Jiang Ye sent the photos of the canned samples he had obtained.
"This thing, it's said to sell very well. I don't know how well, because it's not sold to human planets, but to aliens," Jiang Ye messaged. "The meat in the cans comes from a biochemical monster on Quartz Star. This thing is everywhere on Quartz Star, and you can easily dig up tens of thousands of tons. If it were artificially cultivated in the local environment, it's estimated that it could develop into a super-scale farm with astonishing meat yield."
"Mr. Huan, with your extensive network, could you please check the sales situation of this product?" Jiang Ye requested.
"I'll check immediately. If this thing can make major food companies decide to buy an entire planet, it's definitely not ordinary," Huan Yunhe replied instantly.
Jiang Ye waited patiently.
He thought it would take days to get news, but he didn't expect Huan Yunhe's intelligence network to be so terrifyingly fast. Just two hours later, he sent back the results he had gathered.
"The main sales area for this canned meat is the Octopus Planet."
"Octopuses have a lower rank than humans in the Galactic Empire. Their bodies are very similar to a large octopus, with a soft head on top and four legs and four arms. Most of their skin is green."
Reading this, Jiang Ye suddenly remembered Squidward from the SpongeBob cartoon.
But then the photos came out. Several street scenes from the Octopus Planet, with Octopuses in sparkly clothes walking around. The city looked very prosperous.
Well, not like Squidward at all.
"Octopuses are generally gentle, not very expansionist, and their military strength is also very weak. This is the main reason why their status in the Galactic Empire is lower than humans. However, Octopuses live relatively happy lives, without high-intensity work. They are keen on eating and sex, and because of their large population size, their social wealth is enormous."
"The monster meat cans from Quartz Star were first supplied by Bai Xiaobai Food Company to more than ten food companies, providing one thousand tons. For the first two days after these cans entered the Octopus Planet, sales were lukewarm, but then sales suddenly exploded."
"The reason for the sales explosion is said to be a delayed effect. Some Octopuses found that after eating these cans, their bodies would be very energetic. The delayed effect was comparable to pills, but the price was only one-fifth of the pills on the market. This news went viral on the internet and occupied the top spot on multiple Octopus Planet network hot searches, with a cumulative viewership of over four billion."
"The monster meat cans sold out and were resold online at more than ten times the price. Firstly, it was temporary popularity. Secondly, many Octopuses believed that natural meat was healthier than pills. Thirdly, taking medicine was too deliberate, while subtly incorporating some meat into dinner could achieve the effect without anyone noticing."
"Commercial institutions have evaluated the cans and believe that the price could eventually stabilize at double the initial selling price. As long as the output is sufficient, a huge new market with an annual profit of five trillion can be formed."
The intelligence ended here.
Jiang Ye was shocked.
Five trillion profit, annually!
No wonder major food merchants, as well as Bai Xiaobai, were thinking of directly buying the planet! And they were offering prices without hesitation!
They all knew that their competitors would also come to snatch the planet! They were all long-time rivals who knew each other inside out!
Huan Yunhe: "This matter may require careful consideration."
Jiang Ye: "Indeed. Thank you for your intelligence."
Huan Yunhe: "This is part of our after-sales service."
Jiang Ye hesitated. Quartz Star, from an unknown garbage planet, suddenly became a golden planet. Now there were two options: either sell it directly to a food industry giant and get a one-time huge sum of cash, or don't sell it and operate Quartz Star instead, earning long-term profits annually.
The biochemical monsters of Quartz Star were now like silkworms in ancient times; they could be monopolized, and the market was huge. As long as he ensured that only chopped and processed meat was sold, live specimens capable of reproduction were not sold, and the origin was controlled, Jiang Ye estimated that Quartz Star could continue to make money from this for twenty to thirty years.
Jiang Ye prepared to collect more intelligence to help him make this decision.
Unexpectedly, that evening, Li Nannan called.
"Does that Quartz Star you have produce a type of biochemical monster? And does it sell well on the Octopus Planet?" Li Nannan asked right away.
"Yes," Jiang Ye admitted directly.
"What are your plans? Have all parties approached you by now?"
"I haven't made a decision yet," Jiang Ye asked tentatively, "Does the Commander have a recommendation?"
"I can help you connect directly with the Octopuses to trade, cutting out the middlemen," Li Nannan said. "You ship, and the major corporate enterprises on various Octopus planets receive the goods. You trade directly with aliens. This is good for you and good for the Octopuses."
"Will the military also take some share?" Jiang Ye asked.
"The military is responsible for transportation," Li Nannan said. "Earning some transportation fees, which is about 5% of the product's profit, not much."
"I think it's very feasible," Jiang Ye said. "But please allow me to consider it further. This matter is a bit sudden. Yesterday, these biochemical monsters were troublesome rotten meat in my eyes, and today they have suddenly become a hot commodity."
"It's fine, no rush. I'm just telling you about this. If you can cooperate with the military, some important figures will favor you more. I don't want this for myself; I'm not a merchant." Li Nannan said, "No matter who you choose to cooperate with, as a friend, I am happy for you."
The call ended.
Li Nannan then sent a lot of business plans, stamped with the military's seal.
Jiang Ye was greatly shocked. He felt that this cake was bigger than expected, otherwise, why would the military act so quickly?
A sense of unease washed over Jiang Ye. When there was no profit, all parties were calm. Now that profit had emerged, various visible and invisible deities were reaching out.
Jiang Ye was just an ordinary person.
He had a premonition that more forces would emerge.
As expected, just a day later, Feng Zhi Shuang called.
Feng Zhi Shuang claimed that she had old acquaintances who were closely related to the Octopus civilization. The Octopus civilization wanted to bypass the Galactic Empire's military and directly connect with Jiang Ye, with the Octopus fleet or the fleet in Jiang Ye's hands transporting the goods, further saving costs.
The Octopus civilization had also specifically instructed that this matter must be kept confidential. If the news leaked to the military, it would ultimately not be good.
Over the next week, Jiang Ye began to be busy receiving foreign guests. Representatives from many interstellar conglomerates, chambers of commerce, groups, and enterprises came to see Jiang Ye one after another, mostly giant commercial organizations with a scale exceeding fifty trillion.
Quartz Star had completely become a hot potato.
All parties were pressuring Jiang Ye, using both threats and inducements. The network of relationships around Jiang Ye was continuously releasing information.
The Quartz Star forces even detected a large number of unidentified foreign spacecraft deviating from their normal routes and approaching Quartz Star for reconnaissance.