The annual task's item on T4-grade combat-type warships turned to four stars.
Zhao Chen need only redeem one more to complete the fifth star.
Still, his remaining System points were a touch short for redeeming another combat-type warship — but reaching the requirement within 20 days was no problem at all.
For now, then, it was a matter of waiting.
While he was at it, Zhao Chen edited and put in order the two T4-warship technical dossiers.
……
Mid-December · Resource Star-Region No. 5.
After application and approval, a T4 Boreas-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship crossed a star-gate and arrived here.
Chu Xuan had thought she'd see a desolate scene — after all, not long ago this system-and-region had still been under Mechanical Race occupation, with no carbon-based-life civilization present at all.
Zhao Chen had taken it over barely three months back; however great the change, surely it couldn't be…
But soon, Chu Xuan overturned her own supposition.
First was that brand-new star-gate.
She'd originally planned to warp-voyage the whole way here in the T4 Boreas — but on contacting the Owl Dragon System, she'd learned that the Owl Dragon Legion had already built star-gates at all five resource-star-regions.
This Chu Xuan had never expected.
Still, she'd privately supposed it must be a rough-and-ready star-gate slapped together in short order, for temporary need.
But when she truly saw it—
—she found she'd been badly mistaken.
The star-gate's craftsmanship was most exquisite, and one could tell it was more advanced than several of the Starlight Empire's existing star-gate technologies!
Besides that, one could see interstellar transports busily voyaging one after another, and, further off, the shapes of interstellar industrial ships.
Most flourishing!
Just out of the star-gate, because Chu Xuan and the others on the bridge were all struck by the flourishing scene before them, for a moment they'd set no course, and so clogged the docking zone outside the star-gate.
They'd hung there but a few seconds when a comm channel connected in.
"Hey, hey, hey — this is the T4 Voyager Star-Gate No. 05 master control room; please have your ship leave the docking zone at once, don't block the lane and hold up the warships coming through behind you."
Only then did Chu Xuan come to herself, and at once ordered her subordinates to drive clear of this zone.
As the T4 Boreas voyaged slowly on, Chu Xuan saw, on a few nearby planets, habitable cities already built.
Voyaging a little further out, Chu Xuan's eyes went wide.
A look of yet greater disbelief surfaced.
For she had, of all things, seen a starport!
And a large starport at that!
Towering there amid that sea of stars.
Several hundred warships of every size voyaging around it.
Had Chu Xuan not known she truly stood in the five newly developed regions beyond the Starlight Empire — the farthest of them, at that—
—she'd likely have taken herself for standing in some well-developed trade-region within the Starlight Empire's own borders.
Hard to believe that a few months ago this had still been a "barren, uninhabited" place.
"Hello, and welcome to Storm Fortress Starport No. 05. I'm your pilot-guide; presently I'll lead you into port." At this a holographic image projected in — the starport's pilot-guide, a sweet-faced beast-folk woman.
Right up until the warship finished docking, Chu Xuan hadn't come back to herself.
Too astonishing!
Truly hard to believe.
"My lady, His Excellency Zhao Chen is waiting outside the ship." Only at the adjutant's reminder did Chu Xuan come round.
Chu Xuan drew a deep breath — what was this, really; had that man not given her fright upon fright all along?
Zhao Chen watched a hatch on the T4 Boreas-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship open, and a lift descend slowly.
Standing upon it was none other than Chu Xuan.
"Hi—" Just as Zhao Chen was greeting her—
Chu Xuan walked straight up, expression grave, and put out her hand: "Give it here."
Zhao Chen was quite startled by this opening; he froze a moment, then asked on reflex: "Give what?"
"The T4 interstellar destroyer's technical blueprint you promised," Chu Xuan said.
Zhao Chen said, caught between laughing and crying: "Eldest miss. We've only just met — shouldn't we exchange a few pleasantries first? Must you be so blunt?"
"The task my grandfather charged me with this time is to get the interstellar destroyer's technical blueprint out of you, no matter what. Don't you go telling me you haven't got it ready yet."
Chu Xuan narrowed her eyes at Zhao Chen and teased: "After all, you're the great personage who beat the Sacred Angel Legion in the Sacred-War Duel, and in a few short months conjured up tens of billions in monthly wealth. This humble maid dare not take up too much of your time."
Zhao Chen couldn't help laughing: "Can you not talk like that? This is hardly the Chu-family eldest miss who charged single-handed into the bug-swarm with me to save people."
"So interesting a thing as the Sacred-War Duel, and you didn't even call me!" Chu Xuan thumped a fist against Zhao Chen's chest, a touch reproachful.
Zhao Chen shrugged, helpless: "Eldest miss, even if I'd truly called you — given the situation your old man's facing now, could you have gotten away?"
Chu Xuan's words weren't really in earnest; just something said in passing.
But about the Sacred-War Duel, she was very interested all the same.
"Come, tell me — what on earth happened in this Sacred-War Duel? Give me the whole of it in detail," Chu Xuan said, blinking, curious.
"I've arranged a dinner for you; everyone you know is there — a chance for us all to gather, too. As for the detailed course of the Sacred-War Duel, they were all there in person; you can just ask them directly."
As he spoke, Zhao Chen clapped his hands, and a subordinate behind him came over carrying a briefcase, and set it before Chu Xuan.
"What's this?" Chu Xuan looked at the black briefcase, a touch puzzled.
Zhao Chen tapped a screen interface on the briefcase, and a black-styled warship's holographic image surfaced before Chu Xuan's eyes.
Below it, besides, was its name.
T4 Skeleton-Legion-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer.
"Didn't you just ask me for the T4 interstellar destroyer's technical blueprint? Inside here is this T4-grade interstellar destroyer's detailed blueprint. The T4 Skeleton-Legion-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer — everything meets your old man's requirements," Zhao Chen said.
Chu Xuan's eyes went wide; she'd never thought Zhao Chen would be so ready about it — she'd supposed he would put forth some condition, and the two would have to haggle a while.
Chu Xuan at once opened the briefcase; inside was the full set of stored technical-blueprint data.
Chu Xuan called up a few of the important dossiers and looked them over.
Chu Xuan watched the electronic screen before her, her look shifting, bit by bit, from calm to astonished.
"This… a T4-grade interstellar destroyer like this needs only 100 million star coins' worth of resources?" Chu Xuan looked at Zhao Chen, astonished.
Zhao Chen laughed: "If you can produce it in bulk, that cost can drop a further 10 or 20%. And by the Chu River Star Region's present industrial system, you could perfectly well set up several production lines in the shortest span and mass-produce this T4 Skeleton-Legion-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer. How about it — this gift of mine, you're satisfied with it, I trust?"