Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 520 Operations
What will be the outcome of hoarding food, the most profitable yet most enviable behavior?
Having spent most of his life navigating the treacherous waters of business, how could Darius, a man of worldly wisdom, not understand? He was simply blinded by the sudden surge of enormous profits.

"That deal is probably beyond our control..."

The old chairman's mind raced, and the names of several major powers in Deepwater City flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

"There's no need to overthink it. Our own strength is insufficient, and it's difficult to maintain stability no matter which power we cooperate with. I've already submitted the clock patent to the Gonde Church."

The mage casually glossed over the enormous benefits this represented, and Darius, upon hearing this, felt a pang of pain in his heart while simultaneously breathing a sigh of relief.

Now that the guillotine made of pure gold has been removed, the only issue to consider is how to maximize profits and promote the brand within the limited patent exclusivity period.

The old guild master actively offered many valuable suggestions, such as asking bards to sing and perform, having messengers loudly proclaim the news, and even imitating the suggestion by asking the female technicians of Waterdeep to step forward and promote the magic clock...

Advertising and promotion are not uncommon in the business environment of Farron, but to be fair, the local barbarians' ideas and market positioning are worlds apart from those of my previous life.

"How could you even think of having a prostitute promote our new product?"

The mage was somewhat amused and exasperated, while Darius had his own reasons:
"My lord, your idea of ​​spreading the fame of soap through the Moonstone Mask is truly a stroke of genius. I am merely imitating it."

"..."

"How can that be the same? We want to make the magic clock a symbol of status and prestige, not something that makes people immediately think of an old ladybug!"

The monk patiently explained the differences between the target high-end group and the mid-to-low-end market, which finally brought the other party back to the right track.

"Free gift?"

"Yes, it's a free gift. The archbishops of several major churches in Deepwater City, and powerful figures who are suspected of being masked councilors, will all be sent to them."

"These are all big clients who don't lack money. Why would they just throw away the gold coins they've already earned?"

"It is precisely because they are not short of money that we should give them gifts. Once they become interested, their subordinates will follow suit."

The old chairman seemed to be deep in thought after hearing these words, and the monk added another sentence:
"Don't make a big fuss or publicize it. Just say it's a new product launch and we're asking for your feedback. That's enough, by the way,"

"You don't even know how to give gifts properly, do you?"

Upon receiving the lord's questioning glance, Darius immediately straightened up and practically patted his chest in assurance:

“My lord, though I am useless and have caused the merchant guild to decline to this state, it was once prosperous for a time. If it is really just a matter of giving away gifts, it is not difficult. You may leave it to me.”

Once the old guild master understood the lord's thoughts, he immediately put aside his reluctance and began to plan which connections he should make to deliver his small token of appreciation to the lords' residence.

After a brief stop, before the silver moon had even climbed to the top of the stars, the Auerbach set sail under the cover of night, with a new group of merchant guild members joining it.

The commercial layout of Neverwinter also requires the involvement of these professionals.

"You've already set up the watch production line?"

The mage, who had just left Deepwater Maritime Port the previous night, was awakened from his sleep by a communication from the tinker. Ignoring his morning grumpiness, he asked anxiously.

"Relax, boss,"

Old Bausch's voice still carried a hint of slickness, but also a great deal of pride.

"It's been almost a month. What's wrong with setting up a production line? You should have some confidence in the efficiency of our master craftsmen, Keane." "Not bad! How long will it take to complete the first batch of finished products?"

Upon hearing the good news, the monk was full of praise and then quickly inquired about the production efficiency.

"Uh~"

The repairman's voice suddenly became a little choppy, making Mr. Zhang almost think it was a signal problem and the other end was responding late.

"Hey, can you hear me? Fuck!"

"…cough,"

The seemingly frozen images and sounds resumed with a cough from old Bausch:
"The efficiency is not low, but the problem is that a significant part of the watchmaking process cannot be separated from the hand polishing and assembly by Ritotrap and me. If it were just about starting up the watch production line, it wouldn't be a problem."

"Hmm?" The mage raised an eyebrow, roughly guessing the problem.

“But we have more than just this one product. We also need to take care of the assembly and debugging of bicycles and the reaction monitoring in soap production, which is simply difficult to do in actual production.”

"Where are your clone chess pieces? Can't they even lend a hand?"

Mr. Zhang is trying to further tap into the initiative and enthusiasm of his subordinates.

"My redstone laser! Even the stingiest alchemist from the Black Brew family isn't as ruthless as you when he commands ogres. You skin people alive while they use alchemy. Are you trying to kill someone?"

The repairman let out a strange cry, then said with a hint of mockery:

"Ha! Dream on! It's not hard for you to make those chess pieces pull the trigger, but to do this kind of delicate work, you can only rely on our main consciousness to remotely control it. Who do you think I am? Zet? Someone whose main consciousness can split off at will?"

It took quite a while of friendly conversation to dissuade the unscrupulous boss from his desire to split himself in two. Finally, the old man stepped in to smooth things over and offered two suggestions:

"There are two solutions right now. Either we can work in three shifts, with the production line running in rotation so that the machines don't stop but the people do, or Bosh and I can take turns working as much as possible."

"But this would make the efficiency of any production line less than ideal, and could easily cause avoidable errors and losses."

“Indeed.” The mage nodded in agreement. Both master craftsmen could create robots, but they themselves were not advanced AIs and could not make any mistakes under any circumstances.

"Then there is only one other option left: expand human resources."

Old Clockwork revealed his second move:
“The technical threshold for watchmaking is relatively high, and we are directly responsible for it. However, the requirements for bicycle assembly or the stirring and cutting process in the saponification reaction are not so stringent.”

"hiring?"

The monk frowned. Putting aside the question of where to find people with both a certain level of knowledge and technical skills, even if the standard were set at the apprentice level, it was not something Gao Ya could currently provide.

Besides, even if they could produce them, would the Shadowcliff Fortress Enchantment Factory, such a core area, allow those people to enter?

As for recruiting people in Neverwinter, that's out of the question.

"This is a bit difficult. Let's put both aside for now, produce a batch of clocks, and I'll make arrangements when I get back."

Thank you Eric and Poor Doctor for your monthly ticket support!

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(End of this chapter)