I built the Black Tower City in Sumeru.

Chapter 80: The Order Academy's Bulk Procurement, the Semi-Finals of the Mechanical Competition

Chapter 80: The Order Academy's Bulk Procurement, the Semi-Finals of the Mechanical Competition.

"Great Sage, according to preliminary estimates, if we want to replicate one, the cost of labor alone will be nearly three million Mora."

"Even if we involve students later and outsource the production of some non-core components, the cost will not be less than 200,000."

"We cannot understand the core chip for the time being. It means that it uses technology from an ancient civilization, but we can use a virtual terminal to replace its core functions."

Hazard frowned immediately upon hearing the number.

These capture mechs are surprisingly effective at maintaining order; they are low-cost, highly efficient, and can complement mercenaries quite well.

The problem is, it's too expensive.

Moreover, it may not be safe.

Azar ordered, "Attempt to gain ultimate control of the mechs using the Void. If successful, purchase a batch; if unsuccessful, declare the capture of the mechs illegal and ban them."

Once the order was given, the students and instructors of the Academy gathered there.

At night, six scholars, wearing specially made virtual terminals, sat cross-legged.

In the center of them, a "Guardian" mech stood silently.

The Heart of God, which is the core of the void, also lit up.

Nighttime is when the Void's computing power is at its strongest. At this time, the Void can use the brains of the Sumeru people as a supplement to its computing power.

As the scholars accessed the void, a massive flow of information surged in instantly.

Regardless of the encryption algorithm used, it is all forcibly cracked using computing power.

"First layer of firewall detected; mathematical algorithm analysis in progress."

"Algorithm confirmed, currently being cracked —"

"Progress 50% —"

"We've broken through!"

The first layer of the algorithm was not particularly difficult, and the operators of Xumi quickly cracked it.

"The firewall is disabled! We have administrator privileges!"

"Facial recognition and voiceprint lock have been removed and replaced by the Void control terminal, which has now gained control."

"Now, as long as we install a void control terminal on the mechs, we can directly requisition all the mechs if necessary."

As the scholars reported on Hazard.

Azhar nodded. Now, these mechs were at Sumeru's disposal.

"New laws will be enacted, requiring all mechs to be equipped with void terminals in order to be legally used."

"Violators will have their mechs confiscated and be fined 50 Mora."

After announcing the law, Hazard convened another meeting.

Ultimately, it was concluded that replacing mercenaries entirely with mechs could save the budget of an entire academy.

Replacing the lazy and greedy desert people with these cheaper, more obedient mechanical soldiers who don't require compensation is a good idea.

Moreover, they are more obedient than desert people.

However, these mechs only have the ability to imprison, and they still need to be captured by human forces.

A desert mercenary paired with two mechs is a fairly reasonable setup.

The final conclusion was to purchase Guardian-type mechs in bulk, while gradually reducing the number of mercenaries hired until the number of mercenaries was reduced to 30% of the current number.

At that moment, a new notification popped up on the screen in front of Chen Bo.

[WARNING: The first layer of firewall for the target unit, Capture Mech 074, has been brute-force breached, and the password has been changed.]

[New administrator privileges have been granted to the Sumeru Void System.]

Inside Casazale Palace.

Dolly was sitting with her legs crossed, humming a little tune as she started doing the accounts.

"Fourteen million — minus the cost of chartering the ship — minus all sorts of miscellaneous expenses —"

Her eyes narrowed to slits, and she could no longer suppress her smile.

"Hehe, my little Mora, come into Mommy's pocket!"

Just then, several clerks dressed in the uniforms of the Order of the Fathers came to visit.

"Your Excellency Dori Sango Mahabayi, this is the Procurement Letter from the Vatican."

The Order of Religion?

A great sage?

What does the Order of the Church want me to buy?

Or did they discover my illegal business practices?

As a successful businesswoman, Dolly doesn't do every business legally. Although the other party mentioned a purchase order, Dolly was still a little uneasy.

After opening it, I took a look.

It turns out they are procurement guardians.

The quantity is one thousand units.

I have absolutely no stock left.

Anil's second batch of goods hasn't arrived yet.

Dolly immediately contacted Chen Bo.

"I—my dear Mr. Anil! Something terrible has happened! The Church of God—the Church of God wants to order one thousand Guardians!"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the terminal, followed by Chen Bo's calm and even voice.

"A thousand units? Yes, we have them. You can just take the order."

