The Jiang fleet comprised ten large warehouses and several smaller ones. Five of the warehouses, designated for storing "Swelling Stone," were among the large ones. At the entrance to the sixth warehouse, where Yang Ying and his team arrived, they opened the door only to find, instead of Kunying Stone this time, precisely arranged metal crates.

These crates were perfectly square, their sides nearly the height of an adult human, exhibiting a silvery-white sheen and clean lines. Centered on one face of each crate was a disc-shaped electronic lock, from whose edges extended eight metal rods inserted into corresponding keyholes in eight directions, giving an impression of robust security and steadfastness.

The crates were stacked ten high, like a human pyramid, and packed tightly against their neighbors with almost no gap between them. However, every dozen or so stacks, there was a deliberate gap, forming walkways for passage.

"They're boxed up. It might be refined material. We'll need to open one to know exactly what it is," Worengas scanned the interior of the warehouse.

Yang Ying nodded in agreement, made a gesture, and signaled Worengas to proceed with opening a crate.

Worengas acknowledged the order, raised a hand, and one of the crates at the top of a stack floated upward, descending before him.

The disc-shaped electronic lock featured twenty buttons. Strange, bizarre patterns adorned the buttons, clearly belonging to the Flin script.

Edni leaned over for a closer look, then reached out to touch a string of Flin script engraved on one corner of the crate. "These crates are all numbered. It's likely that opening each one requires a different password. Perhaps I should find the ship's captain and ask if he has a key code roster."

"That captain knows nothing," a staff officer accompanying them stated. "We interrogated him before boarding. He was only in charge of transport. Beyond knowing the coordinates of this destination, his superiors never told him what cargo was aboard. After this freight was secretly loaded, robots were assigned to guard the warehouse doors, and the crew was forbidden to approach. Those robotic guards were never deactivated. We only had our landing troops board the vessel to deal with those robots before inviting the officers up."

"In other words, only that Custar individual knows the password list for opening these boxes." Edni turned back to look at the mountain of crates piled inside the warehouse and sighed. "Cracking and opening this many boxes one by one is hardly a minor undertaking." "That won't be so troublesome," Worengas chuckled. "At least this one in front of us won't be." He approached the disc-shaped electronic lock, closed his eyes, and placed his palm about five centimeters from the lock face. "Let me feel it."

Worengas concentrated deeply, a surge of mental energy flowing from him. After a moment, Worengas rapidly tapped, inputting a sequence of codes. The disc-shaped electronic lock emitted two soft beeps. The metal rods in all eight directions simultaneously retracted from the keyholes, sinking back into the disc, while the disc rotated a half-turn with a slight vibration. Edni murmured beside him, "So that's how mental power can be used."

The entire crate began to deconstruct. The hard alloy panels instantly softened, coiling inward towards the edges like a measuring tape. Then, the four top edges separated and stood upright, retracting into the four middle edges like telescoping rods. Following that, the four middle edges folded down flat and retracted into the four bottom edges.

With that, the entire crate had disassembled, revealing its contents to the assembly.

Inside, the crate was filled with rectangular blocks of light-blue metal, which they identified as "keys." As light struck their surfaces, peculiar ripples reflected off the metal.

Text was imprinted on every metal key, identical on each one. Yang Ying picked one up, saw it was also Flin script, and promptly set it aside.

Edni also picked one up and read the inscription aloud: "Dalmian Alloy Key. Premier Grade." Her voice sounded almost dreamlike, her eyes displaying a complex expression.

"This is Dalmian Alloy?" Worengas also picked up a light-blue metal key, turning it over and over. The faint azure glow and the strange patterns on its surface testified to the metal's rarity.

Yang Ying turned to Worengas. "Tell us about this alloy."

"Yes, sir." Worengas dared not delay, pointing to the metal key. "Dalmian Alloy can absorb energy attacks. Ordinary beam light, radiation, and heat are ineffective against it. If paired with the right energy collection apparatus, it can even convert an enemy's attack into its own power source. On a battlefield dominated by projectile weaponry, it offers overwhelming superiority. If it weren't for the fact that several essential raw materials needed to manufacture Dalmian Alloy are exceedingly rare and prevent mass production, it would likely already be the standard armor for all warships."

Yang Ying mused, "If there were a warship built entirely from Dalmian Alloy, wouldn't it be immune to beam attacks? Wouldn't that make it invincible?" As he spoke, he drew the light saber from his waist, swung it with a Zzla sound, the golden blade flashing briefly, and sliced the metal key in his hand in two. "Doesn't that prove it's not invincible?" The light saber was an energy attack, and Yang Ying looked toward Worengas, seeking an explanation.

