"Report — Hive-Emperor No.1 is under attack; parts of the body are gravely damaged, control has dropped to 60%."
In a dim room, there were only several glowing electronic displays and their operators.
And in several of these electronic displays, the scene was exactly the Blue-Crystal star system battlefield.
And the sight of the Leviathan-Monarch-class Hive Mothership under attack.
"Strike back for me! Order the bug-swarm to strike back for me! We must annihilate the Owl Dragon Legion here, every last one!" Qin Xiaotian clenched his fist and roared.
"No! Your Maj… esty, we should… pull the troops back now!" the black-robed man stood beside him, giving off a mechanical voice.
"Pull the troops back? No! We worked so hard to draw up this plan, and successfully lured the Owl Dragon Legion into the trap — this is a chance we caught with such difficulty. How can we let them off so easily!" Qin Xiaotian demanded in fury.
The black-robed man said: "But… if the fighting goes on like this, even if we win… in the end… this Hive-Emperor No.1… may lose its combat ability entirely!"
Qin Xiaotian looked at the black-robed man: "Don't we still have two others? If this one's gone, with the remaining two we can control the whole Starlight Empire."
The black-robed man said: "Your Majesty, the control experiments on Hive-Emperor No.2… and Hive-Emperor No.3 are still… under way; it'll be very hard to form combat power in the short term. So once we lose Hive-Emperor No.1, for a long stretch to come we'll… lose this trump card. Besides, you've seen our present losses too… If the fighting… goes on, the hundred thousand bug-swarm we sent out… may have less than 30% left! Even… fewer. And our current production efficiency of 'Hive-Core No.1'… is a monthly output of… under 3,000 chips; once too many are lost in this campaign… we'll… be at a disadvantage in the days ahead… Don't forget… besides the Owl Dragon Legion… there's still the Chu-family legion and the Imperial Princess Fleet-Group eyeing us like tigers… And the Holy Radiance Empire… though at present we and… the Holy Radiance Empire are in a cooperative relation. But after this campaign… the Holy Radiance Empire will learn of this trump card of ours; if they… learn our mechanical-hive-race fleet's losses are this great. Do you think… they'll let slip the chance to destroy us! There are no eternal friends in this world! The more so a weak friend."
Hearing out the black-robed man's words, Qin Xiaotian clenched his fist, staring at those Owl Dragon Legion interstellar warships in the image.
He said in a low, heavy voice: "But… I fear the threat this Owl Dragon Legion poses us; the speed at which they grow is simply too fast."
The black-robed man said: "Please set your… mind at ease, Your Majesty… My Hive-Core No.2 is nearing successful development; then our success-rate at controlling Hive Motherships will greatly increase. By then we'll make another trip to that world… and seek more T5 Hive Mothership corpses; so long as we can gather a certain number of T5 Hive Mothership corpses— —by then we might even… capture a live T5 Hive Mothership, and possess a true T5-grade Hive Mothership. By that time… what Owl Dragon Legion, what Starlight Empire… what Holy Radiance Empire… what Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth… all will bow beneath your feet!"
So saying, the black-robed man even knelt on one knee, making a salute to Qin Xiaotian.
Qin Xiaotian drew a deep breath and helped the black-robed man up: "Doctor, I trust you. Do it just as you say; I am now the Emperor of the Starlight Empire, and I'll gather the whole nation's strength to work with you; whatever your requests, Doctor, I'll meet them. I've even carved out several star systems in the Snow-Swallow Star Region, especially to cultivate our mechanical-hive-race fleet!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty! I will surely… not fail Your Majesty's hopes!" the black-robed man said.
……
"Report! The hive-race fleet is pulling off the battlefield!"
"Report! The hive-race fleet fighting at the Blue-Crystal Star-Port is pulling off the battlefield too!"
Hearing these situations, Zhao Chen looked at the interstellar holo-table — at that bug-swarm swarming like locusts toward the wounded Leviathan-Monarch-class Hive Mothership.
After the T4 Blue-Eyes White Dragon-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Battleship No.03 finished its attack, though it had dealt the Leviathan-Monarch-class Hive Mothership seemingly grievous harm, it was not fatal.
Just as Zhao Chen was about to adopt a risky combat plan, the surprise was that the hive-race fleet, of all things, withdrew of its own accord.
Bear in mind, before this, hive-race fleets emerging from cosmic bug-nests had no concept of retreat whatever — only fighting to the last, hunting every visible living thing.
The situation now was enough to show these hive-race fleets were controlled by someone!
"Commander-in-Chief, the hive-race fleet is withdrawing — do we give chase?" Lilith asked.
Zhao Chen mused a moment: "Order the Owl Dragon Second Legion to pursue a while, but remember, don't get drawn into the fight; first ensure their own safety. After the Owl Dragon Second Legion ends the pursuit, still send Silver-Rat-class Light Interstellar Stealth-Recon Ships to tail and track them; report their every movement to me at any time! Also send interstellar warships to collect some of the special Hive Motherships, and get clear just what means the other side used to accomplish this interstellar-jump-type activity and appear here!"
"Yes." Lilith relayed the Commander-in-Chief's command.
Zhao Chen sat in the captain's chair; only now did the frame he'd held upright dare relax.
He knew this crisis counted as safely weathered.
By the look of it, Qin Xiaotian, behind the hive-race fleet, was loath to lose too much in this campaign, and, weighing gain against loss, had chosen to withdraw.
Zhao Chen laid a hand over his eyes, recalling the near-day-long course of the fighting.
He'd felt an enormous threat from the hive-race fleet, one far surpassing the earlier civil war with the Princes' faction.
Because in the civil war with the Princes' faction, Zhao Chen knew where the Princes' faction's ceiling lay; he had full confidence he could defeat the other side.
But if the opponent had to do with the hive-race.
This otherworld life, whose origin was to this day not yet made clear, and its mighty bio-technology.
Since there was a T5 Hive Mothership, might there not be a T6 Hive Mothership, a T7 Hive Mothership?
All fear comes from the unknown.
And that mighty control technology — how had Qin Xiaotian developed it?
Was there, behind him, some other power again?
"Truly not a moment's rest given me — no sooner do I feel I've settled Qin Ming than a Qin Xiaotian crops up." Zhao Chen grumbled.
Still, Zhao Chen had thought of a way to handle it.
Once back, step up the interstellar-warship capacity, and churn out ships like mad.
"All fear comes from the unknown" — that saying was true enough.
And there was another saying Zhao Chen agreed with utterly.
All fear comes from insufficient firepower!