Chapter 132: Spending Money to Book the Venue, Boss Leading the Splurge

"Is the news confirmed?" Qin Muye's expression changed, showing some excitement.

"It's been confirmed. The True Dragon Emperor has decided to annihilate the Rich Ocean first, while Jiang Tianjun has chosen the Extreme Cold Ice Land," said Black Hand with a relatively calm tone.

"Good, so how did the negotiations with the True Dragon Emperor go?" Qin Muye asked again.

Three days ago, he finished testing the Stone Statue Ghost Armor and then had the Spirit Monsters work overtime to produce ten thousand pieces. It wasn't difficult for the Spirit Monsters, as it was an assembly line process; all the repetitive mechanical labor was done by the Skeleton Soldiers, and the Spirit Monsters handled the technical positions.

In fact, they were produced in just one day, not to mention due to their large numbers and unity.

"The True Dragon Emperor has agreed, but he requires us to provide a hundred thousand pieces of Dragon-type Stone Ghost Armor within a month as a condition," said Black Hand.

This version of the Stone Ghost Armor was naturally not the original edition created by Qin Muye, but a knockoff, one with only a 100-point Magic Shield and 100-point defensive power.

Even the quality dropped to Intermediate, but it was still useful for protecting against environmental radiation and the zombie virus, and because it used less material, it was quite fitting to the body. It was entirely possible to wear another layer of Treasure Equipment on top of the Stone Ghost Armor, unlike Qin Muye's version 1.0 Stone Ghost Armor, which was quite bulky and had strong defensive power, of course, at a higher cost.

"Dragons? That's not a small project. What about the materials cost? Will the True Dragon Emperor pay for it?" Qin Muye frowned slightly. If it was the physique of an ordinary person, or even a little higher, like that of a Spirit Monster, it would be somewhat manageable. But with dragons typically the size of houses or palaces, and needing a hundred thousand such pieces, this was no small matter.

Of course, he was open to contract manufacturing too. If need be, Qin Muye could improve the assembly line and have the Skeleton Soldiers do the work; that was feasible. The real question was who would foot the bill; if he had to pay out of pocket, then the hundred thousand pieces of Dragon-type Stone Ghost Armor would not come cheap.

Perhaps the resources obtained from the battle wouldn't even be enough for his needs.

"If you, Master, are willing to make the deal, all expenses will be paid by the True Dragon Emperor, and he will also pay you a handsome processing fee. However, he has requirements too, which are that in the future, this Stone Ghost Armor can only be provided to him, purchased at the normal price," Black Hand said immediately.

In an instant, Qin Muye understood that the True Dragon Emperor also wanted to monopolize; other Lords wanting to enter Wasteland City and Zombie Kingdom would have to endure hostile environments, but if the True Dragon Emperor wasn't afraid, then the resources of these two servers could all fall into his pocket.

"It's possible, but the demands also need to be modified; all Lord powers of rank 4 and below in the Wasteland City, Zombie Kingdom, and Rich Ocean are to be ours. The number of troops provided for escorts must be ten times the original base, and the materials cost is given at cost price."

"If they refuse, then reveal that I am developing a new type of Armor that can adapt to oceanic conditions and is even more durable than before, capable of withstanding harsh environments better."

In doing business, one always starts by quoting a high price and then negotiates down; after all, outright purchase is invariably rare.

If yielding some profits could lead to greater gains, Qin Muye naturally didn't mind. He could further upgrade the counterfeit Stone Ghost Armor, like adding Underwater Breathing capability, which was essentially the function of extracting oxygen from water, then increasing the Magic Shield and defensive power to 300 points was also feasible.

He had previously wanted to destroy a fourth-tier territory, but with the True Dragon Emperor playing so big and even aiming for a monopoly, Qin Muye was ready to match him all the way.

You can monopolize it, of course, but you also have to cover your own losses, right?

"By the way, how much profit can we make if we only charge the cost price of the materials?" Qin Muye said, suddenly remembering this.

The Black Hand simply estimated, "Without counting labor, it's roughly thirty percent profit."

"That's too little, we need to make at least an 80% profit, otherwise it's hard to even break even," Qin Muye confirmed.

Cost price, huh? Material costs are one thing, but what about labor? Even though Skeleton Soldiers don't need to eat, drink, or sleep, and can work 24/7, it doesn't mean Qin Muye's technology development doesn't require money.

He was really short on cash; he might be a big dog, but the True Dragon Emperor was the real tycoon. Not raising the base price would be wasting such an excellent opportunity.

To the True Dragon Emperor, the material costs that Qin Muye earned were just a fraction of his wealth.

He didn't care about Qin Muye's earnings; though he was domineering in his actions, he had a sense of the bigger picture. Snatching profits from an arms dealer like Qin Muye, and if by chance it caused a delay, the loss wouldn't be just a bit of profit, but a greater benefit.

