The T4 Skeleton-King-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Destroyer · bridge.
"Welcome to the bridge of our Little Skeleton." Zhao Chen walked onto the bridge, sat himself straight down in the captain's chair, and then drew a deep breath.
And said, with feeling, "There's nothing to beat breathing aboard a starship of one's own."
From the moment she boarded this warship, Saint Cana's eyes had been travelling without pause, taking in what she could of any intelligence about this vessel.
But the more she saw, the more she found herself shaken within.
And when she walked onto the bridge, her spirits sank lower still.
This was an interstellar destroyer.
And over on the Holy Radiance Empire's side there were warships of the same grade.
The T4 Divine-Envoy-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer.
But set beside the one before her, Saint Cana knew the gap between the two was an enormous thing.
Perhaps… perhaps this class of interstellar destroyer cost a very great deal to build, and their numbers were not many.
That was the only excuse with which Saint Cana could comfort herself just then.
"Commander-in-Chief, what do we do next?" Chu Xuan looked to Zhao Chen.
"Take the ship out first — put some distance between us and Stellar City," Zhao Chen said.
This was against the chance that whoever had come to kill Saint Cana had some further design; at so short a range from Stellar City, if there were weapons of some kind about, even the Skeleton-King-class destroyer would find them awkward to guard against.
"Yes."
Beep, beep, beep, beep.
And just at this moment, Saint Cana's handheld terminal flashed with light.
Saint Cana looked at the terminal with hesitation in her face, and then looked at Zhao Chen.
"Take it. Put it on open speaker," Zhao Chen said.
Saint Cana hesitated a moment, then tapped the comm that had come up on the terminal.
A video window appeared, blurred and indistinct.
"My lady, our starship is in trouble. Some of the soldiers aboard turned on us of a sudden, attacked the other interstellar troops, and have taken several of the ship's departments. We are still fighting now, contesting control of the ship. Happily, the bridge is still in our hands. My lady, how do matters stand on your side?"
Crew aboard her own flagship in revolt?
Saint Cana's face darkened. She knew this must be of a piece with the party that had come to kill her.
She had not thought this pack of them would go so far as to leave nothing standing — not content with striking at her, they meant to settle her flagship along with her.
"Danina, I am safe for the present. As for the business aboard the ship, I hand every affair of that vessel wholly over to you now. You are to keep the ship under our control without fail; you needn't trouble yourself over my end. The moment a chance offers, take the ship out and away from Stellar City, and get word to our Sacred Angel Legion!" Saint Cana gave the order.
"But my lady, it's far too dangerous for you out there. Shall I send people to protect you?" This subordinate, by the name of Danina, asked it out of concern.
Perhaps because the image would not come through, this Danina at the other end had not seen that her Lady Commander Saint Cana was now a prisoner in another's hands.
"There's no need… I am… perhaps very safe just now." Saint Cana said it with something of a bitter smile, and let her eyes slide once toward the Zhao Chen seated in the captain's chair.
As matters stood, there was no one who could save her — and at the same time she was, in a certain sense, as safe as she could be.
If this man truly meant to kill her, he would not have stepped in to save her.
"Very well. I will keep this ship safe without fail! Let the Lady Saint Cana rest easy!"
And with that the comm cut off.
"You trust that subordinate of yours to such a degree?" Zhao Chen looked at Saint Cana.
Saint Cana said mildly, "She is my adjutant, and one of the Sacred Angel Legion's deputy commanders."
She fixed her eyes on Zhao Chen. "Speak, then. Bringing me here… saving me… what is it you're after!"
After?
The task reward, of course.
But the System showed no sign yet of the task's being complete, which left Zhao Chen, for the moment, at something of a loss as to how this woman ought to be dealt with.
Never mind it. She was in his hands now in any case, and that was the safest place for her to be.
Whenever the System saw fit to declare the task complete, he could think then about what to do with her after.
"Chu Xuan, have the lot of them taken under escort—"
And just as Zhao Chen was about to give the order.
A prompt rose in Zhao Chen's mind.
Quarterly task updated……
Quarterly task
Task: raise Saint Cana's trust value toward the host.
A trust value of 60 counts as a pass, and the base reward may be claimed.
A trust value of 70 may claim one bronze treasure chest.
A trust value of 80 may claim one silver treasure chest.
A trust value of 90 may claim one gold treasure chest.
Zhao Chen was brought up short, and checked the date.
He had not thought it — but they had just now stepped into April, exactly the hour for the quarterly task to refresh.
And less still had he thought that this quarterly task would have anything to do with Saint Cana.
And of all things, grinding up Saint Cana's trust?
System, you're having a game with me.
I have only just finished beating that Sacred Angel Legion of hers, and now I'm to grind her trust up.
Which is as much as to say: pat the tigress on the backside, and then expect the tigress to come rubbing up against you and let herself be lifted high.
"Commander-in-Chief? What was it you said just now about how they're to be dealt with?" Chu Xuan had not caught the latter half of it, and seeing the odd look on Zhao Chen's face, asked out of curiosity.
"They— all of them but Saint Cana are to be confined for now; and so long as they attempt nothing by way of a threat, their basic conditions of living are to be seen to. As for Miss Saint Cana, she'll stay on my bridge for the present," That last of Zhao Chen's was said with his eyes on Saint Cana.
At this hour, when Zhao Chen looked at Saint Cana, a prompt box would appear at the turning of a thought.
And what it showed was the trust value.
Trust value: −30
The thing was in the negative, of all things?
And that with him having saved her, no less — so what had it been before? 70 or 80 below?
Never mind. Slowly does it.
There was no penalty attached to this quarterly task in any case; do it if it could be done, and if it couldn't, that could be dealt with when the time came.
And there were three months yet besides.
"Yes." Chu Xuan did not understand why Zhao Chen would keep Saint Cana on the bridge, but she gave the orders for it to be done all the same.
Those subordinates of Saint Cana's, seeing themselves about to be marched off, set up a clamor as well.
"Let go of me! What do you mean to do with the Lady Saint Cana!"
"Lady Saint Cana! Lady Saint Cana!"
"I warn you — if you dare to harm the Lady Saint Cana, the Holy Radiance Empire will absolutely not let you be!"
And as these subordinates of Saint Cana's were taken off the bridge, quiet came at last.
"Arrange a seat for our Miss Saint Cana. Don't leave her standing the whole while. And take the cuffs off her too," Zhao Chen said.
"Yes."
A chair was set down not far from Zhao Chen's captain's chair.
And the cuffs at Saint Cana's wrists were released.
Though Panther-Girl stood always within a meter of Saint Cana, her eyes fixed hard upon her, for all the world as though she watched a quarry.
Let Saint Cana make one rash move, and she could have her subdued at the first instant.
Saint Cana rubbed at her own wrists, sat down in the chair, and looked at this man with bewilderment written all over her.
What in the world did this man mean to do?