Chapter 573: Chapter 377 In Debt_2
He, however, had no idea that Chen Mobai’s accomplishments in the Puppet Dao all came from Enlightenment Tea.
“Senior Chai, I’m going to trouble you a bit. Please gather some puppet technicians to complete the rough framework of the puppet factory.”
Chen Mobai knew that Chai Lun was truly capable, hence he decided to have him handle this business.
“Leave it to me.”
Chai Lun patted his chest and immediately called his company’s people, asking them to bring all kinds of tools to Red Sandstone City.
After arriving at the Flying Sparrow Hairpin Factory, the two signed a custom-made contract.
The contract stipulated a total price of 2.22 million Good Deed Points. According to Chen Mobai’s specifications, 100 Rank-1 labor model puppets were to be made. In this process, the Chai Lun party was only responsible for production. Chen Mobai, as the buyer, was responsible for procuring all the puppet materials. After the order was completed and approved, the maintenance and upkeep would also be taken care of by the buyer.
Chai Lun, being aware of Chen Mobai’s financial shortages, generously collected only a million Good Deed Points for the down payment. The remaining 1.2 million balance would be made in installment payments over the next three years.
To this, Chen Mobai tens of thousands times expressed his gratitude.
Several days later, after he helped to settle the technicians from Chai Lun’s puppet factory, he personally took a trip to Yu Wood City, where he negotiated with several wood factories, pretending to have purchased a lot of Spirit Wood.
Because the Flying Sparrow Hairpin Factory usually only stored ink and paper, it didn’t require a large warehouse, so when the first batch of the truly purchased Spirit Wood arrived later, there was nowhere to put it.
But this was intentional by Chen Mobai, who used it as an excuse to ask Qin Baipeng for help in renting a large open space outside the city to store the Spirit Wood purchased from Yu Wood City.
Each time before Chai Lun’s people made puppets, he arranged for workers from the Hairpin Factory to come and cut the Spirit Wood into various lengths as required, then transported it into the city in small carts.
Most of the time, the open storage space for Spirit Wood was unattended, with only a simple Formation and Defence for protection. Chen Mobai placed a Mysterious Fog Talisman for concealment.
He then took it upon himself to bundle together the Red Sun Spirit Wood that he had felled with the Primordial Yang Sword Sha in the Divine Tree Secret Realm last time, and transported them here batch by batch through the Turtle Treasure.
Red Sun Spirit Wood is used for burning in the Divine Wood Sect.
This kind of Spirit Wood has a gentle aura, and the Spiritual Fire produced during calcination is easy to control, making it very suitable for Alchemy.
However, in the Immortal Sect, it is considered mid-to-high-grade Spirit Wood. The Qingbai Spirit Wood that Chen Mobai purchased from Yu Wood City is not even as good as Red Sun Spirit Wood.
“Junior Chen, the quality of the first batch of Spirit Wood isn’t so good, and the resulting puppets might only last two to three years before they are scrapped. I think we shouldn’t try to skimp on this cost.”
In the Fly Sparrow Hairpin Factory workshop, Chai Lun pointed at the first batch of ten puppets made by his technical staff with Qingbai Spirit Wood. His expression was not satisfying.
“Okay, I’ll follow senior’s advice, refund all the Spirit Wood from this supplier, and replace all future batches of Spirit Wood with that of the second supplier.”
Chen Mobai had been pondering how to naturally stop using Qingbai Spirit Wood and completely replace it with Red Sun Spirit Wood. Chai Lun’s words gave him a chance to go with the flow.
“The quantity of mana flexible pipes, gear segments, and moving joints are sufficient, but the main controller chips haven’t arrived yet. If we want to debug the puppets, we need to prioritize this material.”
Chai Lun, hearing Chen Mobai’s compliance, showed satisfaction. However, he still made requests concerning the provision of materials.
“I’ll make another call. If that fails, I’ll make a personal trip to the West Mysterious Cavern.”
Other materials are readily available. Chai Lun’s puppet factory had long-term suppliers who, after his introduction, allowed Chen Mobai to make his purchases at the lowest price, and the materials are being delivered to Red Sandstone City.
Only the main controller, which needed to be compatible with the Heavenly Calculation Bead, requires a chip manufactured by the Repairing Heaven Institute.
Naturally, Chen Mobai called Lou Fengcheng again. Although Lou Fengcheng initially didn’t want to get involved, having helped with the first favor, rejecting this small request would be contradictory. It would be better just to have refused when buying the Heavenly Calculation Bead.
