Transfer and Treasure

"I didn't expect Zoshan Taro to fail."

"What's most infuriating is that the Black Yaksha is one of our organization's most advanced MS, and we lost it."

"This further proves that the MS called Gundam is very advanced and excellent. We must obtain the Gundam."

"Besides the Gundam, there are other things we must obtain as well."

The scene was a dimly lit conference room with a round table in the center. Some people were present in person, while others attended via holographic projection.

"Minister Gulas, what other good things does that mercenary group have?"

"Everyone, please take a look."

Several large projection videos popped up above the round table, showing mercenaries fighting in War God Armor Battle Suits.

In one of the battles, a mercenary, unharmed, stood still as pirates bombarded them with a rocket launcher. Many people present gasped in surprise.

"This is all footage my team intercepted after hacking into the Sea Wolf Pirate Group's base."

"As you can see, the defensive capabilities of the armored combat suits worn by this mercenary group are extremely high. Rifle bullets can't penetrate them, and even rocket launchers can't destroy them. Please continue watching."

The video showed many mercenaries in combat. Some of them suddenly turned invisible. When moving while invisible, they didn't emit any pheromones. The video then switched to a thermal imaging search. The previously invisible mercenaries were finally revealed.

"Although many countries have developed armored combat suits with stealth capabilities, they might create ripples or emit some pheromones when running. However, the armored combat suits worn by this mercenary group have no such issues."

"It seems this mercenary group not only possesses powerful MS but also advanced armored combat suits."

"Can you trace the forces behind this mercenary group?"

"Currently, all the equipment of the Skywing Mercenary Group is sourced from a similarly named arms manufacturing company. The MS, armored combat suits, and so on, are almost all developed by this arms manufacturing company. Intelligence indicates it's a company that was suddenly established in recent years, and its backing forces cannot be traced at all," Gulas said regretfully.

Everyone in the meeting wanted to know the forces behind the Skywing Mercenary Group. If they could uncover the backing forces of both the Skywing Mercenary Group and the Skywing Arms Manufacturing Company, and if those forces were not too powerful, they would not hesitate to gather their troops and attack immediately to seize the Gundam and all other technologies.

However, they simply couldn't find any information, which made them hesitant to act rashly, fearing the consequences. They didn't believe a company established for only a few years could develop such advanced technology. They believed it was more likely that some force deliberately established a company to divert attention, or perhaps they just wanted to test newly developed technologies.

But regardless, unknown backgrounds were more terrifying. If they offended an organization even more powerful than them, they would suffer greatly.

"Minister Gulas, please continue investigating this company's background. Alright, everyone, dismissed."

Long Fei was inside a derelict space transfer station, looking at countless shipping containers filled with various energy sources and resources. Many of these resources were highly suitable as military materials. Among the energy sources were nearly a hundred tons of Black Base Energy Stones, as well as several tons of White Scorching Energy Stones, which were of better and purer quality.

For the same weight, White Scorching Energy Stones were ten times more potent than Black Base Energy Stones, and their price also differed by nearly ten times.

Captain Fix approached Long Fei with a tablet and presented it to him.

"Boss, this is the information we've gathered so far."

Long Fei took the tablet and looked at the data.

"This pirate group's leader is richer than me! He has several shell companies solely for money laundering, with nearly a hundred billion in laundered funds. Not only does he have universal space currency, but he also has about ten billion each in the hard currencies of Earth's three major powers deposited in several banks. Wow... He also owns several physical companies: a food manufacturing company, restaurants, entertainment venues, properties, and even a mining company. These companies were bought with the laundered money from before!"

"Boss, how should we handle all of this?"

"Naturally, we claim it all as our own. Have him transfer everything under the names of the Skywing Arms Manufacturing Company and the Skywing Mercenary Group. The food manufacturing company and the agricultural company should be fully transferred to the Skywing Mercenary Group. If any of our brothers are disabled due to their work, we can arrange for them to be employed in these companies so they don't have to live a miserable life without work due to their disability. Also, take out the 100 billion universal space currency from Wally Bank. Reward the brothers who participated in this operation according to their merits, and give the families of those who died several times more than their due."

