Chapter 207: Strategically Despise
Four days later, the merchant convoy, fully loaded, set sail.
Four escort warships accompanied them, but most of the crew inside had been replaced by players from the merchant convoy's mercenaries, with a small portion remaining as merchant convoy instructors.
These instructors were all trusted subordinates of Hugh, elite crew members, and also members of mercenary families who had served the merchant convoy for generations.
Due to constant readiness for war, their professionalism was beyond reproach, not inferior to that of regular forces.
Players would learn navigation skills during the escort mission, then independently pilot the warships back at a critical point to join the final fleet battle.
As for the merchant convoy, Hugh would transport Cangyuan's crude oil to New Hope and sell it to various Star Alliance factions and merchant associations at a price he deemed appropriate.
Even by a relatively conservative estimate, this would bring him a massive cash income of 6.5 billion credit points.
Therefore, he could immediately rush to New Hope's best “Shield” shipyard to order three of the newest first-class destroyers, plus three first-class frigates.
After that, he would temporarily hire a security company to provide escort for the second batch of goods, which would yield at least 5.5 billion in revenue.
This would be enough to pay the final installment for the shipbuilding, and even leave a surplus of nearly 1.5 billion credit points.
In one round trip, Hugh, by expending 2 billion credit points worth of zero element inventory, 600 million worth of military goods inventory, and about 400 million in other expenses, achieved the “brilliant result” of expanding his escort fleet by half.
This made it impossible for him not to immediately agree to the Executive Officer's proposal.
A merchant convoy with six first-class new warships was no longer something ordinary pirate groups dared to covet.
If they really met, it was uncertain who would rob whom.
Even Galan, unless it dispatched two sub-fleets to encircle them simultaneously, would have to carefully consider before making a move.
It should be known that although Hugh's business often involved deals worth billions or even tens of billions, those were all cash flows; the true income was far less than the figures on paper. Most of the income was ultimately converted into consumables like zero element and nuclear fuel.
The four escort ships in the merchant convoy were “family heirlooms” derived from two gunboats from three centuries ago, continuously upgraded and replaced; it could be said that they embodied the efforts of generations of merchant convoy leaders.
If following the usual upgrade speed, achieving a 50% leap in strength would take at least thirty or forty years of accumulation.
Now, there was hope of achieving this through two single-customer trades within two months, which was undoubtedly a great victory to be recorded in the merchant convoy's history.
“Awooooo~~~”
Hugh stood on the bridge of the wealth key, no outsiders around, finally able to shed his merchant mask, clench his fists in a cheer, and then let out the Fenrir race's unique “victory howl,” his tail wagging frantically. “This planet is too rich—
The market prospects on Li Star are too vast!”
During the four days of ground inspection, Hugh also obtained another business opportunity from the Executive Officer who accompanied him on the tour.
Li Star still had a large amount of alloy resources; there was a mining site called Red Iron Town in the Desert, with a very large ore reserve. In the past, due to the poor technical capabilities of the indigenous people and insufficient development by Apollo, less than one-thousandth had been mined.
And beyond the Desert, beneath those thick, glassy substances, even richer mineral deposits were buried—
Cangyuan had already dispatched their “SCVs,” carrying drilling robotic arms and industrial drone swarms, to prospect in the glass zone.
If all went smoothly, doing both crude oil and metal business together would be absolutely exhilarating.
Hugh did not doubt Cangyuan's ability to mine the glass zone; he had followed the Executive Officer to visit the SCVs, which were heavy construction units never before seen in the Star Alliance, capable of playing a huge role in the industrial, mining, and construction sectors.
Hugh immediately proposed to purchase SCV patents or physical units, but was politely declined by the Executive Officer.
“SCVs currently have a high demand for self-use and will not be exported in the short term, but in the near future, SCVs, and other even more exciting things, will definitely appear in the product catalog. Please witness!”
The Executive Officer's last words sparked Hugh's endless imagination.
“No, no, I can't just celebrate because I got a good deal. I must build a good relationship with such a high-quality client and serve them well!”
“Hmm, I need to analyze their needs in advance, contact suppliers early, negotiate good prices, and start stocking up!”
On the ground, Lu Yuan nodded with satisfaction, watching the merchant convoy gradually ascend into the sky.
His impression of Hugh was quite good.
