Chapter 763: Solas Lightfoot's Reaction and Witch Catherine's Inner Circle
In the Yunze Wetland, at Solas Lightfoot's technical seminar, a group of high-level executives from the Shop Alliance all lowered their heads. Holding Ganoderma Magic Plants, they checked the Alsace sales charts. They saw that augustus wizard shoes had released its fifth item actually on sale, available for pre-order, and its sales were rapidly rising to third place...
Many wizards from Solas Lightfoot closed their eyes.
The Second Ring designers of Solas Lightfoot sneered, while the many Crystallized Wizards, Liquefaction Wizards, and Vaporization Wizards who were allowed to audit the technical seminar lowered their heads, looking dejected.
The Moon Ring supervisor was about to grit his teeth to pieces.
"It's in second place now. Currently, on the Alsace sales charts, the top two wizard shoes are both augustus wizard shoes."
"Those traditional wizard shoe Shop Alliances and wizard shoe brands are so useless. Before we, Solas Lightfoot, left Alsace, they couldn't even break into the top five. Now that we and Meileqi Magic Step have left Alsace, they've actually lost the top two spots."
The Moon Ring supervisor frowned; if this continued, it would alarm those above.
The mainstream wizard shoe Shop Alliances in the Yunze Wetland all pointed back to one place—the Rose Council and the Rose Witch.
wizard shoes were her backyard, along with her two Third Ring Wizard students; everyone had always known this.
The trouble was, even if they tried to pressure Locke Augustine with the bigger picture, the problem remained that Locke Augustine was backed by the Red Dragon Witch, Witch Catherine.
The Red Dragon Throne and the Rose Throne had always been competitors.
The Moon Ring supervisor only now felt that something was wrong; they might have already been embroiled in a Throne War.
No... that couldn't be.
The Moon Ring supervisor lowered his head, looking deep in thought.
'It won't be a Throne War. The two Thrones are too close on the ladder of truth. Once a war starts, the implications would be far too great; it might even cause... a major internal strife within the field of Botany.'
'So, is it just normal commercial competition?'
The Moon Ring supervisor began to ponder how complex the current situation truly was.
The Rose Throne's foundation was in Rose Floriography, but two of her Third Ring Wizard students had their foundations in wizard shoes.
Solas Lightfoot and Meileqi Magic Step each had a Third Ring Wizard standing behind them.
Therefore, these two Shop Alliances would still remain as steady as Mount Tai in the Yunze Wetland.
Each of the two Shop Alliances represented a different technical route in their respective niche fields.
As long as augustus wizard shoes didn't reach the level of a Sun Ring Wizard, it would be difficult to truly threaten the foundations of the two Shop Alliances.
But now, Locke had become a Second Ring Wizard, which meant he could truly influence the two Shop Alliances in terms of commercial competition.
Under the current circumstances, they had initially underestimated the augustus wizard shoes brand, thinking it was just a flash in the pan, or at most, it would just survive without much fanfare.
And Locke Augustine himself would take at least five to ten years to become a Second Ring Wizard.
But who could have imagined that he would become a Second Ring Wizard right after the Silent Grail Competition.
Moreover, by this time, it was too late for them to attempt an assassination.
The Moon Ring Wizard supervisor closed his eyes. The previous head of the Pre-Crisis Management Department had already stepped down, and within Solas Lightfoot, an ordinary Second Ring witch had been taken away, sentenced by the court to ten years of imprisonment and fifteen years of community service.
Additionally, one Crystallized Wizard and two Vaporization Wizards were directly sentenced to death, while five involved Liquefaction Wizards were imprisoned for thirty years and sentenced to fifty years of community service.
Because of this incident, Solas Lightfoot had not only lost at least a hundred million magic stones in talent cultivation costs but had also lost a batch of talent reserves.
After all, the accountability came directly from Golden Crown Mountain.
Consequently, he was severely punished by his superiors, his salary was reduced by at least half, and many of his resources were stripped away.
At that time, the supervisor already regretted it. Had he known, he should have agreed to buy an unused world stone for Locke from the start.
The Moon Ring supervisor sighed.
If he had agreed back then, he could have saved Solas Lightfoot at least two hundred million in losses.
Even for Solas Lightfoot, losing that much money—while their health bar was thick enough to withstand it for now—would still lead to problems if it happened frequently.
Furthermore, he was merely an administrative supervisor for Solas Lightfoot.
His own health bar wasn't nearly as thick.
If this continued, he feared his superiors would hold him accountable.
The Moon Ring supervisor, Holm, frowned. On his face, which usually bore an arrogant expression as the administrative supervisor of Solas Lightfoot, a hint of regret finally appeared.
He tapped the table, the sound of his fingers tapping seemingly echoing in the ears of all the First Ring designers of Solas Lightfoot.
