Chapter 1001
Chapter 1001 - 987: Grand Opening
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Under normal circumstances, it takes several months or even half a year for a company to go from registration to opening for business.
If the business encompasses multiple industries and involves new or several domains, the procedures are cumbersome and the approval process gets even more prolonged, making it impossible to even begin within half a year.
"Five days... at most three days, we need to have the signboard up."
Lu Ping’an made a very excessive demand, but on the afternoon of the third day, the signboard was hung.
The city even sent an actual Deputy Secretary-General, and the Bureau of Anomaly Management sent a Deputy Director, who both attended a simple ribbon-cutting ceremony for the company, preventing it from looking too shabby.
A few days later, the first batch of trainees arrived, along with several teachers.
"It’s a bit rushed..."
"There’s no choice but to rush. Our time is extremely limited. According to the plan, we must complete the first phase of training within two months... Hah, they worry we might flee to the Foreign Domain, and missing the opportunity might mean a wait of half a year."
In the New Era, the time of Explorers is bluntly divided into two categories: "Outside the Domain" and "Inside the Domain."
During sorties Outside the Domain, nerves must always be kept taut, whereas after returning, the time before the next departure often belongs to Explorers for self-adjustment.
Some use this time for intense cultivation, some convert resources into combat power, and some indulge in luxury with their high earnings... These are normal choices, with no right or wrong, but those who wish to live longer would do better to enter a positive cycle.
When one grows weary of staying Inside the Domain/runs out of money/hits a bottleneck, that may be the cue to set out once again.
Different teams offer various conditions and environments, and many teams have high turnover rates. It is quite rare for a team like Lu Ping’an’s, which only sees recruits with no departures.
Teams and individuals vary in this respect; some leave once every six months, while others only stay for a couple of days upon their rare return before departing again. Lu Ping’an’s team strikes a balance by taking one to two months to adjust before setting out again.
This is considered short among Explorers, as the pressure from a stint in the Foreign Domain can be immense, but Lu Ping’an’s team, considering its outstanding logistics capability, does not actually need to stay in the local area too long.
"... We stay for at most two months, so within one month we must select the talents, and by two months we must see results."
This was not simply a matter of rushing; Lu Ping’an wanted to align the new company’s operating mechanisms with his own exploration timetable to ensure everything ran together smoothly.
Lu Ping’an’s approach was simple: to open the Trading Land to newcomers and teachers, while providing a certain amount of loans.
This time, it was the Courtyard’s "customer guaranteed loans." Although the amounts were small, ranging only from 10 to 100 points depending on the person’s ability, it was enough to kickstart most Courtyard facilities.
Of course, the most valuable "Library" and "Trading Column" were inaccessible to them. Quickly advancing and acquiring Professional Abilities was an unavoidable challenge... and here, the most stifling bottleneck only required spending points to overcome.
"We can offer a second round of loan services, but this time, it won’t be free of charge..."
The "Accountant" was in action once again, and though the amounts were still small, they were enough to help with the final step in evolution.
Lu Ping’an also offered some "ways to generate income," such as selling knowledge to the Library or selling new species to the Courtyard... While not very reliable and with a low cap, as long as the officials were willing to spend resources, satisfying the needs of the first batch of Student Soldiers was not difficult.
However, the first ones to advance were indeed the teachers...
"Unexpected, yet reasonable, and it is a good thing, too. At least it proves our capability."
The professors and teachers from Ancient City University, many of whom are Masters who have retired from the front lines, have done so primarily because they have been stuck at a bottleneck for years.
Most of them felt they could no longer advance in this lifetime. Continuing to fight on the front lines to stimulate the growth of their Talent Abilities or to face various monsters, demons, and ghosts would greatly shorten their remaining life spans.
If there hadn’t been a dead end ahead, why would they have settled for the next best thing?
But now, when they had either "exchanged" for a certain key Abnormal Ability or purchased certain Knowledge in the Taboo Library....
"Ha, to suddenly have four more Decree-levels is really quite exaggerated," said someone.
The standards of Ancient City University are actually quite high. The senior Professors are all third-tier masters at their peak, and they easily cross that line once they obtain a breakthrough opportunity or a key component.
"It’s truly remarkable, that trade column, displaying my abilities so finely and accurately. Just by finding a few high-level comparison items, I can easily identify what I’m lacking..."
"Yes, once you’ve found the shortcomings, whether you work to make up for them in the Gym or directly purchase them from the trade column, you can complete that critical step."
"The most outrageous part is that you can directly purchase or custom order the Profession for the next tier. As long as you have the so-called points, becoming fourth-tier is not difficult at all!"
The Professors submitted reports to the Bureau of Anomaly Management and the School that very day. Previously, only a few Captains of the Special Service Team had "hogged" these opportunities, but now, naturally, many more were attempting to break through.
As a result, the newly built structures in the Courtyard were put to great use.
"Perhaps I should have realized sooner that the Workshop could also be used for acquisition..."
After the Library was established, the Bank could acquire Knowledge, and with the Zoo and the Garden, new animals and plants were also included on the acquisition list.
And even the "Workshop," which was originally a production facility, now also had a functional capability for acquisition.
"...Not even accepting near Taboo items, are they that picky?"
But upon further thought, this seemed to make perfect sense.
Only Taboo items are "sources of contamination"; in Lu Ping’an’s understanding, they could even be considered an independent and breathing "Active Weapon."
Therefore, those that possessed Life could naturally be acquired by the Life Bank.
And this was a great thing for those Professors who urgently needed points to achieve a qualitative change.
After all, new animals, new plants, and even new knowledge are one-off; once someone submits them to the Courtyard, they are no longer accepted.
Although Taboo items of Silver and Gold-tier are rare and precious, those of Black Iron and Brass grade are actually less used than near Taboo items in many situations and are somewhat underwhelming.
Naturally, the Courtyard ended up collecting a large amount of "junk"... The Bank’s public accounts even directly contracted by a significant amount.
And the Courtyard’s acquisition of these "Taboo items" was naturally not an act of charity.
"Can they be used as seed material..." mused someone.
The Life Bank is the "Domain of Life’s Evolution," the "Reservoir of Life Force," the "Domain of Life’s Transformation." Since Taboo items are considered "Life," it naturally has the authority to correct them.
It was only then that Lu Ping’an realized that the potential of the Workshop might be far greater than he had initially anticipated.
"Is it possible to low-cost mass-produce customized real Taboo items?" he wondered.
— End of Chapter 1001 —