One of the star systems the Qian family held.
The Qian family was a rather particular existence within the Stellar Alliance. Other interstellar powers — the Star-Shark Guild for one, strong as it was — would never hold much in the way of territory.
Because to the great majority of interstellar traders, an interstellar territory that was not some resource system had no value whatever.
It would become, rather, a drag upon them.
Whereas the Qian family had set up a certain basic industry in these territory systems, and by way of the slave trade they themselves carried on, used that cheap slave labor to drive their industrial output.
Above one barren planet under the Qian family's control, nobody had discovered that an interstellar warship lay hidden and lurking there, taking imagery of the surface of this planet and relaying it back to a warship behind.
"This is imagery sent back by our T3 Silver-Rat-class Light Interstellar Stealth Scout Ship." Chu Xuan pointed at the picture before them.
Behind Chu Xuan stood Xue Xiaoxiao and Gu Xiaoxiao.
And off to one side, Saint Cana.
That Saint Cana should be here at all needed no further comment upon the proposal of cooperation Zhao Chen had put to her.
But Saint Cana had set out one demand besides: that she might break off this cooperation unilaterally at any time.
Zhao Chen had not refused. He was confident: once Saint Cana was in with him, there would absolutely be no unilateral breaking-off of anything — their cooperation would leave Saint Cana unable to give it up.
"What are they doing? Why are they driving the old and the weak, the women and children, aboard one interstellar transport after another?" Xue Xiaoxiao pointed at one of the images and asked in bewilderment.
Zhao Chen said nothing, and his face was dark.
Chu Xuan brought out a file from beside him. "This is intelligence still held at a stage of secrecy. One of our T3 Silver-Rat-class Light Interstellar Stealth Scout Ships found in its investigation that over this stretch of time the Qian family has often been sending slaves under escort aboard these interstellar transports — and the destination of these transports is the Starlight Empire's Snow-Swallow Star Region. First and last, they have carried at the least 100 billion people! But we have found no population of that vast a size, of any race, in the Snow-Swallow Star Region."
"100 billion? That many people can hardly have vanished into thin air!" Xue Xiaoxiao covered her mouth in astonishment.
"Who says they can't? Has that Prince Yan not exactly such a 'partner' to hand? In the space of a bare few days it can gnaw every living thing on a planet clean away." Zhao Chen said it flatly, out of nowhere.
Xue Xiaoxiao was brought up short, and then cried out, "The interstellar hive-race!"
Having said it, and setting it beside those hundred billion people, the color went out of her face all at once.
She said in disbelief, "This… this… this can't be… Qin Xiaotian… he would dare do a thing like this?"
"There are men who will dare anything at all to reach their ends. He keeps a bug-swarm on so vast a scale, and those swarms have to eat as well. Where is he to come by so much meat?" Zhao Chen asked it and answered it himself.
A shudder went through Xue Xiaoxiao.
Saint Cana, off to one side, folded her arms and said with disgust, "Hmph. This is the filthiness of your Starlight Empire — not a scrap of humanity to be spoken of. Which is why the baptism of the Sacred Light is needed!"
Zhao Chen let his eyes slide toward Saint Cana, and said nothing.
Chu Xuan, rather, was the first to speak, and watched Saint Cana coldly. "We turned up another file besides. Beginning within the last month— the Qian family has also been detaching a batch of interstellar transports loaded with this 'cargo' and sending them to the Holy Radiance Empire."
Hearing this, Saint Cana's face went to astonishment, to fury, to unwillingness to believe.
She opened her mouth to refute it — but the words came as far as her lips and would not, for anything, come out.
Because in her own heart she did not in fact doubt that the thing was true.
The Holy Radiance Empire called itself the envoy of the Sacred Light, and under its rule there was to be no sin and no defilement.
But Saint Cana knew that the Holy Radiance Empire's upper ranks would still, at certain hours, do things that came to the very edge of the line.
The cooperation with Qin Xiaotian, for instance.
The hive-race technology Qin Xiaotian held certainly fell within the forbidden range.
But to make internal strife in the Starlight Empire, the Holy Radiance Empire had turned a blind eye and gone on working with Qin Xiaotian.
And setting that beside those threads and traces she had turned up herself—
if certain nobles within the Holy Radiance Empire truly had cooperation with Qin Xiaotian that went over the line, then beyond doubt it was the hive-race technology.
Suppose there were those among the Holy Radiance Empire's nobles attempting to keep these bugs; then naturally they would want blood-feed as well.
The disappearance of a great population within the Holy Radiance Empire's own borders would be a very hard thing to keep hidden.
But to purchase this 'cargo' from the Stellar Alliance would leave no such worry behind at all.
"This pack of them have no idea whatever what it is they are touching. With the hive-race and its terrifying nature — do they truly believe they can control it entire? And even if they could control it, to keep a vast hive-race fleet wants an enormous quantity of food every day; can the Stellar Alliance supply so much? And where, when it comes to that, this food will come from — may be imagined." Zhao Chen said it in a low voice.
Saint Cana understood what lay in Zhao Chen's words, and felt a stone pressing on her breast.
"Wait!" Chu Xuan cried out suddenly; she stared at one of the video images several breaths together, then sent an order straight to the Silver-Rat scout ship ahead, having them magnify this picture.
The picture was magnified further and further, until one could see a group of slaves just brought down under escort from one of the interstellar transports.
"What is it?" Zhao Chen looked in bewilderment at Chu Xuan, the color of whose face had changed utterly.
Chu Xuan clenched her fists, and pointed at the magnified place — the figures of several people.
"The dress these several are wearing is the planetary dress of several systems on the borders of the Chu River Star Region. And the tattoos on the arms of several of them are the mark of the Chu family's legion! Ordinarily it's discharged veterans who have these put on them."
Hearing this from Chu Xuan, Zhao Chen understood at once why her feelings had shifted so greatly.
This pack of Qian family bastards, to catch slaves, had put their claws clean into the Chu River Star Region!
"Commander-in-Chief…" There was something of blood in Chu Xuan's eyes as she looked at him.
Zhao Chen did not wait for Chu Xuan to finish; he simply waved a hand. "Command of the Little Skeleton is given over to you now. This warship is at your direction. Whatever you wish to do, go and do it."
Chu Xuan looked at him in gratitude, and then stood upon the command platform. "Little Skeleton, go to battle status. Steer for the target planet. Any Qian family warship found coming within attack range — mind you: Qian family warships, not the interstellar transports. Destroy them, without exception!"
Those last words Chu Xuan spoke through her teeth.
Having her order, this T4 Skeleton-King-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Destroyer, bearing a certain secretary-officer's towering wrath, began to descend upon this planet.
For a T4 interstellar warship to come down to a planet's surface makes an enormous demand upon a warship's engine energy.
But.
Zhao Chen was willing.
Offend our own secretary-officer — and no.