"Somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 and some thousand craft." And as Zhao Chen was speaking—
Over on Su Lan's side, a message came in. It was sent by the Commander-in-Chief.
She lowered her head, tapped it open, and glanced at the file's heading; and in that instant the look in her eyes changed.
After which she drew back to a corner on purpose, and when she was sure no one had her under their notice, she opened it quickly and read it through.
It was the internal data on the 'T4 Fallen-Angel-class Super-Heavy Carrier Starship'; and the first page, once tapped open, was the plain particulars.
Fallen-Angel-class Super-Heavy Carrier Starship
Hull type: carrier starship
Tech tier: T4
Hull armor strength: 20,000–26,000 units
Star-shield energy value: 3 million units
Cruising speed: 160 star-knots
Warp engine: tier-8 warp engine
Length: 39.68 kilometers
Mass: 91.88 million tons
Crew posts: 300,000
Ship weapons:
Fallen-Angel S·I-type interstellar fighters: 30,000 may be carried
Fallen-Angel S·II-type heavy interstellar stealth bombers: 3,000 may be carried
Fallen-Angel S·III-type multi-role combat interstellar drones: 300,000 may be carried
Fallen-Angel F·I-type electronic-jamming interstellar stealth drones: 200 may be carried
Fallen-Angel F·II-type interstellar scout craft: 1,000 may be carried
Fallen-Angel F·III-type interstellar stealth scout craft: 100 may be carried
1,000 medium fully automatic high-density point-defense guns
50-unit missile silo (3,000 defense-field-type short-range interception interstellar missiles)
"100 and some thousand craft!" The women, hearing that figure, were every one of them astounded. The number could stand against the whole of the interstellar fighters and interstellar drone swarms the Sacred Angel Legion had put into the field together.
Which meant they took no notice of the still greater shock on Su Lan's face.
Su Lan shut the display quickly, and held her feelings in check as far as she was able — while she looked at that man with a gaze that was near to the worship of a god.
What he had said was not untrue. But he had marked the figure down in the telling.
The reality was 330,000 craft of the various models, interstellar fighters and interstellar drone swarms together.
Beyond which it was fitted with flight decks of surpassing performance, hangars and the rest, that could see interstellar fighters put into the air in the shortest possible span, brought home, resupplied, and sent out again.
More than that — within it ran several production lines for interstellar drones, so that given raw material enough coming in, it could itself produce and make good the drones it lost.
The long-range projection this one carrier starship could bring to bear was a match for a military star-port!
On the battlefield, it would hold interstellar air superiority firmly in its grip!
And just as everyone stood gazing off at that giant ship and letting their thoughts run, two people fell to quarreling.
"This T4 Tycoon-class Heavy Interstellar Mining Ship is a fine thing! I want 30 of this batch!"
"And why should you have 30 — this build batch came off the line at 50 all told! I was going to say 30 myself!"
Come to this roll-out and commissioning of new ships as well, on hearing the news, were Li Yaqi of the North Dragon Group and Red Rose of the Rose-Red Dragon Group.
And just now the two of them were locked in a quarrel over that T4 Tycoon-class Heavy Interstellar Mining Ship, and quarreling till their faces were red and their ears with them.
Seeing the pair of them looking ready to come to blows, Zhao Chen stepped up at once and drew them apart.
"Enough, now. The two of you are in trade — how is it your tempers run hotter than those of the ones who go to war?" Zhao Chen looked at the two of them helplessly.
Li Yaqi and Red Rose looked at one another and said nothing.
The weight of the T4 Tycoon-class Heavy Interstellar Mining Ship — no two people understood it better than they did!
If ships of this T4 Tycoon-class could be put into those five resource star regions out there, then even the ceiling on extraction might be raised further still!
As things had stood, the five resource star regions' utmost monthly extraction came only to 500 billion star coins.
Put these in, and there'd be a gain of 30% at the least — with hope of a good deal more besides!
