The most outrageous thing was yet to come.
Bai Xiaobai's food company sent specialists to test these monsters and soon proposed a trial acquisition to Jiang Ye.
The acquisition price was quite high, five hundred yuan per jin of monster, with the first batch requiring a thousand tons.
Jiang Ye was initially shocked. Could these deformed monsters, riddled with nuclear radiation, be made into canned food?
Did aliens have such peculiar tastes?
Bai Xiaobai claimed it was for new product development, and sales were uncertain. They would acquire a thousand tons to enter the market and adjust subsequent acquisitions based on market response.
Since the monster corpses would be burned anyway, it was better to sell them for money. Jiang Ye issued several orders, notifying the frontline troops on Shiying Star to collect monster corpses. The military would purchase them directly from the frontline troops at a price of one hundred yuan per jin.
Initially, the frontline troops' enthusiasm was not high. After all, the monsters were smelly, dangerous, and radioactive. No one wanted to get involved.
When the order came down that they could exchange them for money, their combat speed immediately increased severalfold. Every company scrambled to capture monsters.
Soon, the frontline troops made a new discovery underground.
Only a small portion of the monsters could extend their claws to the surface to grab people.
There were also large quantities of monster meat eggs, hidden in the soil in clumps, semi-liquid and semi-solid. Viscous blood and bodily fluids flowed through the soil, resembling veins growing from the earth.
The troops first captured all the mobile monsters in an area, then dug down for the deformed meat eggs. Progress was rapid, and production was astonishing. In just one week, they had gathered the thousand tons of monster meat required by Bai Xiaobai's company.
The acquisition was temporarily halted, as was the monster hunting operation, pending the sales performance of Bai Xiaobai's company.
Bai Xiaobai even mailed Jiang Ye a sample can, a large ten-liter glass jar with a metal label on the front, inscribed with indecipherable alien script. The alien characters had many dots and curves, with very few horizontal or vertical strokes, resembling some kind of decorative trim.
The sample was placed in the laboratory. Jiang Ye, wearing a thick radiation-proof suit, went to examine it. Before the can was even opened, the Geiger counter began to chirp incessantly. Upon opening it, a puff of green gas shot out, akin to a muffled fart.
The meat inside still had residual fur. When poked with a finger, it sprayed out soft, foul-smelling water. The radiation-proof suit shielded him from the air; otherwise, Jiang Ye would have smelled an incredibly pungent, sour odor.
The can looked like a toxic substance that had been submerged in a shipwreck for four hundred years. If left for another four hundred years, it might even spawn small monsters. Jiang Ye had no appetite. He was completely unoptimistic about this product. The fur on the meat wasn't even removed, and the processing was so crude. Did they really think alien customers were all complete fools?
A week later, Jiang Ye was proven wrong.
On a Saturday morning, Jiang Ye was busy in his office, approving development reports from various regions of Birong Star.
His phone vibrated on the desk; it was Bai Xiaobai calling.
"Hello?" Jiang Ye waved his hand and answered.
"General Jiang, I need to meet with you to discuss a massive business deal," Bai Xiaobai said. "When are you free?"
"I'm free now. When are you free?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Perfect, then. I'll be there to see you in about four hours. You won't stand me up, will you?" Bai Xiaobai asked.
Jiang Ye glanced at the time in the upper right corner of the screen. "You'll arrive right around lunchtime. We can chat while we eat. We're having roasted squab today. Any dietary restrictions?"
"You're really standing me up?"
The call ended.
Jiang Ye continued his work.
Four hours passed in a flash. Bai Xiaobai arrived at the office almost in tandem with the roasted squab. The chef pushing the food cart had barely entered when Bai Xiaobai followed right behind.
Roasted squab, squab soup, and a few small dishes – the lunch was simple.
Jiang Ye pushed aside the files on his desk, clearing a space on the dining table, and sat down opposite Bai Xiaobai to eat the squab.
"I want to buy your planet," Bai Xiaobai stated.
Jiang Ye choked, nearly suffocating. After a long bout of coughing, Bai Xiaobai patted him vigorously on the back.
"Aren't you a food company?" Jiang Ye asked, astonished. "Suddenly want to be a planet governor?"
"That monster meat can, the one from before, it sold out completely," Bai Xiaobai said with a smile. "Sales were incredibly good. Planets are practically begging me to supply them. The profits are astonishingly high."
Jiang Ye was first surprised. That stuff could actually sell out?
Was alien money that easy to earn?
He immediately understood Bai Xiaobai's intentions.
"So you want to buy Shiying Star and use the polluted zones there to cultivate bio-monsters, developing the entire planet into a canned food supply base?" Jiang Ye asked.
"That's right," Bai Xiaobai nodded. "I've inquired. You bought Shiying Star for investment purposes, right? Since you're going to sell it anyway, it's better to keep the profits within the family. Why don't you name your price?"
"You name your price," Jiang Ye said.
"You name yours," Bai Xiaobai replied.
They were both being polite, each wanting to haggle based on the other's offer.
Finally, Jiang Ye stopped talking and focused on eating the roasted squab.
He wasn't in a hurry. After all, Bai Xiaobai was the one who came to him wanting to buy the planet. Her need was more urgent than his.
Bai Xiaobai couldn't hold back for long. "Then I'll make an offer: thirty trillion. How about that?"
Jiang Ye's eyelids twitched.
Shiying Star had only cost fifteen trillion. This was a doubling of the price!
Bai Xiaobai's financial capacity was impressive. She could raise the price by over ten trillion without batting an eye. On the surface, she appeared to be a simple young girl, but who would have thought she was so immensely wealthy?
"Sixty," Jiang Ye said.
"Deal!" Bai Xiaobai nodded vigorously.
The roasted squab in Jiang Ye's hand dropped to the floor with a thud. A pigeon leg flew out and spun in circles on the smooth floor.
He looked at Bai Xiaobai in disbelief. "Seriously?"
"I can transfer the money to you now," Bai Xiaobai said, her expression not that of someone joking.
"I've changed my mind. I think Shiying Star is worth a hundred," Jiang Ye said.
"Hey, hey, hey! Are you a man or not! A person without integrity is like a lost tool!" Bai Xiaobai glared. "We agreed on sixty, so it's sixty. This price isn't low. Besides me, who else could offer this price?"
If she hadn't said this, Jiang Ye might have readily agreed, collected the money, completed the paperwork, and happily handed over Shiying Star.
But with Bai Xiaobai's words, Jiang Ye suddenly had another suspicion.
"Let's think this over carefully. Don't rush," Jiang Ye tore apart another roasted squab.
"No! You name your price, I agree, and we'll get the paperwork done quickly. What's with the stalling?" Bai Xiaobai became anxious. "I'm waiting to supply goods!"
"I'll have the troops supply the goods for you. Don't rush the planet issue for now," Jiang Ye said with a smile.
Bai Xiaobai was like a firecracker that had been lit. For the rest of the meal, she incessantly questioned Jiang Ye about why he had suddenly changed his mind. Jiang Ye quietly ate his roasted squab, a sly smile on his face, playing a game of cat and mouse with Bai Xiaobai.
Two hours after the meal, Jiang Ye received a phone call.
It was from Huan Yunhe.
"Someone wants to buy Shiying Star. More than one person. Three parties have already inquired about the price. I initially quoted them thirty, and the first party was immediately willing to buy. I was so shocked I stopped quoting prices," Huan Yunhe said.
Jiang Ye smiled, as if he had expected this. "Are the people wanting to buy Shiying Star all food merchants?"
"How did you know?" Huan Yunhe reacted quickly. "Did Shiying Star produce any delicious local specialties?"