Chapter 659.5: We're the Real Deal, Honest Trading
In fact, just as they suspected, the Elemental Fusion Engine's manufacturing process wasn't just about mechanical fit.
Every component was effectively a part of the Tier-10 Legendary Spell "Elemental Fusion."
Some special structures and enchantments within the parts were segments of that spell model.
As long as one understood the model well enough and met the manufacturing standard, the engine could indeed be reproduced.
However, the real issue was—
The physical strength of every component had to be high enough to sustain the tier of the "Elemental Fusion" spell.
Otherwise, the engine would shatter in a dramatic explosion shortly after starting.
Thus, Matthew had no choice but to temporarily lower the bar.
Also, the engine consumed an enormous number of Elemental Energy Crystals to operate.
The multi-functional crystals Bay Territory had been producing were transitional products in that research process.
Even after Matthew highly condensed the crystals to hold more energy and elemental attributes—
They were still five or six centimeters long, making it hard to feed them quickly and stably into a one-meter-diameter engine.
After all, the Elemental Fusion Engine's smooth operation didn't rely on just one part.
Matthew had found eight or nine Legendary-grade mechanical components on the Reaper-3000 alone.
Although their manufacturing difficulty wasn't as high as the Fusion Engine, they were still extremely demanding.
So Matthew completely gave up on the idea of building a full Reaper-3000 Legendary-tier construct.
The technological gap was just too wide—it wasn't worth the hassle.
The reason he was so invested in the Fusion Engine was because he knew: large-scale versions of it could be used.
This was a priceless treasure buried in Matthew's memory.
A result he had only obtained after spending 30 million Destiny Points to adjust and research.
Yes—that was just a result.
A push to turn the probability from 0% to 0.1%.
Once all parts were complete, Matthew would need to conduct further research and adjustments.
He vaguely sensed that the remaining 50 million Destiny Points he'd saved over the past four months would all be poured into this engine.
With that in mind, Matthew issued an "urgent quest" to adventurers across Bay Territory:
"Begin clearing missions for unstable magical creatures across the territory."
"The specific missions will be posted by the local Magic Guilds."
"To maintain stability in adventuring zones and further collect and study new species."
This sudden order quickly spread across every Adventurers' Hall.
Staff immediately began organizing the missions.
The long-prepared clearing and capturing assignments were swiftly dispatched.
"Ding. We now recommend a list of tasks that match your specialties and adventuring preferences."
"Misty Swamp Task List."
"Hunt Sky-Splitting Lizards. Required Rank: Mid-tier Professional. Difficulty: Low (less than 1% death rate). Reward: Medium."
"Average bounty: 5 gold coins per kill. 5% chance of obtaining Spatial Crystals."
"Hunt Rampaging Six-Legged Crocodiles. Required Rank: Mid-tier Professional. Difficulty: Medium. Reward: Medium."
"Average bounty: 25 gold coins per kill."
"Clear Rampaging Murlocs. Required Rank: Low-tier Professional. Difficulty: Low. Reward: Low."
"Average bounty per kill/capture: 1–2 silver coins."
"Dark Forest Task List."
"Hunt/Capture Trolls. Required Rank: Mid-tier Professional..."
"Hunt/Capture Ogres. Required Rank: Mid-tier Professional..."
"Hunt/Capture Gnolls. Required Rank: Low-tier Professional..."
"Clear/Capture Barbarians. Required Rank: Mid-tier Professional..."
"Clear/Capture Kobolds. Required Rank: Low-tier Professional..."
"Eastern Sea Task List."
"Hunt Wokou Pirates. Required Rank: Mid-tier Professional. Difficulty: Medium. Reward: High!"
"Hunt/Capture Predatory Magical Fish. Required Rank: Mid-tier Professional. Specialty Required: Intermediate Sailor..."
"Occupy and Clear Islands. Required Rank: Mid-tier Professional. Specialty Required: Intermediate Pioneer..."
"Recruit Sailor Guards. Required Rank: Mid-tier Professional. Specialty Required: Intermediate Sailor..."
"New Continent Task List."
"Hunt Giant Venomous Spiders. Required Rank: Mid-tier Professional. Specialty Required: Intermediate Pioneer..."
"Hunt Undead Behemoths. Required Rank: Mid-tier Professional. Specialty Required: Mid-tier Sweeper..."
"Hunt Mutated Lizardmen. Required Rank: Mid-tier Professional..."
"..."
The task bulletins issued across the various regions and the mission alerts sent to adventurers all brought a wave of unexpected joy to them.
Especially for many adventurers who couldn't adapt to the high-risk tasks in the Death Desert.
After learning about the task requirements and recommended strength levels throughout Bay Territory, they were overjoyed.
"There are so many good places to go, there's no need to insist on grinding it out in the Death Desert!"
"Exactly, exactly. The other missions are very suitable, and the rewards are quite decent too."
"We should really go check out all of Bay Territory. I'm sure there are plenty of beautiful sights and unusual adventures."
"You're right. I heard each region has its own special cuisine and unique finds."
"We should start from the basics. Bay Territory isn't all about high-risk, high-reward zones."
"You guys don't know, do you? Bay Territory's skill and feat training for Professionals is top-notch. If you take on missions and train step by step, you can make huge progress in a short time..."
"Seriously? There's something that good?"
"Yep. Just stay in Bay Territory a few more days and you'll see."
"I suggest leaving the Death Desert zone for now. The infrastructure there is still incomplete..."
