"Qin Ming?" Lilith was startled a moment; she at once began looking through some records.
Sure enough, she found no intelligence of the Royal legion fleet's flagship having been destroyed.
Lilith hesitated, then said: "Perhaps… he was destroyed during the first round of interstellar-missile bombardment, in some violent explosion, leaving the wreckage impossible to identify…"
In truth Lilith herself rather doubted this possibility.
After all, that was no T3-grade interstellar warship; Qin Ming's flagship was a T4 Starlight Emperor-class Medium Carrier Starship!
That bulk was even somewhat larger than a Boreas-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship's.
Even under a great mass of interstellar-missile bombardment, the whole hull structure could not possibly be destroyed past all recognition.
"Never mind this matter for now — clean up the battlefield at once, this very moment. This place is too near the Starlight Central Star Region; if the enemy comes to their senses and dispatches reserve fleet-strength in support, we'll take needless casualties. Five hours. Five hours — five hours from now we set course home at once!" Zhao Chen said.
The System had given no task-message of Qin Ming's slaying, which meant Qin Ming was surely not here; as for just why, that was beyond knowing.
This was already fact; however anxious Zhao Chen was, however much he wished Qin Ming dead, it availed nothing.
He could only bring the army back to court first.
Chu Changhe, Qin Xiaolei, and the rest naturally all agreed with Zhao Chen's command.
Five hours later, the three sides' fleets began setting their courses and entering warp-voyage to make ready for the return.
Because the T4 interstellar jump-ships had all entered reset-cooldown, this time there was no choice but to go home by the long, slow warp-voyage.
And the storm of this great decisive battle had already swept across the whole of the Starlight Empire!
No one had ever thought the victors of this civil war would turn out to be the Chu-family legion and the Owl Dragon Legion!
No one had ever thought that the little princess, vanished for over a year, would of all things bring out 120,000 interstellar warships at a stroke.
Purple Perilla Star Region · the Su-family manor compound.
At this moment the whole Su family, high and low, was gathered together, discussing the outcome of this great civil war.
It had gone on several days already — for this civil war would bear on the whole Starlight Empire's future!
"Who'd have thought! This Owl Dragon Legion's combat power should be so mighty — I hear that on the battlefield the interstellar missiles were fired off as though they cost nothing at all! Round after round, bombing the Princes' faction's fleet-groups clean to pieces!"
"Isn't that just so — I also hear that after that great victory, Zhao Chen sent men to plunder the prisoners off the Princes' faction's various interstellar warships outright, and had every last woman sent up to Zhao Chen's flagship. From 80-year-old crones down to… tsss, tsss, tsss… what a beast!"
"Hey, hey, hey, isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"
"You'd best believe it — haven't you heard? The Owl Dragon Legion, top to bottom, is uniformly women soldiers, all women soldiers! And that brute Zhao Chen changes a different one every minute, every night! Never the same one twice!"
Just as some were chattering their gossip.
A man came hurrying in, calling out at the top of his voice: "Latest news! Latest news! On January the 13th, the Azure Interstellar Main-Fleet Group, under pursuit by the North Wind fleet-groups, the Owl Dragon Legion, and the Imperial Princess Fleet-Group, was annihilated to the last at the North Wind Star Region border. Marshal Huang Zhixiong is dead! And the Chu-family legion fleet and the Imperial Princess Fleet-Group have driven straight into the Azure Star Region; as of now they already control a fifth of the Azure Star Region's star systems!"
Because this Su-family manor, within and without, employed the very finest shielding apparatus, one could connect to no comm-network here, and word was usually relayed by trusted men coming in from outside.
This was chiefly for the sake of communications security.
That old Su gentleman had always been most cautious on this front; even now he kept the habit of recording certain important information on paper documents.
At this moment, hearing this news, everyone merely marveled a while, feeling no great surprise.
The Princes' faction's many fleet-groups losing on the main battlefield meant the North Wind Star Region, that local theater, had become a discarded piece.
Huang Zhixiong's Azure Interstellar Main-Fleet Group, nine times in ten, was not coming back.
As for the Azure Star Region.
Though after so great a battle the Chu family had, for the moment, no power to swallow the Starlight Central Star Region in one gulp.
To collect a little interest, to take one or half a slice of the Azure Star Region, was still no problem.
This counted, too, as the first large-scale change of star-system ownership in the half-year of civil war.
The Su-family scions in the compound could not help looking toward the tightly shut door of the inner room; though they each held differing power and standing within the Su family—
—the ones who truly held the Su family's future in hand were all in the inner room, discussing matters.
This discussion had gone on for three days already.
Yet in that span, the Su family had, openly and in secret, made no few moves.
And everyone sincerely admired old Su's earlier decision not to send the Su family's own direct military strength to join the Princes' faction.
Otherwise, they'd likely have shared Huang Zhixiong's fate — ruined and beggared, not a bone left to bury.
On the contrary, they'd even turned a fair profit out of it.
For the Princes' faction had earlier demanded the Purple Perilla Star Region send reinforcements; the Su family had sent none of its own direct military strength, but had permitted the other powers, great and small, within the Purple Perilla Star Region to send relief forces.
And naturally no few interstellar powers, wishing to side with the Princes' faction and share in the spoils, had done so.
Yet who'd have thought — not only did they get no share of the spoils, but even the bowl was smashed.
It left no few families, great and small, within the Purple Perilla Star Region losing their whole capital, wailing without end.
And the Su family had not let slip this chance to kick a man when he was down; by every means, openly and in secret, they'd seized the moment to bring these family powers under their control.
And all of this was old Su's arrangement.
It had to be said — a family with an elder has a treasure.
Suddenly, a trusted message-bearer came running in once more.
"Latest news — the Second Prince Qin Ming has returned to the Imperial Capital Star, and has resolved to take the throne five days hence!"
Boom!
In that instant, every Su-family member present felt as though five thunderbolts had crashed down on their heads.
"Has Qin Ming gone mad? He lost a great mass of military strength in this civil war — and he takes the throne now?"
Because all here were the Su family's own, some naturally called this possible future Majesty by his bare name.
Qin Ming taking the throne — this was no small matter!
Its degree of impact was even no less than the defeat in the civil war.
At this, everyone looked toward the inner room.
Surely, on this matter, their own old gentleman would have to make some move too.
In the inner room.
Several Su-family elders and direct-line kin now looked toward old Su, seated in a chair with eyes closed, husbanding his spirit.
"Qin Ming means to stake it all on one grand gamble. Though the Chu family and the Owl Dragon won this victory, their war-consumption must have been enormous; the next stage of assault will need at least a few months to rest and prepare. And what Qin Ming does thus is to use the taking of the throne to mobilize, in name and right, the military strength of the various star regions. For the power of a mere prince and the power of a Starlight Emperor are wholly different things. He means, by this stroke, to go on playing out this game of chess!" Old Su opened his eyes: "The Starlight Empire's turmoil is far, far from over. This muddy water — we cannot wade in! From this day on, I shall go on with my closed-door retreat; no one is to disturb me over anything, and should any word come from the Imperial Capital Star, say I am in retreat, and put it off!"
The meaning of old Su's words was to have the Su family "withdraw from the world."