"I never expected Zoshan Taro to fail."
"What's most infuriating is that Black Yaksha was one of the most advanced MS units currently developed by our organization, and we still lost it."
"This further proves that the MS called Gundam is incredibly advanced and exceptional. We must obtain Gundam."
"Besides Gundam, there are other things we must acquire as well."
The lights in a conference room at the site were dim. A round table stood in the center, with some attendees present in person and others participating through holographic projections.
"Minister Gulas, what other good things does that mercenary group have?"
"Everyone, please take a look."
Several enormous video projections appeared above the round table, displaying mercenaries in War God Armor Battle Suits fighting.
In one battle, a pirate blasted a mercenary with a rocket launcher, yet the mercenary remained standing unharmed. Many people at the meeting gasped.
"These are recordings my team intercepted after hacking into the Sea Wolf Pirate Group's base."
"As you can see, the Armored Combat Suits worn by this mercenary group possess extremely high defensive capabilities. Rifle bullets cannot penetrate them, and even rocket launchers cannot kill their wearers. Now, keep watching."
The footage showed many mercenaries in battle. Some of them suddenly turned invisible. The invisible mercenaries gave off no detectable signals while running. Only after the footage switched to thermal imaging could they be seen.
"Although many countries have developed Armored Combat Suits with cloaking capabilities, running can create ripples or leak certain signals. However, the Armored Combat Suits worn by this mercenary group do not have that problem."
"It seems this mercenary group possesses not only powerful MS units, but also advanced Armored Combat Suits."
"Can we uncover the force backing this mercenary group?"
"So far, we have only found that all of the Skywing Mercenary Group's equipment comes from an arms manufacturing company of the same name. Their MS units, Armored Combat Suits, and almost everything else were developed by that company. The intelligence we found shows that it was established suddenly just a few years ago, but we have been unable to uncover the force behind it," Gulas said regretfully.
Everyone at the meeting wanted to know who stood behind the Skywing Mercenary Group. If they could uncover the forces behind the Skywing Mercenary Group and Skywing Arms Manufacturing Company, and if those forces were not particularly powerful, they would immediately gather troops, launch an attack, and seize Gundam along with all its technology.
Yet they could not uncover anything, which was why they did not dare act rashly. They were wary of hidden dangers. They did not believe a company established only a few years ago could develop such advanced technology. They believed it was more likely that some force had deliberately established a company to divert attention, or that they merely wanted to test newly developed technology.
No matter what, an unknown background was far more frightening. If they offended an organization stronger than themselves, they would suffer the consequences.
"Minister Gulas, please continue investigating this company's background. All right, this meeting is adjourned."
Long Fei stood inside the abandoned space transfer station, looking at countless containers filled with various forms of energy and resources. Many of the resources were highly suitable as military materials. Among the energy supplies were nearly a hundred tons of Black Base Energy Stone, along with several tons of higher-quality, purer White Scorching Energy Stone.
At the same weight, White Scorching Energy Stone was ten times more powerful than Black Base Energy Stone. Naturally, its price was also nearly ten times higher.
Captain Fix approached Long Fei with a tablet and held it out before him.
"Boss, this is the information we've uncovered so far."
Long Fei took the tablet and looked through the data on it.
"This Pirate Group leader is even richer than I am. He alone has several shell companies responsible for laundering money, and the laundered funds amount to nearly a hundred billion. He has not only universal currency, but also nearly ten billion each of the hard currencies of Earth's three major powers deposited in several banks. Wow... He also owns several physical companies: food manufacturing companies, restaurants, entertainment venues, some properties, and even a mining company. These companies were all bought with money he had laundered before."
"Boss, how should we deal with them?"
"Of course, we take them for ourselves. Make him transfer everything into the names of Skywing Arms Manufacturing Company and the Skywing Mercenary Group. The food manufacturing and agricultural companies should be transferred entirely under the Skywing Mercenary Group. If any of our brothers are disabled on duty, we can arrange jobs for them at those companies, so they won't lose their livelihoods and live miserable lives because of their disabilities. Also, take out the one hundred billion universal currency from Wally Bank. Reward the brothers who took part in this operation according to their merits, and give the families of those who died several times their usual compensation."
