Birth Of The Crafts-God

The day after the raffle draw was organised and Veromos found its owner, Böjer had met with the other members of the coalition to update their progress. However, before then, on the day of the raffle draw, Lucas had gone elsewhere.

"Why are you in such a rush? Shouldn't you be present to meet with the winner of the raffle draw and hand over the vestige to him?"

A confused Vergil sat in the back seat and stared at Lucas who sat in front of him.

"What difference does my presence make? They're more interested in the vestige than a human vestige-smith, so there's no point in my being there." Lucas replied.

Vergil was stunned, but he couldn't deny Lucas' words. Compared to a peak Grade 3 vestige, a human vestige-smith didn't really matter. Heck, even he, the young master of the Mertens family, wasn't as eye-catching which was why he didn't attend as well.

"Forget about that. Help me reach out to the owner of the Silverine Factory." Lucas stared at him.

"The Silverine Factory? Not the Versailles Group?" Vergil looked dazedly at Lucas.

There were three stellar processor manufacturing companies in Baylands city-state: Novanio Tech, the Versailles Group and the Silverine Factory. However, compared to the Silverine Factory, the other two were big companies and renowned names in the industry. Their main headquarters weren't even in Baylands city-state, but in different city-states. On the other hand, the Silverine Factory had yet to expand outside of Baylands city-state. From this, one could see the obvious difference between the two sides.

Because of the bad blood between Lucas and Novanio Tech, Altimo Mertens, who was sent to help manage the Seven Springs Dealership, had suggested that the dealership reach out to the Versailles Group instead. Although the company had stood against them by forming the coalition with the Oder family and others, this wasn't a serious issue. In business, there were no permanent enemies or eternal allies, only profits.

Compared to how Novanio Tech had treated Lucas, the Versailles Group could still be considered innocent as there was still room for 'repentance'. Also, Altimo surmised that even the leadership of the Versailles Group wouldn't reject a cooperation between the dealership and the Group.

As long as they got the Versailles Group on their side, they would be able to destabilize the coalition, giving the Dawn-Spring Arrow Company a better breathing space. After all, it was the Versailles Group that was sponsoring the Arkhen Corporation in this trade war.

To the Seven Springs Dealership and the Dawn-Spring Arrow Company, getting the Versailles Group over to their camp was the same as killing two birds with a single stone.

As such, one could understand Vergil's confusion as to why Lucas wanted to meet the much weaker Silverine Factory instead.

"Although the Versailles Group is a good option, don't you think that others must have thought of it as well?" Lucas stared at Vergil.

Indeed. There were only three stellar processor companies, but while one had a bad history with Lucas, the other was too weak. There was now only one option. Even someone with zero business acumen would have figured this out.

"The Versailles Group's management should have realised this from the start. If they were intent on partnering up with us, they should have reached out from the start. Instead, they went ahead to form a coalition against us. Why do you think so?" Lucas questioned Vergil once again.

"...they want to take advantage of us." Vergil frowned.

Lucas nodded, somewhat glad that the Mertens' family's young master wasn't a total dimwit.

"But if that's the case, Altimo should have figured it out." Vergil sounded unsure. After all, this was the same as suspecting Altimo's intentions, but the latter was a trusted subordinate of his father.

Lucas shook his head.

"He has, but he has no choice. No, it's more like, his thoughts are moving on one track, so he is in a position where it seems like we have no choice."

If one only considered the two top stellar processor companies, then it was true that there was no other choice than to work with the Versailles Group. However, doing so was the same as handing over all the negotiation chips and advantages into the Versailles Group's hands. The Versailles Group was aware of this which was why they didn't approach the Seven Springs Dealership. They wanted the dealership to approach them instead.

"The Versailles Group is overconfident. Both sides in this battle need them on their side. However, instead of working with us, they sided with our opponents. If my guess is correct, they probably want to pressure us more to come begging them. Doing as Altimo said is no different from falling into their trap. But he can't be blamed."

Lucas understood why Altimo made that decision. Of the dealership was to re-enter the consumer market for vestiges, they needed to produce gadgets superior to what the Legacy Dealership had made back in the day. To achieve this, the only suitable and profitable alternative was to partner with the Versailles Group and get their flagship processors at a good price.

