The Fourth Calamity: Starting with Dungeon Slimes

Chapter 153 The Concept of the Manufacturing Line

Hearing Jiang Chen's harsh reprimand, Lilith began to question her life again.

Jiang Chen's words told her what the most appropriate thing to do was, but she instinctively resisted this approach.

Clearly, although Jiang Chen's later words only resulted in a reluctant cooperation between the two, Lilith had taken Jiang Chen's earlier words to heart.

Lilith was very conflicted at this moment, and she didn't know what to say.

Looking back now, her original idea seems somewhat naive. In fact, Lilith had once considered ways to seek revenge and the like.

But later, for some reason, she softened and didn't think about it that way. But now, Jiang Chen's actions have once again stirred up her thoughts.

Lilith felt her mind was in turmoil, and she didn't know what to choose.

In short, for Lilith right now, this is a somewhat painful process, a process of thinking about what she should do.

From Lilith's perspective, emotions have always been something she cares about a lot.

This is also why Lilith has been quite conflicted for a long time.

Lilith is in a bit of a mess right now.

For some reason, even though Lilith knew very well that if the other person truly had feelings for her, they would never allow such an absurd thing to happen, the reality was that such an absurd thing actually happened.

Just like Jiang Chen said, if the other party really cared about him, then it would be absolutely impossible for them to treat him so arbitrarily.

This reminded Lilith of the time when she was found and brought back.

The situation during that period was exactly as Jiang Chen described.

His younger sister, whom he had taken for granted, used various methods to frame him. The most outrageous thing was that even if many things were obvious, anyone who wasn't stupid could probably guess the reason.

Not only that, there were several times when I had corresponding evidence, but even with such evidence, what was the result? My father, having no other explanation, simply said casually, "We're all family."

There's no need to make such a big deal out of these small things, or to talk about learning to be magnanimous.

However, when the same thing happens to them, they react completely differently.

"Perhaps that makes a lot of sense."

"Sometimes things seem to be like this. If you really care, then you definitely wouldn't treat me like this. The reason you treat me like this is probably because you don't care, or you don't care much."

Thinking about this, Lilith couldn't help but feel troubled.

Should I really do this and tell Jiang Chen the relevant information?

This put Lilith in a dilemma as well; indeed, she was quite conflicted about the current situation.

"If I can successfully become the lord of the succubus race, it's actually not a bad idea."

"I'll kick my annoying sister out then, and then he won't bother me anymore."

"But is this really possible?"

Lilith is completely unaware of this either.

The reason for this situation is actually quite simple.

Compared to the succubus race, their strength was worlds apart. Lilith had spent a considerable amount of time with the succubus race, and although she hadn't intentionally sought out intelligence, it was no exaggeration to say that she knew something about their situation.

This is also why Lilith is currently quite worried – the two sides are not on the same level at all, and if they were to really fight…

Our side was easily overwhelmed.

Although there are now far more Pata than before, even so, they are still just a tiny fraction in the face of the succubi.

And that is the most crucial point.

After a long while, Lilith sighed, somewhat helplessly.

It seems I don't have many options left. I either cooperate with this group of Pata and maybe I'll have a real chance, or I'll just remain unknown.

Jiang Chen had no idea what Lilith was thinking. If he did know, he could only say that she was thinking about all sorts of random things.

There's no point in thinking about things that haven't even started yet.

First, there's the war with the succubus race. This isn't going to be easy. Even if they had enough manpower, Jiang Chen's side would definitely be no match for them.

Unless they have built their own weapons of war and deployed all the necessary resources into them, they can still put up a fight, because that would allow for a continuous stream of reinforcements.

And most importantly, even so, Jiang Chen's risk is still very high.

"The best solution at present is a few main combat mechs. Of course, these main combat mechs only play a role in stabilizing the overall situation. For support, we still need the previous small mech program."

Jiang Chen also had his own ideas about this small mecha project.

Firstly, if the price of the small mecha is too high, most people won't be able to afford it. In fact, Jiang Chen had also considered another issue: even if his small mecha wasn't priced that high, and the price was very low, Jiang Chen felt that the probability of being able to afford it was still very low.

Whether costs can be reduced is really hard to say.

"Even if we reduce the cost to 1000, what then?"

"With this kind of cost, unless a factory like this starts operating, it's absolutely impossible to keep the cost down to this figure."

Thinking about this, he couldn't help but ponder. In fact, even if the price was lowered to this number, the number of players who would actually buy it would definitely not be as many as he had imagined.

Jiang Chen's idea is to make this thing available to all players.

Simply put, if quantity is insufficient, then make up for it with quality.

This is the most reliable and practical solution he has come up with so far.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have a good way to deal with those large and powerful races.

If you try to fight head-on, you'll be out of luck unless you can respawn infinitely and can't be pushed in by the enemy.

"Actually, I have a feasible solution for this plan. After they make a prototype, I can ask them to consider building a production line, and then I can buy the production line directly."

