Birth Of The Crafts-God

"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."

Maessen was surprised by this statement but he wasn't in a rush to agree or refuse. Amused, he asked,

"Since when does a vestige-smith store design stellar processors?"

Although stellar processors were technically vestiges, they obviously weren't the same as weapons. As a result, it wasn't surprising for a vestige-smith in the weapons industry to be unable to make or design a stellar processor; in fact, this was the reality of things. It was like expecting an electrical engineer to be able to design a rocket or a nuclear power plant. Although they were all engineering roles, an electrical engineer was clearly different from an aeronautical engineer and a nuclear engineer.

"The average vestige-smith doesn't, but it isn't surprising for one to be skilled in more than one field." Lucas calmly replied.

Indeed, this was true. Geniuses existed and they were individuals who could comfortably succeed in more than one fields. Even the average person could do so if they paid enough price.

Of course, this wasn't convincing enough for Maessen. However, he recalled something; the Seven Sparks Forge store already had experience upgrading stellar processors. In that case, designing a stellar processor from scratch wasn't entirely impossible.

Despite this realization, Maessen still had to move cautiously.

"I believe you, but we would still need to take a look at the blueprints. We would also need to confirm that the specifications would suit our taste before this deal can go through."

"Naturally." Lucas nodded in agreement.

He immediately turned on the communicator on his wrist and projected a blueprint in the air.

Maessen was a vestige-smith and one in the stellar processor industry, otherwise, he wouldn't be in charge of the company.

He stared at the projection for a while, not thinking much about it. However, as more seconds went by, Maessen's expression went from a lack of interest to curiosity, but it didn't stop there. A minute later and Maessen's brows were furrowed as he tried to comprehend the data on the blueprints.

Stellar processor blueprints weren't the same as weapon blueprints that simply contained the structure, size parameters and the inscription formulae. Stellar processors were more complicated especially in terms of inscription; after all, stellar processors were very small and it was difficult to fit in a large amount of inscriptions on them.

A unique set of formula and inscription systems were needed to achieve this. There was also the need for the preparation of the material used to form the base of the processors as they didn't rely on silicon or carbon components like with regular processors. The materials used for the base had to compliment the inscription structure and formula, and doing this was a whole other complex system of its own.

In total, there was the unique set of inscription formulae, the inscription structure, the material formula and the material complimentary system.

Both the complementary system and the material formula weren't present on the blueprint, and without them, it was impossible to create the stellar processor on the blueprint. This was why Lucas confidently showed it to Maessen without worrying about the latter memorizing it. As for reverse-engineering based on the blueprint, that was easier said than done even with super computers supporting the calculations.

As Maessen studied the blueprint, he became entranced. At times he would frown while staring at the blueprint, or be astounded by some calculations. Other times, Maessen's brows were furrowed in deep concentration and even signs of confusion would be displayed on his face.

Seeing all of this happen, Vergil couldn't help but be surprised and wonder what exactly was impressive about the blueprint. As a weapons vestige-smith, he couldn't figure out much from the blueprint. Unless one had studied stellar processors right from the basics, one would have to be a Tier 1 Master vestige-smith, at the very least, to be able to glimpse some information from the blueprint. Vergil was only just an ordinary Tier 1 vestige-smith, and not even of the Elite rank.

After what seemed like an eternity but was merely thirty minutes, Lucas cut off the projection. If he didn't do so, he wouldn't be surprised if the middle-aged man kept them here for a week.

"Ah!"

Maessen woke up from his concentrated state and couldn't help but awkwardly cough after realising what he had done.

In this moment, Maessen's expression was like that of a seven year old who had found a toy they loved so much and couldn't bear to let it go.

"That blueprint, where did you get it?"

Maessen held back himself from jumping Lucas as he stared at him.

"What do you think?" Lucas responded with a question of his own.

Maessen couldn't believe it even though he had guessed the answer. Nonetheless, he was quick-witted and knew now wasn't the time to fuss about the origin of the blueprint.

As long as the Silverine Factory could get their hands on it as well as the critical pieces of the puzzle, taking down Novanio Tech and the Versailles Group wouldn't be a dream any longer. The second blueprint didn't even matter again to Maessen; all he wanted was the one Lucas had showed him.

