Apocalypse Gachapon - Chapter 2012: Assessment

Soon, the day of the Bronze Camp’s major examination arrived.

Initially, the internal assessments within the Star-Eye Clan’s three major teams were their own affairs. However, because of Ye Zhongming and the excellent rewards he had announced, the major examination attracted much attention.

On this day, almost all Silver Mask warriors and Gold Mask warriors without missions came, and their Order Leaders naturally did not miss it either; Jikesu, Yashinan, and Bashilu also came.

Finally, when the two leaders of the Star-Eye Clan appeared together, it ushered in the first climax.

All the Bronze Mask warriors felt pressure and nervousness, and everyone once again witnessed Ye Zhongming’s current prestige and status within the Star-Eye Clan.

For an internal team assessment, even the clan leaders came to watch. While not necessarily unprecedented, this level of support was absolutely all-out.

It was just hard on these Bronze Mask warriors. They were excited to see the clan leaders, but also felt pressure because they had to undergo the assessment under the gaze of almost the entire clan leadership. Many had sweaty palms.

Since the two Star-Eye clan leaders had come, they naturally had to say something. Leader Eye, representing the clan, briefly said a few words and then announced the start of the assessment.

Ye Zhongming and many high-ranking officials accompanied the two clan leaders to watch the assessment. Because Ye Zhongming was the host today, he sat to one side of the two clan leaders.

“The matter of the mining machines has made progress, but a problem has arisen.” Leader Eye spoke softly to Ye Zhongming beside him.

“What problem?”

Because purchasing the machines had to be secret, they naturally could not buy them from the major races and could only go through special channels. The channel the Star-Eye Clan found was a garbage processing plant specializing in handling discarded mechanical and metal waste from various races.

Among them, some items discarded by major races were still very good for smaller races. Buying directly from major races was not an option, as they would not deal with you, so other methods had to be found, and such covert processing plants emerged accordingly.

Of course, this was not something just anyone could do.

There was one or two such processing plants on each survivor fortress, almost all of which engaged in this kind of business. To make other races buy obediently rather than steal, they naturally needed powerful backing, so, without exception, these processing plants all had shadows of major races or super experts behind them.

Furthermore, the super races and major races were not foolish; they knew where their technological levels lagged behind those of other races. Key components would not be discarded for processing.

Therefore, the people running these processing plants either had connections with the super races or themselves understood relevant advanced technologies.

Whichever it was, it was also not something ordinary people could do.

Such places and such people, not just towards the Star-Eye Clan, but even towards other major races, stood very straight-backed.

“A batch of mining machines is not sold separately. If we want to buy, we can only buy the entire batch. But more than half of it is actually completely useless to us. That means, what we could have bought for one or two million Moonspan Gold now requires nearly six million Moonspan Gold.”

Leader Eye sighed lightly in his heart, feeling heavy pressure.

This was the first thing Ye Zhongming had truly asked the Star-Eye Clan to do in a meaningful sense. Previous matters, such as using the item information transmission between spokespeople systems or the operation of the shop, were actually very easy things for the Star-Eye Clan, things that could be done with just the clan leader’s nod.

But this was different. This tested the Star-Eye Clan’s capabilities in various aspects, such as information acquisition, communication skills, execution strength, financial situation, etc.

In terms of efficiency, the Star-Eye Clan was high; finding a seller within 10 days and entering the finalization stage proved the clan’s capability.

It was just that, facing a seller’s market, the Star-Eye Clan’s bargaining power in this transaction was clearly not very high.

The Star-Eye Clan contributed three million Moonspan Gold, and Ye Zhongming contributed five million. These eight million were the startup capital, meaning this was all the money until formal profitability began.

If six million were spent now, the remaining two million would be completely insufficient. Consider that relevant personnel hadn’t been trained yet; whoever was hired to teach would require payment. Later, after Jie Su secured the aircraft and flight routes, everything from fuel to aviation fees would cost money. Related costs like warehouse construction, sales network setup, and various maintenance hadn’t even been calculated yet.

Originally, these latter items were the major part of the cost. Now, the machine purchase cost had become the major part.

Speaking of this, the two clan leaders felt awkward and embarrassed, even carrying a hint of dejection.

Truly, a lack of money could overwhelm a hero. The Star-Eye Clan truly had no money to spare now; three million was the maximum amount they could provide. Even so, many of the clan’s normal operations had to be suspended, with operations resuming only after money was earned.

Ye Zhongming nodded, considering how to handle this matter.

“Is there only this one seller?”

Ye Zhongming felt that only with competition could the price be pressured. If other sellers got involved, there might still be a chance.

Hearing this, Leader Eye shook his head. “This matter must be conducted secretly. Buying from other survivor fortresses is too risky; keeping it secret is almost impossible. We can only choose a seller on our own fortress, and here, they are the only seller.”

Since this path was blocked, if they wanted to succeed, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and agree.

“Then buy it. Regarding the money, if it’s not enough, I will find a way later. However, can we have them train a group of technical personnel for us? They sold the stuff; they should at least let us know how to use the machines, right?”

Hearing that Ye Zhongming still had a solution, the two clan leaders relaxed a little. Leader Eye said directly, “I think that is negotiable.”

The issue of mining the resource star has been temporarily resolved; awaiting delivery. On another side, the Logistics Officer Yashinan said, “Regarding the land issue, I inquired for you and selected a plot outside Darkstrip City. However, the area is slightly large, with artificial forests on two sides and an artificial river on one side. If we want to acquire it, it requires an additional one and a half million Moonspan Gold.”

Hearing Yashinan say this, before Ye Zhongming could react, Paobai spoke first, “That much money? How big is that land?”

Survivor fortresses were actually artificial planets that simulated natural ones, complete with mountains, rivers, and lakes, along with various animals and plants.

However, since this place was entirely artificial, everything was planned. In populated areas, the terrain was basically flat. Outside the cities, it was mostly agricultural land.

The dietary habits of each cosmic race were different. Around Darkstrip City, the food of several races consisted mainly of tree fruits and a small amount of meat, requiring little farmland. Therefore, some plots of land were left empty, but plots meeting Ye Zhongming’s requirements were few; this one was the most suitable.

After Ye Zhongming heard the specific location and area from Yashinan, he checked it on his terminal and immediately said, “Buy it!”