After all, although Qin Muye's reputation might have been poor, the quality of his military hardware was genuinely good.

In combat against other servers, the True Dragon Emperor also preferred to use the Crimson series of military hardware, especially the heat weapons series. With just simple training, the damage from a distance immediately increased exponentially.

Even if a Crimson Hell blast went off, the enemy's sixth-order might be able to withstand it, but if it hit their subordinate territories, it was easy pickings, arriving to find nothing but a pile of radiating Ruby villages.

Naturally, he chose the Crimson System because it was cheap; otherwise, if he went to the original inhabitants to buy Magic Scrolls, not only would they be less powerful, but they'd also be pricier, and buying from the Points store would not be worth it.

That's why Qin Muye's Crimson series military hardware sold so well.

The Black Hand returned quickly and, judging by the expression, the deal must have been settled.

"Master, the deal is made. The True Dragon Emperor has agreed, but there's a new condition. If the Stone Ghost Armor is ever improved upon again, it can only be sold to him, not to the original inhabitants or other Lords. I've already agreed to this condition on your behalf, Master," Black Hand reported.

Qin Muye nodded, "No problem, this is a minor issue."

"This guy really is a tycoon, tsk tsk. Well, you go and arrange the next step. I'll give you the Armor blueprints the True Dragon Emperor needs later, and have Demon Blood and the others get ready," said Qin Muye.

Now that the matter was settled, Qin Muye naturally had to start preparing.

"The Slaughter is secondary; the main things are various biological samples, Knowledge in books, and so on. These are the crucial points. If possible, try to preserve a ship; I want to see what's different between this ship and our territory."

This time, heading to the Rich Ocean for the expedition, Qin Muye placed greater value on the Ocean-based Divine Authority System of the region.

From the recent intel he gathered, he found some familiar Sacrifices, such as Ma Zu, Poseidon, Dagan, and various kinds of faith. The problem is that faith isn't like on the Magic Continent where Divine beings truly exist; rather, it seems more like a program that runs, showing only effects without any divine signs or descents, almost like a rule.

Therefore, Qin Muye was puzzled; the opposition was a Divine Authority System, but without a Divine being, one couldn't possibly worship loneliness.

"Yes, Master," Black Hand naturally took this to heart.

As for how his territory could grow so robust, he naturally knew that his management was one thing, but the real reliance was on the slick moves of Qin Muye; otherwise, how could it have developed so rapidly?

"Any recent news?" asked Qin Muye.

The Black Hand pondered for a moment, then added, "Yes, Wang Junzi's Talent has been exposed, reportedly called 'Ten Thousand Fold Amplification.'

"…" Qin Muye had a black line on his forehead, feeling quite exasperated inside.

"The other party obtains Treasures, Troop types, rewards, and even Resources that can be multiplied by ten thousand times, recruiting a single Skeleton Soldier can yield ten thousand Skeleton Soldiers, but only at the cost of one."

"Besides that, the Sea Dragon King's Talent was also exposed, called Ocean Survival, which allows him to gain Survival Points every day to continuously evolve ships, Treasures, and so on."

"As for anything more specific, that's all there is."

The Black Hand said.

"So, Wang Junzi took an interest in the Sea Dragon King's Ghost Ghost Ship, then the Sea Dragon King suffered a loss which then led to this revelation, and only after did Wang Junzi retaliate?" Qin Muye inquired, as it could not be such a coincidence otherwise.

"It's not like that, Master. These two have become mortal enemies, so this time Rich Ocean and Wang Junzi intervened, but he only targeted the Sea Dragon King," Black Hand said.

"I understand, you may go," Qin Muye mused to himself.

"Yes, Master," seeing this, Black Hand did not continue to say anything and directly left.

Qin Muye's thoughts, however, diverged, as if he were truly just an extra.

But that made sense too. If it were an average person, and they didn't have a way to break through like Qin Muye, they would have already died in the first monster siege event.

"So, what is the True Dragon Emperor's Talent? It can't be stronger, can it? Otherwise, how could it suppress these heaven-defying Talents?"

Frankly, investigating these Lords' Talents and Attributes wasn't an easy task, as they almost all had Treasures that concealed Attributes, and unless things really came to a head, spying was not an option.

As for Wang Junzi and the Sea Dragon King, the two had utterly fallen out, but it seemed that thanks to the powerful Treasure that concealed Attributes, only their basic Talents had been exposed.

As for Qin Muye, he wasn't afraid of exposure at all. The Talents on him, that is, Learning Ability and Academic Research combined, had a profound effect. All other Talents were essentially derivatives of these two Talents, and even the Crimson Ancestor and the Lord of Hell couldn't compare with them.