(An extra update in thanks for the donations from Galactic Arsonist and God-Emperor, Where Are You Running?)
Then everyone began discussing how to exchange the warships and safely hand over the white sugar to Li Qinwu.
Li Qinwu's "super battleship" was simply too badass. The ship hidden in the Asteroid Belt absolutely could not be allowed near Sweet Star, or the T'au on the planet would immediately hiss and evacuate.
So the only safe way to fill his ships with white sugar and get them out of there quickly was to have the less threatening merchant ships in Li Qinwu's fleet, the small ones under a kilometer long, come to Sweet Star one at a time, load up with white sugar, then return to the Asteroid Belt.
That way, Li Qinwu could get his white sugar without sending Sweet Star's T'au into a hissing panic.
At the same time, viewed from another angle, this also gave the T'au hostages.
Li Qinwu himself was one hostage, and any Armed Merchant Ship that entered Sweet Star's orbit would be a second.
If Li Qinwu made any dangerous move, a single volley from the T'au's four Protector-class Battleships could destroy an Armed Merchant Ship, after which they could flee.
So in a sense, both sides held hostages, and the deal had a chance of succeeding.
As for the warship they would exchange, that was interesting too.
Commander Fengxi chose the ship in the worst condition out of the four, then physically removed its primary weapons, chiefly its railguns and space torpedoes, the heavy hitters of void warfare.
The ship would also be filled with white sugar. A month later, its built-in supercomputer would fly it to the Asteroid Belt and deliver it to the Inquisitor.
There would be no personnel aboard. The ship's