Abnormal crossing

Chapter 153 Handover of Supplies
"."

Speaker Gray stared at the Khan for about half a minute.

He then took a deep breath, his chest heaving heavily, and brought his attention back to reality.

When he turned around.

The weariness in his eyes had completely disappeared, replaced by his usual calm and determination.

He glanced around and said to Ambrose Elliott, the Chief of the Civilization Garrison, "Lord Elliott, arrange for people to inventory the supplies."

Elliott was a one-eyed man with a square face (again, a square face), not particularly burly but with a straight and capable posture. He nodded upon hearing this.

"Okay, I'll do it right away."

Although there was absolutely no need for Milo and his group to steal cargo from the Khan ship, since this mission was classified as a 'supply handover,' the necessary procedures still had to be followed.

This is actually a responsible approach towards Milo and the others, and it can avoid various disputes in the future.

Then very quickly.

A group of aircraft appeared in a certain location of the base.

There are about twenty or thirty aircraft, each about the size of a 2x2 double bed. In addition to the little blue men wearing work clothes, each aircraft also has two or three silver robots that are only waist-high to an average person.

Looking at the robot on the aircraft, Jin couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and asked Speaker Gray, "The Cabre II robot? Joe Cowen's taste isn't bad either, how could he allow you to buy this thing?"

"Cough cough."

Speaker Gray's face showed a hint of embarrassment: "This equipment was purchased by the Federation decades ago, before the Governor even left Morde."

"Decades ago?" Jin repeated, then quickly understood: "Was it pushed onto you by the chamber of commerce that mined the phosphate mine?"

Speaker Gray nodded: "Yes."

Jin raised her eyelids and glanced at him: "How much did you spend back then?"

"Uh..." Speaker Gray's embarrassment deepened. "If you convert it to price, it's about three hundred Alliance Coins per unit."

"Three hundred Alliance Coins?"

Upon hearing the figures announced by Speaker Gray, Chestnut, who was pinching Nono's ear, immediately jumped up: "Isn't this a damn profiteer?!"

Speaker Gray could only continue to force a smile, but everyone could see that his smile carried a strong anger—not directed at Milo and the others, but at that so-called chamber of commerce.

Gu Wei nudged the intangible sheep with his elbow: "Sheep, what's with this Kabuto robot?"

“It’s Cabrera,” Meimei corrected, then explained, “How should I put it, do you remember probe robots and worker bee robots?”

Probe robots and worker bee robots?
Gu Wei was slightly taken aback, but quickly nodded.

He certainly wouldn't forget those two devices.

The full name of the probe robot is .7/K692 Probe Robot. It is the most common type of junk in the Star Sea. The first piece of trash that Gu Wei picked up in the Blue Bridge System was this thing. In later explorations, probe robots were even more common.

It is a standard exploration robot with open-source technology and a simple manufacturing process. Since it does not require additional weapons, its manufacturing cost is even lower than that of servant drones.

At the same time, it does not need to consider the return problem when exploring the environment. As long as it can transmit the images back, it is considered to have completed the mission. Therefore, it can be seen in almost the entire star system.

Its production threshold is so low that it's as low as a fourth-order civilization or a relatively powerful third-order civilization, making it a truly common and ubiquitous product.

As for worker bee robots, those are much more technologically advanced.

It is a bee-like insect robot. A dozen or so of them can easily carry more than 500 tons of cargo together. In addition, they can also be seen on the spacecraft for routine deck polishing, cleaning of debris and even equipment maintenance.

Some of the more powerful individuals even possess relatively simple consciousness—Gu Wei once saw a large beehive in the kitchen, discussing with Li Zi whether to add too much or too little salt when cooking.
“Very good,” Meimei continued, seeing that Gu Wei remembered these two robots. “The Cabre II robot is an engineering machine similar to the worker bee robot. However, the maximum weight of cargo that a Cabre II robot can carry is only twelve tons. Although a single ordinary worker bee robot can only carry tens of tons of cargo, there is a difference in size between the two.”

"The difference in size is essentially due to energy costs and the robot's own storage and transportation costs. Therefore, the actual technological gap between the two is about twelve generations, only slightly higher than that of probe robots."

“A brand new Cabre II robot costs only seventy or eighty Alliance coins. The equipment that Molder has is obviously second-hand. The price for a large quantity can even be reduced to fifteen coins per unit – that’s the landed price.”

Gu Wei opened his mouth: "."

shit
Goods worth 15 Alliance Coins were sold for 300 Alliance Coins?!
No wonder even someone like Chestnut, who bought countless spectrum analyzers, would call them shady merchants.
It's no wonder that Gray's embarrassment was tinged with such obvious anger.

