The ground command center.
A document from the Starship Base circulated among the three titans. After a long silence, Zhou Guangyi broke it with a sense of loss, "We really underestimated the value of heavy elements!"
"Indeed, who would have thought a common clod of earth could be so valuable?" Mu Xingyu sighed faintly, as if he had missed out on hundreds of millions.
Shan Qiuyu said with resentment, "If that's the case, even if the aliens picked up our spent shell casings on the battlefield, they could make a fortune!"
"Who's to say!" Zhou Guangyi felt even more depressed, suddenly having the urge to rush onto a battleship and replace the copper casings of all shells with steel or aluminum.
Mu Xingyu flicked the document in his hand, "We've been selling at a low price for so many years. I suggest we find a way to stop this from continuing."
"It's difficult!" Shan Qiuyu said.
Mineral trade between humans and aliens had been going on for many years, from the earliest three prehistoric civilizations to the current major trading partners, even the Rol people had close trade relations with humans.
It was no exaggeration to say that the interstellar trade of heavy elements was an industry of absolute exorbitant profits. Even though humans had set prices that made them tremble, they still couldn't satisfy the massive consumption of various civilizations.
After years of development, both humans and alien civilizations had formed a series of industrial chains around the heavy element trade, with a supply chain so long that humans didn't even know where it extended!
If there were any accidents on the human side, it was hard to guarantee that alien civilizations wouldn't take desperate measures.
Zhou Guangyi thought for a moment and said, "Actually, it's not that difficult. Just inform the trade department to reduce the shipment volume, and the price will naturally rise. There's only so much goods, and the highest bidder gets them!"
"Won't that cause a backlash?" Mu Xingyu asked worriedly.
"I'd like to see who dares to make a fuss!" Shan Qiuyu's tone was chilling, filled with oppressive force.
Currently, the military had re-equipped dozens of new ships. Although a full re-equipment still had a long way to go, it already represented a formidable force.
In the entire starfield, only the Rol people could contend with humans. Other civilizations were just so-so—ever since the seven great civilizations were subjected to humanity's retaliatory counterattack and completely reduced to human vassals, no other civilization dared to extend their claws towards humanity.
Those civilizations that were "half-empty bottles" and some of the Blue Star companions were extremely similar, all of them fearing might but not virtue, having petty minds with small favors but no great righteousness.
For such forces, appeasement and bribery were useless. They had to be brutally beaten until they no longer dared to make a fuss, and only then would they know whom to kneel before and call daddy.
Mu Xingyu remained silent, while Zhou Guangyi shook his head and said, "Our strength is too weak. Let's avoid using the fleet if possible. Let the trade department manage the degree of this matter."
"Let's not worry about such things ourselves. Let's hand it over to the trade department completely; they are the professionals," Mu Xingyu said.
The three titans were all in the military, with only a superficial understanding of trade. Why worry about it here?
The three reached a consensus and immediately issued a sales restriction order to the trade department.
Incidentally, due to the military's monopolistic position in interstellar relations, the interstellar trade department was established by the military from the beginning. Although it had transitioned from military to civilian, the military still exerted an extraordinary influence on interstellar trade.
The market was more sensitive than imagined. Although the sales restriction order was not public, within twenty-four hours, the prices of several major heavy elements had risen significantly, an increase of over thirty percent!
Subsequently, the prices of other heavy elements also rose, with an increase ranging from twenty to thirty percent.
Although the unit price of these elements was not that high, their large shipment volume, often hundreds of thousands of tons, brought in massive resources for humanity.
Even more astonishing were the rare heavy elements. Although they were used in small quantities, both humans and alien civilizations were inseparable from them. Their prices had more than doubled, and some had even quadrupled.
In just one night, everyone in the Star Trade Department was beaming, with the profits alone reaching an astronomical figure.
The trading partners from other civilizations, however, were somewhat unbearable. Their hearts were in a panic, their pockets were empty, and they were in a state of distress.
Various protests poured into the Star Trade Department like snowflakes, but the staff here acted as if they didn't notice and continued to maintain the sales restriction.
However, in secret, a group of staff members, as per the military's requirements, were privately contacting traders from other civilizations.
The general approach was: "I have someone inside who is connected with the big shots in the Star Trade Department. There's a batch of goods that hasn't found a buyer yet. If you increase the price by twenty percent from the original price, you can get priority purchase..."
In history, such methods are plentiful. The Star Trade Department didn't even need to plan; they could find plenty of ready-made tactics by searching online.
With the Star Trade Department's actions, what could have been a big profit was now just a small profit, and what could have been a small profit was now at risk of a loss.
But what could be done? It was a seller's market now. If humans were unwilling to ship, they could only buy at a premium, otherwise, they could only stare blankly.
It was better to make a profit than to lose money, and for other civilizations, heavy elements had always been strategic resources. Was this a matter of money? Was it a matter of money?
Even if they gritted their teeth, they still had to buy. It was even better not to buy, as there were plenty of people queuing up behind them.
It wasn't that no one saw through humanity's intentions. The Rol people were well aware of humanity's plans and had even tried to organize merchants from other civilizations to jointly resist the price increase of heavy elements.
The Rol people's idea was good, but the connections between various civilizations were far less deep than imagined. The Rol people were also the common object of hostility for many interstellar civilizations, and not long ago they had been at odds with the Rol people.
Despite common interests, not every civilization valued these interests so highly, and they were unwilling to ally with the Rol people from the bottom of their hearts.
Coupled with the various discounts promised by the underground trade team, the unformed trade interest group crumbled.
Thereupon, the Star Trade Department, through a series of measures, continued to raise the price of heavy elements.
Afterward, the military learned that the Rol people not only purchased heavy elements for their own use but also sold the heavy elements bought from humans to more distant star regions, thereby making exorbitant profits!
The military immediately reduced the trade quota for the Rol people.
This was not a good thing. It wasn't jealousy of the Rol people making huge price differences, but rather that selling heavy elements too far was not a good thing.
Humanity's strength was not yet strong enough. Once the news that heavy elements came from Earth spread, it could attract the attention of certain powerful civilizations. If any unexpected situation occurred, causing a powerful civilization to directly find Earth, what would humanity do?
Those who play with fire will burn themselves. It was one thing for the Rol people to mess around, but if they jumped around too much and got humanity involved, what was that supposed to mean?