Chapter 1719: 575. When I say there’s a big deal, you should know I have ill intentions – Extra Update [17/30]
(For the brother “Ho Zheng Ting Hao”, extra chapter [17/20])
Sulk Flywheel’s past is a mystery, not even Lady Shani, the only “intelligence master” Murphy knows, is quite clear about the details of this Demi-Human Engineer who wanders alone in the Dark Mountain Range.
His past in Charldo Harbor also seems to have been erased, but what is certain is that this scar-faced Half-body Man is a businessman.
At least he acts like a businessman.
Upon hearing that Murphy wanted all his stock of Calculating Pearls in one breath, Sulk Flywheel’s usually cold face instantly lit up with a brilliant smile befitting a Half-body Man.
This little fellow cheered as he tossed aside the coil gun in his hand, which could paralyze a vampire, then pulled out a dusty notebook from the big drawer behind him, skimming through it before glancing at Murphy, who was rubbing his neck to regain sensation.
He said:
“I currently have thirty-six thousand seven hundred standard model cracked Calculating Pearls…”
“That many?”
Murphy was taken aback; he asked in return:
“I can understand you making guns and cannons for business; it’s understandable. But making tens of thousands of something other races besides Half-body Men rarely use is really hard to fathom.”
“Hard to fathom? Wrong! Totally wrong! It’s an investment! Don’t you get it? All savvy businessmen know investing now is a foolish choice; betting on the future can make big money!”
Perhaps years of solitude combined with experiencing the terrible event of being cuckolded by a brother have made Old Flywheel obviously a bit neurotic, and these neurotic people often have their own unique logic in viewing the world.
Hearing Murphy’s inquiry, this complex fellow, who was both extremely clever and very mercenary and adept at denying previous agreements, immediately puffed out his beard and glared as he scolded:
“Do you think I sold those three thousand Pearls at a low price to Marshall Loren just for the sake of it? His Exploration Corps can’t complete their military technology upgrades without Calculating Pearls, but my foolish compatriots have banned the export of these things, and I’m the only one on the Continent who can manufacture them!
After Marshall Loren tried my Pearls, he would definitely have made large-scale purchases, and I could have made a fortune, then smuggled in a few advanced tools to further boost my factory’s capacity.
What a beautiful plan!
I happily stocked up on a batch of Calculating Pearls, ready to get rich, but I’ve been waiting and waiting for no emissaries. I found out through the Thieves Guild’s intel that it was all because of you, damn vampire, who hijacked the goods, directly causing all subsequent collaborations to fall through.
These Pearls have ended up in my hands!
But since you want them, I can sell them to you at several times the price, just to vent a bit, isn’t that what doing business is about? Doing business requires showing sincerity, doesn’t it? I require you to buy these Calculating Pearls at twice the price, that shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Because of the ‘relationship’ we’re about to have!”
“Thirty-six thousand Calculating Pearls, all cracked versions, right? Very well, I’ll take them.”
Murphy agreed without negotiating the price in the least.
This generosity made the Half-body Man suspiciously stare at him, and before he could ask, Murphy proactively said:
“But the built-in functions of this batch of Calculating Pearls are too lousy, I need you to help me adjust their ‘factory settings’. Since you sell such high-end goods, you definitely offer complementary services, right?
I need you to design an information storage and interaction system based on Calculating Pearls for my territory!
It needs a complete permissions tree and built-in real-time response and reply programs that are more conducive to office work, and this system needs a secure data lock, at the very least, so other Half-body Men can’t crack it easily.
I have an even grander idea, I want to set up an ‘intranet’ within Transylvania.
It must have basic functions of securely storing large amounts of information and supporting permission access; I want to push my Transylvania to the level of ‘paperless office’, incorporating all my territory’s residential registration, document storage, even banking and service industries into this system!
Although at this current stage, it’s not feasible to ensure every resident has a Pearl, my vision is that it should at least cover the level of street offices and building managers.
I want to ensure that any problem in my territory can be responded to by the administrative department within half an hour.
Oh, and by the way, I want to make a similar confidential system for the Blood Vulture Clan, I’m fed up with Shani always managing to sneak away with some confidential information every time she comes to the Blood Vulture Corridor when we’re not paying attention.
I want to store that information in an invisible data network, so from now on, Shani, that medieval Vampire Miss with a good façade but who refuses to progress, won’t be able to dig out any secrets from me!
My army definitely needs military technology upgrades too!
But not like Goldenrod Kingdom’s rudimentary level where Calculating Pearls are solely used for cannon calculations, I want to achieve instant communication within the command system!
I also need you to further improve these Calculating Pearls, its current usage conditions are still too stringent, I need it to be usable even for those without any Spiritual Energy talent!”
Murphy laid all his thoughts out in one go, then widened his eyes, looking expectantly at Sulk Flywheel in front of him.
The wild warlord of Hunger Mountain, a tough man who has mixed in the Dark Mountain Range for over forty years, and the mad engineer, a genius who can casually decipher the most advanced Half-body Man technology – Sir Sulk Flywheel was stunned at that moment.