Several days later, after confirming with Li Yaqi that the people she had contacted had arrived at the designated location with five T2 Moose-class Heavy Interstellar Transport Ships, Zhao Chen's T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser also set off.
"Wow..."
Annie stared at the spacious, bright bridge of the T3 Blizzard, her mouth agape.
Although she had already been responsible for building several T2-class interstellar warships, this was her first time actually being aboard a T3-class starship in flight, especially in an important location like the bridge.
She was like a curious baby, looking around everywhere.
"According to our flight route, we will head to the North Star System Stargate, then pass through several stargate traversals before arriving at a stargate location in a border star system. From there, we will travel to the edge of that system.
We will rendezvous with the fleet arranged by Li Yaqi there and take over the T2 Moose-class Heavy Interstellar Transport Ships.
After that, we will continue on to the Reef Starfield.
The entire navigation plan is expected to take at least fifteen days.
As per your instructions, besides the replacement crew needed for those five T2 Moose-class Heavy Interstellar Transport Ships, the T3 Blizzard has also carried as much food as possible," a golden-haired, twin-tailed succubus girl standing beside Zhao Chen said somewhat nervously.
This was the candidate Lilith had previously recommended for training.
The succubus Aili.
For this operation, since Lilith had stayed behind at the Soaring Dragon Base, she suggested that Zhao Chen bring Aili along for some practical experience.
"Alright, proceed as you've outlined," Zhao Chen agreed.
"Warp Drive Course Pre-programming complete. We will now enter the acceleration phase. In ten minutes, we will enter the Warp Navigation Phase.
All starship crew must enter deep-sea mode within ten minutes!
I repeat, all starship crew must enter deep-sea mode within ten minutes!" Aili's voice now echoed throughout the starship.
Simultaneously, hibernation pods appeared on the bridge as well.
However, looking at a hibernation pod beside him, Zhao Chen almost couldn't hold back a laugh.
It was a hibernation pod only a little over a meter long, very compact.
It gave the impression that... an underage hibernation pod was already out working.
This hibernation pod naturally belonged to Annie.
The size of hibernation pods could intelligently adjust according to the user's physique.
With deep-sea mode about to be activated, the Starship System scanned the personnel information on the bridge and assigned each person their own hibernation pod at the nearest location.
Annie didn't overthink it. She walked into her own hibernation pod and even remembered to wave at Zhao Chen next door: "Goodnight, Commander."
Then, Annie really closed her eyes like a child ready for sleep.
This Annie is too naive. If all the dwarves in her tribe are like her, they'd be so easy to fool... so easy to get along with.
Zhao Chen entered his own hibernation pod.
Afterwards, the T3 Blizzard would use the stargate of the North Star System.
Using the stargate wouldn't risk exposing the T3 Blizzard's movements.
Because, viewed from the outside at this moment, this T3 Blizzard was completely unrecognizable compared to before.
The entire starship now had a gray paint scheme, with additional camouflage added to certain areas of the ship hull.
Before departure, following Zhao Chen's instructions, Annie had disguised the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser to more closely resemble another obscure T3 interstellar cruiser available on the market.
Thus, based on appearance alone, it would be very difficult for anyone to recognize this starship as the legendary T3 Blizzard!
No one would know that Zhao Chen was about to quietly leave the Stellar Glory Empire.
The thought of leaving the territory of the Stellar Glory Empire for the first time filled Zhao Chen with a small thrill.
...
Several days later, in a border star system located at the junction of the North Wind Star Domain and the Chu River Star Sector, a gray starship emerged from the Stargate.
It soon entered warp navigation again, heading toward the edge of the star system.
After an unknown length of time.
The gray starship slowly came to a stop.
"All personnel on the bridge, return to your posts within one minute and check all starship data.
All personnel on the starship, return to your posts within three minutes and stand by." Aili quickly awoke from her hibernation pod and relayed the orders.
Zhao Chen looked at Charlotte beside him.
Charlotte said, "We are attempting to establish contact with the handover party."
After waiting for over ten minutes, they finally received a signal on the communication channel.
It was a string of garbled code, but to Zhao Chen, it was not so simple—this was the coded signal Li Yaqi had given him to rendezvous with that group of interstellar pirates.
Zhao Chen input and transmitted another string of garbled code.
Soon, both parties established contact and confirmed the handover location.
With its high speed, the T3 Blizzard quickly arrived at the designated position.
"Starship radar detects ten starships ahead, all T2-class interstellar warships," Charlotte reported, watching the starship radar.
Although this was a routine handover, as a general, she was always prepared for combat, ready to face any potential developments.
Hiss, hiss, hiss—
A video communication window popped up at that moment. After a brief blur, against the somewhat dim background of a bridge, a woman wearing a half-face ghost mask appeared.
The woman wore a dark red top, with the half-face ghost mask covering one side of her face. The exposed half revealed pale skin and unknown black patterns, resembling some kind of text or symbols.
But Zhao Chen did not recognize them.
"All five T2 Moose-class Heavy Interstellar Transport Ships are here. As requested, they are loaded with artificial nutrient meals sufficient for 200,000 people for one month, along with some basic living supplies.
As agreed, once confirmation is received, my personnel will withdraw from the five T2 Moose-class Heavy Interstellar Transport Ships, and your starship crew will take over."
The woman's voice was somewhat hoarse—whether naturally so or disguised was unclear.
Her pupils were actually crimson red, which was extremely rare.
Her eyes were filled with coldness, much like when Zhao Chen first met Charlotte.
Zhao Chen noticed that Charlotte's tail beside him had stopped swaying, holding a peculiar arc.
Zhao Chen knew that was Charlotte's state of high alert.
She was wary of this ghost-masked, crimson-eyed woman.
"Alright," Zhao Chen replied. Since Li Yaqi had said these were people who could be fully trusted, he wouldn't act rashly as long as they posed no threat.
Soon after, several shuttles departed from the hangars of the five T2 Moose-class Heavy Interstellar Transport Ships, leaving the vessels in a low-power automated operation state.
Following this, Zhao Chen's Starship Crew began boarding the five T2 Moose-class Heavy Interstellar Transport Ships via the shuttles.
During this process, Zhao Chen also noticed Charlotte quietly instructing the boarding crew to proceed with caution while conducting thorough inspections of the five Starships to ensure there were no hidden dangers.
The entire handover process lasted half an hour.
Once Zhao Chen's crew had officially taken over the five T2 Moose-class ships, he turned to the girl with the ghost mask and crimson eyes across from him.
"The handover is complete," Zhao Chen stated.
"Farewell," the masked girl with crimson eyes said coldly.
"We may have further collaborations in the future. May I ask how you are addressed?" Zhao Chen inquired.
Given that future dealings with Li Yaqi might involve transporting goods through this group, it was best to learn more about them first.
"We are the Bloody Mary Mercenary Corps. As for my name, only the dead know it. Are you sure you want to hear it?" the ghost-masked girl with crimson eyes replied in an icy tone.