The female officer walked straight past Old Chen and approached Zhao Chen. She removed the white glove from her right hand and extended her slender, jade-like hand. "We meet again."
Zhao Chen looked at this female commander of the Imperial Fleet named Chu Xuan with surprise, wondering why she was here.
Out of courtesy, Zhao Chen shook her hand but quickly released it.
Truthfully, he didn't want to have much to do with the Imperial Army, as they represented the Stellar Glory Empire. If the Empire learned too much about him, it could lead to unnecessary trouble.
He had taken on this Bounty Mission partly because the system had triggered it and partly due to a shortage of resources for building starships for his Quarterly Mission.
"Does this guy not like women?" Chu Xuan wondered inwardly as she watched Zhao Chen quickly let go of her hand.
However, this presented a perfect opportunity to do him a favor.
"If what this gentleman said earlier is correct, your Interstellar Transport Ship Fleet is responsible for carrying out the P331 Asteroid Evacuation Mission, right?" Chu Xuan turned to look at the man whose face was now pale and beaded with sweat.
"May I ask... who... who are you?" Old Chen inquired cautiously, his eyes repeatedly glancing at the golden 'Chu' character insignia Chu Xuan wore.
"Our young... our superior is asking you a question. What are you looking at?" The female adjutant stepped forward and slapped Old Chen across the face.
Old Chen hurriedly averted his gaze and explained, "I am... I am the commander of the Interstellar Transport Ship Fleet responsible for the P331 Asteroid Evacuation Mission. But... but we successfully completed the civilian evacuation task..."
"So you're saying this gentleman lied when he accused you of deliberately delaying and refusing to go to the P331 asteroid to evacuate civilians?" Chu Xuan retorted.
"Yes... of course! We have a personal grudge. He's deliberately framing me, and... and he even directly attacked my starship with ship cannons. I was planning to sue him in the Military Tribunal!" Old Chen said stubbornly, knowing he had to deny everything now, or else the consequences would be severe.
"Xiao Song," Chu Xuan suddenly called out a name.
From among the soldier guards, a male soldier stepped forward and stood before Chu Xuan.
Seeing this male soldier who appeared to be a personal guard, Old Chen and the others were stunned.
Because this male soldier was wearing a general officer uniform, and on his rank insignia was a single star.
This male soldier was actually a one-star brigadier general of the Empire!
A woman who could easily have a one-star brigadier general as her personal guard, combined with that golden insignia—her identity seemed almost obvious.
"At your command."
"This gentleman claims he's been wronged. Go investigate for me, thoroughly investigate. We must not wrong an innocent person, nor let a guilty one go free," Chu Xuan said coldly, her tone icy.
"Understood." Xiao Song first looked at Zhao Chen with respect and saluted him.
During the previous battle against the Zerg, Xiao Song had also been present as the captain of another starship.
Thus, he held great admiration for the man before him.
When Xiao Song's gaze shifted to Old Chen, the latter instantly felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss.
"Don't worry, we won't wrong anyone."
"Wait here for me to return. Ten minutes is enough." After saying this, Xiao Song immediately took several personal guards to investigate the matter.
Old Chen swallowed hard, sweating profusely.
He frantically recalled whether he had handled everything properly. He had instructed everyone in the fleet to keep their mouths shut—though not exactly airtight—but their words couldn't be considered direct evidence.
He could argue it was slander.
As for the Starship's voyage logs, he had deleted them all, removing every piece of evidence that could be left behind.
Regarding the possible recorded footage from that guy's Starship when it warned him, he could easily explain that his own Starship was indeed damaged and just happened to be undergoing repairs when that guy encountered him.
Good… good… everything… everything is fine…
Nothing will go wrong.
"Hello, let me reintroduce myself. I'm Chu Xuan, the commander of a small Imperial Army fleet." Chu Xuan greeted Zhao Chen with a smile.
Zhao Chen rolled his eyes inwardly.
Your military rank is a fourth-class petty officer, at most a chief petty officer.
But you have a One-Star Brigadier General under your command?
Who would believe you're just the commander of a small Imperial Army fleet?
"Hmm." Zhao Chen responded.
Chu Xuan looked into the Starship Workshop, where she saw the Zero Blizzard under repair and another Carrier Starship.
"This one is called Zero Blizzard. What's the name of the other Carrier Starship?" Chu Xuan asked enthusiastically.
"Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship," Zhao Chen replied.
"Queen Bee? I've never heard of that name. I searched the entire Starship Database but couldn't find the models of your two Starships." Chu Xuan blinked curiously as she inquired.
Zhao Chen said, "I'm not sure either."
You're not sure?
You don't know about your own Starships?
This guy is really cold toward me.
Tap tap tap tap
Just then, the sound of dense footsteps echoed.
One after another, people wearing clothes embroidered with the Black Fox emblem turned into the corridor from afar. There were as many as three to four hundred of them, each holding various weapons, even Laser Rifles!
But the next second, they were stunned.
A squad of Imperial Army soldiers, numbering less than thirty, had already taken up positions, aiming the barrels of their Laser Rifles at them.
At that moment, the air seemed to fall silent.
"What… is going on?" The Black Fox Society's small leader was dumbfounded.
Why are Imperial Army soldiers here?
"What's happening?" Chu Xuan saw these people and realized they were targeting Zhao Chen.
"Troublemakers," Zhao Chen said.
"These should be members of the Black Fox Society. Did you offend them?" Chu Xuan asked curiously.
Zhao Chen coldly glanced at the Black Fox Society members in the distance. "They tried to steal my soldiers."
The Black Fox Society members in the distance began cautiously retreating.
"Hey, that leader over there, come here." Chu Xuan suddenly pointed at a clearly visible small leader among the Black Fox Society crowd.
The small leader's face turned pale. He had seen Chu Xuan and noticed her golden insignia.
He didn't dare leave now.
He could only brace himself and walk over, also spotting his subordinate Wang Qiang standing there dumbfounded.
What's wrong with this guy? He clearly told me there were people here who took the Succubus away, so why are there Imperial Army soldiers here too!
Wang Qiang was feeling quite wronged at the moment. Originally, after the Imperial Army appeared, he had wanted to send a message telling the Black Fox Society members not to come.
But at that time, the officer named Xiao Song had fixed his gaze directly on him.
With just a single glance, Wang Qiang abandoned that little scheme of his.
"Speak. Why are you all here?" Chu Xuan asked, crossing her arms.
The small-time leader lowered his head, unsure of what to say for a moment.
"If you don't tell me, I'll just go ask your Black Fox Society boss directly," Chu Xuan said, narrowing her eyes.
"Might I ask... who you are, officer?" the small-time leader ventured to inquire.
"My name is Chu Xuan, and this is my friend. If you bully my friend, you're bullying me," Chu Xuan declared boldly, pointing at Zhao Chen behind her.
Zhao Chen's mouth twitched. Since when had he become this young lady's friend?
Chu Xuan?
The golden character emblem?
Chu?
The Chu Family!
Chu Xuan!
Suddenly, the small-time leader thought of something. He shuddered all over, his eyes widening as if he had seen a flood or a monstrous beast.
"You are from the Chu Family..." The small-time leader instinctively began to utter the female officer's name, but he was immediately intimidated by the look in her eyes.