The weapons I forge are absolutely flawless.

Having learned of this pattern, Wiener no longer needed to conduct offline transactions in secret as before.

It would be a pleasant thing to catch Anna, who hadn't finished get off work yet, and have a cup of tea with her.

The cloth bag was small and of average weight, and did not look like a weapon.

"Handicrafts? Does Viner have such a refined taste?" Anna guessed, just looking at the package.

"Open it and you'll see." Viner took a sip of tea.

The tea was cold, and you could tell Anna wasn't in a good mood.

After receiving approval, Anna opened the cloth bag and looked puzzled when she saw the various parts and kits inside the backpack.

"What is this?"

“I call it a rusted case. As for what it’s called when it’s sold, you can come up with that yourself,” Viner said, adopting a hands-off approach.

This batch of rusted cases was for trade, and Wiener also put some effort into the appearance, dyeing them all silver.

"Thank you so much," Anna rolled her eyes at Vena. "My dear client, you should at least tell me what this is for, right?"

If you try to fool her with these dubious gadgets in just two days, Anna won't accept it.

“A verbal explanation might be a bit complicated. Do you have any weapons? Something ordinary will do,” Vena asked casually, holding her tea.

“Yes.” Anna nodded, then pulled a small axe about forty centimeters long from under the table and slammed it down on the table with a “crack.”

"Is this alright? It's for self-defense when I walk alone at night. You don't need to pay for the table; I'm getting a little tired of it. If we don't get some new things soon, it'll be time to get a new one."

“…Okay.” Viner put the teacup back on the table, reached out and broke the axe off the table, then took out a similarly sized rusted sleeve from his backpack and attached it to the axe.

"That's good."

“Oh, something like a scabbard used to cover weapons. Don’t you think that’s superfluous?” Anna understood quickly, then immediately questioned, “I have plenty of those things.”

She is a businesswoman, that's true, but she's not a junk collector.

"I know you don't lack it, but what if this thing could deal with slimes?"

The school newspaper was very efficient; it published the interview with the Wiener team in just one day.

The supplementary section published summaries of failures from students in the same grade.

With these two pieces of evidence corroborating each other, the slime horde guarding the mine has been regarded as the most difficult part of clearing the first level of the current dungeon.

Even if you're not aiming to pass through the checkpoint, it's still a rich mining site.

Once the resources in the remaining areas of the first floor are exhausted, the first-year students, having nowhere else to release their energy, will still flock there.

Unlike open spaces like grasslands or forests, the narrow terrain of the mine creates extremely advantageous conditions for slimes, and many have already given up their first escape stones because of it.

How to control those slimes has become a hot topic.

There is a clear upward trend in weapon sales for the Slime Special Attack.

Anna naturally wanted a piece of the pie too.

"Elaborate."

"This rust-proof sleeve helps the weapon resist corrosion caused by slime fluid, thereby improving the weapon's durability."

"That sounds pretty good, but it's too little. This amount is hardly useful." Anna made her decision after just glancing at the number of rusty suits in the backpack.

Special attack weapons are expensive, so most freshmen can only deal with them by using the most inefficient method—carrying several spare weapons.

The backpack contains at most ten rusty armor plates. Even if they could double the weapon's durability, there wouldn't be much profit.

“Do you know how much this backpack of rusted armor cost?” Wiener asked, changing direction. “I’ll give you a hint.”

"Ten credits?" Anna guessed, looking at the one finger that Venere held out.

If that's the case, it's not unacceptable as long as production capacity keeps up.

“No, it’s one credit that’s not enough.” Wiener shook his finger and announced the correct answer.

Excluding Wiener's own labor costs, the cost of waste materials and slag is indeed minimal.

"how did you do it?"

She couldn't possibly be unaware that the "one credit" that Wiener mentioned didn't include the extra costs for craftsmanship and design.

But at this price, what's the difference between it and being free?

“These aren’t for consignment; they’re samples I’ve prepared for you. What I want to discuss with you is the manufacturing process and sales strategy for this thing.”

Wiener had no interest in being a production line worker; that only earned her hard-earned academic credits.

His approach, in the words of his past life, is called selling patents.

"Come, try my treasured chamomile tea."

Anna, recognizing the huge business opportunity, ran behind the counter, grabbed a new box of tea, and quickly replaced Vina's tea with a fresh pot of fine tea.

"Oh dear, I drank so much herbal tea earlier, will I be unable to sleep tonight?"

"It's alright, it's alright. This chamomile tea has sleep-aiding properties."

"Then I won't be polite." Viner casually stuffed the remaining tea leaves into his pocket.

Anna: “…”

......

Wiener explained the design concept of the rusted sleeve and the experimental verification results carried out along the way to Anna, and then took out a few pieces of paper from his chest.

"These are my design drawings, and these are the samples. With these two things, the Chamber of Commerce should be able to replicate them soon."

The most important reason why the Chamber of Commerce can maintain a stable supply channel in the long term is the artisans it employs.

While they are far inferior to Emblem Masters who are proficient in alchemy when it comes to forging high-level equipment, they can only say that they are skilled enough to forge ordinary pieces of varying sizes.