"That's why I've said long ago, our Solas Lightfoot doesn't sell gimmicks. We need gimmicks, and we need a product service line, but we also need quality and the pursuit of technical progress."
"Have you all forgotten how our Solas Lightfoot rose to prominence?"
"Have you forgotten our Shop Alliance culture?"
The First Ring designers present all lowered their heads in silence, while the Second Ring designers each sneered, remaining unmoved.
Holm was a shrewd man; he knew that the more critical the moment, the faster he needed to find a scapegoat. He looked at the First Ring technical chief at the technical seminar, ready to deploy his traditional skill.
Passing the buck must be done early and at any time; if you're even a step late, you might not be able to pass it at all.
"Michael, you are a rising star cultivated by our Solas Lightfoot, a technical reserve cadre, and a future talent among the new generation of Magic Weavers."
"You are a genius among our Magic Shoemakers. I ask you, during this period, have you made any new wizard shoes?"
Michael's face looked grim.
As an assistant wizard mentor of the Rose Council and a prospective Chair Mage, he was a student of a Sun Ring Wizard, who in turn was a student of a Third Ring Wizard from the Rose Council.
Thus, he was considered a direct descendant of both the Rose Council and Solas Lightfoot.
There had always been two promotion paths within Solas Lightfoot: one was a direct path reserved for those of their lineage, and the other was the promotion path for ordinary employees.
Even if ordinary employees were diligent, it was actually difficult for them to gain trust, and their future achievements were limited. Whether they took administrative positions or technical routes, it was hard for them to be trusted or cultivated.
But the Moon Ring supervisor Holm before him had been appointed to manage Solas Lightfoot as the administrative supervisor and the highest-ranking manager of the executive level, naturally because he was also a Chair Mage of the Rose Council. Furthermore, in the Rose Council, he had signed on as a contract-based wizard mentor (a wizard mentor not recognized by the White Wizard Association, essentially a high-level Chair Mage; after leaving the Rose Council, the White Wizard Association could only recognize him as a Chair Mage).
This Holm was originally his senior brother in the laboratory.
Therefore, after thinking for a moment, Wizard Michael suppressed his anger, stood up, and took the initiative to apologize, saying: "Supervisor Holm, I am very sorry. I did not expect the augustus wizard shoes brand to produce a second hit so quickly."
"And I just looked at the various indicators of his wizard shoes. I can only say, if they are true, then... then..."
Wizard Michael sighed.
"Then they have indeed reached the level of the best First Ring wizard shoes currently in the Yunze Wetland. There is no other."
"To be able to reach this level using pure Magic Plant wizard shoes is unimaginable."
Wizard Michael added: "Of course, if it's faked, that would be a different story."
Supervisor Holm gave him a cold look. "How could it be faked? Do not mistake your own negligence for the enemy's loophole."
"Alsace's trader system is very thorough. The one responsible for the augustus wizard shoes brand is a gold-tier trader. Since pre-orders can be placed now, the Magic Plant's properties must have been confirmed in advance."
Wizard Michael lowered his head and said: "That is indeed true. It is indeed our Solas Lightfoot's R&D department that has been somewhat negligent in the field of First Ring wizard shoes."
"It's just... it's just... if the performance of these Magic Plant wizard shoes is real, then even if our First Ring wizard shoe R&D department works around the clock, it would be impossible to improve our performance to surpass them in a short time."
The chief Second Ring designer suddenly spoke up: "Michael, would it still not work even if thirty million in funding were invested into your First Ring R&D department?"
Wizard Michael bowed, a troubled expression appearing on his face.
"From my perspective, it is indeed difficult to achieve. Perhaps it is because he is a Second Ring Wizard and I am only a Crystallized Wizard. I truly find it hard to imagine how the pure Magic Plant wizard shoe technical route can surpass the quality of wizard shoes designed by Magic Weavers."
"Especially designs from top-tier Magic Weavers like us."
Wizard Michael asked sincerely: "Reasonably speaking, a pair of wizard shoes requires coordination across many niche fields, from materials to structure, to aerodynamics and other disciplines. A pair of wizard shoes is a Magic item."
"At the very beginning..."
Wizard Michael paused, then looked around and began to recount the history of Solas Lightfoot, which everyone there knew.
"Three hundred years ago, although there were some wizard shoe Shop Alliances, they were small in scale. At that time, there were no large Shop Alliances specifically dedicated to making shoes."
"wizard shoes were viewed as ordinary Magic items sold in shops and were not even mainstream among Magic items. But that Third Ring Wizard of our Solas Lightfoot proposed [Speed, Professionalism, Culture]. With these three concepts, he established a specialized wizard shoe shop."
"Thus, the first Shop Alliance specializing in selling wizard shoes appeared. Although Magic Shoemakers were common at the time, they only treated their wizard shoes as ordinary Magic items to be sold."
