Chapter 214: Trading Across the Stars: A Risky Proposal

As Sandik continued his explanation,

Mu Qingxue started to get a good grasp of trade regulations within the Milky Way.

It all boiled down to two main avenues: official trade on the surface and clandestine deals in the black markets.

When it came to civilian goods, restrictions were pretty lax—even tech from Level 4 civilizations could be bought freely.

But for dual-use and pure military materials…

That was a whole other story.

Especially war gear from Level 4 civilizations—it was locked down tight. You’d almost never see it hit the open market.

Even the black market only got a trickle now and then—and the prices were so steep, most civilizations couldn’t even afford a piece.

“Sandik, what if we could supply you with jump engines?”

Out of the blue, Mu Qingxue dropped this bombshell question.

Even Sandik was stunned speechless for a second.

Wait, did she just say she’d get me supplies? And we’re talking jump engines?

This… this…

But after that initial shock, he spun around these thoughts in his mind…

Right now, the 17 civilizations at the top of the Milky Way already have a secret agreement between themselves—no supplying jump engines or energy shields to lower civilizations.

Out of over 2,700 civilizations, the Federation would eventually pick just 10 to 20 to keep.

As for who gets picked and who gets discarded,

it all came down to whether they could prove to the Human Federation…

that their species had enough potential.

On one hand, nobody wanted to hand out tech that could seriously bite them back.

After all, jump tech might be theoretically disruptable, but none of these Milky Way civilizations has actually pulled that off yet.

So, even a Level 1 civilization with a jump engine ship could pose a real threat to a Level 4 civilization.

People could just jump straight to your capital planet and—boom—start blasting away.

Who could possibly stop that?

On the other hand, there’s only so much of the galactic pie to go around. If someone buys a jump engine or energy shield, manages to reverse-engineer it, and pulls it off…

Suddenly, there’s a new Level 4 civilization in play—meaning everyone else’s slice of the cake shrinks.

That’s why all the Level 4 civilizations have a broad consensus here, backed up by agreements between each other.

But humans…

They’re not in that inner circle.

Honestly, when Sandik first came here and found out there was a Level 4 civilization around, it scared the hell out of him.

(He’d assumed the Human Federation was a Level 4 civilization after discovering their warships could jump.)

But isn’t this its own golden opportunity?

They’re not bound by any Level 4 civs’ backroom deals—and they’re open to making this happen.

If he could actually pull this off!

Ten years from now, he’d definitely become a Class 10 merchant.

“How much can you supply?”

“As long as the Federation’s existence stays secret, you take as much as you can sell. We’ll match you, unit for unit.”

“You’re serious?”

“Absolutely. But we’re signing a contract, and there has to be a strict clause—no revealing the Federation, period.”

With Mu Qingxue’s firm answer,

Sandik got so worked up he could hardly sit still.

He didn’t want too much—even a few hundred units a year over ten years would make him a Class 10 merchant and let him build a fleet of ten thousand ships.

“Deal!”

If it’s business, Fanguang Alliance merchants are as trustworthy as they come.

Once they’ve signed a formal trade contract, they’ll stick to every single clause—down to their last breath.

That’s just the way Fanguang Alliance merchants are.

That’s exactly why Mu Qingxue insisted there had to be a clause forbidding any mention of the Federation.

“By the way, if you’re selling jump engines, why not throw in weapons and shields while you’re at it…”

Sandik rubbed his hands, looking at Mu Qingxue with puppy-dog eyes.

Unfortunately for him, she shot him down flat the next moment.

“Weapons and shields are off the table. Only jump engines.”

“Well… alright, alright. Just the jump engines then.”

Seeing Mu Qingxue so dead set, with zero room for negotiation, Sandik gave up on that instantly.

Just jump engines alone would be more than enough to keep him busy.

Sure, extras would be nice, but he could live without them.

——

The next few days—about three in all—were spent

with Sandik showing Mu Qingxue and her crew every piece of cargo aboard his ship.

Afterward, the two parties signed a formal trade agreement.

First, the Human Federation bought out everything on Sandik’s ship, though they didn’t pay cash up front; instead the amount would be deducted from his jump engine profits later on.

Meanwhile, the Federation would supply Sandik with at least 300 but no more than 800 jump engines per year for black market sales.

The Federation’s wholesale price was set at 78 billion Galactic Credits per unit—however, what price Sandik ultimately sold at was his own business.

On top of black market trading, the Federation also gave Sandik legitimate cargo sources—military-level gear from Level 3 civilizations and all sorts of civilian goods.

Stuff like tea, porcelain, spices—the classics.

They might not look high-tech, but according to Sandik, these were the easiest things to sell.

Especially after he tried tea brewed from their leaves—he couldn’t stop raving, saying this stuff was sure to become the gold standard for upper-class life in the Milky Way.

And, just as Mu Qingxue required,

the trade agreement contained a special clause—under no circumstances could the Federation’s existence be revealed.

Aside from that, Sandik’s merchant fleet would be responsible for helping the Federation acquire all sorts of resources from across the galaxy, especially the things the Federation badly needed—or didn’t have at all.

As for Sandik’s slaves,

the Federation bought them all.

And why buy those?

The answer: for a ‘cauldron-fostering’ program.

What does that mean?

See, the Federation still holds onto over five hundred unsold stars in the Desolate Star Region.

The next step was to carve out a territory of about a hundred stars from those.

Then they’d resettle these various races there.

After that, each would undergo a test period ranging from thirty to fifty years.

Basically, it was the same kind of evaluation they used for Subordinate Civilizations.

Depending on each race’s traits, some would be graded on combat, others on manufacturing, and still others on research.

In short, every civilization got its own test, both in method and in duration.

Keep in mind—a total of 2,708 races were involved in slave trade here.

Know how much value a slave-traded race carries?

Not every race qualifies—you’ve got to have a selling point!

Put another way, these 2,708 races had already undergone a massive screening—every single one had a unique talent or trait.

In the end, if any passed the tests and were deemed high-potential,

they’d earn the right to keep living—rising from slaves to recognized Subordinate Civilizations of the Federation.

The Federation might even help gather up their scattered kin and settle them in the new territories via Sandik’s distribution channels.

Of course, all costs involved would still need to be covered with contributions.