Chapter 1178
Chapter 1178 - 1164: A Small Gift
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9 min read
"The Great Group" Xiuyi, by merely existing, made this city nearly impregnable.
On the battlefield of the new era, the might of an individual was astonishing, with upper limits so high that they exceeded the common knowledge of most people every time.
From Big Cat, Lu Ping’an had also faintly learned of this person’s traits.
She was a deity who didn’t need Ascension, her presence nearly ubiquitous, her main body might be within this city, but in actuality, the parts she influenced had already reached across the ocean.
Such existence, her attention, might not necessarily be a good thing...
"A Gift from Lord Xiuyi?!"
When this big shot, who always seemed to be afk, suddenly had someone send Lu Ping’an a box, he was also somewhat surprised.
Even Big Cat found it hard to stay calm at this moment.
For Xiuyi, her feelings were actually quite complex... If it hadn’t been for this well-respected senior in the upper circle blatantly favoring Lin Nu back then, she wouldn’t have lost so miserably in the competition.
Looking back now, she knew that she never stood a chance. If Lin Nu succeeded in Ascension, the other Quasi-Gods could have a share, at least it’s cooler under a big tree.
And if she had won... it was pointless to entertain the impossible, even if by some fluke she had won...
"Deities, too, can die..."
The madman who tried to become the sole Supreme Being of Life would naturally be besieged by other competitors, and a Newborn Quasi-God would ultimately fall.
And if Big Cat, who had gone mad back then, had truly succeeded in Ascension, what would follow was probably a war against other Gods of Life and Quasi-Gods, hanging everyone on the "tree" to establish herself as the only one.
"...How could I possibly win."
𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
When the outcome was destined from the start, Big Cat, who always thought she was much stronger than Lin Nu, felt a sense of powerlessness and helplessness for the first time.
In her eyes back then, "little junior sister" was merely a slacker who relied on sweet talk and good looks to pull in connections, but judging from the outcome, this "slacker" eventually became the great tree that propped up the sky, while she had fallen to the dust, turning into ashes...
"Chris? What is this?"
And Lu Ping’an’s question woke Big Cat from her increasingly self-pitying rationality.
Through Lu Ping’an’s "eyes," she looked at the light blue ball inside the opened box.
It was a water ball woven out of "water," seemingly transparent at a glance, but those "vibrations" floating above it felt somewhat familiar to Big Cat.
"It’s a ’key’..."
"Key?" At these words, Lu Ping’an blinked, instinctively looking down.
He saw the silver key on his chest, symbolizing the "key" to the connection between the courtyard and reality.
"Yeah, there’s too obvious a Space fluctuation on it, it should be a Connection Point to a Secret Realm, only..."
"...You don’t know how to use it?"
At this time, Lu Ping’an was already faintly getting the sense of it.
[Sea Source Land’s Pass (Lower Gold Rare Item): It is a key, yet only someone trusted can use it...]
Lu Ping’an touched the water ball, the pattern on its surface that resembled a planet’s surface bulging slightly, yet Lu Ping’an was unable to activate it.
"Someone trusted?"
Holding the key alone was not enough, this kind of space authority usually had its user designated from the start, and as Lu Ping’an was wondering if the big shot had forgotten to give him the key...
He then saw the tiny—almost imperceptible—map on the "water ball," as well as several beacons.
"Do you see it?"
"What?" Big Cat didn’t seem to have seen it.
"Huh? Don’t bother me meow, I’m sleeping meow!"
"Sleeping during work hours, fine..."
"Boss Meow! What’s up, Meow!"
"Take a look, what can you see in this sphere?"
"Isn’t it just a water sphere...."
I tried asking others, but no one could see the map that Lu Ping’an saw.
Was it his own Eye of Truth? Lu Ping’an felt something was off, it wasn’t that he "saw" anything, but rather that the water sphere seemed to verify his qualifications and actively provided him with information.
Lu Ping’an subconsciously touched his forehead, where a small wooden mask was hanging. It was a gift from a Quasi-God, a strange item meant to block the curses of Evil Gods.
He took it off directly and looked at the water sphere again, and this time, it was indeed just a normal water sphere.
