For now, Zhao Chen set aside the matter of the T3 Phantom Stinger-class light interstellar stealth bomber. After all, if the current situation couldn't be handled properly, building any starship would be nothing but empty talk.
Zhao Chen glanced at his data panel again. With tens of thousands of system points, he hadn't exchanged for any starship technology due to the lack of sufficient construction resources.
"I wonder if it's enough to upgrade to the T4 starship store," Zhao Chen muttered to himself.
If he could exchange for T4-level interstellar warships, then after overcoming the current crisis, he could quickly establish a space force strong enough to protect himself!
[T3 System Store Upgrade Conditions
First Requirement: Exchange for three T3-level commodities (0/3)
Second Requirement: Complete three B-level system tasks (2/3)
Third Requirement: Consume 60,000 system points for store upgrade (14,720/60,000)]
Zhao Chen…
Apart from having completed two of the B-level system tasks, the remaining two conditions were far from being met.
The first requirement was because Zhao Chen hadn't found the time to exchange for suitable T3 commodities.
The third option was downright outrageous—a full 60,000 system points!
Zhao Chen had no idea how long it would take him to accumulate that much.
It seemed upgrading to the T4 system store in the short term was impossible.
Beep beep beep
Just as Zhao Chen was lost in thought, his handheld terminal received a message.
It was from an unfamiliar account, but the line of text made his pupils contract.
'My granddaughter tells me you want to talk to me?'
Following this message was a room link.
Zhao Chen knew that the moment he had been waiting for was about to arrive.
"Huff… huff…" Zhao Chen took a deep breath and sat down in the chair of his bedroom office. In the next moment, the surroundings transformed.
Zhao Chen's bedroom turned into a simple, classical meeting room. In front of him was a round table two meters in diameter, surrounded by four plain walls with no decorations.
There were no lights, but the entire room was brightly lit.
The desk in Zhao Chen's bedroom on the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser had holographic projection capabilities, a communication technology more advanced than standard video calls.
Zhao Chen sat in the chair and waited.
He waited for the person who had sent him the room invitation to enter.
One minute… three minutes… five minutes… ten minutes…
Zhao Chen didn't know how much time had passed, but he remained seated in the same posture.
Finally, a figure appeared out of thin air in the chair opposite him.
It was an elderly man dressed in simple, classical attire, with silver hair and a kind smile on his face.
If Zhao Chen hadn't known the identity of the person before him, he would have thought this was just an ordinary old man.
"Zhao Chen, Baron of the Fierce Dragon Star System. Greetings, Governor of the Chu River Star Sector, Your Grace the Duke." Zhao Chen placed his hand over his chest and bowed.
That's right!
The person Zhao Chen was meeting was none other than Chu Xuan's grandfather, Governor Chu He, Imperial Duke, Five-Star Marshal, Chu Changhe!
Governor Chu looked Zhao Chen up and down, nodding with a faint smile. "The younger generation is to be feared, truly to be feared. I actually quite admire you.
But there's one thing you did that has left me very dissatisfied. Originally, I intended to hold you accountable for it."
"But my daughter guessed my thoughts. She insisted that she went with you willingly and it had nothing to do with you. She even threatened to turn against me if I blamed you for it.
Tsk tsk tsk... That girl, truly as the saying goes, a grown daughter is no longer one's own."
"It was my fault for being reckless at the time. I shouldn't have put Miss Chu in danger." It was that woman who jumped on board herself—what does it have to do with me?
Although Zhao Chen thought this in his heart, only a fool would speak their mind in such a situation.
"Let's set this matter aside for now. I heard that before you departed for the Water Lily Star System, you told my granddaughter that you were willing to cooperate with our Chu Family?
This confuses me. When did I ever tell you that our Chu Family wanted to cooperate with you?" Governor Chu wore a puzzled expression.
Old fox, still unwilling to show his hand at this point.
But who could blame him? After all, he was Governor Chu He, Imperial Duke, and Five-Star Marshal.
Any one of these titles alone was enough to crush a man.
Zhao Chen smiled and said, "Governor, let's speak plainly. You sent your precious granddaughter, whom you had only just brought back from the North Wind Star Domain, back to the North Star Starship Military Academy.
What was the purpose of that? Why should we pretend to be ignorant when we both know the truth?
Since I am willing to sit down and have a heart-to-heart talk with you today, I come with sincerity."
"Then you must first show me your sincerity." Governor Chu looked kindly at Zhao Chen, waiting for him to continue.
Zhao Chen stared at the other man. When it came to scheming, he was no match for this old man. He could only be direct with him!
"Governor, I know that you have always doted on Miss Chu so much because your only son and daughter-in-law perished in a battle against the Mechanical Race in their early years.
In fact, it wasn't just your son and daughter-in-law—your father and your two brothers also all died under the guns of the Mechanical Race's mechanoid starships!
Am I right?" Zhao Chen spoke.
At that moment, although they were only in a virtual holographic projection environment, Zhao Chen could feel the chilling coldness in the air around him.
"I don't like others mentioning my son, daughter-in-law, or the Chu Family's private affairs in front of me. Young man, you have three minutes left to speak.
You'd better say something that interests me, or else... our Chu Family has many ways to cooperate with someone!" Governor Chu narrowed his eyes and stared at Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen shuddered all over, feeling as if he had fallen into an icy abyss.
This was even more terrifying than facing three T3 Hive Motherships and a massive Zerg fleet aboard the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser earlier.
Zhao Chen remained composed and continued, "The Chu River Star Sector was named by your grandfather when the Chu Family was granted their title.
Moreover, the Chu Family has a clan rule:
As long as one member of the Chu Family remains, no mechanoid starship shall cross the Chu River!"
Your father named you Chu Changhe, which seems to carry this meaning as well."
Governor Chu did not speak. Instead, he closed his eyes.
Zhao Chen went on, "But I know that over the years, you haven't just wanted to defend the Chu River Star Sector, the frontier of the Stellar Glory Empire. You also wanted to avenge the Chu Family sons and daughters who died in the war against the Mechanical Race, as well as your own son and daughter-in-law.
However, the only two T4 interstellar warships in the Stellar Glory Empire have always been types that cannot be mass-produced on a large scale."
For example, the T4 Boreas-class Heavy Star Battleship is extremely expensive to construct, and its production requires several scarce mineral resources as raw materials. This makes it impossible to mass-produce the T4 Boreas-class Heavy Star Battleship.
This also means that currently, the Stellar Glory Empire is capable of defending itself but lacks the strength to launch counterattacks."
"The time is almost up," Governor Chu spoke.
Zhao Chen calmly replied, "But what if I could research and develop a T4 interstellar warship that can be mass-produced on a large scale with an extremely high cost-performance ratio?"
Governor Chu opened his eyes. At that moment, his gaze was as sharp as a torch, as if he wanted to devour Zhao Chen whole!
--Enjoying the story? Want more chapters? Check out my Patreon and support me for 80+ advance chapters.
Just search for "LegendaryTL" on Patreon!"
Thanks!