Chapter 1415: h.e.l.lo, Trade Federation!
As soon as Jiang Fei’s message was sent out, the Trade Federation’s high-ranked officials took it into deep consideration.
Currently, the war between the Trade Federation and the Valsalrian Army was in full swing. Although Theon had helped the Trade Federation obtain some battles.h.i.+ps for them to carry out research on, things were still pretty tight for them, and the Valsalrian Army was still way too strong. It would not be easy for the Trade Federation to win this war.
What did businessmen value the most? Money! And what had to be used to finance wars? Money!
At first, the Trade Federation had been willing to pay protection fees to the Valsalrian Army because they wanted to save more money. A small amount of protection fee was insignificant to them. If they had to go for war, weapons alone would cost a ton of money. Fighting with others was the most expensive transaction. However, even though the Trade Federation did not want to fight, Aino would never agree. Even if the war was not going in Aino’s favor, he had made it clear that he would fight the Trade Federation to the death.
Therefore, although the Trade Federation was doing better in the war, the big businessmen were suffering like Aino. If they used these military expenses to do business, they would have already made huge profits. Now, however, a lot of money was being wasted on the war.
The big businessmen were not the only ones who were unhappy. The soldiers involved in the war were exhausted too. Although they were gradually gaining the upper hand, were they supposed to mess with the Valsalrian Army? Even if they ended up winning the war, there was a price to pay. There was no guarantee that the Valsalrian Army would not come back for their lives in the future.
Hence, the Trade Federation also needed some good news to boost their morale now. They needed a fresh, brave force to join them in the battle, and Jiang Fei’s appearance had given them a good opportunity.
One of the enemy’s armed forces had changed sides. This was undoubtedly the best news for the soldiers on the battlefield. It could definitely boost their morale. Moreover, the 30,000 soldiers under Jiang Fei were not just ordinary soldiers. They were all elite Marines with more than 200,000 combat power.
With these new soldiers, the Trade Federation would also be able to save a lot of costs in the future, when they attack the Fort or the planet. However, there was one thing bothering the Trade Federation’s high-ranked officials, making them very hesitant.
How could they make sure that Jiang Fei was sincere? If this was a trap set up by the Valsalrian Army, the consequences would be unthinkable if they fell for it.
In the end, after various discussions, the high-ranked officials of the Trade Federation decided to retain Jiang Fei and the others. However, they would not be included in the combat force. The reason behind this was very simple. The presence of Jiang Fei’s force would boost the morale of their existing soldiers, but they did not dare to fully trust Jiang Fei yet.
“They’ve agreed to accept us? Great!” Jiang Fei nodded immediately after he heard the Trade Federation’s decision. He urgently needed a place to stay. Sarila had previously reported to him that the Hypercruiser was running out of fuel, and that they had to stop for supplies.
Soon, the Hypercruiser arrived at a large fortress terminal under the guidance of the Trade Federation. However, all the dispatchers at the terminal looked at Jiang Fei strangely, because this Hypercruiser was originally one of the Trade Federation’s s.h.i.+ps. It was just that Jiang Fei had stolen it previously.
“Sir, please come with me. General Lockseed has been waiting for you for a long time.” The Trade Federation treated Jiang Fei with a lot of respect. After all, he did bring tens of thousands of elite fighters over to help them fight the Valsalrian Army.
“Alright.”
Bison and Kaa’Ina tagged along, while Sarila was left to manage the other matters on the Hypercruiser.
“This way, please!” A mid-level officer led them through the fortress. At a glance, Jiang Fei could already tell that the architectural styles of the Trade Federation and the Valsalrian Army were completely different.
The Valsalrian Army used Bio-Technology. Even the metals used were Bio-Metals with regeneration properties. In contrast, the Trade Federation prioritized quant.i.ty and low cost. Therefore, both the fortress and their battles.h.i.+ps were made out of ordinary metals. As a result, their fleet acquisition costs have been greatly reduced.
For the same medium-sized fleet, the Valsalrian Army might only have dozens of Hypercruisers and a bunch of small s.h.i.+ps, but the Trade Federation had more than a hundred Hypercruisers. Due to the difference in quality, the Valsalrian Army’s Hypercruisers could easily destroy the Trade Federation’s Hypercruisers. However, the Trade Federation had the advantage in numbers. The absolute advantage of quant.i.ty was enough to even out this technological gap.
Moreover, there was another reason why the Trade Federation prioritized having more battles.h.i.+ps. It was because they had too few strong men. They only had a few Marines. So, the ones that Jiang Fei previously encountered and fought were mostly just mechanical soldiers with lightsabers. Only a few of them were real, powerful men.
Precisely because they lacked strong men, the Trade Federation attached great importance to Jiang Fei’s arrival. Even though they did not trust Jiang Fei enough to let him and his soldiers onto the battlefield, they could definitely make a lot of money if they formed a bodyguard company using this group of people!
The high-ranked officials of the Trade Federation believed that there were no soldiers who could not be defeated by money. Even if Jiang Fei was sent here to trap them, the officials were confident that they could corrupt him with money in just a short time. Then, they would never return to the Valsalrian Army!
Very quickly, the three arrived at a meeting room. As soon as they entered the door, someone with huge eyes greeted them.
“Hahahaha, you must be Mr. Jiang Fei!” Big-eyes laughed out loud. Through his Goggles, Jiang Fei found out that this guy only had about two million combat power. Although he could be regarded as strong, if he were part of the Valsalrian Army, he would at best be a small officer.
This was the difference between the Trade Federation and the Valsalrian Army. In the Valsalrian Army, the weak were not qualified to manage the strong. Even if the weak one was a.s.signed to a higher position by a high-ranked person, the ones being managed by him would still be unhappy and unable to accept him. This was why Trakus was only the captain of the Police squad even though he had such a powerful family background. The Captain position did sound pretty nice, but in actuality, he was just a security guard outside the Carldish Fort.
However, the Trade Federation was different. People talked about capital here, not personal strength. In the minds of businessmen, money came first. With money, they could easily build a fleet and hire the strong to escort them. So, the General of the Trade Federation might not be amazingly strong, but he or his family was definitely extremely rich.
“Yes, h.e.l.lo, General Lockseed.” Although Jiang Fei’s temper had changed due to the black malice, he did not lose his temper at those who were nice to him.
“Haha, Mr. Jiang Fei, you’re indeed very young yet promising. At such a young age, you not only possess power that many others dream of, but also such a powerful army!” Lockseed complimented him.
“I just got kinda lucky.” Jiang Fei smiled and waved humbly.
“Come come come. Have a seat and we’ll talk.” After a brief exchange of greetings, Lockseed directed Jiang Fei back to the topic.
“General Lockseed, I was just wondering what plans the Trade Federation has for us? If you cannot bring yourselves to trust us, please just provide us with some supplies and we’ll leave immediately,” Jiang Fei said straightforwardly.