While the fishing went on.
Zhao Chen put on a pair of sunglasses and lay at his ease upon a beach chair.
Nor was Zhao Chen truly idle.
He opened the System interface.
The new annual mission and the new quarterly mission had appeared.
Annual mission
Task: slay six of the Demon Race's Demon Marshals and destroy the demon legions under their command.
Reward: annual great gift-pack (the shorter the time to completion, the higher the reward).
A very simple, direct task.
But no small difficulty in it either; one Marshal Red Demon and his Red Demon Legion at present had already made Zhao Chen's Owl Dragon Legion put out everything it had.
To deal with six Demon Marshals?
Take one step and look to the next.
Quarterly mission
Task: establish a formal alliance with the Angel Race, or declare war upon the Angel Race.
Reward: 500 task points.
This System is ruthless indeed.
With the Angel Race it is either enemies or allies.
And for Zhao Chen as he now stood, was there any other choice?
"To persuade the Angel Race will be no small difficulty. It seems that at the next meeting with the Angel Race, certain cards will have to be shown." So Zhao Chen turned it over privately.
Of a sudden he thought of it: there would seem to be an Angel Race survey party still upon his own ground.
"Lilith, how does that Angel Race survey party stand now?" Zhao Chen inquired.
"The Angel Race's party? At the outset they were surveying within the Holy Radiance Empire's borders, chiefly to understand the fall of the Disciple family and what came before and after it; and they had some contact with Saint Cana, who afterward told us what the two sides had spoken of. Beyond doubt they were sounding out our affairs from Saint Cana, and Saint Cana told them only such intelligence as was no secret. Thereafter the Angel Race's party split into two, and went severally to the Starlight Empire and the Warhammer Interstellar Federal Kingdom. In investigating the Warhammer they seemed to take little interest; but on hearing that war might break out between us and the Demon Race, that party of theirs wished to come across and have a look. We restrained them on the ground that the district was in a state of war, and they are still within that interstellar defense line in the northern holdings. The Angel party that went to the Starlight Empire was the more active — sounding out our affairs everywhere and making some contact with Empress Qin Xiaolei, and the Empress told us the whole course of the meeting. Thereafter that Angel party arrived in our Owl Dragon Star System. With our leave, they began surveying every part of the Owl Dragon Star System outside the military control zones. Several times they wished to visit our interstellar industrial district, and we refused them each time," Lilith answered.
At this crew of angels sounding out his affairs all over his own ground.
Zhao Chen thought nothing of it; they had come to survey, and it would be strange indeed if they investigated nothing once inside.
"Ah yes — come to that, the time we fixed with that Angel Tilia for a second meeting has come as well. Go and speak with the Angel Race's survey party. Once our New Year holiday is past and the business of the coming months is arranged, we may set out to visit the Angel Race," Zhao Chen instructed.
Upon this matter of visiting the Angel Race, Zhao Chen looked forward to it still.
And hoped besides for a good result.
As his clashes with the Demon Race grew more numerous, and with the strength he had shown, the Demon Race's enmity toward him would assuredly grow greater and greater.
None could say how many the Demon Race fleets he next faced would be, nor how strong.
And at such a time, to establish a steady and powerful alliance was the best choice of all.
"You mean to go in person?" Lilith looked at Commander Zhao Chen in some astonishment.
Zhao Chen shrugged. "You are all very busy; I am the one idle man with time to spare."
Lilith looked at Zhao Chen doubtfully. "It cannot be that you wish to go yourself because you have heard the Angel Race's women are all very beautiful?"
"Cough, cough, cough… am I a man of that sort?" Zhao Chen glared at Lilith.
Lilith said levelly, "That I could not say. Though it is, after all, going onto another power's ground. Your safety wants some thought all the same."
"Then I shall take the Hades across." Zhao Chen's words made Lilith give up any further word of dissuasion.
Lilith only added, "Then I hope that when you come back, you will not bring a flock of angel beauties back with you."
And just at this moment Zhao Chen's rod stirred — a fish upon the hook!
Zhao Chen lifted the rod at once.
A fish half a meter long was hauled up out of the water.
At this Charlotte came over; she ran her eye over that fat fish and gulped.
But she forced down her appetite, looked toward Zhao Chen, and raised a hand to open a data page.
Upon it were several sets of interstellar warship materials.
"You were discussing the building plan for the coming year just now, were you not?" Charlotte asked.
Lilith nodded, then said, "The Commander has decided: within three months of the year's opening, at any cost whatever, we build a T5 Galaxy-class Large Interstellar Industrial Base first."
Charlotte nodded, agreeing with this decision.
"The T5 Galaxy-class Large Interstellar Industrial Base is exceedingly important for producing T5-grade interstellar warships. It should be built as early as may be. As for the building that follows, I have some advice. Of these several classes of interstellar warship, it were best that a few could be built ahead of the rest. Above all this T5 Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship." Charlotte pointed at one of the sets of data.
The Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship
Ship type: interstellar command ship
Technology grade: T5
Hull armor strength: 1,000,000–1,300,000 units
Star-shield energy value: 20,000,000
Cruising speed: 1,600 star-knots
Warp engine: grade-9 warp engine
Hull length: 68 kilometers
Mass: 31,880,000 tons
Complement: 50,000
Starship weapons:
12 regular railgun main cannon
300 fully automatic medium electromagnetic close-in guns
30,000 interstellar drones
Special performance or equipment:
Spatial fold-jump engine (capable of spatial fold-jumps)
Dragon-Emperor quantum transmission (can transmit a human body within a certain range)
Dragon-Emperor Super War Artificial Intelligence
Lilith, seeing these materials — the highest grade of classified material at present, which no more than ten within the Owl Dragon could consult in full.
Though of all this Lilith took only a brief look at the key figures; she had far too much to do, and no leisure to understand it in detail.
And this was Charlotte's business; through this while past Charlotte had been coming to a detailed understanding of these several classes' combat characteristics.
"This T5 Dragon Emperor, though its own combat capacity is not high, possesses a very strong strategic character! It has the unified command system our Owl Dragon Legion has wanted all along. With this T5 Dragon Emperor, our Owl Dragon Legion's fighting power in the campaigns to come can be raised at the least a full grade," Charlotte said gravely.
Zhao Chen looked at those few lines of plain description.
If one looked at the weapon systems, they were truly nothing to catch the eye.
But those several other functions were beyond all nature.
First, the T5 Dragon Emperor possesses the same long-range spatial fold-jump capacity as the T5 Hades.
And there were besides two technologies of very great power.
The "Dragon-Emperor quantum transmission" and the "Dragon-Emperor Super War Artificial Intelligence."