About a week later than the time projected.
Zhao Chen reached the Angel Race's territory at last, and saw his first Angel Race starport.
The Owl Dragon's 30 interstellar warships entered the starport in their order.
Most unluckily, this starport did not possess the capacity to "receive" a T5 interstellar warship.
So the Hades could only hover in the berthing area; as for supply, repair and the rest, they could only be accomplished with the help of the other auxiliary classes.
And Zhao Chen, with Secretary Nancy, boarded this starport by shuttle.
Within and without, the whole starport used white for its keynote color, and gave one a feeling of great holiness.
And in a great many places one could see line-work of a kind akin to religion.
"Commander!" The succubus Ludy walked quickly up before Zhao Chen and saluted him in glad surprise.
"You have had a hard time of it." Zhao Chen clapped the succubus Ludy upon the shoulder.
At the same time Zhao Chen's eyes went to what stood behind her.
A file of angel warriors was drawn up in ranks, neat and orderly.
Zhao Chen's acquaintance, the Angel Tilia, came up before him and made him the Angel Race's salute.
"Welcome, honored guest from afar, to our Angel Race. For what happened in the course of your journey we are deeply sorry. The lord has had a fright of it," the Angel Tilia said in apology.
It must be said that this angel's bearing was very good.
Though the business had nothing whatever to do with them, to show her own attitude first put a man in good humor.
Zhao Chen knew that cosmic storm had truly been mere chance.
Nor had he any intent of laying blame upon the Angel Race.
"Miss Tilia, this is no responsibility of yours. None could have foreseen that we should meet with a cosmic disaster of this kind," Zhao Chen said with a smile.
The Angel Tilia said, with her face set, "You are our guests, and to answer for your safety is our responsibility. Though it was a cosmic disaster, there is responsibility of ours within it. Hereafter, the repair costs of your side's interstellar warships will be borne by us entire. Allow us, if you please, to make up our apology in this meager fashion."
Seeing this angel so stubborn in it.
Zhao Chen did not refuse.
Thereafter the Angel Tilia took Zhao Chen about the starport to see it.
Though this starport was not the Angel Race's largest — it could not even be reckoned within the first 10.
But it was the medium-large starport nearest the Holy Radiance Empire's side, and so the Angel Tilia received Zhao Chen's party here.
In going about this Angel Race starport, Zhao Chen could plainly feel how different the Angel Race's ideas of design were.
First, there were a great many flying windows here.
The name tells it: within a long gallery or some stretch of passage, a "window" would appear of a sudden.
Angels might, as their own need required, fly straight out of it, beat their wings, and reach where they were going.
There were here as well such products of technology as hovering elevators and hovering flying cars.
But the rate of their use was exceedingly low; in the main it was other interstellar races, not the angels, who used them.
More often one saw angels flying everywhere.
Had Zhao Chen not known this was merely the interstellar age, and opened his eyes upon such a scene, he would likely have supposed he had strayed into heaven.
It must be said that the Angel Race were truly outstanding in the matter of looks.
Male or female alike, they possessed beauty of a very high order.
Zhao Chen glanced at his own reflection in a mirror beside him.
Still not so handsome as himself.
Those male angels' looks were more a beauty of the softer kind, without the least of that masculine air in Zhao Chen's bones.
And above all, after undergoing the super-soldier serum's reconstruction many times over, that aura of Zhao Chen's, which he could loose or gather at will, was a formless addition besides.
"This is the rest-house we have made ready for you. Should your fleet's crew wish to come aboard the starport to rest, we shall have personnel here expressly to receive them. In the days that follow I shall myself attend the lord in seeing certain districts of our Angel Race." The Angel Tilia pointed at an exceedingly large "suite."
At the moment of pushing open the door.
Zhao Chen did not at the first instant suppose he had entered a guest room for resting, but rather come to a… holiday resort? Or say a park?
For it was very large within, the ceiling 10 meters high at the least.
The ground it took up he reckoned roughly at several thousand square meters.
There was lawn, there was a fountain, there were flowers, and then several houses besides.
"Many thanks for Miss Tilia's hospitality," Zhao Chen said in thanks.
"Let the lord rest here a while; presently someone will come to invite you to the welcoming banquet." So saying, the Angel Tilia took her leave and went.
Taking with her the angel Tabitha, who had come along with Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen's party walked into the suite and closed the door.
Secretary Nancy glanced at the Panther-Girl of the guard beside her.
The Panther-Girl took her meaning at once, and led her subordinates in going over this space.
Though the other side would surely not go so far as to plant monitoring equipment, in guarding against the ten-thousandth chance the proper procedure was to be gone through all the same.
Once it was settled that this space was quite safe.
Zhao Chen found himself a seat and looked toward the succubus Ludy. "Let us talk, then, of what you have learned here."
The reason the Angel Tilia had left Zhao Chen's party this stretch of time to rest.
Was in all likelihood that she meant to learn from that angel Tabitha what they had come to understand over on the Owl Dragon's side, and, by the value and content of the intelligence, to settle her diplomatic attitude toward the Owl Dragon hereafter.
The succubus Ludy too began to set out for Zhao Chen, item by item, what she had come to understand of the Angel Race in this while past.
Secretary Nancy at her side began taking it down; that was her work.
"The compass of the Angel Race's territory is very large, equal to two Starlight Empires — and in fact it was larger before. But because of the fighting with the Demon Race in this recent stretch of time, and defeat following defeat, the Angel Race has lost no few star regions and star systems. And the Demon Race's territory is larger yet than the Angel Race's, twice the size of it, but the star regions are not of high value; most of them are middling to low in quality. In population the Demon Race's side is near a hundred times the Angel Race's!
"Though the form of rule of the two is not much alike. The Demon Race is called a race, but is in fact more like a federal race — hundreds or thousands of interstellar races making up one Demon Race. Whereas the Angel Race exists in the form of one strong and many weak: the Angel Race will shelter those interstellar civilizations willing to join them. As large as a star region, as small as one planet within a star system. Apart from the Angel Race itself, the other powers under their shelter may exist in any form whatever — even to establishing some interstellar kingdom or other within. But they are not permitted to possess military strength beyond a certain scale. That is a live wire with the Angel Race.
"And within the compass of this Angel Race territory, the number of the Angel Race's own kind is in fact less than one part in 10,000; far more of it is other interstellar races. Because the Angel Race's capacity to breed is very low, though their lifespan is very long. Their average age is 500 years. Were they to use technological means, they could live to 1,000. But the Angel Race has a kind of fastidiousness: they cannot accept any technological reconstruction of their own bodies; they hold that birth, age, sickness and death are an order, and that they cannot go against that order.
"……"