"Huh?" Dolly was taken aback.

"We have the goods, but I need to participate in a mechanical combat competition tomorrow. I'll take you to pick them up after the competition."

After a brief silence, Dolly was so happy she almost jumped for joy.

"My dearest, dearest, dearest Mr. Anil! You are the Mora god who descended upon the continent of Teyvat!"

This is going to be another big profit.

Now that we have the goods, let's talk about the price.

The Order of the Command was originally priced at 100,000 Mora per unit, but the market acceptance of Guardian mechs has increased, so the price has changed.

A price of 100,000 Mora is not acceptable.

Dolly immediately began acting.

She took out a handkerchief and gently dabbed at the corners of her eyes, her voice tinged with weariness and aggrieved: "My esteemed clerks, you have no idea. This order for a thousand units is practically killing me."

"To assemble these Guardians," I've used every last trick in the book. You know what? The core components for these mechs are all sourced from Fontainebleau. Just now, the people there told me the price of the parts is going up by 45%, so now even 100,000 Mora isn't enough to cover the cost!"

She spoke tearfully, lamenting the "scarce raw materials," "exorbitant craftsmanship costs," and "the risks of cross-border transportation."

Simply put, the price of 100,000 Mora is not good enough.

The scholar opposite frowned: "Ms. Sangmahabai, please state the price directly."

"150,000 Mora per unit! That's a really good price! Any lower and my craftsmen will starve!" Dolly said with a desperate expression.

After a heated debate, Dolly reluctantly lowered the price to 140,000 Mora per unit, the same as the average price of the first batch.

Furthermore, they secured a tax exemption from the Council of Education for this order.

However, Dolly had already been overstating costs and evading taxes, so the savings weren't actually that significant.

"Alright," the leading scholar finally relented, "we'll go with this price."

Of course, the price reported by the purchasing department was actually 200,000 per Mora.

They won't eat it if there's no purchasing department.

One unit yields a net profit of 65,000! One thousand units would be 65 million Mora! And that's tax-free!

Moreover, there's not much work involved; it's just a matter of passing the work around.

We've won! This time we've really won!

On the other hand, Chen Bo had a tough time for the previous three days.

They were practically working overtime like crazy.

During the day, we roamed through every corner of the rainforest, searching for mechanisms to dismantle. We even dismantled an ancient ruin that had already been excavated, mainly by demolishing the walls.

At night, he would work with Farusan on designs, constantly incorporating new technologies into the Hulkbuster series of armor.

They hardly get any rest at all.

The next morning, the semi-finals of the Sumeru City Mechanical Competition were bustling with activity.

The huge open-air stadium was packed to capacity, with even the aisles crowded with people craning their necks.

All of this is thanks to Dolly.

Dolly has been working really hard to promote the competition lately, attracting many people who weren't originally interested in mechanical combat.

Therefore, the number of viewers tripled overall.

Moreover, the extra money was all spent on buying Chen Boying.

Therefore, Chen Bo's odds of advancing to the finals are ridiculously low, at only 1.2.

The profit margin is not high.

Chen Bo also symbolically bought himself ten million.

Soon, it was time for the contestants to enter the arena.

The lottery results were released a day in advance.

Chen Bo drew Leila's name.

"The first contestant enters! Lyra from the Wise Theory School! And her ride—the Silver Guardian!"

'

As the host introduced it loudly.

Lyra makes her entrance, seated in the palm of the Silver Guardian.

Compared to its last appearance, it has been fitted with a lot more armor, making its defense much stronger.

The entire mecha also became much thicker and heavier.

Moreover, two huge launchers were added to both sides of the shoulders, and folded metal nets could be vaguely seen in the dark muzzles.

The host enthusiastically introduced, "This time, Layla made targeted improvements to Luna 1's agile flight capabilities."

"The launcher on the shoulder can fire a huge metal capture net that can cover the entire ring. It's a special design for Moon One. As for the other two fighters, it seems that Lyra doesn't take them seriously at all."

Each round of competition is separated by seven days, which gives the players time to strengthen their skills.

The audience members in the stands were buzzing with discussion.

"Did I buy the wrong thing?"

"That cannon muzzle is huge."

"A capture net that can cover the entire ring should definitely be bigger."

"Wow, the arena doesn't seem very big. How are we going to fight like this?"

"Trust Dolly. Didn't Dolly say Anil also has a secret weapon? If we won the first round, we'll definitely win the second."