Technology was constantly improving, but for it to do so, the relevant knowledge, alongside a spark of innovation, was needed. For the Silverine Factory, the knowledge contained within the blueprint possessed this spark of innovation that the required to transcend their current level. It was not an overstatement to call it the Gospel for the Factory.

Maessen coughed to clear the air as well as calm down. Then he spoke up,

"Ahem. Even though I've seen it and verified its possibility, manufacturing it and validating that it achieves the quoted benchmarks is another issue that can't be avoided if you want this deal to go through."

Although it was well known that a blueprint was difficult to make without the complete information, the schematics of the blueprint was just unbelievable. Maessen still wanted further confirmation that it could be achieved, and this required Lucas providing the complete details for the Silverine Factory to attempt at producing a prototype.

Another reason Maessen made this demand was to find out whether this new stellar processor could be mass-produced. Although it didn't necessarily matter to the Factory whether or not the new processor could be mass-produced right away, it was important for the Seven Stars Spring Dealership. Chances were that if the Silverine Factory couldn't carry out mass-production, they would lose out on this deal.

Lucas smiled, seemingly seeing through Maessen's thoughts.

He pulled out an item from his pocket and immediately placed it on the coffee table in front of him.

"This is...?"

Confused, Maessen extended his arm from his seat and picked up the item.

It was a transparent rectangular box made out of some kind of Poly(methyl methacrylate), or acrylic for short. Inside of the container was a small flat square-shaped object less than an inch long and wide. The thickness of the object was on par with a fingernail and looked as if it could break with the slightest application of pressure.

Upon laying his eyes on the object, Maessen's eyes widened abruptly.

"A poly-dicroyl gantiuum-based chip with seven trillion transistors stellar processor equipped and a state-of-the-art power management encryption. The SS chip version 2, or as I like to call it, the Qin stellar processor."

Lucas introduced the object.

This was an innovative technology in Baylands city-state's chip industry, much less Earth. Despite its small size, it had as much processing capabilities as the equivalent of two wafer-scale chips back on Earth while maintaining a size less than one tenth (1/10th) of a wafer-scale chip. With more than two times the number of transistors, the processing power of the Qin stellar processor was insane and could easily handle a supercomputer. However, this was still underestimating its potential.

Unlike a regular processor, the Qin was a stellar processor which meant that its logic and operations didn't function like an average processor. For context, a stellar processor with the same number of transistors as a regular processor could offer at least three times the performance; that's a 300% difference in performance.

Although this was insane, it was balanced out by the fact that adding more transistors onto a stellar processor was far more difficult than a regular processor. As such, stellar processors were behind in terms of transistor count.

With seven trillion transistors, the Qin was already so powerful even if it were considered the same as a regular processor; but it was a stellar processor. Handling supercomputers wouldn't be an issue for it.

"You can go ahead and test it to confirm the performance. As for any worries regarding the production method, the Seven Stars Forge store will help upgrade some of your equipments to support mass-production of the Qin. All the relevant details have been drafted into this contract. You can check it out."

Lucas then projected a new document into the air. It was a contract that contained the terms and conditions of the cooperation. Whether it was the roles of both sides, how profits will be split and so on, Lucas had considered most of them to the best of his abilities.

As it was a draft though, it would be revised by Altimo and the other executives at the Seven Stars Springs Dealership. However, the aim of this draft was to function just like an MOU (Memorandum Of Understanding).

Despite the floating white projection in mid air, Maessen's attention was instead attracted towards the Qin.

It couldn't be helped after all, this was an unimaginable piece of technology that was already ahead of market standards. What Novanio Tech Orion core chip or Versailles Group's KY chip? Those flagship stellar processors were insulting to be placed alongside the Qin. Only the SS chips version 1 could compare and was still slightly better.

However, the Qin had yet to undergo upgrades!

And unlike the SS chips version 1 that depended on Lucas' work rate, the Qin could potentially be mass-produced.

Without thinking twice or hesitating, without contemplating or sparing a glance, Maessen immediately signed the contract.

Lucas smiled once he saw this.

Negotiation tactics? Business acumen? Skilled 'transactionalist'? None of that was needed if your product was superior than the market's. As the Chinese say, Good wine doesn't fear a deep alley [1].

"Nice doing business with you."