Free Web NovelChapter 325: Chapter 318: Weisren Heavy Industry
Live-Fire Test Range No. 3.
Victor’s gaze was drawn to the small, leaping dots in the distance.
On the barren plains, twenty Spider Slayer target drones were moving at high speed in unpredictable patterns. They provided cover for one another, leaped about, and even briefly activated Shadow Travel, perfectly simulating a professional Golem scout squad.
Beside the two of them, two "Purgatory" units were adjusting their firing angles.
"Is that... a ’Purgatory’?"
Victor recognized the machine; he had bought twenty of them himself. "What are you trying to show me? I saw the power of a saturation bombardment three years ago."
"No, no, no." Allen wagged his finger. "Times have changed, my friend. The Purgatory is still the same Purgatory, but the ammunition... is not the ammunition of old."
The moment he finished speaking...
BOOM—!
The two "Purgatory" launch platforms fired simultaneously, a salvo of twenty-four rounds.
Dark red projectiles, nearly twice as long and slender as the "Red Lotus-I" model, whistled into the air.
They didn’t climb to their apex before falling. Instead, they traced bizarre, zigzagging lines through the air, like living falcons diving with precision toward the twenty high-speed target drones.
"Tracking lock-on?!" Victor activated his Witchcraft Vision, staring at the distant scene.
He watched as a "Red Lotus-II" missile relentlessly pursued a target drone that tried to evade using Shadow Travel. The instant the drone reappeared, the missile slammed into it.
A black and red mushroom cloud billowed upward. It was clearly overkill.
One missile, one precise kill.
Within a minute, the twenty-four "Red Lotus-II" missiles had wiped out the entire simulated military formation of twenty target drones.
Victor’s expression grew serious.
He understood the significance of this. The old Purgatory was effective against clustered targets, but its performance dropped drastically once the enemy formation scattered.
Now, these Magic Missiles had their own tracking systems. Even highly agile scout Golems couldn’t escape them. The kill efficiency was terrifyingly high!
"The Red Lotus-II Magic Missile."
Allen’s voice rang out at the perfect moment. "Maximum range: 217 kilometers. With this, you can sit back, sip some black tea, and watch the enemy get wiped off the map at the coordinates you designate."
"What’s the cost?"
"Six hundred Magic Stones per missile."
Victor’s eyelid twitched.
’Six hundred Magic Stones for a Magic Missile with a range of over two hundred kilometers and autonomous tracking capabilities wasn’t actually expensive.’
’A single shot from his long-range Golem’s fire-element cannon consumed more Magic Power than that alone.’
’The previous Red Lotus-I model cost 250 Low-Level Magic Stones per missile, and it wasn’t nearly as powerful as this one.’
Victor had to admit, he was tempted.
"But that’s not all." The smile on Allen’s face grew mysterious.
He snapped his fingers again.
"Jarvis, launch the ’Hive.’ Let’s give our guest a show."
[Command confirmed.]
In the distance, the massive alloy dome atop Allen’s Half-plane Workshop slowly split open.
An enormous behemoth rose slowly, accompanied by the low hum of anti-gravity engines.
Its inverted-pyramid hull, matte-black paint job, and the densely packed hexagonal openings covering its surface gave it an incredibly intimidating presence.
Victor exclaimed in shock, "Is that... a Floating Battleship? That’s not exactly the specialty of us Golem-focused Wizards."
"No, not in the strictest sense."
Allen corrected him. "It’s a mobile armory, an aerial legion that manufactures its forces as it fights."
Before he could finish, countless hexagonal openings on the mothership, codenamed "Hive," began to glow faintly.
SWOOSH—!
It was like they had kicked a hornet’s nest.
Hundreds, then thousands of half-meter "Mad Bee" drones, trailing blue Magic Power exhaust, swarmed out of the mothership.
They had no fixed formation, yet they followed some kind of internal logic, converging in the sky to form a torrent of steel that blotted out the sun.
’1,200 units!’ Victor instantly determined the number.
"Fire," Allen said softly.
The next second, 1,200 miniature Magic Guide beams focused their fire, like a precise meteor shower, instantly riddling a hundred-meter-tall mountain peak below that served as a target.
But it wasn’t over.
"Self-destruct mode."
A formation of one hundred "Mad Bee" drones suddenly accelerated, diving like a pack of fearless mad dogs into the smoke and dust from the previous explosions. They triggered an even more violent secondary blast. The explosive power of each Mad Bee was comparable to a Red Lotus-II Magic Missile, completely leveling the mountain peak.
Their every attack was coordinated by the mothership—precise and efficient.
"It has a full load of twelve hundred sub-units."
Allen’s voice came from the side. "Its instantaneous firepower is equivalent to twenty Purgatory launch platforms. The ship has an integrated, automated production line that can build five new units per hour. The sub-units we just lost can be replaced in just a day."
"And the mothership also has a main cannon, with more firepower than the shoulder cannons on my Freedom Gundam."
Victor retracted his gaze and turned to look at Allen.
"How much?"
"One mothership with a full complement of drones, seven hundred thousand."
Victor’s lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing.
’His "Molten Fire Tyrant" cost 800,000 to build just one, and that was just a single Golem.’
’This thing in front of him, for seven hundred thousand, was an entire aerial combat system!’
But he didn’t nod immediately.
"Your toys are certainly interesting." Victor crossed his arms, his tone reverting to its usual caution. "But I have a question."
