Within the T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship's meeting room.
18 succubi stood, at this moment, at strict attention.
"The examination begins now. You have three hours to complete the questions before you." Zhao Chen looked out over the 18 succubi as he spoke.
Before each of the 18 succubi was a holographic screen bearing her examination questions.
The instant Zhao Chen declared the exam begun, not one succubus spoke; every one set earnestly to work on the questions.
In truth, these questions had all been found by Zhao Chen's little sister, Zhao Wan'er, among the past civilian-track examinations of the Northstar Starship Military Academy.
And they were sixth-year questions, no less!
The material Zhao Chen had given Lilith and the others earlier was the theoretical coursework a Northstar civilian-track student studied across six years.
Yet Zhao Chen had given them only a single month.
Over that month, these succubi had studied every day — even while eating, sleeping, bathing, they'd been studying.
And today was the day their abilities were to be proven.
Time slipped by, moment by moment.
Some succubi wore unruffled faces; some frowned in thought; some fretted in anxious worry.
The three hours were soon up.
"Everyone, stop what you're doing. I'll collect your answers; as for the results, I'll announce them in a few hours. For now, leave the meeting room and take your ease," Zhao Chen said gravely.
Though the exam was over, not one succubus dared relax in the slightest; every one stood at strict attention outside the meeting room.
The little succubus Bessie tugged at Lilith's hand and asked in a small voice, "Sister Lilith, if… if I did poorly on this assessment, will the captain… will he send us away?"
Though Captain Zhao Chen had earlier said only that the assessment concerned the posts they'd hold aboard the ship, he hadn't said whether doing poorly meant being sent off.
So this whole month they'd lived with their hearts in their throats.
"It's all right; you all worked so hard — I'm sure your assessments will be fine," Lilith soothed.
An hour later, Zhao Chen pushed open the door and came out.
The eyes of all 18 succubi fixed on him — nervous, anxious, afraid.
"Let me announce the ranking of the assessment results. First place, Lilith."
Lilith's placing was one everyone had foreseen, for Lilith's gifts were the highest among them all.
"Second place, Marcy. Third place… …… Sixth place, Bessie. …………"
Hearing her own placing, Bessie let out a breath — at least she was sixth, not dead last.
And the few succubi at the very bottom grew tense now, looking at a loss to Lilith and to the captain, some of them already covering their faces and weeping, bitterly regretting that they hadn't worked a little harder.
Having read out the rankings, Zhao Chen swept a look around, then said, "Every one of you has passed."
Passed!
At that, even the succubi at the bottom of the ranking let out a long breath.
One of them asked, gingerly, "Then, Captain… we too… we get to stay, is that right?"
"Of course." Zhao Chen laughed.
In truth whether they'd done well and whether they could stay rested entirely on Zhao Chen's word; the assessment was only a formality.
But it had to be said — they'd truly done well.
In a single month, even the worst-scoring succubus had reached the equivalent of a fourth-year civilian-track student at the Northstar Starship Military Academy!
And Lilith had set the highest score of all, several points above the Northstar Starship Military Academy's own passing line.
"Let me announce your posts from here on. Lilith will serve as my secretary; Marcy will serve on Blizzard Zero's bridge…" Every post Zhao Chen announced was a civilian post aboard a ship.
And of them, Lilith's was the highest.
The secretary, in a fleet, could be called the second-in-command, ranking only below the fleet commander.
And aboard a single ship, she was without question one of the top three in authority, on a par with the deputy captain.
"I… secretary?" Even Lilith was startled.
"That's right — it's what your ability has earned you. I hope you'll work in earnest from here on. And should we come upon other succubi in the future, you may recruit them in, just as Charlotte does," Zhao Chen said.
Lilith looked at Zhao Chen in some astonishment; she'd never imagined he would think so highly of her.
"Captain, I'll work hard, I promise!" Bessie said excitedly from the side.
To be able to stay here was, for them, the greatest happiness of all.
And so Lilith and the rest of the succubi formally joined the Owl Dragon Fleet.
……
The last few days of November.
Zhao Chen's T2 Iron-Hammer-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ship was formally completed.
The Owl Dragon crest that stood for the Owl Dragon Fleet had appeared on its hull as well.
"With this, I can build our ships faster, and in greater number!" Zhao Chen looked at the T2 Iron-Hammer before him, delighted.
He turned to Charlotte beside him. "How's the matter I charged you with coming along?"
"Over this while, per your requirements, I've gathered 200 beast-folk crew who've worked in shipbuilding and repair," Charlotte reported.
"Excellent! From tomorrow, have them board and begin learning; get them mastering the T2 Iron-Hammer as fast as they can!" Zhao Chen said, with some excitement.
But at this Charlotte poured a bucket of cold water on him. "Captain, we may have the T2 Iron-Hammer now— —but the funds on our fleet's books likely aren't enough to build another ship. We sold off the Three-Clawed Serpent Interstellar Pirate fleet's ship-wrecks earlier for 400,000 star coins. Counting our remaining funds, our books now hold 900,000 star coins in all."
900,000 star coins — indeed not enough to meet the raw-material requirements for building a ship.
Short of money again.
Zhao Chen scratched his head; he hadn't thought he'd be short of money again after only a few months.
He'd have to find some way to raise it.
But the deadline for the Quarterly Mission was little more than a month off.
He hadn't much time left.
System mission triggered: "Accept and complete the bounty mission issued by the lord of the Arctic Fox star system." Accept this mission? Declining will cost 300 System points.
Just then a system mission cropped up as well — and by the look of it, one having to do with the Arctic Fox star system besides.
Zhao Chen hadn't much wanted to take it — but seeing the price of declining was 300 System points, he chose to accept after all.
Mission: Accept and complete the bounty mission issued by the lord of the Arctic Fox star system.
Difficulty: C-rank
Reward: five task points and 1,000 points
Special reward: one random reward, issued according to the degree of mission completion
Failure penalty: 1,000 System points deducted
Zhao Chen ran an eye over the system mission, and at once had Charlotte look into whether the Arctic Fox star system had put out any bounty mission.
"You know about this already?" Charlotte looked at Zhao Chen in surprise.
"Know about what?" Zhao Chen looked at Charlotte; by the look of it, she'd already learned something.
Charlotte said, "Just now Arctic Fox Starport put out a station-wide broadcast, calling on private fleets and adventurer fleets to take up a bounty mission. The gist of it is this: at a remote asteroid base in the Arctic Fox star system, a cosmic bug-nest has appeared. A small imperial-navy fleet has already gone to reinforce, but the hive-race within the nest are no small number, and the battle's going badly. The Arctic Fox system's lord's fleet and another imperial-navy fleet will need a full day to reach it, whereas from where we are, it's only three hours away. The mission's requirement is to cover the evacuation of the 5 million residents on that asteroid base!"
The hive-race?
Zhao Chen's eyelid gave a twitch.