"But Lord Solas believed that this sales model made it difficult to elevate the status of us Magic Shoemakers and difficult to improve the professionalization of wizard shoes at the time. Therefore, he founded Solas Lightfoot and eventually achieved victory through professional specialization. Today, the department store wizard alliance shop Olebull, which tried to suppress us back then, has relatively declined, while our Solas Lightfoot is flourishing more and more every day."
"By relying on the Shop Alliance culture of specialized wizard shoes, we have always kept our own wizard shoes superior in quality, perpetually stronger in performance, and have established numerous cultural barriers, but..."
Wizard Michael frowned and said, "I didn't expect the competitor wouldn't come from our fellow Magic Weaver peers, but from a field we cannot influence."
The Second Ring chief designer closed his eyes, looking unimpressed.
"Back then, Olebull did not want to give up the wizard shoe field, but later, through the efforts of His Excellency Solas, they finally had no choice but to give up."
"Solas Lightfoot relied on professionalism to achieve victory; therefore, the degree of professionalism is actually the most important among our many barriers."
"However, geniuses emerge in every industry. A genius, relying on personal ability, is enough to suddenly reverse the industry situation and cause a stage-wise leap in an industry."
"In the past three hundred years, Solas Lightfoot has also encountered some geniuses in the field of Magic Weavers. It's just that as long as these geniuses took the path of Magic Shoemakers, they would eventually join the Rose Council, and thus become one of our own. Even if some would go on to establish their own small brands, we only needed to acquire them secretly. But this time, the person impacting us is actually not a Magic Weaver in the Magic Shoemaker field, but a Breeder..."
"That is the reason we were caught off guard. But actually, the problem isn't that big."
The Second Ring chief designer deliberated for a moment and said, "The wizard shoe field is a mature technical route that has been formed through thousands of years of accumulation. The One-Ring Wizard shoes designed by the opponent have referenced our Magic Weaver technical standards and technical routes in all aspects. But there is one point that the opponent will find difficult to cross."
"What is the biggest difference between a Magic Plant and a Magic item? A Magic item is just an object, while a Magic Plant is a living being. It is relatively simple for an object to reach the magic pressure of a Second Ring level, but it is much harder for a living being to reach the magic pressure of a Second Ring level."
"The imaginary root... If the opponent could produce a Second Ring level wizard shoe now, they should have released it immediately."
"But since they haven't, it means the opponent is stuck on the imaginary root."
The Moon Ring supervisor's eyes lit up.
"So, as long as the opponent hasn't overcome the cost-related issues of the imaginary root, they have no way to mass-produce the wizard shoes. He will be trapped at the stage of the First Ring level."
"He will never truly become a threat. As expected of a Sun Ring Wizard and Great Wizard. Your insight is truly remarkable."
"In that case, as long as we guard the One-Ring Wizard shoe market and continue to suppress them in this market, that so-called tide of pure Magic Plant wizard shoes will never arrive..."
The Second Ring Wizard chief designer nodded slightly, without speaking or making a clear stance.
Wizard Michael's eyes also brightened slightly.
That's right.
Many Breeders are currently watching from the shadows to see what the final result of the augustus wizard shoes will be. If the result is good, many of them will enter this industry.
That is what Solas Lightfoot fears most.
But if that Great Wizard Augustine cannot overcome the problem of mass-producing the imaginary root,
Then it will be different.
Perhaps the reason many Breeders are still watching and haven't entered the fray is precisely because of this.
Wizard Michael said, "Then our One-Ring technical R&D department should quickly develop a new product that can stabilize the market. Although its performance cannot be compared with that black giant hummingbird pineapple, we can remove many... unnecessary functions, keep only the basic functions, and then rely on our brand's past reputation and the efforts of our offline sales; the problem shouldn't be too big."
"Of course, the subsequent maintenance service still cannot be skipped..."
Solas Lightfoot's Second Ring Wizard chief designer remained composed. Initially, he had treated this matter with a bystander's attitude, but who would have thought the wind would blow stronger and stronger.
But as long as the augustus wizard shoes haven't truly entered the Second Ring market, it's not a big problem.
Supervisor Holm nodded in agreement.
"With just a few changes, we should be able to handle the current crisis."
At the same time, his Ganoderma Magic Plant vibrated, and the expression on his face changed slightly because it was actually the Wizard Board of Directors contacting him directly.
Supervisor Holm hesitated for a moment but still chose to accept the video call.
A Sun Ring Wizard director spoke up, "Holm, shortly after stabilizing, the stock price of Solas Lightfoot has seen a second decline. The Board of Directors is very dissatisfied with you."
"The Board has now made a decision after discussion to dispatch an acting administrative supervisor to the Solas Lightfoot headquarters."
