This is really not mechanical ascension
Chapter 637 - 333 Hammer Divine Craftsman Infinite Hammer_2

Chapter 637: Chapter 333 Hammer Divine Craftsman Infinite Hammer_2

Although compared to their business, this so-called Mechanical Court’s turnover is not much.

Even if it were another force starting a business, they wouldn’t care much, even if it were on a larger scale, it wouldn’t matter.

But this is a Casting Star Mechanic. Once he decides to get involved, the share he wants will inevitably be significant, how can one not be prepared for it?

It’s not that they underestimate Lord Azure Dragon, but rather they are being overly cautious.

All technological and mechanical creations belong to the realm of Mechanics, with many large arms dealers having Casting Star Mechanics seated behind them.

Breaking through is certainly not easy.

As various thoughts flashed through his mind, Li Ming glanced at the time and left from the specialized training room. Just as he stepped out, the Mimicry Vermilion Bird landed on his shoulder.

"Is the warehouse ready?" he asked.

"It’s ready, ten thousand Mechanical Bodies have been stored," replied Vermilion Bird.

Li Ming nodded, walked through the base’s corridor, and entered the enormous warehouse at the far end.

Upon stepping inside, the Vermilion Bird on his shoulder dispersed; there were no surveillance devices here, nor any virtual imaging equipment.

The warehouse was brightly lit, with hundreds of large mechanical arms and transport-type tracks working tirelessly.

This place connected to the final assembly factory of Mechanical Soldiers, and every assembled Mechanical Soldier was stored here, layer by layer, hanging from transport tracks.

Walking to the center, Li Ming nodded as a circular metal platform on the ground quickly rose, lifting him to the very center of the Mechanical Soldiers array.

Then he stretched out his hands, and strands of golden sparks burst from his fingertips, landing on the nearest Mechanical Body and quickly proliferating, as large sparks of mechanical electricity erupted, transferring from one to two, and two to four, growing exponentially.

Eventually, the entire array of Mechanical Soldiers was enveloped in golden sparks.

At the same time, however, the glow on the Mechanical Soldiers that first came into contact with the golden sparks had already faded, like a surging tide, taking no more than five minutes in total, from inside to out.

The Mechanical Soldiers’ pupils moved, and Li Ming spoke ahead of them, "Vermilion Bird will connect to your systems and guide you."

Hearing him say this, all the Mechanical Soldiers became quiet, the tracks started moving, and they came down one by one.

As an Artificial Intelligence enlightened by Li Ming himself, Vermilion Bird also has the ability to "temporarily supervise all Controlled Objects."

"Tsk, six million metal energy..." Li Ming shook his head; the enlightened Mechanical Soldiers possess absolute loyalty and could not be changed by any program.

The only trouble before was the need for Control, but thanks to the ability of the Mechanical Sovereign, controlling them was akin to assembly.

However, this type of Control could not gain any abilities, nor could it be taken into the Control Space.

But for Li Ming, it was still worth the price.

These Mechanical Soldiers are made to a standard model, classified as Level D, and the Control Conditions require six thousand metal energy, which was the limit designed by Li Ming.

Without the Mechanical Sovereign, he would have had to expend an additional 60 million metal energy for Control, which would greatly slow his power’s start-up.

This base and the many production lines he built, coupled with these Mechanical Soldiers, have nearly depleted the remaining refined alloys.

One-third of these Mechanical Soldiers will be infused with mechanical knowledge to engage in arms manufacturing.

The remaining two-thirds, after being equipped with weapons, will mingle with Grey Eyes’ mercenaries and undertake various tasks.

"What I need to do later is to come here periodically for Enlightenment..." Li Ming calculated that with the initial investment and subsequent profits, there will be a continuous yield, becoming a self-sustaining cycle.

"After further expansion, we’ll move into the Mining Stars, take control of material refinement from the source, that is when we take off."

"And all I need to do is look for the Energy required for upgrades, and regularly harvest to enhance my strength."

He pondered, but these things could not be rushed.

"Master, there’s half an hour left until the meeting."