"I never imagined that these things that were discarded as waste could have such a great use."

Anna was completely convinced this time.

Wiener's insight into business opportunities is in no way inferior to hers.

It is truly unimaginable that someone with such vision could be a blacksmith who came from an unknown little village.

"Now I can finally be a hands-off boss, right?"

"Of course, if they can't eat even when the food is right in front of their mouths, the Chamber of Commerce can't afford to lose face like that."

The two little foxes looked at each other and smiled.

Chapter 89 The Adorable Lion in Your Palm

The price negotiation went very smoothly.

Anna, representing the Chamber of Commerce, bought out the rusted sleeve invented by Wiener for 500 academic credits and 10% of the product's sales revenue for the first three months.

Both sides reached an agreement and shook hands amicably.

“Vina, you must come often in the future. I’ll always have some good tea ready for you.” Anna smiled very sincerely.

"Will do."

Wiener did not want to easily change partners, especially not a capable one like Anna.

"By the way, do you have Jessica's contact information?"

"Well, although you are all my major clients, this involves personal privacy. May I ask what you need to talk to her about?"

"Please tell her that the food is ready and she can come and pick it up when she has time."

"So fast? It'll be hard to satisfy her," Anna warned.

"Knowing this, you still let her take away a freshman's commission. You must have a good relationship with her in private, right?"

Wiener's suspicions were further confirmed.

The culprit who made me get beaten up for no reason while I was in the dorm has been found.

Anna chuckled without saying a word.

Seeing that Anna was clearly going to play dumb and get away with it, Venere had no way to deal with her.

"Fine, just do me a small favor, and we'll call it even."

"Don't worry, leave it to me."

After hearing Wiener's request, Anna smiled and agreed.

......

A giant tower appeared on the sixth floor of the dungeon after this refresh.

Inside the tower is a huge spiral staircase that extends upwards. The spiral structure twists and turns several times in the air, forming a labyrinthine corridor with no exit.

A group of headless knights, clad in armor and wielding sharp weapons, stood silently guarding the spiral staircase.

Each one individually is a humanoid monster with the strength of a fifth-tier monster. With the enhancement of martial arts and equipment, they are already elites among monsters of the same tier.

Individuals at the captain level are even more capable of breaking through the limits and reaching the sixth rank.

But the most challenging aspect is their impeccable ability to coordinate and cooperate.

This tacit understanding, honed through countless trials, has made them an indestructible fighting force.

Even a seventh-tier monster would choose to give way in front of a whole squad of headless knights.

"Roar!"

A roar filled with boundless majesty resounded, echoing through the air like thunder, even causing the headless knights' armor to vibrate.

The headless knights seemed to be awakened by the roar, and quickly formed ranks to guard the steps as if facing a formidable enemy.

Before the rumble had subsided, a silver-white figure had already charged into the headless knight's formation like lightning.

It was a huge silver lion with sharp, blade-like eyes. It suddenly leaped up and accurately pounced on the headless knight in the front row.

Each pounce and claw strike was accompanied by overwhelming force, instantly knocking down four or five headless knights.

"Clang!" "Bang!"

To prevent the battle line from breaking, the remaining headless knights retaliated in unison, their weapons slashing mercilessly at the silver lion.

Unexpectedly, the silver lion's mane was harder than steel. The blows that would have split mountains and broken rocks only made the silver lion's mane tremble slightly, as if it had just been lightly trimmed.

During this time, a headless knight snatched a spear from his teammate, leaped out of the army formation, and escaped.

It leaped into the air, the spear tip aimed directly at the silver lion's heart.

The thrust was precise and swift, so fast that even the Silver Lion couldn't react before the spear tip pierced three-tenths of the Silver Lion's chest.

Further in is the location of the heart.

"Roar!" The silver lion was completely enraged by this attack and swung its claws at the headless knight, but missed its target.

The headless knight left his spear inside the silver lion's body, released his grip, and deftly dodged the lion's fierce attack, retreating safely back into the battle formation.

Such fluid movements were actually performed while wearing a full suit of armor.

Although they look no different from each other, this headless rider is clearly superior to his companion in both strength and agility.

At the same time, the other headless riders also attacked. Although they could not leave any wounds on the silver lion like the previous headless rider, they successfully curbed the silver lion's further actions.

The headless knights flexibly changed formations around the silver lion, and whenever the wounded silver lion tried to break through, half of the headless knights would attack and repel it.

Although they are monsters, the combat methods they employ are no different from the strategies humans use when fighting large monsters.

The team's strength compensates for the lack of individual strength, paving the way for partners who are capable of creating a winning blow.

The knight captain who had previously injured the Silver Lion had quietly put on a new spear and moved forward stealthily by changing formation.

"Whoosh!" The headless knight captain used the same trick again, suddenly launching an attack from the battle formation to ambush the silver lion.

This attack was once again aimed at the breach that had been created earlier!

No matter how strong or solid a creature may be, it is impossible for it to remain unharmed after its heart has been destroyed.

Just as it was about to succeed, the silver lion suddenly glanced at it.

There was an unsettling hint of mockery in his eyes.

The headless captain immediately sensed something was wrong and tried to retreat, but it was too late.