Birth Of The Crafts-God

"Welcome, guests."

A middle-aged man with a wide smile on his face greeted Lucas and Vergil as soon as they exited the hover car.

"Sorry for the abrupt visit, Uncle." Vergil smiled sheepishly as he hugged the man.

"Haha. No problem. You're always welcome here." The man laughed.

He was the current CEO of the Silverine Factory and the younger cousin to the head of the Ross family, Maessen Ross.

Although the Ross family and the Mertens family were two different families, considering the close friendship between the two heads as well as the alliances and partnerships between the two families, including cross-marriages, it wasn't too much for Vergil to address Maessen as his uncle. In fact, Maessen's little sister had actually married into the Ross family, so the two were somewhat related.

"You must be the man my nephew spoke about. It's a pleasure to meet you." Maessen extended his hand towards Lucas.

Lucas stared at the man briefly before shaking his hand. There was a mysterious look in his eyes as he did so.

Although Maessen hid it, Lucas easily identified the latter's true ability; a peak seventh level Apertures Opening stage stellar practitioner. Not many could reach this level as both the requirement of genetics and potential were required. But the key catalyst, which was equally an important factor, was one's efforts.

You could have a good mDNA concentration, but if one didn't put in the effort to refine stellar energy, they could be stuck under the fourth level for a long time.

For Maessen to reach the seventh level while still under 50 years of age, his talent and efforts were definitely noteworthy.

"Good day, I'm the owner of the Seven Sparks Forge." Lucas greeted.

Although he wasn't a fan of formalities, Lucas knew when to consider them and when to be lax with them.

"I heard. I'm actually quite surprised, but also pleased to be seeing you in the flesh. Do come in." Maessen played the role of gracious host excellently.

The trio eventually arrived at the top floor of the eight storey building and into the office of the CEO.

"So, what brings you here today?"

After everyone had settled into their seats, Maessen stared at Lucas and asked.

Lucas had a slight frown on his face, seeing the latter play dumb. In the end, all businessmen were opportunists.

It would be a lie to say that Maessen couldn't guess why they were, but it seemed like he wanted Lucas to say it out. Doing so would put the advantage of the negotiation into Maessen's hands as it would seem like Lucas was pleading to work with him. Of course, if Lucas was well versed with negotiation tactics, he could easily work around this, but he wasn't exactly a mastermind business manager. Nonetheless, he was a quick thinker.

After taking only a second or two, Lucas responded.

"You should have known that by now my store and the Dawn-Spring Arrow Company have partnered up to launch a new dealership."

"Indeed. Seven Springs Dealership, right? An incredible investment." Maessen complimented him.

"Yes, but we've stumbled upon an issue. I plan to develop a new line of vestiges that could be used by the majority. This is an interesting venture with an incredible market, worth its weight in gold. However, I lack just one important feature; a stellar processor supplier." Lucas said.

Vergil, who sat beside him, couldn't help but feel that Lucas was messing up. As the young master of the Mertens family, Vergil was forced to take various classes, with many of them centered on business management. In order to hone his skills and gain more experience, Russell had even sent him to work at the dealership which explains why he was always around Lucas. Although he wasn't a genius in this area, with the resources of the Mertens family, he was still better than most.

Vergil could easily see that Lucas' method of approach wasn't the right way.

Even though the Ross and Mertens families were allies, they understood how to treat business separate from their relationship, as long as it didn't harm their relationship or the other side. As such, if the Ross family could profit more from this deal, they would make sure to do so.

Vergil was tempted to tap Lucas or interrupt him, but his knowledge of the latter made him realise that doing so would offend Lucas.

'Damn it. I should have spoke from the start and held the conversation. Heck, if I knew he was going to do this, I wouldn't even have brought him here from the start.'

Vergil was having an internal breakdown. Whether it was meeting the Silverine Factory, or Lucas messing up the negotiations, Vergil knew that once he got back, he would receive a lot of scolding from both Altimo and his father.

