The Fourth Calamity: Starting with Dungeon Slimes

Chapter 136 Steady Development

Jiang Chen was quite troubled by these matters, as there were too many things to consider.

"I'm busy every day, and I have to think about everything."

"If any aspect is overlooked, the losses will be severe when problems arise."

As the number of players increased and his territory expanded, Jiang Chen had to admit that he was facing more and more problems.

"Take it slow. At least compared to when I first arrived here, things have developed quite well now."

Meanwhile, while the players were busy building their ranches, Jiang Chen was also busy planning his future development.

Neither side could be said to have had a moment to spare.

And just like that, time flew by, and a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Over the past month, players have basically completed their tasks for the 58th floor.

The players were gathered together that day.

"Brothers, after all this hard work, we've got everything done."

"The ranch is now basically complete. The rest will just involve fertilizing, watering, and observing the growth of various plants."

"Things like these and other trivial matters."

However, while everyone was still discussing, they saw Jiang Chen arrive.

"What are the NPCs doing here at this time?"

Everyone was puzzled when they saw Jiang Chen arrive.

However, they soon learned the reason.

Seeing the players gathered together, Jiang Chen didn't keep them in suspense and started talking about his plans.

"Ladies and gentlemen, after such a long period of development, we have made tremendous progress in all aspects compared to before."

O

"However, considering the war that will follow, our preparations are still far from adequate."

"Right now, our conflicts with the Nightmare Clan and the Dark Elf Clan are just small-scale skirmishes. The real battle will begin after we leave the dungeon."

Upon hearing what Jiang Chen said, the players began to whisper among themselves.

They were also speculating about what Jiang Chen was planning to do.

"After reflecting on this for some time, I've realized that we have many areas that are not perfect."

"This is detrimental to our future development."

"We must have a complete system, whether it is an industrial system or other systems."

After a pause, Jiang Chen revealed the purpose of his visit.

"In order to improve the system as soon as possible, I will launch a series of new plans at the appropriate time from now on."

"At this stage, the most important thing for us is medicine."

"Whether it's healing potions or enhancement potions, they are of great help to us right now, so I decided to set up a potion factory specifically responsible for the research and development of potions."

"With the pharmaceutical factory, the injured can receive timely treatment, recover their combat effectiveness as quickly as possible, and rejoin the battlefield, thereby reducing our losses."

"I can pay to buy the medicines we need in the early stages, as a reserve for our later war effort."

As Jiang Chen finished speaking, the players present couldn't help but get excited.

"Setting up a potion factory would be a great idea. And judging from the NPC's tone, it seems he can buy potions in the early stages, which means there's no need to worry about not having a place to sell them. If no one else will buy them, just sell them to the NPC."

"I feel this is a viable business. Our plantation is basically up and running, where we grow these medicinal herbs on a large scale and then process them into medicines for sale."

"I think I can participate in this."

Then, while everyone was still discussing, Jiang Chen continued.

"Besides pharmaceutical factories, food processing plants are also very important, especially in future wars, where logistics are a crucial element."

"I also buy food produced by food processing plants. Currently, I only buy canned food with a long enough shelf life. If you are interested in building a factory, you can start now."

Jiang Chen then gave a brief explanation of the various details.

After briefly explaining his plans to the players, Jiang Chen left.

The rest was no longer Jiang Chen's concern, because the players themselves knew what to do.

Jiang Chen is becoming increasingly adept at managing players. He only needs to be responsible for the general direction, and he doesn't have to worry about any other details. The players know how to operate the game.

Jiang Chen was well aware that if you interfere too much, things will become a mess and nothing will be done well.

Therefore, he won't go out of his way to tell players what to do.

However, Jiang Chen's expectations were similar. When he announced his future plans, the players started discussing them.

"I think these two venues are feasible, but if too many people get involved, the business will basically be unsustainable."

One player said this.

However, a player quickly stood up to object.

"It's similar to a business war. Ultimately, it's not about whether others get involved, but about how you eliminate your competitors."

"That's true. A good business always comes from competition. You can't just stop doing it just because someone else is doing it."

"I think we can consider making a move, since no one has ventured into these two areas yet."

After Jiang Chen left, the players with ideas immediately took action.

"Hey guys, I'm planning to start a pharmaceutical factory, anyone interested?"

"Don't worry, everyone. I have plenty of money, so there shouldn't be any problems with the initial monetization and operation."

"Most importantly, the benefits I offer will definitely not be low. Everyone who joins will receive a share of the profits, and we'll all make money together," said a player with the ID "Star Pulse."

As soon as he finished speaking, many players echoed his sentiments.

Immediately afterward, another player stepped forward, "Food factory registration open! Anyone interested can join, guaranteed to make a profit."

However, as soon as this player finished speaking, he was met with rebuttals from many other players.

"A sure thing? You're dreaming. NPCs can't possibly offer high prices. How much are you planning to sell it for?"

"That sounds nice, but what if you end up not even making back your costs?"

"Moreover, running a factory is not as simple as running a barbecue restaurant before. You have to consider the cost of raw materials, production costs, labor, and so on."

"Let's not even talk about making money. Do you know how much the initial investment is? Don't just talk the talk and think anyone can do this."

What this player said instantly calmed down many players who were itching to join in.

He's absolutely right. This isn't like a barbecue stall where you can just set up a stall and get some raw materials. You have to build a factory site.

The most critical issue right now is that the production equipment needs to be made by amateur welders, and Tianqiong and his team need to order professional production lines, which is also quite costly.

