From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars

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 from the empire side.

The company's current funds on account, if converted into Imperial Golden Dragon, are almost over 50 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 few human ships that have been sealed up are basically used to pay off debts, and the condition of the ships is 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 of light cruisers and below 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 "brand new factory" would 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 store shelves.

According to the normal purchase process, customers need to place a deposit with the shipyard first, 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 become 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 destroyer class is not the only dragoon class to choose from.

Major shipyards also have destroyers specially used for foreign trade, or 'destroyer-level armed merchant ships' specially designed to target civilian private militia.

But after all, these ships are not military-grade. 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 20 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 13 million and 14 million Imperial Golden Dragons.

Amber finally gritted his teeth and bought the best-maintained ship, spending 14 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 60% 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 40 million to convert into an Imperial Golden Dragon.

Even if you buy it second-hand, the minimum price is 24 million.

Just two ships consumed 38 million Imperial Golden Dragons in an instant. Amber suddenly felt that he had no idea about money.

"It's okay. These Imperial Golden Dragons haven't disappeared. They just changed their way to stay with us." Amber comforted herself like this. After buying the ship, the start-up capital was about 13 million Imperial Golden Dragons. First of all, part of this money should be saved for emergencies, and then part of it should be used to maintain the daily operation of the company, including weapons, equipment, ship repairs and daily maintenance, ammunition reserves, etc. After that, a part should be kept for recruiting new employees and paying wages. Amber plans to use all the remaining funds to store ore. He is also familiar with this operation. Now the price of ore in the border star system market of the Thousand Star Empire and the Star Dragon Empire has increased to a certain extent compared with before the war, but it is not exaggerated. Judging from the price curve in the past two years, it is a normal growth rate. But next, as the battle between the Federation and the Empire becomes more and more intense, whether it is crude ore or refined ore, the price will soar at an increase that will cause heart and lung arrest. If Amber doesn't make a fortune from this kind of money, she feels that her conscience will hurt, and she will wake up at night and slap herself in the face. In addition to the large cargo hold, the Gyroclass also has a basic ore refining workshop.

Although it is not as efficient as those regular industrial ships, it is better to have it than not.

The price of refined ore is much higher than that of crude ore. Even if the amount of refined ore is not large, every little bit counts.

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

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