"Yes, Boss. By the way, Boss, should we keep those money-laundering companies as well?"
"Keep them for now. They may prove useful in the future."
New information suddenly appeared on the tablet. Long Fei tapped it open and reviewed it.
It turned out that under severe torture, Zoshan Taro had confessed to several locations where he had hidden treasure. Only he, the vice-commander, and a few key members knew about these places. He had also revealed the passwords and the locations of the access cards needed to open the treasure caches.
After obtaining the access cards, they headed to one of the hidden treasure locations. It was located within this abandoned space transfer station, and everyone accompanying Long Fei wore spacesuits.
They swiped the card through the scanner and entered the password. The door opened.
"I never imagined this Pirate Group leader would hide one of his treasure caches inside this space transfer station. He really wasn't afraid his men would discover it," Captain Fix said as he watched the door open.
"As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is the safest place. Besides, although this transfer station has been abandoned, don't forget that it used to be a spaceport base. Back then, cargo ships would have needed to stop here for repairs, resupply, cargo storage, and inspections. If war hadn't caused this transfer station to be abandoned, do you think these pirates could have used it as their base? On top of that, many areas here have become unusable from years of disrepair. Who would come here now? That leader and his key members took advantage of that to secretly repair some facilities and store the things they robbed here."
Once the door had fully opened, the overhead lights inside automatically switched on, revealing countless containers of various sizes.
"Open them and take a look."
After scanning them with a Scanner and finding nothing abnormal, they used lockpicking tools to open the containers.
The moment they opened them, everyone was stunned.
The containers were filled with gold.
From ancient times to the present, gold had always been hard currency. During wartime, gold circulated even more readily than the currencies of different nations. Currency could depreciate, while gold might rise in value because of war. That was why many people bought large amounts of gold as reserves whenever they sensed war approaching, using gold to buy supplies.
From the first container to the thirteenth, regardless of size, every one contained gold. The smallest gold bars weighed one hundred grams, while the largest weighed one kilogram.
When they opened the fourteenth container, it was filled with piles of gemstones, jadeite, agate, and more.
They continued opening containers until the thirty-second one, where they found metal gleaming with a crimson light.
"It's Red Gold."
Red Gold was a metal of higher quality, greater value, and greater rarity than gold. It was also international hard currency. Red Gold was extremely difficult to mine on Earth, Mars, and asteroids, and it was worth more than ten times as much as gold.
After opening the final, sixtieth container and making a rough count, they found one container of Red Gold, five containers of jadeite, agate, gemstones, and similar treasures, eight containers of jewelry such as earrings and bracelets, and ten containers of cash.
As for the cash, there was not only universal currency, but also the currencies of Earth's three major powers. Every banknote was of the highest denomination.
"Nowadays, most people already use electronic payments, facial recognition, credit cards, or bank cards to buy things. Very few people use cash, and once war comes, banknotes might become nothing more than waste paper. I really don't know why this Pirate Group leader kept so much cash," Captain Fix said as he looked at the containers stuffed with banknotes.
Long Fei looked at Captain Fix and asked, "Colonel, if that leader were utterly defeated and placed on an international wanted list, do you think those payment methods, credit cards, or facial recognition systems would let him buy things while fleeing?"
"Indeed, they wouldn't. Those electronic payment accounts and bank cards would definitely be frozen. Only cash would allow him to spend money while on the run."
"Colonel, look at this pile of cash in front of us. Do you think the amount shown on your phone feels more real, or do these banknotes in front of you feel more real?"
"Hehe, the banknotes right in front of me definitely feel more real."
"That's why I sometimes can't help complaining that compared to looking at the numbers on a phone, cash in your hand feels more real. Sometimes, it makes me feel that only money in hand is truly money."
Long Fei pointed at several of the largest containers and ordered, "Take out the gold from these largest containers and distribute it among the brothers who took part in this operation. Colonel, make the arrangements. Reward them according to their merits."
The mercenaries at the scene all shouted, "Long live the Boss!"
Long Fei left the area.
Before you continue