"Aiyo — if it isn't His Excellency the Third Prince? My apologies; I'm in the middle of a military exercise here. I wonder what it is that brings you and these fleets of yours to this out-of-the-way little corner of mine?" Zhao Chen said, chewing the fruit in his mouth and looking at the Third Prince Qin Hu opposite in a bantering way.
That tone of his was for all the world as though this were, at present, no swords-drawn interstellar battlefield at all — but merely the two of them making idle chat!
The corner of Qin Hu's mouth twitched faintly; he forcibly held down his anger.
"Zhao Chen! You, as an imperial marquis, stand suspected of privately hiding the little Princess. Now I mean to enter your Owl Dragon Star System and conduct a search; I require you and your interstellar fleet to cooperate with me in full!"
"A search? Do you have an edict personally handed down by the Starlight Emperor?" Zhao Chen asked back, eyeing him sidelong.
Qin Hu gave a pause.
"No."
The Starlight Emperor was, at present, sunk in a coma and beyond rousing — where would any edict come from?
"No? Then it won't do. And besides, before this I already announced that my Owl Dragon Star System is to conduct a military exercise of indefinite duration. Your barging into my Owl Dragon Star System with your interstellar fleet, Third Prince — this discourteous conduct, I can decline to hold you to account for. But I demand that you and your fleet leave, this instant. Otherwise…" Zhao Chen looked at Qin Hu with a trace of provocation.
"The consequences will be your own to bear."
Having said this, Zhao Chen wrapped an arm around the waist of Su Lan beside him, and Su Lan, all at once, was sitting upon Zhao Chen's lap.
Su Lan's cheeks flushed faintly, but she did not struggle.
To outsiders' eyes, this was flirtation, pure and simple.
And, moreover, it was now before the very face of Qin Hu, her fiancé in name.
"Zhao Chen!" Qin Hu ground his teeth.
"You mean, then, to defy the will of the Starlight Empire!"
"And since when could one Qin Hu stand for the Starlight Empire?" Zhao Chen asked back with a light laugh.
Qin Hu pointed at Zhao Chen in fury.
"Zhao Chen, I warn you this one last time. If you persist, blind, in your error, then my interstellar fleet will level the Owl Dragon Legion flat to the ground!"
Zhao Chen spread his two arms wide, and asked back with a mocking laugh, "Come then — if you have the ability for it, my Owl Dragon Star System welcomes you to come level it flat any time you please. Only, a pity — the His Highness the Third Prince I'm acquainted with hasn't that ability. For, after all, I snatched his betrothed away before the Third Prince's very face, and the Third Prince didn't dare so much as let out a fart."
Qin Hu shot up from the captain's chair, and took several steps forward, until his head was very near pressed against the video window.
Dropping that hypocritical manner of a moment before, he said with a savage snarl, "Zhao Chen, I'll stop putting on the act with you too. This time, I've come to wipe you out. When the time comes, I'll destroy your whole Owl Dragon Legion fleet, and your whole Zhao clan besides! And those kinfolk you hold dear — I'll torment them to death. And those sisters of yours — I hear they're quite the lookers. I'll keep them, and enjoy them at my leisure, and then pass them along, one after another, for the warriors of my interstellar fleet to enjoy in turn."
The smile on Zhao Chen's face, too, vanished; coldly he fixed his gaze upon Qin Hu.
"You truly are — there's a road to Heaven you won't walk, yet you force your way in where Hell has no gate. Though — I never had any intention of letting you go in the first place. From the very moment your interstellar fleet set foot in here, these 20,000 interstellar warships of yours could put all thought of leaving the Owl Dragon Star System out of mind."
"Ha? Heh, heh, heh… this truly is the funniest joke I've ever heard." Qin Hu laughed aloud, pacing to and fro; then, pointing at Zhao Chen, he jeered, "What have you got to contend with me now? On the strength of those mere 500 interstellar warships in your hand? Open your eyes and take a good look — what you face now is five T4 interstellar warships, upward of 1,000 T3 interstellar warships, and close to 20,000 T2 interstellar warships. One order from me, and I can annihilate your Owl Dragon Legion here and now."
Zhao Chen said nothing.
Qin Hu went on, contemptuous, "Well? Afraid now, aren't you. It's too late to know fear now — but if you'll plead with me nicely, then perhaps I'll be moved to great mercy and spare those womenfolk of yours."
Zhao Chen laughed; there was a mockery in the laugh.
He looked at Qin Hu for all the world as though looking upon a joke.
"What are you laughing at! Death's at your very doorstep, and still you laugh!" Seeing Zhao Chen's smile, for some reason Qin Hu grew quite furious.
In his imagining, the Zhao Chen of now ought to be raging, ought to be terrified, ought to be pleading for mercy!
"I'm laughing — who told you I have only 500 interstellar warships?" Zhao Chen asked back mockingly.
Qin Hu's expression froze stiff.
There was a great deal of meaning bound up in these words of Zhao Chen's.
And before Qin Hu could get a word out—
Zhao Chen raised a hand, and handed down the order to that bewitching woman behind him.
"Draw out the whole of our interstellar fleet — let our His Highness the Third Prince have himself a good look."
Lilith turned side-on, and at the same time raised a hand, several virtual screens appearing before her eyes.
"Relaying the commander's order — all interstellar warships, into combat position!"
At this very moment, Qin Hu hadn't yet grasped what was happening.
But very soon, alarms went up on every side aboard his interstellar warship: it was the fleet's radar system, which had detected some interstellar warships appearing round about.
And it was just at this moment that the video window, too, closed.
Leaving behind only a Qin Hu at an utter loss.
"Report — at six directions, upon both wings of our starships, six interstellar fleets have appeared, numbering 500 interstellar warships each. And upon their hulls, one and all, is the Owl Dragon Legion's crest. These are all Owl Dragon Legion interstellar warships!" the adjutant reported in astonishment.
"What? Zhao Chen has more interstellar warships?" Qin Hu was shaken beyond measure.
He looked at those Owl Dragon interstellar warships on the star-map entering starship-radar range, the glowing points swiftly multiplying, one after another.
Beads of sweat began to appear on Qin Hu's forehead.
He called back to mind that stretch of memory from before — how the Owl Dragon Legion, on the strength of a mere 500 interstellar warships, had been able to stand against his 10,000.
And now…
The Owl Dragon Legion's interstellar-warship count had, by now, surpassed 3,000.
And this number was, besides, still climbing without cease.
"How can this be… Zhao Chen only had 500 interstellar warships — how could he possibly conjure so many interstellar warships out of thin air. He's only an imperial marquis…" Qin Hu, his body swaying, sank down into the captain's chair.
At this point, the adjutant beside him reported up a still more hair-raising piece of news.
"Your Highness… Your Highness, those Owl Dragon Legion interstellar warships… they seem… they seem to all be T3-grade interstellar warships. At present their T3 interstellar-warship count has already surpassed ours by more than double!"
Qin Hu gulped; and just as he was pondering what was to be done—
a public-screen broadcast appeared upon the starship bridge.
An interstellar fleet has openly defied the regulation published by the Owl Dragon Star System, and trespassed into the exercise zone; the Owl Dragon Legion will now take every counter-measure possible. Any and all consequences arising henceforth shall be borne by the intruder alone!
Any and all consequences, borne by oneself?
"Just what is this fellow trying to do!" In Qin Hu's two eyes, at this moment, there was terror.
And the very next second, a still more violent alarm-tone rang out upon the bridge.
"Warning! Warning! Warning! A great quantity of interstellar missiles detected, sweeping in toward our fleet!"