"How about it?"

Seeing Yu Zhen holding the plate with a dejected look on his face, Zhou Siyu knew that he must have come up empty-handed.

Sure enough, Yu Zhen sighed and said aggrievedly, "They didn't tell me."

Whom did you ask?

"Qin Ge, and my dad."

"You'd be lucky to find out." Li Jing picked up a piece of fish head and put it into Yu Zhen's bowl. "Have some nourishing food."

"Tch, but I found out that my brother went on a mission a few days ago and just returned to the Ninth Planet base today." Yu Zhen lowered his voice and whispered in Zhou Siyu's ear, "Grandpa has also arrived at headquarters."

"Oh, it's quite lively."

Zhou Siyu remained unmoved and continued eating her food with her head down.

“I reckon my brother will come over tomorrow to discuss the collaboration.” Yu Zhen took a bite of his rib. “They’ll definitely draft another contract tonight and try to trap us.”

"He's coming?"

Zhou Siyu was stunned. Yu Wei went to the Eighth Planet to discuss cooperation, but what about the Ninth Planet base?

“I guess this collaboration is very important to them. I heard from my former teammates that they have put a lot of spaceships and other equipment into storage, as well as some weapons, into storage for modification.”

"Reform?" Zhou Siyu's eyes darted around. "It's just an excuse, isn't it?"

“Possibly.” Yu Zhen nodded. “However, I heard that their meals aren’t as good as they used to be. The cafeteria used to have more than ten meat dishes to choose from, but now there are only two or three, and the rest are all vegetarian dishes.”

“Only new recruits get this kind of treatment.” Li Jing swallowed the food in her mouth. “Have you seen the news? Those on the front lines who can eat compressed biscuits are considered lucky. Some units are digging up grass roots and eating wild vegetables.”

"It can't be that bad," Yu Zhen suddenly felt a little nauseous. "Maybe the reporter was reporting on the rebels."

"The rebels are in an even worse situation; they'll probably only be able to eat rocks."

Li Jing sighed and quickly finished the food on her plate.

While eating, Zhou Siyu suddenly said, "Yu Zhen, book a few rooms at a nearby hotel."

"Huh? Why?"

"Since we're going to talk about cooperation, we definitely need to show some sincerity." Zhou Siyu finished the last sip of soup and asked, "Which company is the cafeteria cooperating with?"

"Let me see." Yu Zhen flipped through the documents. "We cooperate with many companies, but most of them are... Yu family companies?"

Yu Zhen sent the information to Zhou Siyu and exclaimed, "Wow, this guy is making money off us while also coveting our technology. He's dreaming too much."

"Not only that, look at the utility poles and power lines on the roadside outside, and the communicator you're using—these are all within the Yu family's business scope."

The Yu family monopolizes most of the infrastructure and essential industries, generating considerable annual income. However, they also have a drawback: they are highly dependent on resources.

Although the Alliance has occupied the grain-producing areas, the supply to the rear and bases is extremely costly. In addition, without energy to power the machines, production has stopped, resulting in a significant reduction in food output. Furthermore, the transportation system has also been affected due to the energy shortage.

Yu Wei has food, but it can't be transported to the front lines, so he can only watch helplessly. Therefore, Yu Wei will definitely send troops to the Third Star Sector.

However, without energy, his spaceships and warships were essentially just scrap metal, so he had to find another solution.

The technology Zhou Siyu possesses can help him rearm in a short time and reclaim the Third Star Sector with powerful firepower.

However, their advantage is based on the fact that the Institute of Military Science has not developed a substitute technology, so time is equally important to them.

“Now that you mention it, we have a very good chance of winning.” Yu Zhen finished his meal and soup in a flash. “But sister-in-law, we need to consider changing the terms. Knowing my brother’s personality, he will never give the weapons sales rights to someone else.”

"So certain?" Zhou Siyu raised an eyebrow. "Which side are you on?"

“I’m sure.” Yu Zhen wiped his mouth. “Think about it, back then, when the Chu, Zhou, and Qin families put pressure on us by cutting off markets, energy, and medicine, Uncle Yu didn’t sell weapons. How could I let others get involved in weapons?”

"Moreover, the design and manufacturing of weapons are entirely handled by the weapons research institute and military factories. No other companies can participate, so there is absolutely no profit."

"The Yu family must need a lot of money to manufacture weapons, right?"

Zhou Siyu stroked his chin, he didn't believe the Yu family had that much money.

"Indeed, half of the Yu family company's annual revenue is allocated to the military."

"Wouldn't that army be like a money-devouring beast, only eating and never giving back?"

"Hey, the army wasn't originally meant to make money." Yu Zhen waved his hand. "The Yu family can afford it."

"really."

Zhou Siyu pursed his lips. It seemed that he could no longer interfere in anything related to the military. Yu Wei, that stubborn fellow, would definitely not allow him to get involved in the military for the sake of technology. It seemed that the contract had to be changed.

Otherwise, once the Institute of Martial Arts develops a viable alternative technology, he won't even have any bargaining power left.