The Dragon Emperor · bridge.
Having settled those matters with Annie and Nana, Zhao Chen went back to the bridge.
"Commander, where have you been just now?" Little Dragon Girl, seeing Zhao Chen return, blinked her eyes in curiosity.
This small creature had truly not the least sense of being a subordinate.
Standing here inquiring into her Commander's business.
Though Zhao Chen did not mind it; he sat in the captain's chair and said levelly, "To Annie's side, to talk over the starship production for the second half of the year."
Little Dragon Girl looked at her Commander in surprise. "Eh? By the schedule settled before, the meeting with Chief Engineer Annie was to be arranged three days from now, was it not?"
Er.
"Did I say so?" Zhao Chen wore an air of knowing nothing whatever, and then shut his eyes and leaned back in the captain's chair.
Little Dragon Girl muttered in her puzzlement, "Can it be I remembered it wrongly?"
Seeing her Commander had shut his eyes, Little Dragon Girl pressed it no further, and went off to her own business.
And Zhao Chen at this moment was looking over the newly refreshed quarterly mission; it was now July.
This time the quarterly mission had refreshed punctually, unlike the last, which was late and had brought him that surprise of the Swarm Surge.
Quarterly mission: complete, within this quarter, a volume of trade with the Angel Race of 50 trillion star coins.
50 trillion in three months — that is, at the least 16 trillion in a single month.
Set at an earlier time, this quarterly mission would likely have held some difficulty.
But the star gate route was open now, and there was in the main no difficulty in it at all.
And Zhao Chen had here, as it happened, no few second-hand interstellar warships to sell to the Angel Race.
And, having tasted the excellent showing of Owl Dragon-line warships upon a field, those three Angel Kings would most likely loosen their threshold of procurement.
And buy Owl Dragon-line warships outright.
Zhao Chen kept his eyes shut, and a trace of a smile showed at the corner of his mouth.
The Angel Race was the fat sheep he had marked out; from this sheep he meant to draw the resources that would let the Owl Dragon Legion develop fast.
…………
Early August.
The universe upon the Owl Dragon's end had returned to quiet.
But in this universe there is never any lack of war.
"Reporting — War Angel Fortress No. 3 has fallen!" An angel reported this news to the Holy Angel King upon her throne.
The Holy Angel King's brows drew slightly together. "So soon? Was it not said before that it could hold to the middle of August? How is it fallen now — a full two weeks earlier than reckoned!"
"By the front-line intelligence we have, the 200,000 interstellar warships of the Throne Angel legion fleets charged with defending War Angel Fortress No. 3 faced at once the encircling attack of above 800,000 hulls of the Demon Race's Black Angel Legion and Serpent King Legion. At the last, having lost above half, and with War Angel Fortress No. 3 upon the point of being ringed about entire by the enemy's legion fleets. The lord War Angel King ordered the remaining Throne Angel legion fleets to fall back to War Angel Fortress No. 2," the angel subordinate answered.
At such an answer, the Holy Angel King could imagine how cruel that field had been.
"The Demon Race's interstellar warships grow stronger and stronger now, and harder and harder to deal with.
"Of the five chief fortresses upon the War Angel's forward positions, two have by now fallen.
"There remain only the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 interstellar fortresses.
"By intelligence of half a day ago, this No. 4 interstellar fortress can in the main hardly hold long either.
"What remains, then, is how long the No. 1 and No. 2 interstellar fortresses can hold.
"Once those two fall.
"The Demon Race's fleets thereafter can threaten the War Angel Star Region directly." The Holy Angel King said it slowly.
"My lady, I am willing to lead the Blazing-Flame Angel Legion in support!" A handsome angel figure stepped forward — Susan, an Angel Guard like Tilia.
The Holy Angel King shook her head and said, "Susan, your Blazing-Flame Angel Legion has been off the field refitting less than half a month. Even the interstellar warships you lost are not yet made up; to send your legion back to the field at such a time would work no great effect. Still more in the present case. It is no longer a thing that one Blazing-Flame Angel Legion of yours can change."
As she said it, the Holy Angel King was looking at the interstellar war sand table before her.
Upon it one could see the Demon Race's present large-scale invasion of the Angel Race.
One could see above ten local fields engaged within it.
And could see clearly besides that most of those fields stood merely deadlocked, and that only the field driving at the War Angel Star Region was exceedingly cruel.
Like a war-spear about to be thrust into the Angel Race's heart.
"This time the Demon Race's Demon King has moved very nearly every demon legion fleet — twelve demon legions… now, it seems, only eleven remain.
"Every one of them has appeared upon a field.
"But the task of most of those legions is only to tie down our Angel Race's fleets.
"The chief object is still the War Angel Star Region.
"There lie our Angel Race's important starship industrial bases!
"Once that falls, it is for our Angel Race a blow like destruction itself!" the Holy Angel King said in some anxiety.
Just at this time a figure of light appeared within the great hall.
Of those who may put a holographic image straight into this palace, besides the Angel Kings there are only a few high-order angels who hold the right.
And she who appeared was Tilia, back among the Angel Race above a month now.
"My lady, the new legion fleet is fully equipped and may set out for the front-line field at any moment!" The angel Tilia's eyes were alight with excitement.
The angel Susan beside her looked at Tilia in curiosity.
She had heard of the hive-race campaign that broke out in that other stretch of the universe — how, in cooperation with that Owl Dragon Legion, a great quantity of hive fleets had been held off, and eleven T5 Hive Motherships destroyed.
And thereafter had come the Demon Race's great offensive, such as had never been.
And the Holy Angel King had ordered back that part of the angel legions supporting the Owl Dragon Legion.
Four hundred thousand interstellar warships sent out; above 300,000 come back.
And those 300,000-odd, after a short refit, had all been sent to the front-line fields as well.
Among which the elite Principality Angel Legion in the angel Tilia's charge had been handed straight to her adjutant.
At the time Susan had found this arrangement of Tilia's past all understanding.
Thereafter she had heard there was some cooperation with the Owl Dragon Legion.
And after that, out of that finished star gate route, interstellar warships had come across in an unbroken stream, and the Holy Angel King had put a portion of them wholly into Tilia's charge.
It was said that of this batch sent across.
Besides those within the military purchase plan first fixed — the plans provided by the Angel Race and built for them by the Owl Dragon — there were Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships as well.
And through that month there had been no further word of the angel Tilia.
Until now.