Quarterly mission: complete, within this quarter, a volume of trade with the Angel Race of 50 trillion star coins.
Ding! The quarterly mission is complete; the mission reward may be collected.
Zhao Chen lay upon an inflatable bed floating on the water, in sunglasses and swimming trunks, feeling the gentle sunlight stroke his skin.
At his ear he could hear the sounds of play in the water.
And from a distance came waves of a savory smell.
"With a good half month yet to the month's end, this task is done at last." Zhao Chen stretched himself and adjusted the back of the float, so that he might sit comfortably upon it.
This was an inland lake.
Some snow mountains could be seen in the distance; behind him lay a stretch of green turf, and an orchard further off.
The air was neither cold nor hot, but very pleasant.
Within the water several figures could be seen at play: Xue Xiaoxiao chasing Zhao Wan'er and Midel with a water gun.
Of a sudden a figure shot up out of the water.
The water gun struck the several women precisely; and by the time they had caught up with it, this figure had dived again and vanished without a trace.
That was the snake-woman Qingman; in such a place as this the advantage was hers.
And upon the turf at a distance one could see Lilith, Shen Bing, Su Lan and the rest making good things to eat, and Annie's figure among them.
Annie ran here and ran there, looking very busy; wherever one looked, there she was.
But watch closely and one would find she was in fact doing nothing whatever, though there was no small quantity of grease about her mouth.
And there were others besides seated by the lake, in twos and threes, discussing something.
Nana and the Spider Queen Iris, for instance, were discussing starship manufacturing technology.
Zhao Ruyue, Leona and Chu Xuan stood before an interstellar war sand table, seeming to talk of something.
Whoosh.
Of a sudden two figures shot across the lake's surface at speed.
Those were the harpy Avina and their guest from the Angel Race, the angel Tabitha; the two sped through lake, hill and wood at an astonishing rate, each chasing the other.
"Commander, have some fruit." A graceful figure rose out of the water, one hand upon the float, the other holding a bubble tray.
Within it lay fruit already peeled.
"My thanks." Zhao Chen took the tray from the hand of the mermaid Haina.
It must be said that this fruit… was truly large.
"Life ought to be like this," Zhao Chen said with feeling.
At a thought he collected the quarterly mission's reward.
Congratulations: obtained the technical drawings of the T5 Diamond-Eden-class Starship, and 2,000 task points.
Current task points: 2,550.
As it fell out, this quarterly reward gave Zhao Chen the very task points he was short of.
Zhao Chen took the chance to look over his own present data.
Host: Zhao Chen
Profession: topmost starship engineer
Special attributes: fleet luck-value bonus; the Eye of Insight
System points: 390 million (monthly fleet income: 66 million points)
Task points: 2,550
Starships: above 150,000
Task: annual mission (in progress)
Warehouse: technical drawings of the T5 Diamond-Eden-class Starship
With the fleet's scale widening, the passive income of Zhao Chen's system points was rising without cease; in the main, he need only open his eyes and shut them and no small sum came in.
In truth these system points could already exchange for any T5-grade warship whatever.
It was only that his task points had been insufficient before.
Now the task points sufficed; Zhao Chen opened the system shop, and his eyes fell straight upon the dearest warship in the whole column of T5-series combat classes.
A thought.
Expend 200 million system points and 1,500 task points to exchange for the item "technical drawings of the T5 Crimson-Reaper-class Heavy Interstellar Strategic Missile Ship"?
Confirm the exchange!
Two hundred million system points and 1,500 task points expended; congratulations: obtained the technical drawings of the T5 Crimson-Reaper-class Heavy Interstellar Strategic Missile Ship.
Current system points: 190 million.
Current task points: 1,050.
Seeing that he had come by the technology of such a missile ship, Zhao Chen could not keep the corner of his mouth from rising.
This is at present the dearest warship in the T5 system shop's column of combat classes.
And what is dear is dear for a reason.
And the system points and task points that remained Zhao Chen did not leave lying idle either.
For his plan of a super fleet stood there before him; and lacking a few classes within it would always leave one feeling something was wanting, and the thing not quite perfect.
Zhao Chen sought out another class.
This one was not so dear as the former.
Expend 130 million system points and 900 task points to exchange for the item "technical drawings of the T5 Frost-Tyrant-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Battlecruiser"?
Confirm!
One hundred and thirty million system points and 900 task points expended; congratulations: obtained the technical drawings of the T5 Frost-Tyrant-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Battlecruiser.
Current system points: 60 million.
Current task points: 150.
Looking at task points once more at the bottom, Zhao Chen shrugged helplessly.
This T5 Frost-Tyrant is in fact the upgraded form of the earlier T4 Tyrant-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Battlecruiser; the two are much alike, but the T5 Frost-Tyrant has been carried through a T5-series upgrade and reconstruction in every particular.
It is at present the battlecruiser class best fitted to the Owl Dragon Legion!
"So my super fleet may be reckoned somewhat complete." Zhao Chen was well satisfied.
He raised both hands again and began setting these three classes into a data disc.
Before long, this being done.
Zhao Chen tapped at his side.
The float began sailing slowly of itself toward the lakeside.
Before long it reached the shore.
Zhao Chen stood up, and his feet came down upon fine sand.
"Commander, you come at the very moment. We are very nearly ready here. There are good things of every sort! The taste is excellent! These are some materials of the finest sort I kept expressly for you; taste them quickly!" The first to greet Zhao Chen was, of all people, Annie.
She even pushed a serving cart to Zhao Chen's side, and said it to him with an air of display.
The women behind her could not keep from laughing.
Though Annie had indeed taken a part in the making of these foods, in the main they had been finished by the several of them working together.
Zhao Chen of course knew this too; this small slippery thing was here presenting another's flowers as her own gift.
Zhao Chen said, with a show of glad surprise, "Truly? Then I must make ready some gift for our Chief Engineer Annie."
Zhao Chen wore an air of great solemnity.
"A gift and such — you are far too kind." So Annie said with her mouth; but her eyes were all excitement, and the true feeling in them could not be hidden at all.
Zhao Chen drew out three data discs and handed them to Annie.
"Here — this is the gift I have made ready for you.
"You should like it very much."
Annie looked at the three familiar data discs before her, and her expression turned to stone; it was as though these three discs were so many scalding-hot potatoes, and within her were ten thousand refusals.