At that moment, touching the mask gifted by one Quasi-God on his head, and holding the water sphere given by another Quasi-God in his hand....
"Is it still possible to run away now?" Lu Ping’an felt like crying without tears, sensing that he had been trapped again.
"It’s too late, but it should be fine. Take it easy and accept it, it should be a good thing, although you might have to bear the consequences later...."
Since it was Big Cat, who was bound to him, saying this, Lu Ping’an still believed it..... Worrying about this and that was pointless. If a Quasi-God really wanted to make a move on Lu Ping’an, there was no way for him to avoid it.
His spiritual intuition also told him that at the location indicated by the marker, there might be something very important.
"Prepare a bit, and let’s set out...."
Lu Ping’an did a quick calculation, this sea route would pass through the territories of other clans, and the end point seemed to be on land transformed by the Lava Clan, which wouldn’t be easy to traverse.
Lu Ping’an inquired about the team’s status and received some good news – it would take only about three to four days to get ready to depart.
The most time-consuming and labor-intensive part at the moment was actually the "Flying Shuttle Production Line," which was being rolled out in full scale.
Lu Ping’an planned to set up a factory directly here..... After a quick calculation, he figured out that producing overseas and then transporting to deliver orders would cost countless times more than local production and delivery.
At the same time, it would provide some work for the idle local population.
The worse the unemployment and economic depression in an area, the worse the social order and the more prevalent the gray forces.
To really solve a region’s social issues, in the end, it comes down to resolving its economic and employment issues... High economic and development areas might not necessarily have good social order, but areas with low development and high unemployment definitely have major problems.
".... Everyone’s just fighting and collecting protection money from each other, that’s because they’re idle. Go screw bolts in my factory instead!"
Lu Ping’an was straightforward and highly efficient; after a few unlucky fellows were strung up with their bosses, Lu Ping’an’s factory opened smoothly.
In the current environment, mechanization was impossible, but considering the local workers just demanded wages ranging from "enough to eat" to "enough to be full," the labor costs were actually negligible.
But to be honest, the quality of the first batch was extremely low; there were bound to be initial losses.
This was not just due to adjustments based on the world’s "rules" but also because this world did not have The Seal God, lacked technological support in that area, and needed further adjustments, or in other words, increased costs.
"Keep at it for now, looking at the long term, it is cost-effective...."
In this case, Lu Ping’an needed to retain some technical workers and researchers in the city, so, naturally, a certain amount of armed protection forces was necessary.
Luckily, or perhaps by fate’s favor, the Long Hand Clan warriors under Lu Ping’an’s command were improving rapidly, with batch after batch swiftly entering the fray – Lu Ping’an did not lack for people.
Setting up a completely localized factory here, though the initial investment would be high, was obviously going to be hugely profitable in the long run.
"In the short term, we cannot produce high-end goods, but for the current demand of ordinary mass products and repair services, it is definitely no problem."
The absence of the Seal Master had a greater impact than expected; unless the craftsmen manually crafted each piece, it was impossible to ensure a high quality rate for factory-made high-end goods.
The expensive goods they referred to were mainly various medium and large Flying Shuttles; without the technical support of a Seal Master, it was very difficult to ensure a "complete sealing."
But looking at it from another perspective, the mere act of investing in setting up a factory meant that the "long-term order" was firmly secured by the flying shuttle facility.
It might be a good thing that the local facility can’t produce high-end items just yet, and can only handle repairs without having to worry about too much competition with the locals.
Lu Ping’an already had plans. The locals could attempt mass production of various high-end goods, like medium and large ships, while his own side focused on small boats and custom orders, which would suffice for current needs.
During this process, Lu Ping’an was also gradually promoting industrialization in the city..... If one extended the concept, it could even be called the "re-civilization" of the entire Long Hand Clan.
Was this a good deed? Perhaps it was, but to Lu Ping’an, it still seemed like a win-win situation.
He didn’t realize that as his plans steadily moved forward and the local area became more stable, that water sphere mysteriously grew larger, and the arrow indicators on it became even clearer...
— End of Chapter 1178 —