Tang Wan slumped over the table, stretching her hands beneath the surface to count on her fingers. What exactly was the concept of two hundred and fifty billion? If spent on clothes from her favorite brand, it could pile up into a skyscraper. If used for mechs, it could fill the entirety of Kela’s dry docks. Buying battleships could instantly elevate a struggling legion’s military capability to a mid-tier level. It could even purchase aircraft carriers!

And An Junlie casually used that sum to buy something Ziye had modified.

In short: An Junlie was an obscenely wealthy tycoon.

Tang Wan felt intensely envious of Ziye. The sheer price An Junlie was willing to pay for a tiny energy plate was testament enough to his genuine affection for Ziye.

She was moved almost to tears by An Junlie’s gesture, yet Ziye maintained an air of unshakeable calm, as if this were entirely expected. Tang Wan glanced from Ziye to An Junlie, wiping away a tear of emotion. Sigh, she just couldn’t fathom Ziye at all…

An Junlie spoke, "Can we pay five hundred billion upfront? The remaining two hundred billion can be settled within two years."

Ziye considered it, then nodded. "Acceptable. Pay five hundred billion. Convert another five hundred billion into raw metal materials. The final one hundred fifty billion to be paid within two years."

An Junlie agreed immediately, dispatching personnel to draft the contract.

Tang Wan was restless again. Buying five hundred billion in metal materials in one go—whimper—when would she ever have the means to be so utterly lavish?

As Ziye and An Junlie finalized the contract details, Tang Wan was practically hidden beneath the desk. Ziye walked over, patted her shoulder, "Hey, let's go eat. We need energy to divide the money."

Tang Wan’s eyes instantly lit up. "We get a share?"

Ziye smiled. "With this much money, I can’t keep it all to myself. Let’s go, grub time."

An Junlie watched Ziye take Tang Wan toward the dining hall, shaking his head slightly. Ah, the road to winning a girl's heart was still long.

Tang Wan glanced back with the corner of her eye and noticed An Junlie hadn’t followed. She couldn't help but ask, "Little Yezi, An Junlie is so good to you. Spending hundreds of billions just for an energy plate."

Ziye paused in her tracks. "You don't think the energy plate is worth that much?"

Tang Wan exclaimed, "Over two hundred billion, friend! A regular energy plate is only a few thousand yuan. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe anyone in the world would be this foolish. True love conquers all!"

Ziye squinted at her. "You think An Junlie buying the energy plate is about love?"

Tang Wan retorted, "Isn't it?"

Ziye reached out to place a hand on Tang Wan's shoulder, but because she was slightly shorter, the gesture felt awkward, so she dropped her hand. "Sweetie, even if An Junlie usually treats me with true love, buying this energy plate is definitely not about that. This plate, no matter which legion it goes to, can fetch two hundred billion."

Tang Wan’s mouth fell open in shock. "Why?"

Ziye patted her chin. "You have a cavity."

Tang Wan grumbled, "I’m asking you seriously."

Ziye explained, "Do you know why mechs have declined these past two years? The key reason is insufficient energy supply for sustained mech operation. Every day, thousands of mechs head to the Barren Starfield for reclamation. Using old energy plates requires equipping aircraft carriers for constant resupply. These carriers must return to their legions every few days to restock provisions, which consumes enormous time and effort, directly preventing deep exploration. With our energy plates, all those problems vanish. Do you think they wouldn't pay a premium?"

Tang Wan listened, utterly stunned. "So, our energy plate really is worth that much?"

Ziye confirmed, "Exactly. An Junlie actually got the better deal."

Tang Wan was confused. "If it’s that amazing, why not keep it for ourselves?"

Ziye nodded internally. Tang Wan was increasingly showing the awareness of a Wolf’s Den owner lately, and she smiled. "We sold him the version without the Renwei metal. The plates with Renwei metal have higher purity and stronger storage capacity. For An Junlie, Renwei metal is a bottleneck because it can't be mass-produced. For us, we can research Renwei metal later, and even if we fail, using a small amount of it to upgrade our own mechs into masterpieces is perfectly feasible. There's no conflict between the two goals. Currently, the Wolf’s Den lacks a sufficiently powerful mech corporation for technical backing, so selling to Angel’s Domain isn't a loss."

Tang Wan had a sudden realization. "You think so deeply! I really am pathetic, sigh."

Ziye smiled gently. "The day you reach my position, you'll think just as deeply."

Tang Wan looked upward at a 45-degree angle, mimicking gazing at the stars. "The Director of Strategic Weapons for the Wolf’s Den—I’ll start by gazing upward."

Ziye poked her in the side. "Stop gazing. Let's go eat."

Twenty days later, Little White, Shell, plus two professional testing personnel returned from the reclamation starfield with the latest monitoring data and submitted their report.

Little Black and Little Orange remained behind to observe further developments.

After reviewing the test report, coupled with An Junlie’s initial operational feedback, Ziye plunged back into intense revision work. Once the modifications were complete and An Junlie confirmed everything was fine after test piloting, she had three copies made, handing two of them, along with the technical specifications, to An Junlie and promptly collecting the payment.