"Indeed. But if a stellar processor is your aim, why us?" Maessen asked, slightly confused.

Despite holding the position of CEO, Maessen was well aware of his company's weakness and wasn't shy to hint at that in this conversation; after all, it wasn't exactly a secret to people at their level.

Truth be told, he was surprised that Lucas was quite direct. Apart from that, Maessen was truly curious why Lucas came to them instead of the Versailles Group.

"Because we need each other, or to be exact, you need me." Lucas smiled confidently.

In this moment, Lucas subconsciously radiated the aura of the Grandmaster he once was; the man who stood at the top when it came to making magic weapons and items.

Maessen was stunned for a short while, but he managed to quickly recover. After all, compared to his past self, Lucas was currently much weaker, so the effect of his aura wasn't as substantial as it was in the past. Against a peak seventh level stellar practitioner, it was already impressive that it had some effect.

"I need you?" Maessen asked, both intrigued and confused.

If it weren't for the fact that Lucas came alongside Vergil and had re support of Russell, Maessen would have called for security to throw him out.

"Indeed. I think you know better than anyone the position your company currently is in." Lucas calmly spoke.

Maessen frowned.

Anyone in the industry knew the situation well. Although the Silverine Factory was the largest producer and distributor in the regular processor market, the Versailles Group and Novanio Tech had the lead in the stellar processor market.

If it wasn't for the fact that the differences between the three brands weren't much in regular processors specifications and that they locally manufactured theirs —thereby gaining an edge in price— the Silverine Factory might not have survived long in the market.

The differences between a stellar processor and a regular processor wasn't just one word, but functionality, power and efficiency. Compared to a regular processor, the computing capabilities of a stellar processor was like the difference between a blazing forest and a firefly. If the stellar processor was a high-end model, the comparison would even be more outrageous, like comparing a firefly to the Sun.

In the current era, powerful computers, super computers and high-end communicators used stellar processors for their computing because of the incredible capabilities of the chips. In other words, when it came to powerful devices, the products from Novanio Tech and the Versailles Group were the go-to over the Silverine Factory.

Nonetheless, this didn't mean that the stellar processors produced by the Silverine Factory were useless. They just couldn't contend with those made by the other two companies. An similar situation happened on Earth between the two mobile chip companies, MediaGek and SnapPhoenix. When it came to high-end devices, SnapPhoenix's chips were preferred over MediaGek's.

This was the Silverine Factory's situation.

"What does that have to do with your being here today?" Maessen questioned.

"How would you like to change the status quo?" Lucas stared at Maessen as he asked.

How could Maessen not be tempted by Lucas' proposal. Everyone knew the value of the SS chips that were launched months ago. A 38% increase in efficiency and performance, which effectively led the stellar processor market for Novanio Tech. Even until now, no stellar processor was still capable of reaching the abilities of the SS chips version 1, much less beat it.

If the same technology was applied to the stellar processors of the Silverine Factory, it could at least bring their chips up to the level of Novanio Tech's flagship products.

"However, what's in it for you?" Maessen asked with a confused expression.

Although this deal was good for the Silverine Factory, it wasn't for the Seven Stars Springs Dealership.

If the dealership's new chips couldn't even outperform the SS chips version 1, then that would be disastrous to their reputation. Since the dealership was also owned by the Dawn-Spring Arrow Company, the latter would be affected by this. As allies, the Ross family had agreed to not engage in any practices or dealings that would harm the relationship of the two families. In Maessen's opinion, this deal counted as such.

Since there was no higher-up from the Mertens family present here, Maessen had easily guessed that this deal wasn't agreed by them, but was instead Lucas' idea. Hence, he had to be careful.

"I understand what you're worried about but your worries are needless." Lucas smiled and lifted two fingers up.

"I'll present you a deal. In exchange for being the main supplier of stellar processors for the dealership, the Seven Sparks Forge store would licence two stellar processor blueprints to you."