There are other miscellaneous expenses involved, so the initial investment is definitely not low.

Upon hearing this player's comment, the player with the ID "Sulfuric Acid Bath" remained unconcerned: "So what if the initial investment is large?"

"At worst, I can just spend money to build the factory in the early stages. It's just a matter of spending a little more money, no big deal."

Sulfuric acid bathing—he was very confident about this business deal.

Through the NPC's actions, including taking a sulfuric acid bath, we can roughly glean some insights.

To put it bluntly, this is war stockpiling! Strategic materials!

You may not see much benefit in the short term, and you may even incur a lot of costs, but don't forget the long-term value.

He was aware of the situation in the game; the current enemies were the Nightmare Clan and the Dark Elf Clan.

Putting everything else aside, just these two races alone would consume an enormous amount of war supplies if they were to actually fight. Just the battles against these two races alone would be enough to make him a fortune.

Not to mention that once you leave the dungeon, you'll only face more and more wars.

"Anyway, I'm definitely going to do this. I don't need to worry about the money. Of course, I'm also looking for partners now. If you're interested, please contact me as soon as possible."

"We'll invest together and share the profits and interest."

"As for whether it can make money, how much the cost is, and what the future market will be like, I can only say that those who know, know; and those who don't, even if you come to me for cooperation, I will not cooperate with you."

Inspired by this player, other players with similar ideas quickly followed suit.

Soon, players at the pharmaceutical factory were also preparing to cause trouble.

However, compared to food, very few players venture into potions.

Only one player decided to invest heavily in this.

Furthermore, this pharmaceutical factory doesn't resemble a food factory.

It's not difficult to attract investment for a food factory; at least someone is willing to spend money to invest. But it's completely different for a pharmaceutical factory; basically, no one is willing to invest.

The reason is actually quite simple; to put it bluntly, it's a matter of cost and technological development.

The potion system in the magical world is very different from that in the real world.

Even those who have worked in this industry before will definitely not achieve much in the gaming world; the entry barrier to this industry is too high.

So even though there's not much competition in the pharmaceutical industry right now, few people are willing to get involved; all the competition is now focused on the food industry.

For a time, the food factory flourished, producing all sorts of things.

There are relatively traditional foods, as well as various unique items and some bizarre ones.

In short, during this period, Jiang Chen was able to see all sorts of random samples.

Compared to food factories, pharmaceutical factories are experiencing a severe downturn.

Basically, no useful information came out, but this was within Jiang Chen's expectations.

Jiang Chen found it strange that good news could come out so quickly.

"Pharmaceuticals are at least more important than food, but they are also much more difficult to develop."

The pharmaceutical factory is being researched by a player with the ID "Star Pulse".

After establishing the pharmaceutical factory, he also recruited a group of players who worked in the medical field in real life to help him.

The progress we have made so far is not ideal.

"Although this thing is difficult to develop, we have to develop it no matter what."

"In this world, potions are still very useful. Besides restoring life, there are also potions that increase defense and various special types of potions."

"My initial requirements aren't high; I just need to make sure I can produce a potion that restores life."

During this period, Xingmai also sent some samples to Jiang Chen.

However, the effect was not very good.

Compared to traditional methods of directly using herbs to heal injuries, various medicines are indeed more effective, but at most they only increase efficiency by about 10% compared to equivalent herbs.

This inefficiency is outrageous.

Fortunately, this was the first step, and Jiang Chen wasn't in a hurry regarding the potions.

Jiang Chen didn't expect the development of this thing to be very fast.

If Jiang Chen really wanted to research medicine, he could have simply asked someone from outside to come and help.

Jiang Chen thought that once he got outside the dungeon, he could capture some pharmacists and solve all the problems, but he didn't plan to do that.

The situation on my side is rather unique, that's the first point.

Secondly, Jiang Chen also wanted to study some things outside of this world system, not just follow the current world system step by step.

Jiang Chen knew very well that he had to make some changes and could not follow the old system.

The old system has many advantages, but its disadvantages are also obvious. The most obvious one is the material monopoly of the old system.

To give a simple example, suppose you make the call yourself in the future.

If we continue to use the old system, there may not be any problems on the surface, but if the other party cuts off some of your raw material sources...

Even if we don't mention everything, just randomly choosing one or two important things will bring your production to a standstill.

If they can't find a substitute at this point, then they're doomed. Even if they do find one, they can find a way to cut off other raw materials.

In short, there are ways.

At this point, various problems will emerge.

Once you encounter such a situation, you can only use up your reserves, but reserves are always limited and will eventually be depleted.

This is unavoidable, especially after I go out into the world and go to war with other races, this problem will be particularly fatal.

Jiang Chen didn't expect to solve all the problems with the limited resources in the underground city. After he went out, he would definitely have trade relations with some races.

After all, war, especially a prolonged war, is not something that one side can sustain alone.

Therefore, various problems must be considered in advance, and corresponding solutions must be developed.

Jiang Chen's goal was to nip all potential threats in the bud from the very beginning.

Although the supply of raw materials was cut off, Jiang Chen hoped to see that the medicine he was researching could be made using only a few materials.

Furthermore, this material is abundant and readily available, which is the only way to minimize the occurrence of these problems.

It was for this reason that Jiang Chen considered doing these things himself, and that he didn't step in to correct the players' research methods when he saw that they were completely different from the normal potion research methods in this magical world.