Merchants that they were, how should they not quarrel over it!
"How these 50 T4 Tycoon-class Heavy Interstellar Mining Ships are to be assigned, Lilith and I have already talked over and settled. The two of you will take 20 apiece," Zhao Chen said.
"But then aren't there 10 left over?" Red Rose asked.
Zhao Chen rolled his eyes. "There's the Earth-Dragon Mining Group as well! 10 for them — that's hardly out of the way, is it! And don't be in such a hurry, either. Later on, as the interstellar industrial ships' capacity rises, the numbers of this mining-ship class will grow greater and greater, and you two will have first call on them then."
Seeing that the Commander-in-Chief had already made his allotment, there was nothing more the two women could say.
But neither of them would give the other an inch for all that.
For where the two of them stood had been Zhao Chen's own deliberate doing, and what it came to was a relation of competition.
As things stood to now, apart from that other holding of Li Yaqi's — the starship-manufacturing concern belonging to the Northern Goose Group — there was, in the main, scarcely anything to choose between her and the Rose-Red Dragon Group.
As to the Northern Goose Group and the North Dragon Group, Li Yaqi had put the handover in order there as well.
She had begun throwing herself, heart and soul, into the North Dragon Group, and had given the Northern Goose Group over to someone she trusted.
For the North Dragon Group was the Owl Dragon Legion's own true-born son, and there was no setting a limit to its future.
Early though the Northern Goose Group had come to lean on Zhao Chen, it was at most an adopted son; and there lay the gap between them.
Zhao Chen's intent for the Northern Goose Group at present was that it should carry the tasks of producing and building the low-end interstellar warships. The plate was no small one, but the room to climb was limited too.
Annie came over to stand before Zhao Chen, a file of particulars in her hands. "This is the list of every T4 interstellar warship rolled out and delivered this time. Please look it over."
Zhao Chen ran his eye down it.
Of the Fallen-Angel-class Super-Heavy Carrier Starship, one built; of the Gorgon-class Heavy Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship, five built; of the Tyrant-class Heavy Interstellar Missile-Battlecruiser, five built; of the Skeleton-King-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Destroyer, 30 built.
And besides those, the older T4 series of interstellar warships.
Of the Vermilion Bird-class Medium Interstellar Cruiser, 30 built; of the Paladin-class Heavy Interstellar Missile-Escort, 50 built; of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Battleship, two built.
And the auxiliary sort of T4 interstellar warship as well.
Of the Tycoon-class Heavy Interstellar Mining Ship, 50 built; of the Giant Whale-class Heavy Interstellar Transport, 300 built; of the Selene-class Heavy Interstellar Supply Ship, 30 built.
Of the Gemini-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ship, five built; and of the T4 Lucent-class Interstellar Jump Ship, five built.
The raw materials spent on the building of these T4-grade ships alone came to 400 billion star coins!
Were it not for the unbroken flow of raw material supplied by the five resource star regions, there'd have been no sustaining consumption on so terrifying a scale at all.
Mind you, through these past two months and more, the Owl Dragon Legion had been at war the whole time — and supplying, besides, the combat consumption shown at every quarter!
The Owl Dragon Legion of this hour was a terrifying, vast machine of a war factory!
"Commander-in-Chief, General Charlotte has arrived," Lilith reminded him softly at his side.
Zhao Chen's eyes lit; without another word he turned and made ready to go.
"Commander-in-Chief… I… I—" Annie had been gazing up at the Commander-in-Chief in eager expectation, but the Commander-in-Chief was suddenly off and away, and what she'd had in mind came to nothing.
There was no choice but to stand where she was, downcast.
"This is what the Commander-in-Chief had me hand to you." Lilith now passed Annie a specially made attaché case.
Looking at the case, Annie gulped. She touched a button on it lightly, and a holographic projection of an interstellar warship rose up with the touch.
The T4 Golden Eden-class Starship!