"Next up is Anil, a student of the biophilosophy, and his partner, Luna One!"

As the host explained, Chen Bo, holding Luna 1's hand, ascended to the preparation seat.

"Luna One" remains the same as before, small and exquisite, with no changes in appearance compared to the last one.

Chen Bo, on the other hand, looked to be in even worse shape than the mecha.

Chen Bo had dark circles under his eyes, his face was pale, and his steps were unsteady. He looked completely drained and extremely tired.

Of course, this was all special effects makeup done by Farusan; Chen Bo slept normally at night. The purpose was simple: to make a small profit.

The host immediately seized on this sensitive moment and pressed on, "Anil! You don't look too well. Facing such heavily armed Silver Guardians," are you still confident about the upcoming match?

Chen Bo looked at the camera with a look of utter despair: "Don't even mention it. My supervisor's project ran into problems recently, and he dragged me to the rainforest to help. I'm exhausted and haven't had any time to upgrade the mecha."

He waved his hand weakly and pointed to "Lunar One" behind him.

"I stayed up all night last night, but I only made a small upgrade to Luna 1."

After Chen Bo finished speaking, the entire audience erupted in cheers.

"What? No time to upgrade?"

"Just a tiny upgrade"? Doesn't that mean it's practically the same as the last game?

"It's over! It's over! My Mora!"

"I've been scammed by Dolly! Damn it, Dolly, give me my money back!"

Laypeople only believe what they see.

The difference in their body sizes is just too great.

Anil looks like he has absolutely no chance of winning right now.

"You swindler! Dolly, you swindler! Give me my money back!"

One audience member, his face flushed with anger, grabbed the receipt in his hand, tore it to shreds, and threw it on the ground.

"Damn it, I didn't believe your nonsense! I don't want this money!"

"I'm never buying Dolly's stuff again."

This person instantly stirred up a lot of emotions.

"Refund! Refund!"

"We've been tricked! We've all been tricked by Dolly!"

Many viewers who were lured in by Dolly and knew nothing about mecha felt that their intelligence and wallets had been doubly insulted.

Because Dolly has only ever promoted Chen Bo.

In the crowd, Farusan pulled her hood up, trying her best to hide her face from others.

"This is so... so embarrassing!" she complained to Cole beside her in a low voice, "Me, a senior member of the Order of the Church, having to do this kind of garbage-picking work here..."

Cole, who was also wrapped up tightly, whispered, "But—Senior Farusan, this is Anil's plan—"

Chen Bo's plan was simple: he would feign weakness and let Farusan and Cole buy his notes at a low price, so that he could make a fortune.

To avoid being recognized, both Farusan and Cole were dressed very conservatively, their faces covered.

After a moment's hesitation, Cole mustered his courage and proceeded with the plan: "How about we buy the notes you used to purchase Anil for 30% of the price?"

Many people simply threw away Anil's receipts.

Farusan carefully controlled the wind and picked up the discarded tickets one by one from the ground.

He took up the job of picking up trash.

On the other side, Dolly, who was surrounded by the crowd, was also completely bewildered.

Seeing Chen Bo's half-dead state, her anger flared up instantly.

What is this kid up to? He's ruining my reputation as Dolly Sango Mahabayi!

Or is it that there really was no upgrade?

Have they been so busy working on mechs that they've completely neglected the competition?

That's true, it's not a very important match.

It wasn't until Dolly discovered that Cole seemed to be buying back Anil's notes at a low price that she immediately understood.

That bastard!

By feigning weakness and buying back at a low price, wouldn't the return be higher?

However, I can do it that way too.

Once she understood, Dolly's anger and grievance vanished instantly.

He immediately put on a heartbroken expression and began to cry to the "victims" in front of him: "Everyone! Everyone, calm down! I didn't expect Anil's mentor to make him work overtime at the last minute. I'm a victim too! I also bet tens of millions on Anil to win."

As she spoke, Dolly pulled out her purchase receipt.

"However, I, Dolly, believe in integrity in business! Since everyone feels cheated, I can offer a refund!"

"However, as everyone knows, betting involves risk, and I also incur costs in doing so. I will buy back everyone's tickets in my personal capacity, but I can only refund 30% of your principal!"

Thirty percent?

The group exchanged bewildered glances. Although they had lost 70%, it was still better than losing everything.

And Dolly did buy one herself.

This can only be blamed on Anil's mentor.

Kele also aggressively bought back the products at 30% of their original price.