Zhao Chen saw Zhao Wan'er and the others chatting happily, so he didn't disturb them.
Chu Xuan also wanted to greet her friends and asked Zhao Chen if he wanted to come along.
Zhao Chen refused; he didn't particularly like such banquet settings. If it weren't for the possibility of his elder sister attending with the little princess, he wouldn't be here.
He scanned the venue, but the little princess wasn't there.
It made sense; typically, figures of that caliber always made their appearance at the very last moment.
Zhao Chen found a place to sit by himself and leisurely ate some fruits.
A graceful figure sat beside Zhao Chen and extended a hand: "Hello, I am Li Yaqi, Li Wei's elder sister. My brother has mentioned you."
Looking at Li Yaqi, dressed in a black evening gown, he smiled and shook her hand: "I've heard Li Wei mention you."
"Thank you for taking care of my brother at the Academy earlier," Li Yaqi said.
"We're brothers, it's nothing," Zhao Chen withdrew his hand and found a small object in it.
"This is a bone conduction communicator. As long as you press it and think of something to say, I can hear it," a voice seemed to whisper in Zhao Chen's ear.
Zhao Chen pressed the button without changing his expression: "How come I haven't seen you extensively promoting the T2 Mastiff-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer?"
He had seen the Starship exhibition stands outside these past few days. He saw the T2 Mastiff's stand, but very few people were inquiring about it.
The popularity was worlds apart from the T2 Hyena-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer of the same class.
"Because I have blurred a large amount of the Starship's performance data, it is temporarily not open to the public.
If I were to announce the T2 Mastiff's performance data now, the Hurricane Conglomerate would definitely be prepared.
I plan to announce all of the T2 Mastiff's performance data on the day of the military procurement conference, giving everyone a surprise.
At the same time, it will catch the Hurricane Conglomerate off guard," Li Yaqi said calmly, sipping her drink.
Zhao Chen's eyes lit up. This arrangement was indeed very proper. Facing the vast Hurricane Conglomerate, they couldn't give the other party too much reaction time.
They had to deliver a fatal blow at the most crucial moment!
"Then I'll await your good news," Zhao Chen raised his glass to Li Yaqi.
Li Yaqi smiled faintly.
Afterward, she left to meet other potential future business partners.
Zhao Chen continued to eat by himself.
"You are Zhao Chen, the Lord of the Owl Dragon Star System?" a light, ethereal voice sounded beside Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen turned his head to look at the speaker. It was a young girl wearing a veil, sunglasses, and a hat, accompanied by an old man wearing a mask.
Although their attire was a bit strange, the people present at most gave them an extra glance.
After all, besides humans, there were other races present, and eccentric outfits were not uncommon.
"You are?" Zhao Chen sized up the young girl and the old man.
"Let me ask you, can you really crush a bug with one hand? And punch a T2 bug's head open?"
Although he couldn't see the girl's eyes, he could hear the curiosity in her tone.
"It's not difficult," Zhao Chen replied.
The girl then asked: "Then I heard that when you saved the teachers and students of the Two Academies in the Water Lily Star System, you fought the Zerg in close combat, directly biting them? And drank bug blood? Ate bug meat?"
"Do you think a normal person would do that?" Zhao Chen said with a light chuckle.
"That's true, I've seen images of those bugs, they're too disgusting... Their blood is even green!" The girl looked disgusted, then quickly followed up: "Why can your t2 black rhino-class interstellar heavy assault frigate single-handedly take on a T2 Interstellar Battlecruiser?"
"It's due to a high-armor hull design, the use of high-strength hull armor materials, combined with certain hull structural engineering," Zhao Chen explained.
"Then I heard you assembled an Interstellar Warship called ‘Blizzard Zero’ yourself, and its speed can directly reach 100 knots? How did you manage that?"
"By optimizing the engine system, energy system, and improving power conversion efficiency; while also sacrificing a bit of the Starship engine's lifespan.
But it can be used for ten years without any problem."
This girl was like a walking 'why' machine, asking Zhao Chen a barrage of questions.
Zhao Chen answered what he could, anyway, he was a top Starship engineer, and all that knowledge was stored in his mind.
"I have a Starship technology problem here; may I ask young friend to take a look?" The old man beside them suddenly spoke up and asked.
Before Zhao Chen could refuse, the old man raised his hand and projected an electronic file. It contained technical data for a module on a Starship, in an unfinished state, having encountered a problem.
"This is T3 Interstellar Warship technology, isn't it?" Zhao Chen said after a quick glance.
"That's right," the old man nodded.
Zhao Chen pointed to several data points on it: "Modify these three data points slightly. The first data point should be tripled, the material for the second data point should be changed to super-helium gas, and the third data point should be reduced by 0.0013%."
Hearing Zhao Chen provide such precise data, the old man was quite surprised.
He recorded everything Zhao Chen said, then operated something, seemingly sending it to someone.
"Grandpa!"
Suddenly, another voice rang out.
Chu Xuan walked over in surprise, looking at the masked old man.
"Cough, cough, cough... My beautiful young lady, you've mistaken me. How could I be your grandpa?" The masked old man straightened his posture and quickly explained.
Chu Xuan narrowed her eyes at him: "You think I won't recognize you just because you're wearing a mask? Well, you should at least not spray that old-brand perfume you've used for thirty years when you go out.
I can smell it on you from several meters away."
"This young lady, your grandpa also likes to use this perfume, which means your grandpa also has excellent taste," the masked old man said admiringly.
Seeing that the other party still wouldn't admit it, Chu Xuan silently raised her hand, brought up an electronic screen, and tapped on it a few times.
"My dear granddaughter is calling, my lovely granddaughter is calling, Grandpa's little darling is calling..."
A childish voice rang out from the old man's wrist-worn terminal.
Although it had changed somewhat from now, Zhao Chen still recognized it as seemingly Chu Xuan's voice.
And Chu Xuan's expression was what one would call 'complex'.
"I told you to change this ringtone, and you still haven't! And you put it on speaker! When I was little, I shouldn't have been tempted by that small thing and helped you record this message," Chu Xuan glared fiercely at him.
"Cough, cough, cough." The old man knew he couldn't keep up the act any longer, so he took off the mask on his face, revealing his true appearance.
Zhao Chen had seen this face in the most prominent portrait position at North Star Academy, and there was even a statue!
It was Zhu Kai, the North Wind Governor, an Imperial Duke.
