The female officer walked past Old Chen and approached Zachary Chase, taking off the white glove on her right hand and extending her slender hand. "We meet again."
Zachary looked at the female officer, Captain Victoria Shaw, with some surprise, wondering why she was here.
Out of politeness, Zachary shook her hand, but quickly released it. Actually, he didn't really want to deal with the Imperial Army, as the Imperial Army represented the Star Glory Empire, and if the people of the Empire knew too much about him, it would inevitably be a bit troublesome. This bounty mission was, on one hand, a system-triggered task, and on the other, a problem of insufficient resources for the quarterly task of building a starship.
"This guy wouldn't happen to like men, would he?" Captain Shaw muttered inwardly, watching Zachary quickly release her hand. However, this was a good opportunity to do him a favor.
"If this gentleman wasn't mistaken just now, your Interstellar Transport Ship fleet is responsible for executing this P331 Asteroid evacuation mission, right?" Captain Shaw turned her head to look at the man, whose face was pale and forehead covered in sweat.
"May I ask… you… you… are?" Old Chen asked cautiously, his gaze constantly scanning the golden Shaw family crest Captain Shaw wore.
"My little Song… our commander is speaking to you, what are you looking at!" Commander Elena Vance stepped forward and slapped Old Chen directly across the face.
Old Chen quickly averted his gaze and hurriedly explained, "I am… I am the fleet commander of the Interstellar Transport Ship fleet responsible for the P331 Asteroid evacuation mission, but… but we successfully completed the civilian evacuation mission…"
"Then, are you saying that this gentleman is lying when he says you deliberately delayed and were unwilling to go to P331 Asteroid to evacuate the civilians?" Captain Shaw retorted.
"Yes… of course it is! There's a grudge between us, and he deliberately framed me, and… and he even directly attacked my starship with a main cannon. I was even preparing to sue him in military court!" Old Chen said, steeling himself. Now he could only deny everything; otherwise, the price he would have to pay would be enormous.
"Lieutenant Song." Captain Shaw suddenly called out a name.
Among the soldier guards, a male soldier walked out and stood in front of Captain Shaw. Seeing this male soldier, who seemed like a personal guard, Old Chen and the others were stunned. Because this male soldier was wearing a general's uniform, and there was clearly one star on his rank. This male soldier was actually an Imperial One-Star Brigadier General!
A woman could easily make a One-Star Brigadier General her personal guard, plus that golden crest—her identity seemed to be on the verge of being revealed.
"Subordinate is here."
"This gentleman said just now that he was wronged. Go and investigate for me—investigate thoroughly. We cannot wrong a good person, nor can we let a bad person go." Captain Shaw said coldly, her tone carrying an icy chill.
"Understood, subordinate." Lieutenant Song first looked at Zachary with reverence and saluted him. Lieutenant Song was also present during the previous battle with the Zerg, as the captain of another starship. So he also greatly admired this man in front of him.
When Lieutenant Song's gaze shifted to Old Chen, Old Chen instantly felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
"Don't worry, we won't wrong anyone. You just wait for me here. Ten minutes—that's enough." Lieutenant Song finished speaking and immediately led a few personal guards to investigate the matter.
Old Chen swallowed hard, sweat pouring down him. He frantically recalled whether he had handled everything properly. He had instructed everyone in the fleet to keep their mouths shut, but their words couldn't be considered direct evidence. He could argue it was slander. And he had deleted all the starship's navigation logs—everything that could leave evidence. As for the video footage that guy's starship might have recorded when it warned him, he could completely explain that his starship was truly damaged and that guy just happened to encounter him while he was undergoing repairs.
Good… good… everything… everything is fine… Nothing will happen.
"Hello, let's reintroduce ourselves. My name is Victoria Shaw, and I am the commander of a small Imperial Army fleet." Captain Shaw greeted Zachary with a smile.
Zachary rolled his eyes inwardly. Your military rank is Colonel. But you have a One-Star Brigadier General under you? Who would believe you're just the commander of a small Imperial Army fleet.
"Mm," Zachary responded.
Captain Shaw gazed into the starship workshop. She saw the Blizzard Zero and another Aircraft Carrier Starship undergoing repairs.
"This one is called Blizzard Zero. What about the other Aircraft Carrier Starship?" Captain Shaw asked enthusiastically.
"T2 Bee Queen-class Heavy Carrier Starship," Zachary replied.
"Bee Queen? A name I've never heard of. I've searched the starship database thoroughly, and I haven't found the models of your two starships." Captain Shaw asked curiously, blinking her eyes.
Zachary said, "I'm not sure either."
You're not sure? You're not sure about your own starship? This guy's attitude toward her was really cold.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Just then, dense footsteps sounded. People wearing clothes with the Black Fox pattern came around the corner of the distant corridor, numbering three to four hundred, each holding various weapons, and even laser guns!
But the next second, they were stunned. They saw a team of fewer than thirty Imperial Army soldiers, but they had already taken up formation, their laser guns aimed at them. At this moment, the air seemed to quiet down.
"What… what's going on?" The Black Fox Society's small leader was dumbfounded. Why were Imperial Army soldiers here?
"What's going on?" Captain Shaw saw these people and realized they were coming for Zachary.
"Troublemakers," Zachary said.
"These should be people from the Black Fox Society. Did you offend them?" Captain Shaw asked curiously.
Zachary coldly swept his gaze over the Black Fox Society members in the distance. "They wanted to steal my soldiers."
The Black Fox Society members in the distance began to retreat cautiously.
"Hey, you, the one leading—come over here." Captain Shaw suddenly pointed at a very obvious small leader among the Black Fox Society crowd.
The small leader's face was pale. He had also seen Captain Shaw, and he had seen Captain Shaw's golden crest. At this moment, he dared not leave. He could only steel himself and walk over, while also seeing his stunned subordinate, Wang Qiang, standing nearby.
What was wrong with this guy? He clearly told him that there were people who took away the succubi, so why were there Imperial Army soldiers here!
Wang Qiang also felt very wronged at this moment. He had originally wanted to send a message to the Black Fox Society members after the Imperial Army appeared, telling them not to come yet. But at that time, the officer named Lieutenant Song's gaze fell directly on him. With just one glance, he gave up those small thoughts.
"Speak, why are you here?" Captain Shaw asked, crossing her arms.
The small leader lowered his head, not knowing what to say for a moment.
"If you don't tell me, then I'll go directly and ask your Black Fox Society boss," Captain Shaw narrowed her eyes.
"May I know, Commander… are you…?" The small leader tried to ask.
"My name is Victoria Shaw, and this is my friend. If you bully my friend, then you are bullying me." Captain Shaw pointed generously at Zachary behind her.
Zachary's mouth twitched. When did he become this grand-aunt's friend?
Victoria Shaw? Golden crest? Shaw? The Shaw family!
Suddenly, the small leader thought of something, and his whole body trembled, his eyes looking as if he had seen a monstrous beast.
"You are from the Shaw family…" The small leader subconsciously began to utter the female officer's name, but was intimidated by her gaze.