To know.

At that time, Mold didn't have Jokowen at the forefront. The entire planet had just had a large amount of phosphate ore extracted, and now the enemy had dealt Mold a heavy blow.
But thinking about it, it makes sense. A business association that takes advantage of others' misfortunes to extract phosphate ore can't be any better in terms of character.

And the other side.

Meimei shook her little face again and continued, "This situation is actually quite common in the Star Sea. After all, although the Star Sea Alliance does not allow colonization and enslavement of lower civilizations, it cannot stop trade dumping through information and technological gaps."

“Some goods, once packaged, can become very attractive products to lower-level civilizations—for example, installing a cluster cannon with a rate of fire of 5,000 rounds per second. The cost is some resources that will hurt but won’t affect the future of the race. Think about it, how many lower-level civilizations wouldn’t be tempted?”

Gu Wei remained silent.

indeed
The fastest-firing weapons on Earth right now are the Chinese Type 1130 close-in weapon system and the Land Shield 3000, with a firing rate of about 10,000 rounds per minute, or 160 rounds per second.

If aliens were to simultaneously impose an advanced technological blockade while also suggesting that we pay a price to obtain the cluster weapon that the sheep mentioned...
Gu Wei was 100% certain that no country could resist such a temptation—unless you couldn't even afford those resources.

This involves a dumping game that touches on social structures and people's hearts, and in the end, you may have no choice but to buy it—otherwise, you'll be brutally crushed by hostile countries.

This kind of chamber of commerce is like the unlicensed taxi driver Gu Wei knew before he traveled through time—illegal in every sense of the word, yet people always get scammed for various reasons.

After a while.

Dozens of Molder aliens and more than sixty second-generation Cabre robots stood orderly at the entrance of the Khan and began to enter the ship's interior to unload various supplies.

Garrison Commander Ambrose Elliott, along with another group of military personnel, began to assist in inventorying the goods.

The scene quickly became lively.

"Twelve QX-7 stabilizers, manufactured by Mengying Precision Machinery, batch number is..."

"Eight CR-221 therapy devices, one hundred and twenty first-aid kits, and three warp speed sensors have been verified!"

"Pay attention to the classification! Stack the energy cores separately, six standard containers per group. Check the first batch!"

"Twenty gene bank storage chambers, fifteen sets of ecological incubators... Wait, there's one with a damaged label here; it must have been stuck at the bottom for a long time. What a pity."

"Holy crap, a mech! This is a mech! Quick, a few people get on the protective shields! This thing absolutely cannot be damaged!"

Various goods, both expensive and cheap, were quickly moved to the open space.

Most of the supplies were not very valuable, after all, the loan for the Khan had not yet been paid off, and a large part of Jokowen's income was used to repay the debt.

Therefore, these supplies are usually second-hand or third-hand equipment that is still usable, and some have even been repaired by Jokowen. They are obviously items that were traded for and prepared for Molde's use.

Gu Wei even noticed a cup-shaped object among them, which, combined with Qiao Kewen's current single status, makes it easy to see how frugal he is.
Of course.

Not everything is cheap; there are also valuable items.

The most typical example is...
The mechs left behind by Joe Cowen.

As a seasoned veteran who has spent years venturing into the cosmos, he could never slack off on his mecha, no matter how much he tried to save money.

After all, this is a life-or-death device.

“Speaker Gray, fellow councilors,” an hour later, Ambrose Elliott stood before the crowd again: “A total of seventeen mechs were handed over on the Khan, ten of which were lower-level mechs, five were mid-level mechs, and the remaining two were upper-level mechs.”

"Among them, the mid-level mech 'Wind Chime' is temporarily unable to fight due to equipment failure, but the spaceship's repair depot has the capability to repair it, and it is expected to be repaired to more than 90% within four months."

"The two top-tier mechs are the 'Dawn' series and the 'Iron Apostle'. The former ranks 276th among the top-tier mechs and is the governor's main mech. The backup mech, the Iron Apostle, ranks lower and is not on the official list. Its ranking on the unofficial list is around 3,000."

Elliot sounded a little excited when the mecha's condition was mentioned.

After all, as Molde's military commander, he would certainly welcome such equipment that enhances the military's strength.

To know.

Currently, the only reserve combat force that Planet Mold possesses is five lower-level mechs and two mid-level mechs.

Just as Gray opened his mouth, preparing to let Elliot continue sorting the supplies.

Sheena, who had disappeared sometime earlier, quickly walked over from a distance:

"Speaker, everyone has been brought."

Note:
Oh dear, I have to be hospitalized again, for at least two days. The IV drips and stuff aren't a big problem, but the worst part is not being able to sleep at night.
(End of this chapter)