"The conditions for adventurers in other areas are way better. You can focus purely on leveling up and completing tasks without worrying about anything else."
"..."
Amid all sorts of conversations, adventurers arriving in Bay Territory began integrating more deeply into it.
And by the way, they also brought Matthew more Fate Power.
Moreover, once they truly got to know Bay Territory—
The vast majority of adventurers never wanted to leave again.
There's no pain without comparison!
Regarding Bay Territory's sudden large-scale activity—
The various other powers that had been monitoring it all responded in drastically different ways.
The Sevinton Council, busy dealing with western orcs—
Didn't have much of a reaction to Bay Territory's moves.
However, some lords who got wind of the news quietly increased their vigilance and defenses.
Some even started copying Bay Territory by intensifying clean-up efforts against magical creatures and local threats.
Following Bay Territory's lead is never a bad idea!
If nothing happens, that's fine. If something does, they'll be better prepared.
Some other lords even reached out to Bay Territory in secret, trying to ask Steward Ralph for information.
Originally, they were just giving it a shot, not really expecting any useful info.
Who knew Steward Ralph would give them a huge surprise!
"In the coming period, there will be some degree of energy turbulence in demi-planes close to our material plane."
That message stirred quite the commotion.
The importance of demi-planes goes without saying.
Whether for territories, organizations, kingdoms, or powers—
The demi-planes under their control are practically their lifelines.
As long as they hold onto their demi-plane, they always have the means for a comeback.
But if something happens to their demi-plane—
That's like getting your home robbed!
With a mindset of "better safe than sorry," many territories began preparing for possible demi-plane unrest.
Just then, Bay Territory followed up with another announcement.
"To help underprepared territories and powers get through tough times—"
"Bay Territory is willing to sell large quantities of weapons, gear, and supplies at cost!"
"Limited quantity, first come, first served!"
"???"
"Selling weapons and supplies at cost?"
Most lords and nobles reacted by thinking Bay Territory had gone mad again.
These days, the entire Northern Continent was in chaos.
Prices of weapons and gear were skyrocketing.
This stuff was the real hard currency now!
Even if Bay Territory's so-called cost price had some tricks behind it, it still wouldn't exceed the market price.
Besides, after two years, everyone knew the quality of Bay Territory's weapons and goods.
Top-notch quality, prices worth praising!
Even if they didn't use the goods themselves—
They could flip them for a fat profit!
Some lords and nobles suspected—
Was there some hidden scheme in all this?
Or maybe Bay Territory was just using this as a marketing gimmick to bleed everyone's wallets dry?
But in the face of such a real and tangible "temptation," who could resist?
With a try-it-and-see attitude, some lords and nobles shelled out for Bay Territory's newly released War Bundle.
Ten thousand gold coins per bundle. Definitely not cheap!
When they first got it, these lords and nobles assumed they'd been tricked into another "impulse buy" by Bay Territory.
After all, Bay Territory's newspapers talked about this kind of thing all the time.
But when they opened the War Bundles—
They found all sorts of high-quality weapons and armor.
A rare bottle of Life Essence potion.
And the real surprise—100 low-tier spell scrolls.
Calculated at market value, the bundle was worth at least 25,000 gold coins.
Bay Territory was selling it for only 10,000!
That's practically a steal.
Absolutely cost price!
"Bay Territory is seriously a bunch of good guys!"
Whenever there's a bargain to be had, word spreads like wildfire.
Excited lords and nobles rushed in droves.
They used every trick to bypass Bay Territory's "one bundle per lord" rule and eagerly emptied their purses.
After selling about 2,000 War Bundles, Ralph looked at the now-empty old warehouse and cheerfully told the doubting nobles—
"Bay Territory's capacity is limited. We can no longer provide support."
"We ask everyone to start producing on their own to prepare for any upcoming turbulence."
Out of stock?
That's fine!
Relaxed and calculating their profits, the lords and nobles were busy estimating how much gold they'd made.
Meanwhile, Steward Ralph watched as a new batch of even better weapons, gear, and supplies rapidly filled the backup warehouses.
And started doing the math on the profits from this "promotion."
While tallying things up, he reminded Adam Smith—
"The cost of metal weapons and armor isn't high. Even with bonuses included, it's only 6 gold per set."
"But they're priced at 60 gold, nearly 10 times the cost. That's a bit too much profit!"
"Spell scroll costs have also dropped. Only 20 gold per scroll now."
"Even with bonuses to casters and makers, that's only 80 gold each."
"They're selling for 4,000 gold. That's over 50 times the profit!"
"Next time, sell a bit less, or we'll have trouble explaining it to Lord Matthew!"
"The Life Essence production method has already been shared. Now all major cities and regions can make their own."
"Each bottle only costs 300 gold. Why were you charging 5,500? That's way too much!"
Listening to Ralph's nagging, Adam Smith nodded along with a smile.
He said—
He totally understood.
And that he definitely wouldn't change a thing next time!
It had taken so much effort to wring another big payday out of those stingy bastards.
Next time, of course they had to keep the momentum going!
That pure profit of over 19 million gold coins—
Gave Bay Territory a solid material foundation for mass purchases and high-intensity military preparations.
And all of Bay Territory's smoke and mirrors left the factions led by the Cole Elves completely baffled.
Just what was Bay Territory planning?
Matthew glanced at the intelligence report on the Catachan demi-plane, turned to the towering, dazzling, awe-inspiring creation beside him, and grinned at the excited Yaya:
"What else? Of course—we're going to war!"