Chapter 1530: He indeed has a certain degree of influence within the system

Xiuluo Holy Star Central City District, Airway Hotel, at the end of the third-floor corridor.

Kedi Zao hung his coat on the hook by the door and closed it securely.

He sat down by the bed, took off his coat, and quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, after waking up, Kedi Zao first splashed some water on his face, then walked over to the communication terminal, sat down, and pressed the start button to check his call logs.

The terminal's standby screen displayed one unread message, time-stamped about forty minutes ago.

He clicked on the message; the content was an encoded communication, and the sender's identification had been encrypted, making it impossible to trace directly.

After the communication was converted into text, the content was found to be very brief, roughly meaning:

Regarding the material procurement you inquired about earlier, we have completed the preliminary specification matching on our end. For details, we can meet and discuss in person. When are you free?

A communication call sign was attached to the end of the message.

After reading it, Kedi Zao pressed the callback button.

It connected after about ten seconds, and a voice came from the other side, slightly different from the voice of Li Feiyu from last night.

This is the inventory and modification scheme coordination group. Are you Kedi Zao?

Kedi Zao maintained the rhythm of a businessman talking to a new client.

Yes, I am Kedi Zao. You all move quite fast; I only submitted my contact information last night, and there is already a response this morning.

The voice on the other side replied steadily.

Mr. Li Feiyu passed your requirements to us. We checked the inventory list overnight and found several items that meet the specifications you mentioned. When are you free? We can meet in person to discuss the specific configuration and price.

Kedi Zao's brain raced.

He had indeed mentioned his ship type requirements when communicating with Li Feiyu last night, but he had not provided any written information. The other party had extracted the requirements from a verbal conversation and completed the inventory matching.

This showed that Li Feiyu's team had high work efficiency, and it also showed that he indeed had a certain degree of influence within the system. An ordinary person could not make a team complete an inventory screening in just a few hours.

Kedi Zao spoke up.

This afternoon? Or tomorrow? I am currently active in the Central City District, so my schedule is quite flexible.

This afternoon is fine. At three o'clock, there is a tea house called 【Tea House Name】 in the trade zone of the Central City District. It is relatively quiet there and suitable for business. When you arrive, mention Li Feiyu's name, and someone will take you to a private room.

Kedi Zao took a pen and a sticky note from his pocket and quickly wrote down the time and location.

Good, I will be there on time.

See you this afternoon, then.

After the communication hung up, Kedi Zao pressed another saved contact.

That was an old acquaintance of his in the northern star sector of the Greer Union, who had spent years running cargo on several major shipping routes and was well-informed.

Kedi Zao? It's morning over there, right? What made you think of contacting me?

Kedi Zao said in a relaxed tone.

There has been progress on my end. I met someone at a bar last night who said he could connect to the inventory equipment of the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance. I left my contact information, and someone replied to me this morning, arranging a meeting for this afternoon.

The other side was silent for a moment before speaking.

Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance? You are moving quite fast. What did the people over there say? Are they reliable?

The person I met last night didn't feel like a middleman to me; he felt more like someone who could directly access the system to view inventory.

The person who replied to me this morning said they had already completed the inventory matching; this speed is impossible for just any random intermediary to achieve.

I think he is at least someone who can talk directly to the internal management level.

Hmm, by the way, have you heard any news about the Kaoquanzao Free Territory and the Xikushi United Nations?

Kedi Zao paused and said.

No, weren't those two still fighting at the border? It doesn't overlap with my shipping routes, so I haven't paid much attention to the developments there.

A notice was just released this morning; the two sides have officially announced a ceasefire and formed an alliance.

By normal logic, the longer they fight, the deeper the hatred between the two sides will be; they wouldn't suddenly become allies. If they can make this decision, it can only mean one thing.

Kedi Zao's hand slowly tightened on the edge of the table.

... A third-party threat has appeared, one so great that they feel their original enemy is more suitable as an ally than the new threat.

That's exactly what it means. The notice didn't say what the specific threat is, but the fact that both fleets retreated, reorganized, and adjusted their defensive lines at the same time—the scale and coordination of this action only happen when facing a common goal of higher priority.

I heard some ship owners who run cargo near the border say that some signal sources never seen before have started appearing in that star region recently.

Kedi Zao's mouth twitched as he speculated.

They couldn't stop fighting at the border for months, but suddenly they can cease fire and form an alliance; the level of that third-party threat must be very high.

High enough that neither of them could withstand it alone, which is why they put aside their original grievances.

If those two have allied, they will need more ships for patrols and mutual defense, because most of their original fleets were worn down in the war of attrition over the past few months.

This means they are either making emergency replenishments internally or purchasing from the outside to fill the gap. And external procurement is my opportunity.

Laughter came from the other end of the communication device.

Hahaha, now that you put it that way, I think your procurement plan with the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance just happened to hit the right rhythm.

If you can get ships and equipment from the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance and turn around to sell them to Kaoquanzao or Xikushi, the profit margin will be at least much higher than running cargo in the no-man's-land.

Kedi Zao looked at the sticky note with the time and place for the afternoon meeting.

This matter is still in the early stages; I will sync the follow-up situation with you after I meet and talk this afternoon.

If the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance really has the goods and the price can be negotiated, I might really need you to help me coordinate the receipt and transshipment later.

Just send me a message when the time comes.

Let's leave it at that for now.

The communication hung up.