Birth Of The Crafts-God

"So, where's the creator?"

The old man slightly frowned as he looked behind Maessen.

Maessen had informed him that he would be arriving with the creator of the Qin chip to help answer all their questions and assist in production.

The old man was a high Tier 1 Master vestige-smith, yet, the Qin stellar processor trumped him. Whether it was curiosity or awe, the old man couldn't resist waiting at the entrance of the Silverine Village to meet this mysterious vestige-smith. If it wasn't because Maessen was against it, he would have waited at the entrance of the Blue Needle instead.

"Professor Cayman, it looks like your vision has been getting worse. He's right in front of you." Maessen smiled.

"Hmm? Him?" The old man, Cayman, frowned as he scrunched his nose.

He had noticed Lucas earlier but discovered that the latter was a human. Apart from that, Lucas looked too young.

Compared to other branches, the stellar processor branch of vestige-smithing was heavily dependent on one's foundations and theoretical knowledge. Because there was so much to cover up, a young processor vestige-smith was quite rare; especially one capable of giving Cayman and his team a headache.

With all these in mind, it was understandable why he brushed off Lucas.

"I don't find this funny. I have a lot of things to work on." Cayman grumbled.

"You should have known me as well." Maessen stared at him.

"It doesn't matter whether you believe or not. Lead me towards the production line." Lucas interrupted the duo.

"No rush. Let's take a look around." Maessen smiled. He then turned towards Cayman and gestured.

"If you may."

Cayman stared at Lucas one last time before turning around to lead the way.

"Let's go."

. . .

Under the lead of Kolo, the trio walked into the production facilities within the Silverine Village. Due to how large the Silverine Village was, they took a specialized hovercar which was commonly used by residents and workers to move around.

"District B1 is where we handle regular processor development. There are six factories here that carry out production. From forming the carbon and silicon wafers, to developing the dies. This is also our busiest district." Maessen played the role of a tour guide along the way.

"Over half of all the processors used in Baylands city-state are produced here." Cayman proudly stated as the hovercar drove into the area.

Although the Silverine Factory wasn't a go-to option for stellar processors, they took the lead in the regular processor market. This was thanks to their materials being locally sourced and produced, compared to both Novanio Tech and Versailles Group that still imported their products from Paros city-state. Even Novanio Tech that had recently built a factory for regular processors in Baylands city-state still sourced their raw materials from Paros city-state.

The Silverine Factory held 50% of the regular processor market, becoming a dominant entity in the market. It was indeed true to say that half of the processors used in Baylands city-state came from here.

30% of the regular processor market was held by the Versailles Group while 20% went to Novanio Tech. The remaining 10% were to small parties and imported products from other companies outside of Baylands city-state.

"Would you like to take a look?" Maessen eagerly glanced at Lucas.

"We can check it out later."

Lucas was already getting tired and simply wanted to get to the main point.

"Alright." Maessen nodded with a smile.

Cayman was still suspicious of Lucas' identity but with the CEO of the company being so polite, he decided not to act out.

The hovercar, which was driven by an AI, led the group out of district B1 into another region. But they didn't stop there. It wasn't until they reached the third district within the Silverine Village that the vehicle finally came to a halt.

"Welcome to district M1."

The Silverine Village was divided into districts much like Baylands city-state, although the sizes suffered greatly. In the Silverine Village, there were seven districts; three of those were residential districts labelled H1, H2, and H3, while the other four were production districts.

District B1 dealt with the production and development of regular processors.

District C1 was a resource station, where most of the raw materials needed for production were refined, and processed before being shipped out for use. It also had a storage unit for the refined products.

District D1 was the storage, control and energy unit. On one hand, the unprocessed raw materials were stored in a warehouse within this district. Apart from that, all the other facilities were energy generation stations and control units. Every single facility and structure in the Silverine Village could be monitored from this district and they were also powered from here. Even the Blue Needle, which was covered in state-of-the-art solar panels, redirected the energy generated towards this district for distribution.

With all these facilities and functions in one place, district D1 became the largest district in the Silverine Village.

Finally, the last production district was the district M1. District M1 was quite special and different compared to the others. It was like a miniaturized Silverine Village, but without the residential area.

Not only was there a resource processing plant here, but there was also a backup generator that could power the entire district, and an assembly plant that was used to manufacture and assemble pieces of equipment used in developing both regular and stellar processors. But most of all, it was within this district that stellar processors were produced.

To summarize, district M1 was the centre of the Silverine Factory's confidential R&D (Research and Development) and production activities. It was only smaller than district D1, but it had a higher security clearance than the latter. It was even fenced to prevent unauthorized entry.

"Professor."

A middle-aged man walked out from the entrance of district M1. The man had curly brown hair that was short, with a pair of blue eyes.

"Oh, Weston. You're here. Good." Professor Cayman nodded.

"You should already know him but just in case you don't, this is the CEO. Mr Maessen Ross." Cayman did the introductions.

"Nice to meet you." The middle-aged man, Weston, extended his hands with a smile.

Weston is a member of the research team led by Professor Cayman with the intention of mastering the mass-production of the Qin stellar processor. Similar to Cayman, he was also a Tier 1 Master, albeit at the Low rank.

"I've heard a lot about you. I appreciate your efforts for the company." Maessen greeted.

"It's no problem." Weston replied. He then glanced at Lucas.

"This is...."

"He's from the Seven Sparks Forge. He's here to help with the problems." Maessen quickly answered.

Similar to Cayman, Weston was surprised after all, Lucas was a human and looked young.

"Let them know about the situation." Cayman ordered.

"Alright. Please come this way." Weston took the lead and brought them into one of the buildings in district M1.

"This is M1-001. Here, all the focus points of the stellar processors are designed. It's the major R&D centre in district M1 and also where we've been working on the Qin and Rain Dragon Z1 prototypes." Weston explained as he led them deeper into the facility.

"We've already developed a prototype, but there are some issues with them."

Back on Earth, it took roughly three months for a processor to be developed. However, with the existence of vestige-smiths, this process was reduced. Although the mechanical mass-production aspect still took a considerable amount of time, if a processor vestige-smith worked on it, the time would be shortened drastically.

For the Qin and Rain Dragon Z1 stellar processors, even though they were stellar processors and not ordinary processors, with a team of Tier 1 Elite and Master vestige-smiths working on it, it would only take half a month to one month to complete. By including mechanisation in the more redundant and less important places, this time would drop by fifty percent.

It had already been thirteen days since the announcement, so it was no surprise that a prototype was ready.

"What about your simulation?" Lucas was surprised.

The usual steps taken in engineering was to first of all simulate the product before actually working on it. He was amazed that the Silverine Factory had already built a prototype first.

"Since the blueprint is available, the need for simulation isn't as much. Nonetheless, we still designated a team for that." Professor Cayman answered.

Lucas didn't agree with their thoughts, but he didn't say anything about that because Cayman was still right.

A complete blueprint, in vestige-smithing terms, was basically the same as a manual that showed how a vestige was made in detail. All the necessary steps and required materials would be included into the blueprint down to the smallest detail. So, even though it was called a blueprint, it was actually more like a textbook-sized manual.

However, in Lucas' opinion, it was a proper action to simulate a blueprint first and confirm the parameters and production sequence; rather than expending materials right away.

"So, what exactly is the problem?" Lucas asked.

This time around, he was hoping to get a more apt response than before.

Weston didn't say anything, instead glancing at Cayman. The professor nodded at him following which Weston finally responded.

"Corruption."