"They’re good products. But why should I buy from you? Master Mercer’s Golems are stronger than yours, and he has a wider variety."
This was a negotiation tactic, but it was also what he truly thought.
"You’re right. Master Mercer’s Golems have truly unparalleled individual performance."
Allen admitted it freely, then changed the subject. "But Victor, have you ever seen our Master sell a Golem for less than a million Magic Stones? His works are made for top-tier battles."
"But what I’m selling you..." Allen looked him straight in the eye, his gaze burning.
"...its advantage isn’t in individual performance. It’s cost-effectiveness. It’s ’all-you-can-eat’ firepower. It’s a practical solution. You can’t buy that anywhere else. That is my brand’s advantage."
"Brand?"
Victor scoffed as if he’d just heard the world’s biggest joke. "You, a newly promoted Second-level Wizard, are talking to me about a ’brand’?"
"Haven’t you already seen it?" Allen spread his hands, his face a mask of matter-of-fact confidence. "Weisren Heavy Industry. It may be small now, but its future is limitless."
Victor looked at Allen’s face, so full of "sincerity" and "confidence," and felt a moment of dazed disbelief.
’This guy... is he serious?’
’Does he really plan to turn the arms business into a ’brand’?’
He thought back to the unique weapons he had just seen, and this well-organized Half-plane Workshop with its infinite potential...
An absurd thought rose in Victor’s mind: ’Maybe... maybe he’s telling the truth.’
"...Looking at that damn profiteer’s mug of yours," Victor said, gritting his teeth and forcing the words out, "I believe you!"
"Alright, talk price!"
Allen smiled. The fish had taken the bait.
"One ’Hive’ Mother Ship, hull and a full complement of 1,200 ’Mad Bee’ drones, for seven hundred thousand Magic Stones. Since we’re brothers, I’ll give it to you at cost."
Victor’s mouth twitched. ’At cost? As if! But he knew the price wasn’t expensive at all.’
"One ’Purgatory’ launch platform, bundled with twelve ’Red Lotus-II’ missiles, I’ll give you the whole set for ten thousand Magic Stones."
"As for the ’Crystal Bomb’..."
Allen paused. "If your total arms purchase exceeds ten million, I can give you a fifty percent discount on the ’Big Boy.’ Five hundred thousand apiece. That’s the absolute lowest price."
Victor’s mind began to race.
’The budget he got from his family this time was a full thirty million.’
"I want five ’Hive’ Mother Ships, and two hundred ’Purgatory’ launch platforms, including ammunition," Victor said decisively.
’Five motherships for three and a half million, two hundred Purgatory units for two million. A total of five and a half million.’
"Also, the ’Crystal Bombs’—I’ll take twenty!"
’Ten million!’
The total order came to fifteen million, five hundred thousand Low-Level Magic Stones!
Jarvis had already calculated the profit instantly. On this single order, after deducting costs, the net profit was nearly ten million!
But Allen’s face remained impassive as he silently calculated.
’The actual cost of a ’Big Boy’ Crystal Bomb is less than 100,000 Magic Stones. The markup is high because I currently hold an exclusive monopoly.’
’It’s not that I’m trying to rip off my brother; the crystal seed ore isn’t infinite. Once I leave this plane, I’ll never find it again.’
’This thing is a true strategic trump card—every one sold is one less in my arsenal. I was only selling it because it was Victor; for anyone else, I’d have to think twice, no matter how much they offered.’
’As for the Hive Mother Ship and the Purgatory, the profit margins aren’t actually that high. After all, Victor knows his stuff, and I wouldn’t be able to sell them if the price was too high.’
"Deal." Allen extended his hand. "Delivery in batches within one year."
Victor shook his hand, his expression complicated.
He felt like he’d been thoroughly fleeced, but when he looked at what he’d just bought, he couldn’t help but feel... it was a pretty good deal?
"I hope your ’Weisren Heavy Industry’ doesn’t disappoint me." Victor released his hand and stood up to leave.
"Don’t worry."
Allen smiled cheerfully. "My products come with a three-month, no-questions-asked refund policy. You won’t find that anywhere else in the entire Wizarding World."
After seeing Victor off, Allen looked at the projected account balance displayed by Jarvis, and the curve of his lips grew wider and wider.
Fifteen million, five hundred thousand.
It was far from enough to fund the development plan, which would cost hundreds of millions of Magic Stones. But it was a start.
More importantly, this transaction had proven one thing to him—
that the products of Weisren Heavy Industry had a market in the real Wizarding World.
"Jarvis," Allen stood up and walked toward the deeper parts of the workshop, "add this order to the production schedule. Highest priority."
[Acknowledged. Estimated delivery for the first batch: three months from now.]
"Also." Allen stopped in the hallway, looking down at the intersecting Magic Circuits on the floor.
"Engrave ’Weisren Heavy Industry’ on every product that leaves this factory."
[...Confirmed. Should a unique logo be designed?]
"Use the first letters of my name. A and W, intertwined."
Allen continued walking forward.
He didn’t know how far this brand would ultimately go. But from this day forward, every piece of ammunition from his workshop, every Golem that rolled off his production line, would bear this mark.
One day, these two letters would make all his peers in the Wizarding World remember one thing—
The best weapons aren’t necessarily the most expensive.
But the most cost-effective and practical weapons could only be found here.
"Also," Allen’s voice became deep and powerful, "procure High-tier Materials from our Master."
"Before I leave this plane, I’m going to build the strongest... Level 3 Golem under the Morning Star rank."
