"By your requirement, we have tallied the war criminals taken. And divided these war criminals into four grades: A, B, C and D. Class A and Class B war criminals are all under sentence of death; Class B, after receiving judgment, will undergo some three days of severe punishment, and be tortured to death. Class A war criminals will bear at the least 100 days of it, and will be subject besides to a 'petition of vengeance' from any member whatever of the White-Tiger tribe, who may go to the site of the Black Tiger Sacred Mountain and take their revenge with their own hands. Upon Class A war criminals any severe punishment may be carried out, so long as it does not cause death. On site we have arranged dedicated medical facilities, provided by an interstellar medical ship. So long as a war criminal has one breath in him, he can be brought back, and made to go on receiving punishment. As for when they are to be permitted to die, that depends upon just how much guilt they bear." Lilith did not change color as she said all this.
"Class A war criminals so far confirmed number 73; their crimes are essentially those of leadership figures who approved, supported and carried out the bombardment and slaughter of the White Tiger home star. Besides officers of the army, their identities include the heads of the several great families within the Black Tiger tribe. Class B war criminals are the middle-ranking officers, above 1,000 of them, who obeyed orders and were responsible for executing that operation. Class C are middle and lower-ranking officers who carried out that operation, but who, by the particulars of their guilt, we shall place under sentence of death or of permanent imprisonment. Class D are those who did not directly take part in these military operations against the White-Tiger tribe but were implicated in them; by the particulars of their guilt we shall place them under sentence of death, permanent imprisonment, or imprisonment of above a hundred years. Besides these four, there are the ordinary war criminals. Ordinary war criminals are those who took part without a leading role — rank-and-file soldiers, for instance, or the immediate kin of the above war criminals. Upon these, by the actual circumstances and their past conduct, we shall impose sentences of varying degree: death, permanent imprisonment, a hundred years, 80, 50, 30, 10. The above five categories of war criminal come, as of now, to 50 million persons in all, 99% of them ordinary war criminals. And these forms of imprisonment are, without exception, imprisonment at labor. They will all be escorted to the mining districts of the Reef Star Region," Lilith added.
50 million looks an enormous figure, but set against the Black Tiger tribe's racial numbers it is in fact very few.
And one chief reason for so many war criminals was that the immediate kin of certain war criminals were counted among them.
Though these people might be innocent, they had received direct benefit from the war criminals; and having received the benefit then, they must naturally accept the punishment now.
At the same time, the Owl Dragon Legion could obtain from among them a great body of cheap 'labor,' and those prisoners guilty of the most monstrous crimes could conveniently be sent to mining worlds with harsh conditions.
In any case I have only promised you your freedom once you have served a full hundred years; and if you cannot last a hundred years, you have only yourself to blame.
And it must be understood that 50 million had been taken upon the Black Tiger home star alone — not yet counting the whole Black Tiger Star Region.
By the time this round of reckoning was complete, Zhao Chen could haul back, at the very least, over 1 billion free laborers to the Reef Star Region.
"And how stands the business of propping up puppets?" Zhao Chen asked.
"That business we have given to the White-Tiger tribe's side to handle. They have already pulled together several factions within the Black Tiger tribe, which have now begun to be active inside it, and which can all in future become puppet powers we have placed within the Black Tiger tribe," Lilith answered.
"Some suitable rewards may be given. Let these people know that we are only settling accounts with those Black Tiger tribespeople who are guilty, and that those willing to follow us will receive the same treatment as the Hundred Beasts Alliance," Zhao Chen said.
Zhao Chen understood very well the principle of surrounding three sides and leaving one open: suppression alone will not do; some hope must be given as well.
Thereafter Zhao Chen went on talking over Owl Dragon Legion business with Lilith.
Suddenly a signal flashed on Lilith's handheld terminal, and she glanced at it.
And reported to Zhao Chen, "The Dragon-folk tribe's princess, Leona, wishes to speak with you concerning the ransom we have demanded."
"So it comes at last." Zhao Chen stretched himself. "Put her through; let us have a look at this Dragon-folk tribe's princess."
——
On Leona's side, after some waiting, the video communication between them was connected at last.
And she saw that rumored supreme commander of the Owl Dragon Legion.
A man seated in a captain's chair, watching her with a level expression.
"I am the Dragon-folk tribe's princess, Leona. By my father's command I come to negotiate with you. I hold that we have an opportunity for peace talks. For the present we shall not pursue your responsibility for attacking the Black Tiger Star Region without leave. But I require you to release our Dragon-folk Tenth Fleet Group; release them to show your sincerity, and only then can we sit down and—"
Leona's words were not yet finished when the video image opposite went black outright.
The sight left Leona dumbfounded.
"What is going on? Is there a problem with the communication network?" Leona demanded of her subordinate.
The subordinate ran a check and said with an odd expression, "The other party cut off our video communication."
"What?" Leona had not yet taken it in at this point, and assumed without thinking that there was a problem with the other side's video communication.
She prepared to wait a little.
But a minute passed, and the other side gave, of all things, no sign whatever.
Which set Leona perceiving that something was wrong. This… could the other side have done it deliberately?
At the thought of it, Leona's fierce temper grew somewhat hard to hold in.
She clenched her fists.
"Your Highness… are we to contact them again?" the subordinate asked with great care.
In times past, at a thing of this kind, Leona would assuredly not have endured it.
But there was nothing to be done: this was a business her father had entrusted to her, with her mother's thousand injunctions and 10,000 charges besides.
Leona could only force down her rage and say, "Go on contacting them!"
The second attempt soon had its answer.
"That… Your Highness, the other side has refused. But they sent a line, saying: if you are not here to discuss the matter of the ransom, then there is no need to discuss anything." The subordinate said it awkwardly.
"This fellow!" Leona was furious past all bearing; she said through gritted teeth, "Go on contacting them for me!"
The several attempts that followed were all refused.
But at last, after an interval of 10 minutes and no one knew how many attempts, contact was made again.
That man's face appeared once more before Leona.
"You—!" Leona stood up and pointed at Zhao Chen; but before she could get a word out, the video went black again.
"What is going on?" Leona roared at her own subordinate.
The subordinate glanced at it, gulped, and said in a small voice, "The other side sent a message saying… that you… should mind… your manner."
Manner?
Manner?
That man had actually told her to mind her manner.
Leona was furious past all bearing; when had she ever suffered such humiliation?
"Keep calling them for me!" Leona said through gritted teeth.