Chapter 973: Chapter 525_2

However, no matter what, official business always comes first.

At the banquet, General Tadeusz, clad in full military uniform, spent most of his time negotiating with the representatives of the Mingyang Sect who were also invited, confirming the details of the handover of numerous large ships.

He turned what was supposed to be a pleasant gathering into official business.

Jason Morgan didn’t mind, and was instead quite pleased.

There were many attendees today. Taking advantage of the opportunity, various business associations and notable figures from the Alliance’s central regions gathered. With Ronglin Star making a grand entrance this time, he was delighted and couldn’t help but imagine how to leverage this momentum for more tangible benefits in the future.

For instance, negotiating with a few more business associations, or with the logistics department under the Military Affairs Department, to see if future cargo transported from Jindi Star could also be routed through Ronglin Distribution.

After a joyful exchange between host and guests, the following day, Tadeusz and his team settled into the two battle cruisers.

Shipbuilding engineers transferred from Flying Wing Star and Rage Owl Star would complete the inspection of the entire vessels over the coming period.

In fact, this step had long been in progress.

Buying a ship for sixty billion– in many of the star sectors controlled by the Alliance, the total economic output of at least half over four years might not even reach this number. It’s an enormous wealth demanding great attention.

Upon ensuring that these two ships would belong to the Alliance in the future, Alliance shipbuilding engineers had already stationed themselves on Jindi Star years in advance, focusing mainly on supervision and inspection during the construction phase to ensure the ships were problem-free at handover.

Hmm, absolutely not about stealing technology! Wu Jiarong certainly didn’t help either!

Even though Alliance engineers had been involved during the construction process, the necessary examinations remain exceptionally meticulous up until the final handover.

This process lasted about ten days.

Only after all teams had signed off to ensure there were no issues did Tadeusz, with over 300,000 naval personnel, fully take over the two battle cruisers and depart from Ronglin Starport.

…

After a long journey, Tadeusz returned to Flying Wing Star with the two giant ships.

Meanwhile, in orbit around Flying Wing Star, a massive fleet was assembling.

Each of those battleships was equivalent to the wealth of one, if not several planets.

And each of the dozens of Lunar-Class Cruisers was equivalent to the wealth of an entire star sector.

Nevertheless, the most eye-catching were the six giant ships surrounded and escorted by these numerous vessels.

Firstly, the Alliance flagship, the ‘Firebath Nova,’ a Retribution-class Battleship.

Secondly, the ‘Tianma,’ a Zhuge-class Combat Mothership, which even appeared larger and longer than the ‘Firebath Nova’!

The other four were ‘Yunluo,’ ‘Rage Owl,’ ‘Flying Wing,’ and ‘Korolya.’

The ‘Yunluo’ was a Dragon-Snake Class Battleship Cruiser, originally the flagship of the Yunluo Fleet. When the Fury Flame Battle Group was expelled, they initially thought of taking the Yunluo Fleet along, but during withdrawal, the Yunluo quietly ‘fell behind.’

Who wants to flee with a bunch of losers, heads hung down in defeat?

Moreover, this was their homeland.

The demoralized Fury Flame Battle Group had no time to worry about such matters, and ultimately, they failed to take the Yunluo Fleet with them.

Strictly speaking, the Yunluo Fleet does not belong to the Alliance.

They hold an independent Imperial Navy sequence, distinctly separate from the Alliance Navy.

But then again, much like how the Tianma Fleet isn’t an official member of the Alliance, under Yelisia’s influence, and with Alliance-commissars assigned within the fleet, how could they not heed the Alliance’s commands?

The nominal divisions differ, but in truth, they are like family.

Apart from Yunluo, the remaining three giant ships named after the three most important planets in the Tianma Star Sector were all ‘Chalice-Class’ Battleship Cruisers, all built by the Alliance in recent years.

Compared to the ‘Dragon-Snake Class,’ the ‘Chalice-Class’ appeared more slender and aesthetically pleasing. Indeed, its construction cost was higher than that of the ‘Dragon-Snake Class.’ It boasted an additional X-level artillery mount compared to the ‘Dragon-Snake Class,’ was slightly weaker defensively, but surpassed in terms of ship speed.

The Alliance possesses two Chalice-Class shipyards, one of which was constructed earlier, and the first Alliance ‘Chalice-Class’ featured some precious, skill-intensive original components directly extracted from the black box.

This greatly enhanced the work efficiency of the first Chalice-Class shipyard, resulting in the production of two ships over six years.

The second shipyard produced one ship over four years.

This accounts for the Alliance’s three battle cruisers.

Simultaneously constructing two Chalice battle cruisers and one Zhuge Aircraft Carrier marks the current maximum production capacity of the Alliance.

Though rumors suggest a third Chalice-Class shipyard is in the pipeline, simultaneously launching another battle cruiser production line while supporting two Dragon-Snake Class production lines for Jindi Star orders would strain the Alliance’s finances.

After all, it’s not just about building ships without doing anything else.

These large ships are expensive not only in construction costs. Once completed, they remain a continuous gold sink. Each voyage consumes fuel, each drill uses ammunition, each maintenance requires resources, and the personnel expenses for sometimes hundreds of thousands of crew members…

Over a decade, the maintenance cost of such a warship could equal building a new one.

But anyhow, with the current state of the Alliance’s naval power, it’s undoubtedly now unrecognizable from before.

Adding in the ‘Ronglin’ and ‘Steelwing’ brought back by Tadeusz, the Alliance now owns one battleship, one aircraft carrier, and six battle cruisers!

With these eight warships as the core, supported by more than forty cruisers and not counting the destroyers and escort ships of one tier lower… this fleet, collective power, is massive!

Tadeusz stood on the bridge, quietly gazing at the hundreds of ships assembled in this section of space, his heart swelling with heroic pride.

At that moment, a communication request came through.

It was from Lady Osenia.

“General Tadeusz,” Osenia said, “How was the journey? Smooth, I hope?”

“Everything went well, both ships arrived safely. Along the way, I saw many Alliance local officials endeavoring to develop their star sectors diligently, especially Jason Morgan. Ronglin Star has done quite well under his leadership. If each of our star sectors could develop like this, the future of the Alliance would be much more promising!”

“That’s wonderful,” Osenia said with a polite smile, “However, there are some financial procedures that require your prompt signature.”

“No problem,” Tadeusz replied, “That is expected.”