"Although the Fire Salamander Tribe is not the strongest stellar power in the Reef Starfield, they possess nearly three thousand starships! Their strength is considerable.
After suffering this setback, they will certainly dispatch additional interstellar fleets.
Relying on just one starship, you might... face some difficulties..." Clan Chief Bagin spoke somewhat tactfully; what he actually wanted to say was that this was an impossible task.
A single starship might be able to handle those three to four hundred Fire Lizard Fleet vessels.
But what if they send one or two thousand next time?
Even if Commander Zhao Chen's T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser is truly powerful, under the siege of so many starships, there will inevitably come a time when ammunition runs out.
"Who said I only have this one starship?" Zhao Chen smiled mysteriously.
Annie, standing beside him, proudly placed her hands on her hips and said, "Dad, you don't know this, but the commander's fleet is very strong.
Those smelly lizards are no match for the commander at all.
Right, Commander!"
Hearing Annie's flattering words, Zhao Chen poked her head. "I know exactly what's going on in that little head of yours.
You're just hoping I can control this star system so your parents and clansmen can be safe."
Annie stuck out her tongue.
"Who was it that said if I was willing to save her people, she would work for me without eating or drinking?" Zhao Chen deliberately brought up her previous words.
Annie immediately backed down. She ducked her head, clutching the hem of her clothes, and muttered somewhat pitifully, "But... but if Annie doesn't eat enough... she won't have the strength to work..."
Zhao Chen stopped teasing Annie and turned to Clan Chief Bagin. "I'm just informing you about this matter so you can mentally prepare yourselves.
As for the specifics, I will arrange everything properly.
Also, please select those dwarves willing to leave within three days.
These five T2 Moose-class Heavy Interstellar Transport Ships will depart and return to base within three days."
With so many excellent stellar artisans, Zhao Chen wished he had a portal to send them directly back to his Fierce Dragon Territory.
"Understood, I will handle it right away." Clan Chief Bagin went to carry out the tasks assigned by Commander Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen alone jumped onto the shoulder of a T2 Black Knight-class Light Interstellar Combat Mech, sat down, and opened a video communication with Charlotte.
"Commander." Charlotte's image appeared before Zhao Chen, with the T3 Blizzard bridge in the background.
"Report on the battle situation," Zhao Chen said.
Charlotte replied without hesitation, "In this battle, the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser destroyed over two hundred starships.
This includes one T3 interstellar warship, thirty-seven T2 starships, and the rest were T1 interstellar warships.
The remaining starships of the Fire Lizard Fleet all escaped.
The T3 Blizzard's stellar shield energy value remains at 37%. After exiting the battle-ready state, it is expected to fully recover on its own within the next forty hours.
Starship energy reserves are at 55%, and stellar ship ammunition reserves are at 64%. Among these, thirty-eight stellar missiles were consumed, leaving twelve stellar missiles remaining."
"Overall hull armor damage has reached 13%, with the most severely damaged areas at 30%. There are no personnel casualties."
Listening to Charlotte report these combat data, her expression remained unchanged, as if this battle was merely an insignificant game.
After all, the real confrontation was only the few minutes of intense frontal combat with the T3 Arkham-class medium interstellar battleship at the beginning.
Once the T3 Arkham fell, the Fire Lizard Fleet completely lost its will to fight.
If the enemy had maintained sufficient combat discipline and fought the T3 Blizzard to the death,
or if the commanders had been swapped, Charlotte would have had at least a fifty percent chance of victory.
Unfortunately, there was no such "if."
Zhao Chen now explained his plan to subdue the entire FY Star System to Charlotte.
A flicker of liveliness flashed in Charlotte's eyes—a spark that had only appeared before when facing millions of interstellar Zerg.
It seemed that this "game" had finally piqued Charlotte's interest.
"Based on the situation of the Fire Salamander Tribe, if they want to reorganize their fleet and launch another attack, they will need at least half a month to assemble and prepare.
In terms of timing, our follow-up fleet should be able to arrive here within half a month without much issue," Charlotte said.
Zhao Chen nodded. "Then you can start formulating several operational plans."
"Yes," Charlotte replied.
Earlier, when he learned that the Fire Salamander Tribe had attacked the Dwarf planet, Zhao Chen had managed to send a message to Lilith. Although communication was difficult due to the distance, they had fortunately managed to connect.
Lilith should have already arranged for the follow-up interstellar fleet to be on its way.
Once the Fierce Dragon Fleet was fully assembled, dealing with those Fire Lizard fleets would be a trivial matter.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
The remaining Fire Lizard ground forces on the planet were completely cleared, and the planet was once again under the control of the Dwarf race.
Moreover, Zhao Chen's intention to recruit Dwarf craftsmen had spread throughout the various Dwarf refuge bases.
Compared to the First Shelter Base, where Zhao Chen himself was present, fewer Dwarves in the other refuge bases trusted him.
In the end, over the three days,
only fifty thousand Dwarves were willing to board Zhao Chen's T2 Moose-class heavy interstellar transport ships and leave. The vast majority of them were family units, and many of these families included elderly, weak, women, and children.
It was precisely because of their dire circumstances that they decided to take the risk and head to the rumored Fierce Dragon Star System, gambling on a better future.
Zhao Chen didn't mind this. Having family units made it easier to "control" these Dwarves in the future. Wouldn't they be more loyal in serving him?
Moreover, he could later convey to the Dwarves here how he treated those who followed him.
Wouldn't there be a second or third batch of Dwarves willing to follow him?
"Here is the list of Dwarves willing to follow you and leave," Clan Chief Bagin handed an electronic list to Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen glanced at it.
Twenty thousand males, thirty thousand females.
Among them, there were thirty thousand adult laborers in total.
Of these, twenty thousand were adult female Dwarves capable of labor.
Of course, not every one of these twenty thousand female Dwarves possesses exceptional manufacturing skills; they will need to be screened accordingly.
However, selecting two to three thousand from these twenty thousand should not be a problem; the rest can be put to work after undergoing a series of training sessions.
The qualified female Dwarves will be assigned to his Interstellar Industrial Ship, while the remaining male and female Dwarves will all be placed in industrial factories on designated planets.
Zhao Chen noticed a few names on the list and looked at Clan Chief Bagin with some surprise.
He had met Annie's mother and five siblings over the past few days.
These six individuals were included on the list.
Clan Chief Bagin scratched his head sheepishly: "I must stay here to take care of these clansmen.
But my wife and children are willing to go with Annie to the place she describes as 'heaven.'
I entrust these clansmen to you, Commander."
After saying this, Clan Chief Bagin performed an ancient Dwarf race ritual salute to Zhao Chen.