"Yes, Boss. Oh, right, Boss, should we keep his money laundering companies as well?"

"Keep them for now. They might be useful in the future."

The tablet then displayed new information. Long Fei clicked on it to view it.

It turned out that after torturing Zoshan Taro, he confessed several locations where he had hidden treasures. Only he, the vice captain, and some key members knew these locations. He also revealed the passwords and locations of the identification cards needed to access the treasures.

After obtaining an identification card, they proceeded to one of the hidden treasure locations, which was within this derelict space transfer station. Everyone accompanying Long Fei was wearing spacesuits.

After swiping the card on the scanner and entering the password, the door opened.

"I really didn't expect this pirate leader to hide one of his treasure caches in this space transfer station. He wasn't afraid of his subordinates finding it," Captain Fix said as he looked at the opened door.

"As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is the safest place. Besides, although this transfer station is abandoned, don't forget it was once a space dock. Back then, cargo ships might have needed to dock here for repairs, resupply, or cargo verification. If it weren't for the war that caused this transfer station to be abandoned, do you think these pirates could have made it their base? Plus, many areas here are unusable due to disrepair. Who would come here? The leader and his key members took this opportunity to secretly repair some facilities and store their stolen goods here."

Once the door was fully open, the lights inside the facility automatically illuminated, revealing countless large and small shipping containers.

"Let's open them and see."

After scanning for any anomalies with a scanner, they used lock-picking tools to open the containers.

The result of opening them stunned everyone.

The containers were all filled with gold.

Gold has been a hard currency since ancient times. During wartime, gold was even more widely circulated than national currencies. Currencies would depreciate, but gold might appreciate due to war. This led many people to buy large amounts of gold as reserves when they felt war was imminent, using gold to purchase goods.

Containers 1 through 13 (regardless of size) were all filled with gold. The smallest gold bars weighed 100g, and the largest weighed one kilogram.

When container number 14 was opened, it was filled with a pile of gemstones: jade, agate, and so on.

Continuing to container number 32, a red, shimmering metal was revealed.

"It's Red Gold."

Red Gold is a metal of even better quality, more valuable, and rarer than gold. It is also an international hard currency. It is very difficult to mine Red Gold on Earth, Mars, or on asteroids. Its value is more than ten times that of gold.

After opening the final container, number 60, and a brief confirmation, they found one container of Red Gold, five containers of jade, agate, and other gemstones, eight containers of jewelry, earrings, bracelets, etc., and ten containers of cash.

Regarding the cash, in addition to the currency of Earth's three major powers, which was the same as the universal currency, each banknote was of the largest denomination.

"In this era, many people use electronic payments, facial recognition, credit cards, or bank cards to buy things. Very few people use cash. And with war approaching, who knows, cash might even become worthless paper. I really don't know why this Pirate Group leader wants so much cash," Captain Fix said, looking at the cash filling the shipping containers.

Long Fei looked at Captain Fix and asked, "Colonel, if that leader is defeated and becomes an international fugitive, do you think those payment methods, credit cards, or facial recognition will allow him to buy things while on the run?"

"Indeed not. Those electronic payments and bank cards would definitely be frozen. Only cash can be used during his escape."

"Colonel, look at this pile of cash in front of us. Which do you think feels more real: the amount of cash on your phone, or these banknotes right here?"

"Heh heh, indeed. The cash in front of me feels more real."

"So sometimes I have to say, compared to the numbers on my phone, the cash in my hand feels more real. It makes me feel like the money in my hand is actual money."

Long Fei pointed to several of the largest shipping containers and instructed, "Take out the gold from these largest containers and distribute it among the brothers who fought this battle. Colonel, you arrange it and reward them according to their merits."

The mercenaries present all shouted, "Long live the boss!"

Long Fei left the scene.