Without any other choice, Lou Fengcheng had to help once again, introducing a junior from the chip sales department to Chen Mobai.
Considering Chen Mobai’s reputation as the first one to have Foundation Establishment in his Immortal Gate, the contract for one hundred rank-1 puppet master controller chips was set.
But the total contract price was only 3.8 million Good Deed Points, which, in Repairing Heaven Chip Factory, can be considered insignificant and, due to its low technical content and profit margin, was largely overlooked.
Even so, after signing the contract, Chen Mobai needed to pay the full amount before Repairing Heaven Chip Factory would begin processing and manufacturing.
This was unlike purchasing Spirit Wood, where there was some leeway to delay payment of goods for a small period, and settle it at the end of the next year.
The Heavenly Calculation Bead cost 1.8 million, Chai Lun’s team’s upfront processing fee was 1 million Good Deed Points, and combined with various other miscellaneous expenses, the initial fund of 5.8 million in the Flying Sparrow Hairpin Factory account wasn’t enough to cover the full payment for the chips.
Chen Mobai sighed about not having enough money. The stuff from Repairing Heaven Institute was just too expensive.
However, even at this price, it was already discounted, only available through the connections of Lou Fengcheng.
The highest and most advanced technologies of Immortal Gate were always in the hands of Repairing Heaven Institute, and if not for the constraints of Immortal Gate, the pricing would be even more outrageous.
Chai Lun had already given him a break with the processing fees, allowing him to pay in installments. As for other various material purchases, since they were all first-time collaborations and were introduced by Chai Lun, Chen Mobai paid in full to avoid making it difficult for his senior.
He had no choice but to activate his backup financial plan. He approached the Immortal Gate Bank in Danxia City again to mortgage his own Six Yang Spiritual Fire Mirrors.
Of course, he only mortgaged the ownership, the right to use was still in Chen Mobai’s hands.
This means that Immortal Gate Bank, although they gave Good Deed Points to Chen Mobai, did not have possession of this magic artifact and it was still with Chen Mobai for his own use.
But if one day Chen Mobai couldn’t pay the interest or the loan, the bank would exercise its ownership and the Immortal Gate Law Court would enforce it, taking the Six Yang Spiritual Fire Mirror from him.
This was the most common type of mortgage loan in Immortal Gate.
If it weren’t for the clear origins of only this magic artifact in his possession, with clear lines of investigation available for the bank, Chen Mobai would have liked to mortgage others like the Flying Sparrow Hairpin, Golden Jade Axe.
Despite Chen Mobai owning the Six Yang Spiritual Fire Mirror, according to the law, after his death, the ownership of this artifact would still lay with the Dance Tool Dao Academy, that is, he only owned half of it.
So, when mortgaging it at the Immortal Gate Bank, he required agreement from the Dance Tool Dao Academy.
Chen Mobai had brought this matter to Che Yucheng’s attention early on. The latter, upon hearing that it was due to a lack of funds for building the puppet factory, reluctantly approved after a moment’s hesitation.
It was just Chen Mobai, if it were someone else from the Academy, Che Yucheng definitely wouldn’t be so agreeable.
Half of the Six Yang Spiritual Fire Mirror’s ownership was mortgaged for 13.5 million Good Deed Points at the Immortal Gate Bank.
Chen Mobai, now steeped in debt, felt a sense of relief. Holding these funds, he planned to personally go to the West Mysterious Cave Heaven to sort out the chip issue.
“Lou Senior, it’s Chen Mobai. I’ve booked a flight to West Mysterious Cave Heaven the day after tomorrow. I want to thank you in person for your help…”
Lou Fengcheng, who was drinking tea, choked on a sip of tea upon hearing Chen Mobai’s words over the phone, feeling as if ants were crawling all over his body. He couldn’t help but shudder, and he coughed violently.
“Well, I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather recently, caught a chill so I might not be able to entertain you. Your thanks are not necessary…”
Lou Fengcheng immediately declined Chen Mobai’s invitation to thank him in person, and he also assured that as long as Chen Mobai transfers the Good Deed Points, the Repairing Heaven Chip Factory would fully commit to producing the chips and deliver them in the shortest possible time.
“I see, alright then. Next time you come to Crimson City or Danxia City, remember to give me a call. I’ll treat you to a good meal.”
[Damn you, I never want to see you again in my life.]
Right after hanging up Chen Mobai’s call, Lou Fengcheng immediately rushed to the Chip Factory.