Worengas shook his head. "This energy absorption has its limits. A light saber's power output is so immense it can cleave almost anything in the universe, exceeding the absorption limit of Dalmian Alloy. Moreover, even a warship constructed entirely of Dalmian Alloy, while capable of resisting Grade Seven beam cannons, would still sustain damage from higher-grade cannons."

Edni asked with a frown, "How do you know so much? Didn't you just say there are no warships built entirely of Dalmian Alloy?"

"I said they can't be mass-produced, not that none exist. A few Burk scientists specialized in studying this area, and I happened to overhear some information," Worengas recalled. "I remember a legendary vessel from the past that was constructed entirely of Dalmian Alloy. That ship and its owner roamed the galaxy, earning immense renown. Unfortunately, they later offended the Saikron people, and the ship was atomized by a single blast from a Saikron Star Destroyer. That's why Dalmian Alloy isn't omnipotent."

"It was the Saikron people," Edni sighed. "That explains it. I've long heard of the Saikron's Grade Ten Star Annihilation Cannon."

Worengas placed the metal key he held back into its spot and continued, "Currently, the most extensive use for Dalmian Alloy is as a coating on warship hulls. The finest warships held by us Burks have a thin layer of Dalmian Alloy plated on their outer armor. This reduces the beam attacks the ship sustains, and when navigating through space, it can absorb the ubiquitous cosmic rays, increasing the vessel's endurance."

"Other than that," he continued, "it's used on non-mass-produced fighters and mechs. These single-soldier armaments are small, so one crate of Dalmian Alloy is enough to construct one fighter or one mech. Therefore, many people can afford to use it." He paused. "The Dalmian Alloy in just this one warehouse is worth more than the combined Kunying Stone from the previous five warehouses."

After Worengas finished his explanation of Dalmian Alloy, the others returned their metal keys to their places. Yang Ying, however, did not. He kept the key he had cut in half as a souvenir.

Worengas circled the crate as if he had discovered something. He pressed a spot on one of the bottom edges. Whether he activated a mechanism or not, the middle and top edges extended outwards, and the entire crate reformed to its original state in under three seconds. Worengas then used his telekinesis to lift the crate and return it to its designated spot.

After leaving the sixth warehouse, the group proceeded to the remaining ones. Once they had viewed the contents of this ship, they moved on to others. However, since time was precious, they skipped warehouses containing cargo they had already seen. Sometimes a single ship carried only one type of commodity, so Yang Ying's party would inspect one warehouse on that vessel and then move on.

Even so, the entire inspection process took a full day, and they only returned to base as darkness fell.

Although the endeavor consumed significant time, the expedition was certainly an eye-opener for everyone. The rare minerals, quantified by warehouse, were treasures that might not easily be seen elsewhere.

Worengas proved himself a seasoned explorer, possessing encyclopedic knowledge of galactic mineralogy and materials science; there wasn't a single cargo item in the warehouses he didn't recognize.

Upon returning to the base, Yang Ying immediately issued several orders:

First, he demanded that their technicians begin cracking the crates containing the keys immediately; given their expertise, this task should not be difficult.

Second, increase manpower to expedite the inventory of cargo across all seven hundred-plus transport ships.

Third, launch a full-scale assault on the remaining rebel forces on Duolun Star. The rebels' ground garrisons and new recruit camps had already been crushed; what remained were the major capitalists. Yang Ying decided to initiate a massive campaign to resolve the issue of those powerful capitalists completely.

Fourth, continue to urge the resistance organizations to evacuate the cities, while simultaneously dispatching troops to seize control of the major factories. These factories were to be sealed and completely emptied in preparation for the next phase: dismantling the machinery and deploying nuclear ordnance.

Two days later, Yang Ying received the final tally report for the total of seven hundred and twenty-nine transport ships. The transports carried a total of twenty-seven types of rare minerals, amounting to four hundred and eighty-one million tons. Of this, advanced industrial raw materials, refined into forms like metal keys, totaled ninety-two types, amounting to two hundred and sixty-two million tons.

Although each of the seven hundred and twenty-nine transports was nominally in the million-ton class, this was only an approximation. The cargo loaded might not total exactly one million tons, and the discrepancy was even greater due to differences between alien and Terran units of measurement.

The total weight of this shipment was seven hundred and forty-three million tons, with an estimated total value hovering around 1.2 trillion Galactic Standard Currency. When Yang Ying heard this figure, despite having some mental preparation, he was still momentarily stunned. Even selling the entire Terran Corporation holdings in the solar system would likely only amount to a tenth of this value.

However, Yang Ying quickly suppressed the elation of such a massive haul. He headed to the northern outskirts of Huawang City, intending to deliver a crippling blow to the heart of this capitalist stronghold.