"Very good." Zhao Chen was all smiles.
The brief chat ended, and the two women departed.
Zhao Chen, for his part, was in fine spirits.
3,000 interstellar warships — the original deposit plus the balance came to a booking of 10 billion star coins into the accounts.
And the build-cost was a mere 1 billion star coins.
A killing had been made!
And most important of all was that he'd propped up the Princess Legion; when the time came, he could make use of them to fight on his own behalf.
Thinking of these pieces of his, laid down upon the board, Zhao Chen's mood was, of course, a fine one.
"Our fleet's numbers have only just expanded past 3,000, and we're to sell the greater part of the interstellar warships to the Princess Legion?" General Charlotte, at his side, inquired with some puzzlement.
Zhao Chen nodded, and said offhandedly, "T2 interstellar warships, however many, are still only T2 interstellar warships. My rush-building this batch of interstellar warships before year's end was only for the sake of stockpiling a wave of raw-material resources. What we ourselves are to mass-produce in the future are T3 interstellar warships, and T4 interstellar warships besides. The road we walk is that of the elite fleet — one taking on 100."
Charlotte nodded in understanding — though, toward so vast an interstellar fleet, she felt a touch of reluctance to part with it.
But to think of it: in the future, she'd be able to command an interstellar legion composed of uniform T3 interstellar warships and a small number of T4 interstellar warships.
By that reckoning, even were there 100,000 imperial warship-fleets before her, she'd not so much as blink an eyelid.
The corner of Zhao Chen's mouth curled faintly upward; in truth, this whole maneuver of his had been for the sake of completing the system's annual mission.
First, expand out a batch of T2 interstellar warships, and raise the fleet's numbers past 3,000.
Claim the annual mission reward.
Then sell these rush-built T2 interstellar warships to the Princess Legion.
In this way, he both completed the annual mission and delivered the Princess's starship order.
The best of both worlds.
In any case, the system's mission reward — claimed was claimed; could it possibly make Zhao Chen cough it back up?
What your year-end mission wrote was that the present count of interstellar warships had to reach 3,000; it hadn't said that, once I'd completed the mission, I couldn't sell interstellar warships, now had it?
Zhao Chen let a wicked little smile show.
Were the system a person, it would, at this moment, surely be pointing at Zhao Chen's nose and cursing him for an old number six.[1]
"Lilith, arrange things. Let's go pay a call of comfort on our model worker." Zhao Chen gave a lazy stretch.