Once Little Black and Little Orange returned from the Barren Starfield, Ziye decisively called everyone together for a meeting to distribute the funds.

Ziye took the five hundred billion currently received and divided it equally among the nine people, resulting in just over five billion each.

Ziye pulled two cards from the nine bank cards and distributed the remaining seven in seating order.

Tang Wan clutched her card, shouting excitedly, "I’m rich! Over five billion! I’m a tycoon now too!"

Her shout prompted Little Black, Little White, Little Orange, and Shell to jump up uncontrollably.

The day before, they earned only a few thousand yuan a month and frequently had to dip into that to cover material costs for metal plates. Forget saving; they barely broke even.

Now, Ziye had suddenly dropped a massive cake in their laps, nearly knocking them senseless.

Little White excitedly counted on his fingers: "One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand..." He counted through all ten fingers. "Ten digits! I’m a millionaire!!"

Ziye smiled and casually extended the next card toward Ling Yin.

Ling Yin stared blankly for a long moment, then looked up, unable to conceal her excitement. "I get one too?"

Ziye nodded emphatically.

She knew what Ling Yin was thinking. Ling Yin had contributed the least to this energy plate modification. The work of others was irreplaceable, but hers could easily be done by someone else without much difference. Ziye had hesitated for a brief moment before deciding to give her what was due. While her specific tasks could indeed be substituted, she remained an indispensable part of the entire team.

An Junlie was the last to receive a card. He merely smiled, placing it on the table without much attention.

Ziye inwardly scoffed. Of course, a high-ranking commander like the Great Commander An had endless funds; a mere few billion wouldn't catch his eye. Hmph.

During the meal, Shell and Little Orange were already discussing how they would spend their fortunes.

Shell was full of ambition. "I’m buying myself the strongest battleship! I’ll conquer the sea of stars, roar, and rule the world!"

Little Orange shot him a sidelong glance. "Don't forget you failed the pilot’s license test five times."

Shell instantly felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him, glaring angrily at Little Orange, speechless.

Tang Wan gently nudged Ling Yin. "Hey, what are your plans for it?"

Ling Yin pondered. "I think I'll invest it, invest it back into the Wolf’s Den. Maybe start a company or something."

—She felt she hadn’t contributed much, and holding such a large sum made her more uneasy than when she and Ziye went to kidnap Bobo from the mercenary group last time.

Tang Wan rested her chin on her hand. "A company? That sounds quite impressive. Being a CEO sounds mighty authoritative."

Ling Yin suddenly sprang up, clapping her left palm against her right fist, producing a crisp crack. "That’s a great idea! Let's start a company—no, with this much money, we can start a whole conglomerate!"

The two immediately agreed. Tang Wan declared, "Let's establish a mech group! Didn't Little Yezi say we lack a supporting mech corporation? Let’s start one and compete for market share with Angel’s Domain!" Her words were blunt.

An Junlie, sitting next to Ziye, merely smiled faintly. Establishing a mech group? That was indeed a good idea. Currently, the Wolf’s Den didn't possess a mech corporation ranking in the interstellar top fifty. While Meng Ya Group was good, its primary industry was robotics; its mech sector wasn't particularly prominent. If they spun off this sector, focused the funds, building another mech empire like Meng Ya Group wasn't impossible.

Ziye was even more delighted. "Perfect! Since the Robotics Research Institute falls under Meng Ya Group, the Mech Group can be affiliated with the Mech Research Institute. It reports to Strategic Weapons, which simplifies things. You all contribute money, and those who..."

Before she could finish, Little Black immediately handed over his bank card. "I’ll contribute money!"

Ziye said, "No rush, no rush. Who will be responsible for this undertaking?"

Everyone looked at each other. Ziye quietly pushed her own card toward Ling Yin. "You take charge. This was your idea."

Ling Yin looked at Ziye, her eyes reddening.

Ziye urged, "Don't cry, you're scaring me."

Ling Yin blinked, then laughed brightly. "Silly, just kidding!" She swallowed back the tears threatening to spill, pretending to joke. "Come on, I’ll handle establishing a conglomerate. Everyone is a major shareholder; limit investment to fifty billion each. Keep the remainder for buying clothes. Once established, we can just sit back and reap the rewards. Everything can be handed over to professional managers."

Little Black and Little White exchanged a quick glance.

Little White whispered quietly, "I wanted to take some back to our home planet."

Little Black responded, "Even if we only take a few hundred million each, that’s substantial, right? Let's use fifty billion first to build the group. Look, Ziye approved of it; I feel like following her means we feast."

Little Orange chimed in, "Count me in too. The three of us taking the remainder home will still be over a billion each."

The three made their decision and handed over their bank cards. "We're investing too."

Shell looked at the trio, then recalled the history of Meng Ya Group he had heard from Iron Hand. He had a premonition that the company they were starting might become the next Meng Ya Group. Gritting his teeth, he handed over his card as well. He had initially planned to retire to his home planet with a billion yuan for a comfortable life. After some thought, he decided the Wolf’s Den was also quite good, so he might as well strive a little longer while he was still young.