The fact that the other party was willing to accept Cangyuan's request for two-stage supply showed that his stance was already on Cangyuan's side, willing to gamble on the future and seize this opportunity for revenge against Galan.
This also meant that Hugh would not secretly engage in small actions detrimental to Cangyuan.
Because if Cangyuan failed to withstand the punitive fleet later, Apollo would definitely reclaim Li Star, and Hugh's second batch of goods would vanish into thin air.
This would lead to a broken capital chain, and he would suffer huge losses from losing his escort fleet, causing the merchant convoy to never recover.
Given the current cooperation, Lu Yuan knew that the other party would definitely complete the “additional mission” he had assigned earlier.
As for himself, honestly, the cost of producing crude oil was almost negligible compared to the profits from selling it, at least a 200-fold difference.
Those towering oil wells were simply money printing machines.
Everything was within his calculations.
“Executive Officer, sir.”
The butler, in a formal suit, walked into the office with a straight back.
“The company has, as per your request, re-entered a state of full combat readiness. Civilian industrial scale has been temporarily reduced to 25%, and subsidies and bonuses have begun to be issued to military-related industry sectors.”
“Very good. What about the indigenous people? Do they get bonuses?”
“Yes, I wouldn't forget that, please rest assured. Currently, over 4,500 people from Red Iron Town and Oasis City have joined our industrial chain, engaging in mining, metallurgy, manufacturing, and aerospace ground services.”
So many—
Lu Yuan himself was surprised; the industrial ship's dormitories were almost full!
It seemed that during his time enjoying himself on Emerald Star, the changes back home were greater than he had imagined.
Shen Zhenchang and Cheng Yun must have contributed a lot to this. He needed to find time to visit and thank them properly; he couldn't just be a hands-off boss.
“How are the workers doing?”
“Their work enthusiasm is very high, and their discipline and law-abidingness have also exceeded expectations. So far, the workers from the two settlements have only had a few verbal disputes over the topic of ‘who is the real country bumpkin,’ and no fighting incidents have occurred.”
The butler took a step forward and said, “Sir, I just received a faster-than-light communication from the players on New Hope via the ‘community.’ They confirmed that Galan's 5 destroyers and 3 frigates have completed their assembly, and crew members are boarding the ships in the dock area. They are expected to set sail tomorrow or the day after. There is no information on Apollo's ships yet.”
“Hmm...” Lu Yuan nodded.
“It seems their propagandist was very honest; the public timetable is accurate. The punitive fleet should arrive in 20 to 25 days.”
“I agree! There's definitely not enough time to build a second batch of ‘Qinling’ patrol frigates during this period. Do you think we need to call back the employees from Emerald Star as well to quickly produce more fighters and missiles and other weapons?”
Lu Yuan thought for a second or two.
“No need. Let them practice combat skills there; they'll be useful for boarding actions later.”
“Is that alright? I mean, if the fleet battle is lost, no matter how strong the First Battle Group's boarding capabilities are, it will be useless, and the ground camp will quickly fall under the enemy's orbital bombardment.”
The butler offered a reminder.
“Cangyuan currently doesn't have enough excellent pilots, so quality is far more important than quantity,” Lu Yuan explained. “Also, there's another reason.”
Butler: “Please speak, I have activated learning mode.”
Lu Yuan smiled.
“I don't believe Galan's Third Fleet is as ‘devastating’ as they claim in their victory propaganda. They have been bullying the weak for years but have little experience fighting opponents of equal strength.”
“But that doesn't constitute a sufficient condition for low combat effectiveness, does it?”
Lu Yuan glanced at the butler.
This was the limitation brought by overly rational thinking.
“You are an AI, so it's probably difficult to understand the impact that constantly fighting easy battles has on human military thought patterns.
“I cannot predict the outcome of the war now, but I can be sure that Galan will subconsciously assume we are ‘low-tier players’ like usual. This is very likely to lead them to be completely unwary in the initial stages of the battle, subsequently making some very foolish decisions and needlessly throwing away an advantage.”
The butler said nothing.
In its impression, the Executive Officer was a decisive leader who was also very humble and open to suggestions. This was the first time it had seen him so resolute, especially in matters of war where not a single mistake could be tolerated.
Had he witnessed similar events before?
Lu Yuan patted the butler's titanium alloy shoulder.
“Anyway, keep up the good work. Jubian is designing a new generation of space fighters and needs a lot of AI assistance. You can go help out later.”
“Yes, sir.”
