Chapter 2007: The chapter is that of an emperor!
Nearly half a year has passed since the agreement to establish a mercenary force was issued by the Dragon Emperor.
In the past six months.
The Dragon Star Empire has generally weathered this period smoothly.
Although the Three Gods Civilization is hostile to the Wyvern Interstellar Empire, they are currently unable to launch a counterattack against it in the short term.
As for the Saintess Civilization, although eight of its universes were occupied by the Wraith Dragon Interstellar Empire.
However, they were the ones most affected by this war.
They also suffered the most losses.
In addition, the bounty from the Dragon Star Empire is still in effect.
There are still quite a few interstellar forces that are creating chaos within the Tri-Gods Civilization in order to obtain the bounty from the Wraith Dragon Interstellar Empire.
Especially in the Holy Maiden Civilization.
As everyone now knows, the Saintess Civilization is currently the weakest of the three Divine Envoy Civilizations.
You should naturally pick the softest persimmon.
This also meant that the eight universes controlled by the Dragon Star Empire were almost unaffected during this period.
On some front-line battlefields against the Holy Maiden Civilization, only localized, low-intensity fighting was maintained.
This is something the Dragon Star Empire can completely accept.
Within this six-month period.
On one hand, they were consuming the civilization of the Three Gods.
Meanwhile, they began to rebuild their own legion fleet.
In just six months, the Xiaolong Interstellar Empire not only replenished the interstellar warships lost in the previous battles, but also further improved their quality.
In addition, there is the situation regarding the construction of the mercenary fleet of the Xiaolong Interstellar Empire.
Emperor Xiaolong is currently listening to reports on this matter.
"To date, the total number of people who have signed cooperation agreements with us through mercenary agreements in exchange for the right to use interstellar warships is around 500 million."
Five hundred million?
This number is truly terrifying.
"Of these 500 million, more than 450 million are T3-class interstellar warships."
It's reasonable that low-level interstellar warships make up the vast majority.
After all, those people can't afford expensive interstellar warships, and the Xiaolong Interstellar Empire can't provide that many high-level interstellar warships in a short period of time.
"There are also 49 million T4-class interstellar warships."
The remaining one million are T5-class interstellar warships.
Among these interstellar warships, the majority are interstellar destroyers, with a certain number of interstellar battlecruisers as well.
These two factors account for 90%.
"The rest are mostly high-performance, cost-effective interstellar warships," Secretary Lilith reported to Emperor Xiaolong.
Emperor Xiaolong understood.
"So, how much is left so far?" Emperor Xiaolong asked.
This is just the amount on paper.
However, more than half a year is enough to wear down the patience of many early adopters, and some will pay the price for this feast.
"These 500 million interstellar warships."
Of these, 50 million ships were lost in battle.
The most important battles came from the Black Wall defenses.
The Black Wall defense mission has always been available, and because of its high mission score, it remains highly sought after despite its consistently high casualty rate.
The starships that have been involved in the Black Wall defense missions have basically undergone a complete transformation, and some of them even have combat capabilities comparable to the crew of our Xiaolong Legion fleet.
In addition to these, there were 50 million interstellar warships that went bankrupt due to mismanagement. Ultimately, these warships were recovered by us, and the personnel were properly taken care of.
There are also 150 million interstellar warships, which were abandoned by the individuals involved because they felt they were not suitable for the interstellar mercenary system.
For those who voluntarily give up their rights, according to regulations, we will deduct the initial payment and then confiscate the interstellar warship unconditionally. All deposits and fees will not be returned.
In short, there are still approximately 250 million interstellar warships operating in our JF-17 space cluster.
After six months of fermentation, this frenzy gradually slowed down.
At its peak, more than 50 million interstellar warships were registered every week, but now only 10 million interstellar warships are registered every week.
The number of registrations is less than the number of withdrawals or casualties in battle.
According to calculations by our secretariat.
Based on the current size of our JF-17 space cluster.
Ultimately, the size of our JF-17 mercenary fleet will stabilize at around 300 million ships, and will not increase further.
Emperor Zhao Chen looked at this string of data.
"Three hundred million ships...that's enough."
Although these 300 million ships are all T3-class interstellar warships, they are enough to be used as cannon fodder in any real combat mission.
Moreover, these are all high-level cannon fodder using our Xiaolong series interstellar warships.
When our production capacity increases in the future, we can lower the contract price for the T4 Starship.
The current selling price of our T4 Skeleton King-class heavy interstellar armored destroyer is 50 billion star coins.
The total contract price is 30 billion Star Coins, and the payment ratio according to the contract is 1.5 billion Star Coins.
However, the initial cost of such a T4 Skeleton King-class heavy interstellar armored destroyer was one billion star coins.
But now our industrial system is complete, our technology system is improved, and with the advancement of technology, the cost has been further reduced. Basically, the cost of building one ship is around 700 million Star Coins.
In the future, we can certainly lower the contract price even further.
The rules we've established for this industry are already sufficient to ensure we don't lose money.
Our purpose in building the JF-17 mercenary fleet is not to make money.
Then we can sell to external customers at cost price.
At that time, the initial payment for a single T4 Skeleton King-class heavy interstellar armored destroyer will be less than one billion star coins.
This could definitely attract more people to join us.
Secretary Lilith nodded: "We've taken that into consideration as well."
We will continue to implement this approach in the future.
We even offered a number of subsidy policies. For example, if you don't have funds, we can accept property as collateral and provide low-interest loans.
Support these mercenary fleets as much as possible without incurring losses for us.
Even the shipyard repairs and resupply services we provided were priced quite low.
These are mentioned.
Emperor Xiaolong reminded him, "However, with such a large industry, it is bound to attract attention."
