Listening to this combat report, Zhao Chen was well satisfied.
This was, precisely, the terrifying combat power of 3,000 T3-grade interstellar warships.
As for that somewhat wasteful second round of interstellar-missile bombardment — it had been, wholly, for the sake of flexing his muscles, of displaying the Owl Dragon Legion's might.
It was to let those people in the Starlight Empire who kept their eyes fixed on the Owl Dragon Star System know that the Owl Dragon Legion was already no ordinary thing!
Want to move against it?
First weigh whether you have the teeth for it.
"I understand. Restore the damaged interstellar warships as swiftly as possible, and see to the proper settling and care of the wounded personnel." Zhao Chen instructed.
Lilith noted these down.
The affairs seen to, Zhao Chen closed his eyes and looked at the system's quarterly mission.
Quarterly Mission
Content: Slay the Third Prince Qin Hu (Complete); annihilate ten of the Prince Faction's T4 interstellar warships; wholly annihilate this Third-Prince expeditionary fleet (Complete); kill three imperial nobles of the rank of Count or above.
Note: Complete the above four mission conditions to complete this quarterly mission.
Reward: one T4-grade interstellar-warship technical blueprint.
Of this quarterly mission, two of the requirements were already complete, and the third was already under way — as for when it would be completed, that would depend on just how long that Marquis North Wolf's "blessing hereafter" could be enjoyed.
The one still unfinished was the requirement to annihilate 10 of the Prince Faction's T4 interstellar warships; up to now, only five had been annihilated, leaving a shortfall of five.
But there was still time yet before the quarterly mission's time-limit.
Zhao Chen would just have to think of a way — only, a pity for the Prince Faction's T4-grade interstellar warships, little knowing they'd already been fixed in Zhao Chen's tiger-eyed sights.
…
Marquis North Wolf stood in the hangar; by the arrangement, a shuttle-craft would come next to fetch him, and the gift Lord Zhao Chen had prepared for him waited, too, aboard that shuttle-craft.
At this moment a secret gladness filled Marquis North Wolf's heart beyond all measure.
Never had he imagined that surviving a great calamity would, of all things, bring him such benefits besides.
Though on the surface he'd submitted himself to that fellow Zhao Chen — he could, in full, watch quietly and bide the turn of events.
If, in the end, in the strife with the Prince Faction, Zhao Chen truly won, then he'd honestly and obediently be a dog under Zhao Chen's hand — that was no bad choice either.
And if Zhao Chen lost, then, when the time came, he'd simply say he'd been coerced by Zhao Chen, and throw himself back to the Prince Faction.
For, after all, in this ground of the North Wind Star Region, the Prince Faction would still need some local, trusted families to govern it — and Marquis North Wolf was, beyond doubt, the finest choice.
In this way, he could set himself, in this gamble, upon undefeatable ground.
At the mere thought of these things, he was delighted beyond telling.
That Zhao Chen wasn't bad, either — he even knew to give him a batch of female beast-folk slaves.
In a while, to make it clear to himself that he'd fluked his way out of death, he'd have to enjoy himself well.
At this thought, his greedy gaze ran a sweep over the beast-folk female crew member at his side who was seeing him off; there was no denying it — this fellow Zhao Chen truly knew how to enjoy life.
The female crew arranged aboard his own flagship were, one and all, first-rate.
Like as not, he'd haul a female crew member aside now and again to "discuss the ideals of life." Once he'd gone back, he'd set up an interstellar warship like this for himself too.
At this point, a shuttle-craft entered the hangar, and set down slowly within it.
This shuttle-craft was of no small bulk — somewhat resembling a transport ship.
"Your shuttle-craft has arrived; the gift prepared for you is aboard it." The female beast-folk pointed at the hatch, opening slowly.
"Good, good." Marquis North Wolf cast a last greedy glance at this female beast-folk, and made ready to go and enjoy, to the full, the gift Zhao Chen had prepared for him.
He walked into the shuttle-craft; the space within was quite large — an exceedingly big cargo hold, a good 200 square meters of it, with retractable seats along both sides, which could carry personnel when needed, or be used to transport some small cargo.
At this moment there were already some people seated in those seats — but because the cabin's lights weren't switched on, it was somewhat dim.
He couldn't make out those people's features clearly, but he could see that those figures all bore the marks of beast-folk: beast-horns, tails, coarse, wild fur.
"Please, Marquis North Wolf, enjoy well the gift our Lord Commander has prepared for you." A voice rang out within the cabin.
So it seemed these were all gifts prepared for him — and no small number of them, either.
A dozen and more.
He'd never imagined that fellow Zhao Chen would be so gracious.
"Little darlings, don't any of you be shy — let's all be merry together." Having survived a great calamity, Marquis North Wolf naturally wanted to indulge and enjoy himself a while.
But the next second, in the moment the whole cabin's lights came on—
Marquis North Wolf was dumbfounded.
These before him were no little darlings… they were, plain and clear, a pack of burly, rough-hewn men.
Those beast-horns…
A male Bull-Head turned his head, a trace of red in his two eyes, sizing up his body with a scorching gaze.
This was the first time Marquis North Wolf had ever been sized up by such a gaze.
Those tails…
A centaur beast-folk lashed its own tail without cease, a whinnying sound coming from its mouth.
That fur…
A Pig-Head scratched at the coarse, wild chest-hair upon his own chest, roiling waves of hot breath issuing from his nostrils.
Very soon, these male beast-folk, their two eyes gone bloodshot, carrying an air of male hormones about them, all began to walk slowly toward Marquis North Wolf.
"What's the meaning of this… haven't you made some mistake…" Marquis North Wolf sensed something amiss — but by this moment the hatch behind him had already closed.
Beyond the hatch's viewport, that beast-folk female soldier and a succubus female soldier were watching all of this, cold-faced.
"Let me out — let me out!" Marquis North Wolf pounded the viewport in terror.
But very soon, his body was dragged back inside.
Even through the shuttle-craft's hull armor, that beast-folk female soldier and the succubus female soldier could hear the shrill, piercing screams.
"How long do you suppose he'll last?" the beast-folk female soldier asked in curiosity.
"Under ordinary circumstances, he'd not last out half a day. But inside I've specially prepared a pile of medicines; those medicines can, at the least, ensure that this Lord Marquis of such particular tastes lasts three to five days. They were specially approved by the Lord Commander — quite costly, too~. I'm sure this Lord Marquis will love this gift our Commander has prepared," the succubus female soldier said with a cold smile.
And that poor Lord Marquis would, in the final moments of his life, pass through an experience he'd never forget.
Over the course of it, he many times wished to take his own life — but each time he was brought back from the brink.
Many a time, he truly wished he'd simply died in that interstellar campaign; at least then he'd not have had to go through this nightmare.
Were he ever to live through it, in all likelihood for the rest of his life he'd give any beast-folk he saw a wide berth.
But regrettably, those beast-folk men who "cherished" him so would not give him that chance.
A few days later, when this shuttle-craft set down upon a certain beast-folk settlement planet, the personnel charged with the cleanup entered the cabin, and saw only a human male already dead — his body… having endured who-knew-what.
The beast-folk men, for their part, walked out of the cabin one and all thoroughly content, to collect a sum of "consolation payment" the Lord Commander had ordered handed out — the equivalent of upward of a month of their ordinary work's wages.
And when these beast-folk men received this sum of money, they even thumped their chests and said that, should there ever be such a fine thing again, the Lord Commander must, without fail, not forget them!