Zhao Chen took this woman Angel Tilia on a turn about the Hades.
Upon hearing her request, Zhao Chen had in fact not minded it.
He reckoned it instead a tolerable chance to show his muscle.
Merely to run her eyes over the interior of an interstellar warship would steal away no secret technology at any rate; it would rather make Tilia the readier to believe in the starship manufacturing technology upon Zhao Chen's side, and in Zhao Chen's strength!
Zhao Chen urgently needed to draw in an ally of strength matching his own.
Otherwise, to deal at one and the same time with those two great problems, the interstellar hive-race and the Demon Race, was truly too thorny a business.
And for the strong, only a strong one of matching strength can become an ally.
Otherwise it goes as it did with the Disciple family — one can only sink into being another's vassal.
"Very fine workmanship in interstellar warship manufacture. I know a great many interstellar civilizations; but this is the only one that has made me feel it a match for our Angel Race in craft." Tilia walked onto the bridge, looked round it once, and laid her hand against the bridge's bulkhead.
Being one who had come out of starship engineering, she could the better see this interstellar warship's exquisite craft.
Which in certain respects even surpassed their own Angel Race's.
"I wonder whether I might have the honor of boarding an Angel Race interstellar warship, and satisfying my eyes." Zhao Chen asked it with a smile.
"Were I to refuse, it would show me very ill-mannered." The woman Angel Tilia said it with a faint smile; and at this moment that iceberg countenance of hers seemed to have thawed a good deal.
Whether it was because, all along the way, she had asked after certain of this interstellar warship's industrial arts, and the man before her had always been able to answer without hesitation.
Certain things he ought not to say he would of course not say, and she naturally asked no further after those.
But from those exchanges alone, one could see that this man's craft in starship manufacture was assuredly of no common order.
Which awakened in the woman Angel Tilia no little interest in this man.
Thereafter the two of them took a shuttle across to this Angel Race interstellar warship.
Walking into the hangar, Zhao Chen grew certain that the Angel Race were assuredly great cleanliness-fanatics, and that they might hold some fixed obsession with the color white besides.
The hull's interior was exceedingly clean; and wherever white could be used, the paint scheme was white throughout, without exception.
And at a human's boarding their own interstellar warship.
The Angel Race's interstellar officers were all somewhat astonished, which gave Zhao Chen a very high look-back rate.
Though before this, Tilia aboard the Hades had fared the same.
"I never thought you would truly dare to board my interstellar warship alone." Tilia looked toward Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen shrugged. "You dared board my interstellar warship; should I, a man, have anything to fear?"
Though Zhao Chen had certain cards in reserve besides — some weapons for special single-soldier operations, and along with them Zhao Chen's own surpassing personal combat power.
Let alone that this crew posed Zhao Chen any threat.
Should anything truly happen.
Zhao Chen might well put on a heroic performance of seizing a ship single-handed. Why was it that the mere thought of it left him a little excited, and looking forward to it besides?
"This is the strongest interstellar warship in our Angel Race's T4 starship series — the Seraph-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship. We generally employ it as a flagship, or else a subordinate flagship." Tilia walked at Zhao Chen's side, making her introductions for him.
Zhao Chen at this moment was observing the Angel Race's internal craft as well.
Though he had no way of stealing the Angel Race's starship technology from it, he could see from these small particulars the characteristics of the Angel Race's starship manufacture.
One turn about the ship, and Zhao Chen had certain conclusions in hand.
The Angel Race held to an exceedingly high strictness in the building of interstellar warships — more precise even than the Owl Dragon's building craft!
Set against that big, dumb, black-iron style of the Warhammer's, the two were simply opposite extremes.
The advantage of this order of Angel Race interstellar warship was that the single ship's performance would be raised to its utmost; the disadvantage, that the demands upon construction would be very high and the cost of a single hull rather great, which kept the scale of their fleets from being very large.
Having gone the whole round.
The time of the meeting between the two of them, first and last, had already passed five hours.
Zhao Chen came back to the hangar once more; standing beneath his own shuttle, he turned his head to look at Tilia. "Then let us now reach a basic intention of cooperation. And to save time, you may leave a party of Angels here to carry out the relevant survey. At the same time, we upon our side shall send several interstellar warships back with you to your Angel Race's territory, to carry out the relevant survey there. Let us settle upon a time, and formally determine the matter of cooperation when it comes. It had best not be too late. We are both, after all, in great trouble at present. Our cooperation will bring both sides very great mutual benefit."
Tilia nodded. Through this while of contact she had felt Zhao Chen's goodwill as well. She said, "The matter of cooperation and alliance I cannot nail down. But what you say of exchanging survey ships now — with that I see no problem. By and by I can give you a list of the delegation."
"Very well. Then I shall go back and settle the list of our survey delegation as well. I hope that the next time we meet, it may be as allies." Zhao Chen put out his hand with a smile.
Tilia hesitated a moment, but put out her own hand all the same, and shook Zhao Chen's lightly.
Thereafter Zhao Chen took his leave, boarded the shuttle, and departed.
"My lady Commander, are we truly to work with this Owl Dragon lord, whatever he is?" The adjutant came up beside her to ask it.
"Bear in mind that because of the Demon Race our Angel Race have already fallen into a crisis. Every round of the Demon Race's attacks leaves our territorial star regions fewer and fewer. By the projections, if we cannot defeat the Demon Race fleets, then our Angel Race may very likely be destroyed within 10 years," Tilia said, low and grave.
"Then can it be that you pin your hope upon a single human? Merely because he has one T5 interstellar warship?" The adjutant did not quite believe this possibility.
"I know the chance of it is very small; but we must now catch at any scrap of hope. Enough — this matter is not mine to decide either. It rests besides upon the results of the survey to come. Go and make the arrangements: 30 T3 interstellar warships are to remain here in due course as the survey delegation, to look into the information and data touching this Owl Dragon lord. And determine whether there is worth in him fit for us to work with," Tilia instructed.
"Yes."
Upon the other side, Zhao Chen, back aboard the Hades, was in a tangle over the matter of his own choice of person.
"A survey to the Angel Race?" Lilith was somewhat astonished.
"This matter is exceedingly important; whoever is sent must be quite sharp, and must gather as much material on the Angel Race as they can for us," Zhao Chen said, low and grave.
Going to the Angel Race meant investigating not merely the other party's strength, but their political structure, their military structure, their resource structure, their present circumstances, and much besides.
And time being limited, one of real ability had to be sent.
Lilith thought a moment, and said, "I have a candidate to recommend."