Exiting the warehouse, Vermilion Bird once again appeared on his shoulder, timely reminding him.

Li Ming nodded. Ever since the Mechanical Court had gotten on track, a considerable number of things needed to be addressed in the initial stage. Meetings for reporting and summarizing were held every three days.

He immediately went to the core conference room. Ulrich had already arrived early, preparing various materials. Connet was there too, along with Sandro, with middle managers seated in two rows.

Seeing him arrive, Ulrich greeted him and looked around, saying, "Since everyone is here, let’s start early."

Everyone sat upright, Ulrich looked towards Li Ming, Li Ming nodded, and then said:

"The issue of manpower we discussed last time has basically been resolved. The first batch of Mechanical Soldiers has been produced and set up with various configurations, and is now ready for application."

Manpower was a major problem, as the mercenaries under Grey Eyes were all unskilled and couldn’t do technical work.

Even a highly automated assembly line required human labor.

Ulrich wasn’t surprised; once the assembly line was built, the first thing produced was the Mechanical Soldiers, and other items were postponed. Nearly a month had passed, so results were expected.

"That’s even better, production efficiency can go up another level..." Connet nodded, "The arms company only has two months left until the delivery date, we’re still on schedule to meet it..."

The two made a brief summary, and basically there were no major issues; it was all performance reports and the like, with the overall situation looking stable and improving.

Sandro had no say in these matters, silent as a gourd.

More than an hour later, the middle managers left one by one, leaving only Ulrich and Connet, until then their expressions turned grave.

"The arms dealers have been moving more frequently. Three days ago, a batch of orders were canceled, and the other parties were even willing to pay a 10% penalty for breach of contract."

"Which are the main arms dealers?" Li Ming asked, slightly frowning.

"Burke, Harren, Sibyl and a few others taking the lead, along with many more small and medium-sized arms dealers..." Ulrich said while massaging his brows, "Behind them are no lack of Casting Star Mechanics."

He was also surprised; just as they were starting, they encountered such substantial resistance, which was indicative of how seriously those people were taking Azure Dragon.

"I’m afraid this blockade could create a domino effect, spilling over into other areas," added Connet, sounding hesitant.

Their networking channels had already secured the first batch of business, but the competition was undercutting them with lower prices, leaving them with no recourse.

"Of course, with our current production capacity, we can’t take on more orders anyway, but if we’re considering expansion, we should prepare early," Ulrich hesitated, "Should we maybe have Lord Azure Dragon make some introductions to those people?"

"Hmph, what’s there to introduce? They dare to poach our orders; we dare to destroy their merchant ships," Sandro said coldly, "It’s just a matter of who has the stronger fist."

"It’s not that simple, how are we supposed to do business after that?" Ulrich frowned.

Connet added, "Lately, there have been a lot of unidentified ships added to the outskirts of the star system, probably trying to scout for information."

"Hmm?" Li Ming’s gaze sharpened, they’re probing all the way to the main base?

"Lord Sandro is right, it’s just a contest of who has the bigger fist," said Li Ming, aloof.

Sandro grinned smugly, casting an gleeful glance at Ulrich.

Ulrich frowned in response, trying to mediate, "If we’re going to take action, we can only abandon this place."

"Of course we’re not going after their merchant ships. We’ll clean up the nearby area first," Li Ming shook his head, the Chaotic Star Gap wasn’t truly chaotic.

Even the Zong Ya bandit from before knew to pick on the weak.

There was also an unspoken rule—power and influence had to be equivalent.

Only individuals of Overlord Level like Anduin could control each Star Gate in the Chaotic Star Gap.

Strength alone cannot support a large organization, but without enough strength, not even a power structure can be established.

"I fear many are eager to gauge the mettle of my mentor," Li Ming commented with a distant tone, as Ulrich and Connet exchanged glances; it was something they hadn’t dared to voice.

After the meeting, his orders were quickly carried out. Sandro personally took action, clearing the nearby star systems’ probing ships one by one.

Spies, perceiving the bad turn of events, hurriedly retreated, barely escaping disaster.