From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 137 Buying a Boat

The company was opened and funds were gradually received.

But Amber didn't feel relaxed at the moment, because as the prerequisites were met, there were more things waiting for him to arrange.

The more urgent issues are naturally the issues of personnel, equipment and ships.

According to Amber's plan, both mining and mercenary operations at the current stage are to be located as close to the empire's territory as possible.

Therefore, when it comes to the selection of weapons, equipment, and ships, it is natural to give priority to things on the empire side.

The company's current funds on account, if converted into Imperial Golden Dragon, are almost over 5000 million.

This may seem like a lot, but in reality it is barely enough.

The first thing to consider is the most important ships.

Although Ellenita has a private ship storage warehouse, most of them are actually elves' biological ships and are not suitable for humans to pilot.

The small number of sealed human ships were basically used to pay off debts, and the condition of the ships was uneven.

Among them, there are even fewer ships that can be used for combat. The Penitent-class frigate borrowed by Amber last time is already in the best condition among these combat ships.

It may not be a big problem if you use it once or twice occasionally, but if you want to use it for a long time, it will have to be overhauled, and the price/performance ratio is too low.

As for purchasing a brand new combat ship, there is no need to consider it for the time being.

Although major shipyards will indeed open ships below light cruisers for private purchase.

But when the private purchase price skyrocketed, it was more than twice as expensive as the purchase price of the Imperial Royal Navy.

Generally, only large companies and nobles who are not short of money and value "factory brand new" will consider being taken advantage of and order brand new warships.

Secondly, whether it is a combat ship or a civilian ship, there is a construction cycle. This thing is not something that can be bought on the store shelves.

According to the normal purchase process, customers need to first place a deposit with the shipyard, then start a long queue, and wait until the queue is reached to start construction.

Therefore, the waiting period for this new ship is measured in years.

Now, just as the war breaks out, the major shipyards in the empire have to prioritize completing orders for the Royal Navy, so the waiting time for privately customized warships will only get longer.

Therefore, Amber could only choose to try her luck in the second-hand ship trading market in the Star Dragon Empire.

Try to get the most basic combat ships and mining ships before the escalation of the war causes the price of second-hand ships to skyrocket.

First is the most important combat ship.

Amber abandoned the idea of ​​purchasing multiple frigates to form a frigate fleet, and instead decided to buy a higher-level destroyer first.

The combat effectiveness and comprehensive capabilities of destroyers are stronger than those of small-tonnage frigates, but this is not Amber's main consideration.

The reason why he gave priority to purchasing a destroyer was mainly because of the current shortage of manpower.

At least in a short period of time, he would not be able to recruit enough crew members to control multiple frigates in combat. Even if they could be launched, they would not be able to reach combat standards.

And Lilith is about to prepare for the first optimization iteration of the escaped queen. At this time, Amber can't let her spread out on several ships.

So the best way is to concentrate on doing big things.

A multi-purpose destroyer is enough for their newly established PMC.

In the current imperial second-hand ship market, the most cost-effective destroyer that can be purchased is the Dragoon class, which has just begun to be retired.

Of course, the dragoon class is not the only destroyer class to choose from.

Major shipyards also have destroyers specifically used for foreign trade, or 'armed merchant ships reaching the destroyer level' specifically for civilian private militia. But these ships are not military-grade after all. Although they have added a lot of technical equipment that seems to be more advanced than military ships, in Amber's opinion, they are all bells and whistles used to defraud money.

Of course, Amber is not the only smart person. Many people know that military-class destroyers are very cost-effective, so the price of this kind of ship has been greatly increased.

Especially this kind of Dragoon class, which has just been retired and has been well maintained and not lagging behind in various performances, is priced at 70% of the price of a new ship purchased by the Royal Navy.

And it will rise crazily to 80% to 90% of the price of a new ship in the future.

In a certain fiscal year when a large number of Dragoons were installed, the cost of a new Dragoon-class destroyer was 2000 million Imperial Gold Dragons.

So now in the second-hand ship market, the price range of these Dragoons, which have just begun to be retired, is between 1300 million and 1400 million Imperial Golden Dragons.

Amber finally gritted his teeth and bought the best-maintained ship, spending 1400 million Imperial Gold Dragons in one fell swoop.

The combat ship is finished, and the next step is to purchase a mining ship for use by mining companies.

This time, Amber chose a Gyrator-class mining ship with the highest cargo capacity among ships of the same type and level.

There is no question of whether this kind of mining ship will be retired or not. Currently, mainstream mining ships can be purchased in the second-hand market, and the price is generally about 6% of the price of a new ship.

As a long-lasting ship type with high sales, the Gyrator-class ship with a full set of mining equipment costs 4000 million to convert into an Imperial Golden Dragon.

Even if you buy it second-hand, the minimum price is 2400 million.

Just two ships consumed 3800 million Imperial Golden Dragons in an instant. Amber suddenly felt that he had no idea about money.

"It's okay, these imperial golden dragons have not disappeared, they just changed their way to continue to be with you."

Amber comforted herself in this way.

After buying the boat, if the start-up capital is converted into the Imperial Golden Dragon, there will still be 1300 million left.

Part of this money must first be saved for emergencies, and then part of it must be used to maintain the company's daily operations, including the repair and daily maintenance of weapons, equipment, ships, ammunition reserves, etc.

After this, a portion will be left for recruiting new employees and paying wages.

Amber plans to use all the remaining funds for mining.

He is quite familiar with this operation.

Although the current price of ore in the border system market between the Thousand Star Empire and the Star Dragon Empire has increased to a certain extent compared with before the war, it is not an exaggeration.

Judging from the price curve in the past two years, it can be regarded as a normal growth rate.

But then, as the battle between the Federation and the Empire becomes more and more intense, the price of whether it is crude ore or refined ore will skyrocket at a heart-stopping rate.

If she didn't make this kind of money, Amber would feel that her conscience would hurt, and she would wake up and slap her mouth every night.

In addition to the ultra-large-capacity cargo warehouse, the Gyrator class also has a basic ore refining workshop.

Although it is not as efficient as those of serious industrial ships, it is better than nothing.

The price of refined ore is much higher than that of crude ore. Even if the amount of refined ore is not large, mosquitoes are still meat no matter how small they are.

After arranging for Lilith to surf the Internet and collect ore from multiple different ore trading markets.

Amber, who had no time to rest at all, started recruiting people.

(End of this chapter)