Chapter 1751 Merchant Fleet
In the void, a fleet of Angstrom sailed quickly close to the side of the Galen system. They had just left the subspace, and the statues decorating the bows were still surrounded by The lavender energy, materials that should not exist in the physical universe, surged in the Geller force field, and then quickly annihilated into nothingness.
The Quicklegs is a merchant cruiser. It originally served as a Lunar-class cruiser in the Gothic Sector. However, it suffered heavy damage during the Gothic War and was judged to be unable to continue its military use after repairs. The battleship was commissioned and became a merchant cruiser, purchased by the Hoyland family.
Captain House stared at the starry sky and looked at a gray planet that was gradually approaching. This was the outskirts of Angstrom. As long as they crossed that asteroid, they would be scanned by the large monitoring stations deployed by the Forge World. to and subsequently identify them.
The Hoylander family is one of the few merchant families allowed to directly enter the Angstrom system. This involves thousands of years of interest entanglements, and it also contains a secret trade chain—— House Hoyland - Angstrom - Red Pirate - House Hoyland.
These almost heretical transactions gave the Hoyland family a near-monopoly position in many markets in the Maelstrom. They could control the prices of many industrial products, raw materials and even food, which made all trade extremely profitable.
How abundant is the trade oil and water in Maelstrom?
Even without the salary and allowances provided by the family, a Hoyland captain could make enough money from the meager cargo he carried privately to retire comfortably and live like a prince. .
However, not all ship owners have the opportunity to obtain a lucrative route within the family. In fact, there is also a strict system within the huge Hoyland family. The top level is the blood ship owner, usually the family member. The direct members, secondly known as the owners of the White Ship, are the descendants of the ancient servants who have served the Hoyland family for hundreds of generations. The history of these small families can even be traced back to the era of the Great Expedition. It can be said that they are the same as the Hoyland family. The De family shares weal and woe, and is also the backbone of the Hoyland family, controlling most of the high-profit shipping routes. Next down are the black sailing owners. They are not only the majority of the family, but also the main "thugs" who rob competitors. They are mainly responsible for such things as sailing routes or competing for territory with other families, and their goal of risking their lives is to become the retainers of the Hoyland family and be promoted to the owners of the white sailing ship.
The last part is the owner of the gray sailboat. This kind of person usually has a name and pays a part of the fee regularly. They can use the name of the Hoyland family to run business in the Maelstrom - but the prerequisite is that they cannot There are conflicts with the shipowners of the previous three classes. Generally, small shipowners fall into this category. Their main goal of joining the Hoyland family is to escape from the control of the empire and avoid frequent requisitions.
House is a black sailing ship owner. His father joined the Hoyland family decades ago. After his father died in a pirate robbery, he inherited the ship and his father's contract with the merchant family. Over the years, He has also made a lot of contributions to the Hoyland family, and he is considered a very promising person among the owners of the black sailboat to be promoted to the owner of the white sailboat.
But even so, it stands to reason that he should not be the one to take Angstrom's route. After all, this involves the core secrets of the family.
But now is a time of war, and House heard that the family seemed to be targeted by the Inquisition, so this more "dangerous" route was left to a capable black sailing owner like him.
However, from the perspective of a person like House who is used to licking blood from the blade of a knife, this is not troublesome. The Hoyland family has experienced many storms and waves since it lasted for thousands of years, and this is not the first time. Being targeted by the Inquisition, the family has deep connections in Terra and even the Inquisition, but this matter is nothing special.
On the contrary, some recent events in the Claremont family have concerned him. Hearing that Lord Soshyan had handed over the issuance of military coupons to that group of people, House felt very puzzled.
Why?
Anyone with a discerning eye can see how much oil and water there is here. This expedition will last for several years. Once the military ticket is completed, the profit will be immeasurable. There is no need to even run the ship, just lie down. can make a profit.
Why was this matter handed over to the Claremont family? They had all been beaten to the point where they were left with only half their lives. The Hoylander family was so powerful, and the effect would be better if it was left to them to operate.
He has also heard some rumors that the slutty bitch of the Claremont family seemed to have hugged the Space Marine's lap, but he couldn't figure out how the other party did it.
The Astartes are notoriously devoid of desires, so it would be useless even if that little girl stripped herself naked and sent him up.
What did Lord Soshiyang think? Did he really want to take action against the family?
It doesn't look like it -
"Sigh."
Sighing softly and shaking his head to drive away these distracting thoughts, House realized that this level of It's not something he should think about, it's best to do his own thing at the moment.
"Check the status of each ship." Following his order, the status of each ship in the fleet was quickly reported. This fleet has two merchant cruisers, five armed merchant ships, and ten A large container ship carrying rare minerals produced from the Bloody Skeleton Galaxy.
"Ship owner, all ships and containers are in normal condition."
"Okay, the whole team maintains the current speed and turns on the transponder."
"Yes!"
Those minerals will be exchanged for valuable arms in Angstrom, and this is only part of the voyage. The real promise of wealth is actually in another arms black market. House probably knows who the boss behind that black market is. The Red Pirate, but what the heck, he's just a businessman.
In addition, in the converted cargo ship of this merchant cruiser, there are also his own "private goods", some technological relics and alien artifacts. These can be sold at a good price in Angstrom, and he can exchange them for valuables. Advanced life-support devices, which often contain some technologies that do not meet the "regulations", but are very valuable, are then sold to those hive nobles who are afraid of death at a higher price, with a profit of about one hundred About fifty times, and he doesn’t have to hand over this part of the profit at all.
"Sir, a signal!"
Suddenly, the scout shouted.
“A gamma-level request for help signal, the other party is identified as KOLJ-987821, it is a medium-sized civilian passenger ship, belonging to the Kerbal Passenger Transport Company.”
“Huh?”
House frowned. According to navigation rules, all passing ships must lend a helping hand to a ship in distress, but considering the mission they have to perform now, it seems inappropriate.
"Where is the other party?"
"It is about 500 kilometers ahead of our route! The outline of the other party has been scanned."
Subsequently, a common passenger ship The image appeared before House's eyes.
“This——”
If he refuses to save him, his reputation will be ruined, and it may even affect his family's reputation if someone else rescues him from behind.
"Can you connect to the other party's bridge? First understand the situation to see if it is an engine failure or something else. If not, send a team of maintenance technicians up, or leave one ship behind. The fleet will leave first and hand over The goods are important."
"Let me see if it can be connected. The other party opened the wide area communication line."
The moment the communicator connected to the other party's communication, there was an unnatural scream. The sound resounded through the bridge of the Quick Legs and quickly spread to other battleships, causing their cogitator systems to be paralyzed in an instant!
(End of this chapter)