Liu Hai was urgently searching for a solution and even informed Igor about the matter, asking him to contact his smuggling connections for potential laundering channels. Sacrificing some profits was inconsequential.
It wasn't until two months later when Igor's spaceship exited warp drive that he contacted Liu Hai, indicating he could find a channel but would require a modest commission.
Liu Hai readily agreed to this request and informed Igor that if he could successfully launder this batch of goods, he would pay him a commission of 500,000 Credit Points.
With Liu Hai's assurance secured, Igor didn't rush to contact the channel. Instead, he first delivered the current batch of goods to collect the nearly ten million Credit Points commission for this shipment.
The Kono Star Region's Third Star System was an unremarkable system under Kono's jurisdiction with no terraforming value. Due to its abundant mineral resources, it had been developed by the Federation as a centralized hub for various production factories.
The Third Star System was also known as the Star Factory, housing 80% of the manufacturing plants under Kono Administrative Star's governance. This included two shipyards capable of producing cruiser-class vessels, five shipyards manufacturing small and medium-sized spaceships, and over a dozen factories producing various models of fighter jets, mechas, and other military equipment.
There were also tens of thousands of supporting equipment manufacturers and civilian product companies, with thousands of spaceships coming and going daily.
The concentration of manufacturing made the Third Star System a bustling hub where thousands of spaceships arrived daily. Upon reaching the system's Oort Cloud, ships would be forced out of warp drive by space suppressors and could only use the military-constructed express lanes to travel inward at ten times the speed of light.
The military had built six such channels, encircling the entire star system so that any entry point could provide the fastest route to the destination.
Along the way, Igor saw spaceships of all kinds entering and exiting the light bands, each queuing up for inspection in an orderly fashion.
Upon reaching the light band, Igor carefully maneuvered his ship into the queue for the military inspection station. After receiving his entry code, he diverted into the marked Express Lane 4, heading toward the Thor's Hammer Mega Shipyard.
After more than two hours in the express lane, he arrived at the shipyard located in the central region of the star system—a colossal structure spanning over a hundred kilometers in diameter.
"Zhang, I've got your delivery," Igor called out over the comms before even arriving, simultaneously sending a docking request to the shipyard's spaceport.
"Igor, right? Code verified, order number logged. Please proceed to the designated docking bay," the spaceport personnel confirmed before transmitting the assigned coordinates.
As Igor approached, he saw everything from small shuttlecraft measuring a mere dozen meters to massive cargo spaceships spanning kilometers, all streaking past with long trails of exhaust as they headed toward their destinations.
"It's incredibly bustling here—even Kono Administrative Star doesn't have half as much traffic."
Before him loomed the massive shipyard, resembling a planet in scale. This integrated complex combined space station living quarters, manufacturing, and R&D facilities. Within its hundred-kilometer diameter, less than a third of the space was actually dedicated to shipbuilding.
Following the instructions, they entered the fifth Spaceport, which was close to the Smelting Plant. Igor's cargo was unloaded here and then directly sent into the Smelting Furnace.
Igor piloted the ship into the docking area, where several large mechanical arms extended to secure the vessel. A Connecting Bay then linked to the ship's exit, and after the passage was filled with air, Igor quickly ran down.
On the other side of the passage, a tall, middle-aged man was already waiting. Seeing Igor emerge, he immediately greeted him, "Igor, welcome to Thor's Hammer Space Station. I just checked—the goods you brought are quite impressive, with high purity. They can be used directly."
"The payment this time is 1.05 million Credit Points, which will be transferred to your company's account shortly," Zhang Tingyu said with a smile, inviting Igor to relax at the bar.
Hearing that his cargo of less than 10,000 cubic meters had sold for 1.05 million Credit Points, Igor walked alongside Zhang Tingyu, puzzled. "Zhang, has the price gone up?"
"Yes," Zhang Tingyu casually tossed a cigarette to Igor. "Metal materials have risen by five points, and they'll go up a bit more later. I gave you the highest price since you were introduced by my classmate—I didn't want you to lose out."
"Oh! Thank you, Zhang. I know you want our company's goods, but don't worry—we have over a million cubic meters of cargo coming later. We'll ship it to you as soon as possible," Igor happily revealed his trump card while mentally calculating how much commission he could earn at this price.
"A million cubic meters? All the same material?" Zhang Tingyu looked at Igor in surprise. He truly hadn't expected his old classmate to bring him such a huge surprise. With this batch of materials, they could resume full production and connect with the subsequent shipments from the Lord's Star Domain.
"The exact composition isn't clear yet. I just know it's conventional metal, so it should all be usable for you," Igor admitted. He genuinely didn't know the type of the second batch of metal materials—even Liu Hai wasn't aware.
Zhang Tingyu patted Igor on the shoulder and laughed. "No problem. As long as it's metal, we can use it. At most, we'll just adjust the production plan."
"Speaking of which, Zhang, the next batch—hundreds of billions in metal—might be a bit tricky. You understand, it's... not entirely by the books," Igor suddenly remembered the message Liu Hai had sent him. This batch couldn't be sold under the guise of recycling.
"Smuggled materials?" Zhang Tingyu was stunned again by Igor's words. After a moment's thought, he asked, "If it's smuggled, we can't acquire it through normal channels. Does your company need any goods in exchange? We could barter."
Huh?
Igor was taken aback. He had assumed the deal would fall through, so it took him a few seconds to process Zhang Tingyu's suggestion. Hesitantly, he replied, "My boss wants to apply for a Pioneer Order."
"A Pioneer Order? So he wants to buy warships?" Zhang Tingyu immediately grasped Igor's meaning. "Warships aren't an issue, but it'll take a year, and the price will be 30% higher than market value. Can you accept that?"
Igor was stunned. He hadn't even started looking for a way to launder the goods—had the solution just fallen into his lap?
"I'll need to check with my boss about the 30% price increase. I don't have the authority to decide this," Igor replied without directly agreeing, instead deferring the matter to Liu Hai.
Zhang Tingyu expressed understanding: "No problem. If your boss agrees, just have the materials shipped over. Another company will handle the contract signing with you."
Having solved a major issue for his boss, Igor happily accompanied Zhang Tingyu for a lavish meal. Upon returning to the spacecraft, he relayed the news to Liu Hai.