This plan is indeed feasible, but Jiang Chen also has to consider another issue.

"If I were to buy the production line, would they be willing? It depends; the chances of them being willing aren't as high as I might think."

To put it bluntly, it's still a matter of interests. They painstakingly built the production line and then kept it firmly in their own hands.

This would allow them to achieve a monopoly within the industry.

Once an industry monopoly is established, profits will naturally follow, and how much they earn will be entirely up to them.

As long as the price isn't set too outrageously, it's certain that it will sell and generate profit. However, the quantity cannot be guaranteed, and it's basically unrealistic to expect it to be available to everyone.

To put it simply, if you want it to be widely available to everyone, you have to lower the price.

However, it is clear that neither amateur welders nor Sky Dome would ever give up their own interests, since they are all in it for the money.

The chances of getting them to concede benefits are slim, but if we don't get them to do it, we can't resolve the issue ourselves.

"Therefore, we must come up with a solution that benefits everyone."

"They also need to be able to make a profit, while I can keep costs to a minimum as much as possible."

"Of course, I can't lose money either, only then can it be considered a perfect solution. I even need to use this to recover some of the gold coins."

Thinking about this, he couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed.

This is a very difficult problem to solve, but it is an unavoidable issue that must be taken into account if we want to develop.

If it cannot be popularized among all people, and only a portion of people participate, the effect will be limited. Therefore, we must come up with a relatively foolproof method that can benefit everyone.

"So how can we take care of everyone? Only by taking care of everyone can this task be accomplished."

To put it bluntly, all of this is still inseparable from the word "profit." Only when there is enough profit will they be willing to help you.

"So, to balance interests, we need to ensure that I can make money and they can also make money. This kind of mechanical purchase is not a one-off deal."

"And players are willing to spend money to buy this."

At first, Jiangcheng didn't think of a good solution, but he soon came up with an idea.

This is actually a similar equipment system found in other games.

The logic is exactly the same, but some details need to be slightly modified to better suit the game.

"As for the equipment crafting systems in other games, I'll buy the machines so that everyone can use them, but each use will require a certain fee."

"As for the materials used to manufacture the armor, players will have to figure that out themselves, which will also promote the trade of various raw materials to some extent."

"The raw materials they obtain don't necessarily have to be sold to amateur welders; they can use them to make their own equipment."

"Each order doesn't need to cost too many coins, around 100 coins, and you start production when you receive more than 50 orders at the same time."

"The armor that is built will require various auxiliary systems and the inscription of various magic circles and the like. This can be left to amateur welders."

Simply put, it can be understood that Jiang Chen provided them with the basic framework of a very simple vehicle.

At this point, the specific materials used for the vehicle, or the quality to be achieved, are decided by the players themselves. If they want to create a high-quality vehicle, it's very simple; they just need to choose the right materials.

As for whether to craft it well or poorly, that's their own decision. Although doing so is not cheap, and may even be more expensive, there is a process of gathering materials, which is naturally very interesting for players.

Similarly, this will also motivate them to wage war, since those races have more of these magical items and materials for magical equipment, which is also a relatively reliable source of equipment for them at present.

Of course, this is just one of its advantages.

Secondly, for many free-to-play players, this approach allows them to obtain equipment for free, at least in their eyes. They can figure out what good items they need and slowly collect them without spending money.

In reality, the materials you collect aren't cheap to sell, but if you collect them, you don't feel like you're spending a lot of money at once.

They are naturally happy to do it this way, and what they make themselves is completely different from what they buy.

Next comes the drawing of some magic circles. This is also easy to solve. Amateur players, in order to earn more money, will definitely refine the magic circle designs.

Similar to graphics cards or car infotainment systems, there are different versions. They can even release special metal composite materials, which players can combine with the materials they find to create their own mechs.

At that time, a complete industrial chain can be formed, from mecha manufacturing to subsequent equipment selection and magic circle matching, just like cars and car parts.

This complete industrial chain, whether upstream or downstream, can generate considerable wealth, followed by upgrades to production lines, mechs, and so on.

From the first generation to the second generation, the game becomes increasingly powerful, with more and more details and greater improvements.

In this way, the main combat mechs take the lead, while these auxiliary mechs are essentially escort wingmen for the main combat mechs.

In this way, a relatively suitable system was built.

The more Jiang Chen thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

"This is indeed a good approach. Whether it's consumers, manufacturers, or parts, weapons, etc., there can be a supply chain. This way, there will be more and more factories in the future, forming a supply chain for this mecha."

Then the economic system will become more and more prosperous. Whether it's building factories or other things, I can recoup a lot of gold coins, which will improve my combat power to a certain extent and also prevent inflation from becoming too severe.

"So now, all we need to do is bring them over, discuss this matter with them, and then talk about the price."

However, Jiang Chen knew that there was no need to go for the time being, because the first generation of mechs had not yet been developed, and there was no time to consider the production line.

Once they've built the first-generation mech and I feel it's suitable, then we can discuss this with them.