The rain and wind gradually lessened, and the battlefield cleanup began.
First, the mechs were stripped from the corpses and loaded onto the ship.
A total of 103 mechs were salvaged. Subtracting the friendly soldiers killed in action, this meant 63 enemy soldiers had been eliminated in the raid.
These mechs would be sent back to the base and fed into the mech manufacturing machines for recycling, which was estimated to yield a considerable amount of money.
Next were the heavy equipment from the enemy camp.
One mech manufacturing machine took over twenty minutes to excavate its base. Thirty people could barely lift it, and the entire machine was then loaded onto the deck.
The ship was already listing precariously. Jiang Ye piloted it back to the base.
At the base, he directed soldiers to unload the cargo and set up the mech manufacturing machine in an open area on the perimeter. This machine did not require identity binding and automatically networked with the surrounding spawn points. Therefore, as long as it was placed within the base, it could serve as a backup unit.
The salvaged mechs from the ship were also dragged off by soldiers, one by one, and fed into the manufacturing machine for recycling.
Jiang Ye gathered thirty soldiers and set sail again, returning to the enemy camp.
The second piece of heavy equipment was the enemy's flat-trajectory cannon manufacturing machine.
This single machine was worth thirty million, capable of directly producing small-caliber flat-trajectory cannons and ammunition. The cannon on the enemy ship had been made this way.
Although the technology of these flat-trajectory cannons was old, their power was undeniable. The success of the raid was largely due to Isabel, an excellent gunner, who had effectively suppressed the enemy. This was with only one cannon; with dozens or hundreds of cannons, it could have achieved an effect similar to that of a frog mother, leveling an entire base in minutes.
The flat-trajectory cannon manufacturing machine was quite massive, divided into three sections, each about the size of a bus, connected by cables. Jiang Ye directed the soldiers to disconnect the cables first and then transport each section to the ship.
It took three trips and three hours to transport the flat-trajectory cannon manufacturing machine, but that wasn't the end.
The last large piece of equipment was the ship manufacturing machine!
To be precise, it was no longer a single machine but an entire row of equipment, with each piece of machinery larger than the last, resembling a small village.
Disassembly alone took over two hours, and the ship made seven round trips to transport it all.
This set of equipment was priced at 300 million. Including the previous spoils of war, this raid had generated approximately 330 million.
Jiang Ye exited his mech, lay back in the bathtub, and logged off.
He had spent an excessively long time in the remote control cabin. As soon as he exited, he vomited, spewing a mess all over the floor. However, having not eaten for over ten hours, he didn't vomit much, only some stomach acid and semi-digested matter.
Two sweeping robots, alerted by the commotion, arrived to clean up the mess.
"Master, are you alright?"
"Master, please go drink some warm water to warm your stomach."
Jiang Ye nodded, stepped over the mess, and headed to the kitchen to prepare and devour dinner.
He was only halfway through his meal when he heard hurried footsteps from downstairs, followed by Tian Rao's cheerful shout, "Jiang Ye, Jiang Ye, Jiang Ye!"
"Upstairs, the dining room!" Jiang Ye called out, too exhausted to go down.
The footsteps grew closer, and Tian Rao burst through the door, grinning. Her attire was as usual: a black sports bra and a black jacket, revealing a sliver of her slender waist, paired with grey tight yoga pants and athletic shoes. In her hands, she carried two wooden boxes.
"I'm here to bribe you, with two bottles of fine liquor bought from Hal Star, each costing over two hundred thousand!" Tian Rao placed the wooden boxes on the table, then plopped down on the edge of the table and grabbed chopsticks to eat.
"Is your company registered?" Jiang Ye asked. "Liquor from Hal Star? How did you get to Hal Star?"
"Idiot, online shopping!" Tian Rao rolled her eyes. "Bin Hai City has a batch of new companies, including liquor vendors from Hal Star that can import directly from the source."
Jiang Ye nodded in realization. He hadn't been approving new businesses lately and was unaware of such companies setting up shop.
"Your complexion is terrible," Tian Rao suddenly leaned closer to look at him. "You look as weak as someone who just gave birth."
Jiang Ye reached up and rubbed his face. "I'll be fine in a moment, it's just temporary weakness."
"My company is registered, and I have something to ask you," Tian Rao said.
"Go ahead."
"I heard from Isabel that there's something called a remote control cabin, and the wealthy circles in Bin Hai City are very interested. They want to order a batch to play with, around thirty to forty units." Tian Rao blinked. "The wholesale price is five million, right? I want to handle the sales to them and make a small profit."
Jiang Ye was shocked. "What on earth is the wealthy circle of Bin Hai City?"
"It's a club. Anyone with assets over a hundred million can join. The meeting place is on the top floor of the newly built library in Bin Hai City, and they gather every weekend. Do you want to join? I'll bring you," Tian Rao smiled.
"Good heavens, there are already wealthy clubs like this so soon! I can't join, it's not appropriate," Jiang Ye shook his head. "How many people are in it now? Who organized the club? What do they do at the gatherings?"
"Currently, including me, there are seventy-six people. Isabel organized it, and she's the club president," Tian Rao rattled off the information without reservation. "The gatherings have only been held for three weeks so far. The themes are decided by Isabel. The first week was about getting to know each other. Everyone had a chair, and they sat in a circle, introducing themselves in turn, and then others would ask questions."
"Sounds like a patient support group," Jiang Ye quipped.
"The second week was a literary exchange. Everyone recommended a literary work they liked," Tian Rao said.
"Quite elegant?" Jiang Ye was surprised.
"Oh, my head hurts so much. To avoid embarrassing myself on the spot, I spent four days cramming a hefty book," Tian Rao said with a grimace. "Instead of a book exchange, it was more like a large-scale showing off session! Many wealthy foreign immigrants are in the club, and they are highly educated. Some even majored in literature and deliberately chose obscure and niche literary works to brag about. After all, when people have money, they need some way to show off, so they read literature for the sake of showing off. I didn't dare to speak the whole time; I hadn't even heard of anything they were discussing. I felt like an illiterate."
"The stench of old money," Jiang Ye shrugged. "What about the third week?"
"The third week was a wine reception, which was essentially advertising for Hal Star's liquor vendors. The fine wines at the banquet were provided by the vendors. Those wealthy individuals liked them so much that they ordered hundreds of bottles at a time. Isabel probably received tens of millions in commission," Tian Rao said with a mysterious smile. "I also met a few brothers who are in the import-export business. Once the starport is built, they can help me transport clothes to other planets."
Jiang Ye suddenly understood. No wonder Isabel had started such a club; this was her objective!
Getting tens of millions in commission from one gathering, Old Yi's methods are quite impressive! Not simple at all, Isabel is truly not simple!
"The gathering just finished yesterday, and they're preparing to decide on the theme for next week's gathering. Isabel wants to do remote control cabins, saying that thing is harmless, like a war game, and can satisfy the need for excitement among the bored club members. However, that thing is monopolized by the military, so I've come to beg you," Tian Rao blinked. "Brother Jiang, please approve it?"