Holm's body shook. "Please wait, my Lords, can you give me another cha—"
The wizard director said, "This acting administrative supervisor is the eldest miss of the Tacitus Family and the granddaughter of the Rose Throne. This time, she is not only coming to be the acting administrative supervisor of Solas Lightfoot but has also been appointed as the acting supervisor by Meileqi Magic Step."
"In other words, she is simultaneously the acting supervisor for the two top wizard Shop Alliances in the Yunze Wetland."
"She will coordinate the resources of both Shop Alliances."
All the wizards at the technical seminar were jolted, sensing an unusual situation.
This meant that the Rose Council's reaction to the Breeder invasion was actually this significant.
Is she here to pad her resume?
Or does the leadership truly believe that a newly developed wizard shoe brand can threaten the mature Magic Shoemaker industry?
Supervisor Holm was silent for a while before asking, "Then may I ask, when will this Lady arrive, and what is her approximate magic level?"
The wizard director said in a deep voice, "The magic level is not important, but this represents the will of the superiors. This Lady has already entered your two Shop Alliances and is currently conducting an undercover investigation. For now, you don't need to change anything; just work as normal."
"This Lady will observe your working style and read our Solas literature and records to create a complete plan to reorganize Solas Lightfoot."
"She is a researcher from the Advanced True Knowledge Institute of the Rose Council, with a noble status and a profound family background. She will surely be able to help our Solas Lightfoot re-establish its dominance."
The wizard director pulled up the current sales report for One-Ring Wizard shoes in the Yunze Wetland.
"Look, a year ago, among the top ten in actual annual sales of One-Ring Wizard shoes in the Yunze Wetland, six were from our Solas Lightfoot, and the remaining four were Meileqi Magic Step."
"But now the situation has changed."
"In today's hidden rankings, for the first time, a pair of Pineapple Wizard Shoe is ranked seventh. It is expected that by next year, more models of augustus wizard shoes will enter the top ten of this hidden ranking."
"Therefore, it is indeed necessary for us to make certain changes to prevent this from happening."
Supervisor Holm gritted his teeth.
"Yes."
The figure of the wizard director vanished.
At the technical seminar, many wizards were whispering and murmuring to each other, not expecting the superiors to suddenly send someone down, especially with an undercover investigation.
...
On Golden Crown Mountain, in a wizard town on the mountainside, Locke discovered that Witch Catherine had chosen the entire wizard town as the venue for her celebratory banquet.
Wizards from all over the Yunze Wetland had come to this town and were currently in the central square of the town, interacting with Witch Catherine.
This was undoubtedly a gathering of her Academic Lineage, and also a banquet for Golden Crown Mountain to announce its period of dominance for the next ten years.
Therefore, Locke knew he wasn't truly the protagonist, so he just silently greeted many wizard guests who came to the banquet and walked through the wizard town in silence.
Many wizards who had once received favors from Witch Catherine or who had currently reached agreements with her came to this wizard town one after another.
The seven top wizard academies of the Yunze Wetland had also sent Third Ring Wizards to represent them in the celebration.
There were also the ten top Shop Alliances of the Yunze Wetland, with Third Ring level wizard directors coming to celebrate.
Besides these, there were the heads of various organizations in the Yunze Wetland, directors from the White Wizard Association, and representatives of wizard forces from the Three Ze Lands outside the Yunze Wetland.
Witch Catherine seemed extremely familiar with handling these interpersonal relationships.
Locke, on the other hand, was led into a smaller social circle, namely the circle of Witch Catherine's true personal disciples.
This circle was quite small.
Inside a villa, there were five wizards in total. Witch Catherine's true personal disciples were her disciples in the strict sense of the master-disciple relationship, not students under the academy's mentor system; it was more like the master-disciple relationship of ancient times.
And there were only five such students to date.
After all, whether it was Wizard Sith or Team Leader Kelt, they were merely Witch Catherine's subordinates, considered part of her Academic Lineage, and were either students or colleagues at the academy.
Even Witch Shirley was only in a student-mentor relationship under the Golden Crown Mountain academic system and couldn't truly be considered Witch Catherine's private student.
At most, it was like the relationship between Locke and Williams.
But this private gathering represented an even smaller circle.
Within this circle were Witch Catherine's true core connections—her actual disciples.
Locke knew that being introduced into this circle was in itself a form of affirmation.
This was a very core level of treatment.
However, doubt arose in Locke's heart.
On what basis?
He was only a wizard collaborating with Witch Catherine, or a Dragon Blood Wizard, but that shouldn't be enough to be introduced into this circle.
Locke looked at the five wizards before him. Among the five, four were actually Third Ring Wizards, and the last one, who looked like a young wizard, was a Sun Ring Wizard.
The five were chatting and laughing, and when they sensed Locke walking in, they all looked at him.
A Third Ring Wizard said, "Is this our little junior brother? Come over here. We've heard the teacher mention you."