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Chapter 708: Spherical Space
🕑 Added 2023-10-09 08:55:30 +0000 UTCTransformers Begin : Table of Content/Chapter List
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Terindad Island didn't prohibit any national powers from discovering this place, and they were willing to engage in trade with any faction. Although it had ruffled the feathers of some established Human nations, such as certain old-world powers like European and American countries, who cared?
However, the Forerunners had managed to keep relations with these Human nations relatively harmonious. Terindad Island indeed welcomed trade with any Human nation, but those wishing to purchase high-quality Human technology from the Black Market were required to transport the agreed-upon rare metals and minerals to the island within a specified timeframe after placing their orders. Furthermore, they had to handle the transportation of the ordered goods themselves.
This arrangement provided feasibility for some powerful rogue nations to collaborate and monopolize the commodities on the Black Market. The Forerunners didn't interfere in this process. So, whether the supplies would be intercepted by certain national navies during their transit, or how the ordered Machines would be transported back safely, was not their concern.
Terindad Island offered hundreds of different machines and instruments, specially selected by Sun Cheng, which were generally one or two generations ahead of current Earth technology in military, heavy industry, and high-tech fields. Therefore, most national powers visiting the island with specific goals in mind were delighted to place orders when they learned that extraterrestrials were willing to trade with them and had even established a trading market on the island, offering more advanced machinery and equipment than what Earth currently had.
In the month or so that Sun Cheng had been diligently designing and perfecting small Spaceships, the Forerunners had successfully sold seven batches of products. Of the eight material storage warehouses established in a corner of the island, seven were now filled with rare metals, minerals, and other materials provided by the Human national powers during previous transactions.
If Sun Cheng didn't resume his work and the Forerunners weren't granted further authorization, they would have to construct more material storage warehouses on the island.
After digesting the information shared by the Forerunners, Sun Cheng had indeed gained more respect for them. The changes on the island during this time had somewhat surprised him, but they mostly fell within his expectations. With the formidable operational capabilities of engineers and thousands of various Robots, on an island covering just over ten square kilometers, the Forerunners had been tinkering for a month. If the island still resembled its previous state before Sun Cheng began researching Spaceships, he would have questioned the abilities of his subordinates.
"Currently, the major buyers of equipment on the island are the two countries of Anglo-French, who have virtually monopolized nearly ninety percent of the first batch of Machines and equipment temporarily released on the Black Market... Following them are Japan and Russia... Although the United States made contact with us shortly after arriving on the island, their initial meeting went sour, so they missed out on nearly all the first batch of products released since the Black Market opened. They can only wait for the second batch to be available..."
Since it was the Black Market, Sun Cheng certainly wouldn't sell things openly. An unlimited supply would not only fail to fetch high prices but would also quickly satisfy the demands of various Human nations with an eye on their technology.
The only possible consequences of such a move were either that they lost interest in further purchases or that they became insatiable in their thirst for higher-tech products. From the very beginning, Sun Cheng had never intended to sell goods with overly high technological content. Even in the future, the products on the Black Market wouldn't be much more advanced than they were now. He wasn't worried about finding buyers; there were plenty of Human nations looking to purchase.
The Black Market simply charged a slightly higher price and accepted only rare metals and minerals in exchange, without any additional conditions. Just this alone ensured there would be no shortage of buyers.
Guided by the Forerunners, Sun Cheng arrived at one of the eight fully stocked material warehouses. These warehouses were constructed to Decepticon standards, with dimensions of 100 meters in length, 20 meters in width, and 20 meters in height. At the front of the warehouse, there was a ten-meter-tall, ten-meter-wide automatic rolling shutter door.
As the warehouse doors opened, Sun Cheng and his group were met not with disorderly piles of metal and rare minerals but neatly stacked shipping containers.
Each container had an embedded chip on its surface.
With a single glance, Sun Cheng could see details like the weight, quality, and type of rare metals packed inside each container, all of which appeared in his mind.
"Nicely done!" he remarked, expressing his satisfaction with the Forerunners' arrangements.
A long time ago, Sun Cheng had advocated for various standardized shipping containers within Base Two. It wasn't because he believed standardized containers made transporting bulk goods more convenient – although it did have its advantages – but because it made things easier for him.
Since Sun Cheng frequently used the Spherical Space to transport and store various supplies, including Robots, the space within him, despite continuously expanding due to his stable provision of energy fluid, still had its limits. Randomly scattered items would take up a lot of space. In contrast, standardized containers, once filled, saved a considerable amount of space. Moreover, when needed, Sun Cheng could easily retrieve organized containers, making things extremely convenient.
Incidentally, not long ago, he had cleared most of the items from the Spherical Space and temporarily stored them in a private warehouse within Base Two.
As Sun Cheng gazed at the various rare metals and minerals filling several warehouses on Terindad Island, he didn't say much. He spent some time meticulously transferring all of them into the Spherical Space. Observing the space now packed with a multitude of items, he couldn't help but feel elated.
This special entity hidden within him, resembling a Virtual Space, had gradually expanded as he learned to expand it slowly by absorbing energy. In over a year since he had absorbed nearly two-fifths of the energy fluid accumulated during the past year in Base Two, the Spherical Space had grown into a hemispherical space with a radius exceeding 370 meters.
This increasingly massive private space was, after his ability to freely traverse between two worlds, arguably his second most significant secret.
Furthermore, as the Spherical Space continued to expand internally, its assistance to him had become increasingly substantial. For instance, Sun Cheng's personally designed private Legion combat system, capable of storing a large number of troops within the Spherical Space, was one of its core functions.
Another example was a month ago when he had suddenly realized he didn't need to wait for the construction of an Explorer-class Spaceship to land on Mars. Instead, he could utilize the Spherical Space to transport a large number of Robots to Mars in advance. This would not only save a lot of time but also provide a substantial boost to his influence when the Mars base began construction, having an entire planet at his disposal for resources and energy.
"At Base Two, it will take roughly another half month to complete the Spaceship! Before that, I should prepare in advance!" Sun Cheng thought to himself. Suddenly, the Forerunner beside him turned serious, turned to Sun Cheng, and reported, "Master, Autobots Drift has arrived!"
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Next Chapter >>Chapter 709: Invitation from Optimus Prime
