"What?" Qin Xiaotian rose in fury and looked at the subordinate making his report.
"You say the whole of this batch of raw materials and half-finished goods the Holy Radiance Empire was carrying to us has been seized by the Owl Dragon Legion?"
The subordinate went half to one knee upon the floor, head lowered. "Yes. And besides, the Qian family, who all along handled the handover between ourselves and the Holy Radiance Empire, has been rooted out clean by the Owl Dragon Legion. Even should the Holy Radiance Empire go on carrying these raw materials and starship half-finished goods to us, the transports required, the escorting of the courses, the transfer arrangements and the rest of it will all want several months' delay."
"The Owl Dragon Legion is simply a mad dog — biting at our heels without stopping! And their Owl Dragon Third Legion has already overrun the greater part of the Grey Moon Star Region." Qin Xiaotian looked at the heap of pleas for aid from the Grey Moon Star Region before him; several arrived near enough every day.
"Your Majesty, we can wait no longer. The Owl Dragon Legion grows stronger without pause, and our aid from outside is cut off. Wait longer and it turns against us!" Qin Longcheng said gravely beside him.
Qin Xiaotian drew a deep breath and looked at the map of the Starlight Empire. He had meant to wait a while — to wait until the cards in his own hand were many enough, and then destroy the whole Owl Dragon Legion at a stroke.
But by the look of it now, the Owl Dragon Legion was giving him no such chance at all.
As things stood, his link with the Holy Radiance Empire was severed, and the Grey Moon Star Region was about to be lost.
Go on like this and he would grow more and more passive!
"Every one of you, withdraw." Qin Xiaotian sat in his chair and said it in a low voice.
"Yes." Qin Longcheng and the rest left the hall in silence.
Qin Xiaotian put his hands over his own face, and there was something twisted in his expression.
He had supposed himself the oriole waiting behind while the mantis stalked the cicada, and that this oriole's part might be an easy one; but he had not thought there would be this Owl Dragon Legion cutting in from nowhere and throwing his whole board of chess into disorder.
Having settled his feelings somewhat, Qin Xiaotian set about raising a certain important person.
The comm window opened, and the black-cloaked Doctor appeared before him.
"Your… Majesty." The black-cloaked Doctor lowered his head.
"The situation is very bad now. Our channel of aid from the Holy Radiance Empire is severed. I guess the Owl Dragon Legion and the Chu family will mount a large-scale offensive upon us next," Qin Xiaotian said in a low voice.
The black-cloaked Doctor's mechanical voice sounded. "Your Majesty… your army is ready… and besides… there is one further piece of good news. Those… two plans… have both succeeded…"
Qin Xiaotian looked at the black-cloaked Doctor in sudden delight. "You say both those plans have succeeded!"
"Yes… Plan W stands at 10 completed… all within controllable bounds… Plan X is… in progress; we can ob… tain a great source of troops. To furnish your coming war with an unbro… ken supply of armies." So the black-cloaked Doctor said.
"Ha ha ha ha… ha ha ha ha, excellent, excellent! And now, even should it truly come to a fight to the death with the Owl Dragon Legion, I shall not fear them!" Qin Xiaotian looked at the map of the Starlight Empire beside him with a savage grin.
He spread his hands with something wild in it, and shrank the Starlight Empire's map down, so that the Holy Radiance Empire, the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth and other regions besides all appeared upon it.
"Not the Starlight Empire alone: all that belonged to the Galactic Alliance shall submit to me, and what did not belong to the Galactic Alliance shall submit to me as well. Doctor! Let those creatures tremble beneath our feet!"
"The whole cosmos shall submit beneath Your Majesty's feet," the black-cloaked Doctor said.
…………
Galactic Star Calendar 3034 · end of May · the Owl Dragon System.
After better than a month, Zhao Chen had every matter settled and returned to the Owl Dragon System.
But Zhao Chen was not very glad of it.
"These are the Owl Dragon System's development reports for the recent period; these are the situations in the Chu River Star Region and the North Wind Star Region; these are the Owl Dragon Third Legion's combat reports in the Grey Moon Star Region. These are the Princess Royal Fleet's combat reports in the Azure Star Region. And these are the situation General Charlotte has reported back from the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth."
Lilith pointed at several folders, and then at one data folder that was near enough the sum of all the former.
"And this is the information Annie has submitted."
"Annie submitted this much?" Zhao Chen looked at that folder in astonishment. The information inside it… he doubted he could get through it in a day and a night of honest reading.
He suspected deeply that Annie had done it on purpose.
"Annie says these are all tasks the Commander-in-Chief laid down, and that every one of them must be reported to the Commander-in-Chief." Lilith said it holding down a laugh.
Zhao Chen rolled his eyes and closed that largest file outright. "I have a good deal of faith in our Chief Engineer Annie. This one I'll not read. As for the rest, you may simply pick out the important matters and give them to me by mouth."
Lilith naturally knew the Commander-in-Chief's character as a hands-off master, and had made ready for it; she began her report. "The Chu River Star Region and the North Wind Star Region are in the main unchanged, and both Governors are increasing their outlay upon armaments as far as they can. Her Highness's Princess Royal Fleet has now, in the main, taken control of the whole Azure Star Region, and Qin Xiaotian's side has sent no fleet to interfere with it. The Owl Dragon Legion's progress in the Grey Moon Star Region has gone very smoothly as well; 80% of the Grey Moon Star Region is now under control, after several campaigns great and small. Enemy warships destroyed come to above 50,000, while the Owl Dragon Third Legion's own losses run to under 300 warships — of which only 89 were destroyed outright. The remaining 200-odd have all been recovered, and once repair is complete may be sold on, or used for defense and patrol work in those star regions and systems we control. …………"
Listening to Lilith's report, near enough all of it fell within what Zhao Chen had reckoned on.
The one thing past expectation was perhaps that this fellow Qin Xiaotian truly was a turtle with his head drawn in — the Azure Star Region and the Grey Moon Star Region taken, and the man showed not the least reaction.
"Ah — and on our wrecking of the trade-transport channel between Qin Xiaotian and the Holy Radiance Empire this time: has Qin Xiaotian made no answer at all?" Zhao Chen asked.
"Nothing on the face of it. But we have one piece of the latest intelligence: a day ago Qin Xiaotian called the marshals under him, with Qin Longcheng at their head, to his residence, and they were in talk a full half day before coming out," Lilith said.
Zhao Chen worked at his chin. "By the look of it Qin Xiaotian has his next plan ready. He stands now as a man we have set over the fire to roast. And if he doesn't jump about a bit longer, he truly will be roasted through. Pass my order: every fleet abroad is to hold at second-grade combat readiness, and to make a security contact with the Owl Dragon base once every 10 minutes. And the Owl Dragon Legion's units not in combat are likewise to stand ready to meet an action at any hour."
"Yes."
Zhao Chen raised a hand and opened a page with various figures upon it.
"These are the materials and starship half-finished goods we seized this time, originally bound for Qin Xiaotian's Snow-Swallow Star Region. The total value is 10 billion star coins. Give the whole of it to Annie; what can be used, use; what cannot, take apart and put back in the furnace to be made anew. And beyond that, I have here a starship technical blueprint. Hand it to Annie, and have her press on and build me a small fleet of 30 ships to begin with."