According to his calculations, if Altimo had looked in the direction of the Silverine Factory instead, the resulting upgrades —the new SS stellar processor or the SS chips version 2— would underperform the version one. At best, it might compete with the flagship chips from Novanio Tech and the Versailles Group or be slightly better. This wasn't worth it.

However, all of this was based on Altimo's calculations, not Lucas.

Who said that the new chips, using the Silverine Factory's products as the base, would only compare to the flagship chips of Novanio Tech and the Versailles Group? If that were the case, then the three to four months he spent in Belfargos territory might as well be a waste.

"Contact the owner of the Silverine Factory. Let him know why we are coming over."

Vergil was still confused as to why Lucas wanted to work to with the Silverine Factory even after this revelation, but there was no way he could look into Lucas' mind. In the end, he gave up and did as Lucas had requested.

Lucas didn't plan to explain anything to Vergil as the latter would soon find out anyway. As for why he asked Vergil to make the call instead, that was obvious.

Would a big shot such as the owner of the Silverine Factory care to answer an unknown number requesting for a business deal? Even if Lucas claimed to be the owner of the Seven Springs Dealership and the Seven Sparks Forge, would the former believe him?

On the other hand, Vergil was quite reputable and many of the big shots in the city could easily confirm his identity. He was a much better choice to initiate contact, even though he wasn't exactly a notable figure himself.

'At least he won't get left on read.' Lucas thought.

It didn't take long for the duo's shuttle to arrive at the destination.

A long hovercar shaped like a limousine on Earth, arrived in front of an eight storey building. Even though the building had only eight floors, it was very tall and could even rival a standard twelve storey structure in terms of height.

The building was designed like a futuristic skyscraper, siting blue glass walls. The glass was actually an advanced version of solar panels looking nothing like the ones on Earth, but had a higher energy collection efficiency thanks to a higher photovoltaic efficiency. Whereas commercially available panels on Earth has an efficiency of 20-34%, these ones had an efficiency of 78%. Even the ones commerically available in Baylands city-state was only up to 62%. The entire building basically didn't need to be supplied power by the grid.

Lucas knew this because he had spent a lot of time researching both the engineering and the material advancements of the current era. It was thanks to his accrued knowledge that he could spot a lot of incredible technology on this building.

For instance, there were football-sized dots on the building. Although difficult for an average hyuman to spot, Lucas could see them thanks to his improved senses. These dots were actually unique radar sensors that covered the entire area around the building, whether aerial or subterranean. By utilizing a power computer, usually powered by a high-end stellar processor, the results from the radar could be used to generate a 3-d surveillance footage.

Compared to CCTV cameras, these radar systems were more better and powerful as they effectively had zero blindspots.

For a company that needed to protect a lot of its secrets, such as the Silverine Factory, this security system was the best option.

Whether it was the improved solar panels, the radar surveillance system or the amazing architecture, the Silverine Factory was quite remarkable.

Nonetheless, Lucas didn't care much about all of this.

Whene the racing shuttle arrived at the gate, they were stopped by the security who questioned them of their identity and purpose. Naturally, the security was an android, but this wasn't something strange.

What was interesting though was that Lucas could sense some figures hidden in the dark. Unlike the security guards who stood in front of them, those figures weren't androids.

'Refiners?'

Lucas was inwardly surprised but kept a calm expression on the outside.

All hyumans who practiced stellar refinement were called stellar refiners. However, if they tend to hunt desolate beasts in the wild for a living, they were called Freelancers. If they explored ruins or desolate beast domains, they were called Pioneers. But those who simply lived a different life outside of these two were either called Stellar Practitioners or Stellar Refiners.

For the Silverine Factory to have a group of stellar refiners under its belt was quite impressive, but then again, it made sense. After all, it was one of the only three stellar processor manufacturers. However, unlike the other two, this was their main base. Also, their factory was here —just behind the skyscraper.

On the other hand, the Novanio Tech company had only recently arrived and had yet to complete their factory's construction. As for the Versailles Group, only their design factory was located here, although there was news that an assembly plant was to be constructed soon.

It was at this point that the security robot interrupted Lucas' thoughts.

"We've confirmed your appointment. Please come in."