Chapter 687: Chapter 259: The Six-Winged Golden Silkworm Advances, Whatever Father Likes!
The Myriad Beasts Mountain Range was vast and boundless, extending as far as the eye could see.
In the depths of the mountains, territories were divided and occupied by one Demon King after another.
There was an inscrutable Malevolent Water Pool among them.
Called a ‘pool,’ it actually resembled a bottomless abyss more, shrouded in darkness, with depths unfathomable.
At some point, a two-headed serpent had emerged in the Malevolent Water Pool.
Since then, the pool had come to be known as the ‘Poison Dragon Pool.’
“Lord Poison Dragon!”
A middle-aged man in a black brocade robe stood before the unfathomable depths of the Poison Dragon Pool and took out a greenish-blue water orb, bowing respectfully as he spoke.
The abyssal waters churned and splashed, and two hideous heads, each several meters long, emerged from the surface.
Its massive body was covered in dark green scales. Half-submerged in the water, it radiated a terrifyingly oppressive aura.
Two lantern-sized green eyes stared at the man in the black robe, and a grating, hoarse voice said, “Human, you did well. This is your reward!”
As it spoke, a gigantic corpse over five meters tall was thrown out.
It was the body of a humanoid, its muscles twisted like those of a dragon.
However, the creature had the head of a bull with pitch-black horns on its head and its legs resembled those of a bull, emanating a thick aura.
Xiahou Wuwo’s eyes gleamed with a crimson light when he saw the corpse, showing a hint of surprise and delight.
He quickly bowed deeply to the two-headed serpent and said, “Thank you, my Lord, for this gracious gift!”
“Human, as long as you continue to do well, this King will not skimp on your rewards!”
The two-headed serpent’s eyes flickered with a dim green light as it spoke in its grating, hoarse voice, which was as unsettling as metal clashing.
“Yes, my Lord, just give your orders!”
“The next step, this King will notify you!”
The two-headed serpent spoke.
Afterward, its enormous body sank back into the water.
“With the corpse of the Third Rank Cangmang Bull Demon, I can craft ‘The Dark Demon Corpse.’ Qingyun Sect, there will come a day when I will make you pay for your debts in blood…”
Xiahou Wuwo looked at the corpse before him, his eyes brimming with hatred.
Bi Lake Mountain, Puppet Workshop.
“Father, this War Puppet Number One has been modified according to your requirements,”
“The arms are engraved with mighty glyphs, capable of exerting up to three thousand jin of force, the legs have speed and gravity glyphs for stability while ensuring speed, and the internal spiritual power converges to support three major talisman formations….”
“It can be equipped with blades, spears, bows, and arrows, or shields as you mentioned, with just simple tweaks required, and customers can also purchase accessories to install or remove themselves.”
Lu Xianzhi looked at the humanoid metal puppet before him as he reported to Lu Changsheng.
Half a year earlier, after mastering the basics of flying eagle, beast, and humanoid puppets, Lu Changsheng had him start creating three new types of puppets.
War Puppet Number One, Beast Puppet Number One, Flying Bird Number One.
These were the three puppets that Lu Changsheng planned to introduce to the marketplace.
However, these three types of puppets were all Middle Grade First Grade, and with a certain technical content, mass production was no small challenge.
During this period, Lu Changsheng also made several optimizations and adjustments based on practical situations.
Especially War Puppet Number One.
This puppet was designed for both offense and defense, suitable for close combat and long-range attacks, making its production quite complex.
Much time was consumed just to achieve mass production.
Lu Changsheng inspected the puppet before him, then opened the Heart Protecting Mirror to check the internal inscriptions.
The inscriptions, clearly crafted by the hands of Golden Armored Bean Soldiers, were impeccable.
Subsequently, he used the relevant puppet control technique to manage the puppet’s spiritual joints, testing its commands.
Advancing, retreating, leaping, flipping…
After a brief demonstration, Lu Changsheng had the metal puppet punch him, and then struck the puppet with a punch of his own.
The puppet staggered backward, its chest indented with a punch imprint.
However, after stabilizing, it was still capable of movement.
Following a series of tests, the metal puppet was dented and banged up, a pitiable sight, but Lu Changsheng’s face showed a satisfied smile.
He turned to Lu Xianzhi and nodded, “If we can mass-produce War Puppet Number One now, how long will it take to produce a unit, and what is the profit margin?”
“Father, the workshop is currently divided into three production lines. If we produce War Puppets at full capacity, we can make one every ten days, considering the cost of materials, labor, and overhead, it comes to roughly one hundred and eighty Spirit Stones,”
“In the current market, the price of Middle Grade Puppets range from two hundred forty to three hundred Spirit Stones. If our family wants to make a market impact, initially we can only offer low prices,”
“Besides, if you intend to supply externally instead of managing the business ourselves, our prices can probably only reach two hundred Spirit Stones,”
Lu Xianzhi reported respectfully.
“Such low profit margins; this hardly compares to a sweatshop,”
Lu Changsheng frowned slightly upon hearing this.
He had always known that puppet production was akin to a sweatshop, operating on tight profit margins,
but these profits seemed too low in his view.
Considering the time he spent instructing Lu Xianzhi and others daily in the workshop, not mentioning the profits he would have made from Alchemy and Talisman Making.
“Father, as we increase the workforce and gain proficiency, this cost can continue to decrease,”
“Moreover, regarding material procurement, we primarily use Xuanwu Steel. If we start mass production and make bulk purchases, we can reduce the price by ten to thirty percent,”
“Plus, once our family’s puppets gain a reputation and sales increase, we can raise the prices,”
“However, I think that since we have shops, we could start with opening one in Red Leaf Valley Market to build our reputation and customer base.”