I heard about it recently.
Some people will take advantage of this because we offer contracts to hire starships at prices lower than normal interstellar warship orders.
They used the guise of hiring starships to obtain contract starships from us, and then sold them to others.
Emperor Zhao Chen stared at Lilith.
Lilith nodded: "Yes, there have been nearly a thousand such cases so far."
The losses it has caused us are nearly a trillion.
We had anticipated this.
Relevant arrest departments were also established, and some criminal organizations were dismantled and arrested.
Recently, there was a crackdown operation targeting the largest group of forces behind the attacks on our contracted starships.
I can't guarantee that a puddle of water will be completely free of mud, but I can make it as clear as possible.
"It's already quite good that you can do this."
Speaking of which, shouldn't we put that matter on the agenda as well?
"Now that the hype has subsided, we should give them some more buzz," said Emperor Zhao Chen with a smile.
"We have already arranged the corresponding activities here."
This is the list we selected.
There are ten people in total.
These ten people represent ten completely different social classes.
Zhao Chen glanced at the ten documents; they all belonged to members of an interstellar mercenary fleet.
"Okay, that's all."
"Is there anything I can do?" Zhao Chen asked.
"Everything you need to do is written here."
"You just need to do as instructed." Secretary Lilith handed an event plan to Emperor Xiaolong.
Emperor Xiaolong glanced at it and basically understood.
——————
In a starport within the JF-17 Space Cluster.
The port is brightly lit and decorated today, and some shipping lanes are even under control.
"Why is it so lively here today?" someone asked curiously from inside a shuttle, looking at the dazzling location in the distant starport.
"You don't even know this?"
You know about mercenary fleets, right?
I know that.
I have another friend who built his own interstellar warship, but he gave up in less than three months.
He said he was only suited to playing games; the real experience of commanding a fleet was something most people couldn't handle.
"Today, one of the interstellar warships participating in the mercenary fleet program has completed the redemption of all mission points and has acquired ownership of that interstellar warship!"
This is precisely the official celebration ceremony they're holding!
"What?
In just six months, someone has already completed it?
That can't be!
"If you don't believe me, you can go and see for yourself."
Driven by curiosity, many people entered the venue.
The venue was built around a shipyard, where a starship was docked.
It was a T4 Gorgon-class heavy interstellar gunship, although it was clear that the starship had been cleaned.
However, many traces of battle can still be seen on the hull.
Just by looking at these marks, everyone could tell what kind of dangerous battles this interstellar heavy gunship had gone through.
Keep in mind that this is an interstellar heavy artillery ship, which is usually kept in the core area of the fleet during battles and is protected.
If even a spaceship like this could suffer damage to its hull, one can only imagine how brutal the battle must have been.
Soon it was time for the event to begin.
A series of light screens appeared on the surface of this interstellar warship.
The screen displayed a series of human faces; these were the crew members of the T4 Gorgon-class heavy interstellar gunship.
In addition, some combat scenes were shown, all of which were battles experienced by this T4 Gorgon-class heavy interstellar gunship.
In addition, some grayed-out avatars appeared, which naturally represent the crew members who sacrificed their lives on this T4 Gorgon-class heavy interstellar gunship in the past six months.
There are not many people, about fifty names.
Through these, we can learn about the history this interstellar warship has experienced.
"Let me give you a grand introduction to Captain Li Hua, the captain of our White Dragon T4 Medusa-class heavy interstellar gunship!"
As the host's voice rang out, beneath a floating platform atop the bow of the T4 Gorgon-class heavy interstellar gunship, the host and Captain Li Hua stood face to face.
Behind them were two enormous figures of light, like giants of light.
"Captain Li Hua, your experience and that of the Baijiao have been hailed as legendary by many."
Is there anything you'd like to say to us?
Compared to six months ago, Li Hua now seems more shrewd and calculating.
He glanced around and said without changing his expression, "About the mercenary business."
I want to tell everyone that this is indeed a shortcut provided by the Dragon Star Empire to set foot on the stars.
However, this does not mean that everyone can succeed.
Along this road, I witnessed the sacrifice of many friends.
Some are ordinary people, while others are descendants of large families.
On the battlefield of the stars and the sea, no matter your status, everyone is the same in front of naval cannons.
The only thing that can protect you is this interstellar warship beneath your feet.
Therefore, if you are just someone who harbors beautiful fantasies, I advise you not to try it lightly.
Once you've truly decided to enter this field, you must stick with it to the end, because here...
You can truly discover a completely different world, and here you can truly live a completely different life!
Captain Li Hua's words drew cheers from many people.
After some more speeches.
The host then proceeded with the program.
"Next comes the most important part."
"Please welcome our special guest!" The host suddenly bowed and stepped back.
This sudden action caught Captain Li Hua completely off guard.
This shows that he was completely unaware of what might happen next.
A huge light screen appeared.
Within the light screen was a figure on a throne.
This figure was absolutely familiar to all the beings in the Dragon Universe.
That military uniform, those brows, that aura.
Emperor of the Dragon Star Empire!
Some people were already kneeling on the ground.
"My God, it's actually a holographic projection of His Majesty the Dragon Emperor!"
"That's my idol, His Majesty the Emperor! His Majesty the Emperor!"
In that instant, the entire starport erupted in excitement.
Those who hadn't paid much attention to the ceremony before flocked to the site after learning that a projection of the Dragon Emperor had appeared, eager to catch a glimpse of his imposing presence!
Even if it's just a holographic projection, it's an opportunity that many people dream of.
"Li Hua".
Captain Li Hua stared blankly at the light and shadow, completely dumbfounded.
He never expected that His Majesty the Emperor of the Dragon would call his name.
He felt his heart stop beating.