At the head of the group was a chubby middle-aged man, his face wreathed in a fawning smile.
He carried an exquisitely crafted gift box.
"Mr. Chu, sorry to trouble you."
"Supervisor Dou! Come in, come in!"
Chu Men was just about to close the door when a little pink head poked out from under his arm. Half a strawberry cake was still clamped in her mouth.
"You little rascal. Keep eating and you'll get fat!"
Chu Men pushed her back inside, then introduced her to Supervisor Dou. "This is my cousin, Xiao Wu."
Supervisor Dou smiled politely. "Mr. Chu, your cousin is adorable."
Behind him stood a thin old man wearing pince-nez glasses. He carefully studied the Soul Tool shop tucked away in this remote spot.
Chu Men ushered them into the reception room and asked familiarly, "Got another order?"
"Haha, I'll have to trouble you again, Mr. Chu."
Supervisor Dou took out a list and a small box.
"Lighting lamps, loudspeakers, and Soul Tool components for the protective formation. Same as last time, but in smaller quantities."
Chu Men glanced over the list. Nothing difficult. He nodded.
"No problem!"
"For Mr. Chu, these things are a piece of cake, of course."
After a round of flattery, Supervisor Dou introduced the old man beside him.
"This is Chairman Shi Bai, who's in charge of Soul Tool research at the Great Soul Arena in Heaven Dou City."
"Oh? So you're Chairman Shi. A pleasure to meet you."
Shi Bai snapped out of his reverie, stepped forward, and grabbed Chu Men's hand. When he spoke, he sounded every bit the technical specialist.
No pleasantries—he got straight to the point.
"Mr. Chu! I watched the entire recording of your public lecture this morning.
"That Golden Snake Dancing Wildly was absolutely ingenious!
"How did you make Soul Power form a stable circuit inside the metal? And how did you give ordinary Soul Power a lightning attribute..."
Before the helpless look could even appear on Chu Men's face, the comments were already having a field day.
[Never thought an old guy that age would be so eager to learn.]
[First time the streamer's had a student this old, right? Old sir, still going strong!]
[He could've just talked—why grab him? Are all tech people like this?]
Chu Men pulled his hand free and poured them both some tea.
"Chairman Shi, don't rush. Let's take it one thing at a time."
This was exactly why he didn't like dealing with people in the same line of work.
Amateurs watched for the spectacle; experts looked for the secrets!
There was no way to explain using system points to give a Soul Tool an attribute. Hell, even his own Soul Tool skills weren't good enough yet to make Golden Snake Dancing Wildly.
Supervisor Dou picked up the conversation with a conciliatory smile.
"Don't take it amiss, Mr. Chu. Chairman Shi's just like that.
"The Great Soul Arena has plenty of day-to-day matters to deal with. We'd heard a little about your Soul Tool class this morning, but unfortunately, we couldn't get away to attend. What a pity."
Chu Men caught the preamble and replied casually, "You're too kind, Supervisor Dou. It was just a little trick—not worth mentioning."
Supervisor Dou stopped beating around the bush. "You're too modest, Mr. Chu. I was wondering if you'd be interested in selling that Golden Snake Dancing Wildly. The Great Soul Arena would be willing to pay a handsome price. What do you think?"
Chu Men was more used to Supervisor Dou's pace. Business was business.
"To be honest, that thing's still in the experimental stage. I only showed it to the students for a bit of fun."
Chu Men took a sip of tea and spoke unhurriedly.
"I've poured a great deal of effort into it, but the results still aren't satisfactory. I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed."
Chu Men's meaning was clear: the price would be sky-high, and the thing was still being improved.
They were old acquaintances, so he wouldn't rip him off. Better to think twice before buying!
Hearing this, Supervisor Dou didn't press him, but he had come prepared with another offer.
"Mr. Chu, aside from repairing Soul Tools, the Great Soul Arena is interested in working with you on something bigger.
"We'd like to jointly develop combat-type Soul Tools. The Great Soul Arena would provide materials, facilities, and research funding, and you'd receive sixty percent of the profits. What do you think?"
Chu Men gave nothing away.
"I'll have to think it over. As you know, I'm a teacher at Blue Tyrant Academy and I run a shop, too. I'm afraid I can't be in two places at once."
A trace of disappointment crossed Supervisor Dou's face, but he'd been prepared for this. He hadn't expected to seal the deal on the first try.
"Mr. Chu, your skills are extraordinary. I'm sure more distinguished guests will come knocking soon. If you change your mind, don't forget the Great Soul Arena!"
Shi Bai nodded slightly. His main reason for coming was to make Chu Men's acquaintance, so they could exchange ideas in the future.
"Then Supervisor Dou and I won't take up any more of your time, Mr. Chu. If you need anything, don't hesitate to come to the Great Soul Arena!"
Supervisor Dou stood and cupped his hands. "Mr. Chu, we'll take our leave!"
After seeing off the Great Soul Arena's Dou God of Wealth, a shrewd glint passed through Chu Men's eyes.
Humming a little tune, he opened the small box on the table.
Neatly stacked Gold Soul Coins gleamed beneath the light of the Soul-Guided Illuminator, bright enough to make you squint!
Chu Men took one out and balanced it on his fingertip. The exquisite Heaven Dou Royal Emblem on its face glimmered faintly gold.
[Whoa! The streamer's hit the jackpot!]
[A whole box of gold and purple! How much would that be at today's gold prices? Wait, is it pure gold?]
[Looks like even in a fantasy world like Douluo Continent, gold's still hard currency! I bet gold prices are about to surge again today!]
Xiao Wu was fascinated by anything that glittered.
From her earlier journey all the way from the Star Dou Great Forest to Nuoding City, she'd learned that these things called Gold Soul Coins were good stuff!
She poked one with a little paw, feeling the precious metal's chill against her fingertip. Her eyes lit up.
"Wow, that's so much money! With this many coins, we could buy a whole room full of carrots!"
There was a childlike innocence in the girl's voice.
"We could buy ten rooms full."
Chu Men affectionately ruffled her hair, his fingers brushing over the scorpion braid behind her.
He didn't let the profits cloud his mind. Instead, he calmed down and picked up his earlier train of thought.
At the moment, he had two ways of making Soul Tools.
One was to use livestream points to buy products from the real world and give them attributes.
It was convenient, but it cost precious livestream points.
Using them to make low-tier Soul Tools was a terrible deal!
The other way was to carve the runes himself and make them by hand!
That cost something even more precious—time. That was an even worse deal!
Feeling Xiao Wu's smooth hair slip through his fingers, Chu Men suddenly slapped his thigh. It all clicked.
"How can you talk about industrialization without an assembly line?"
The livestream audience saw his reaction.
The engineers in particular went wild in an instant.
The spirit of engineering had fully awakened!
[Streamer, I'm a senior engineer. I can design assembly-line blueprints for you!]
[Are you planning to build a factory? Zhenhua Construction can provide factory design plans for free!]
[I'm the director of Peak Tech Automation Factory. I know assembly-line management like the back of my hand!]
Chu Men looked at the flood of comments covering the livestream, and couldn't help smiling.
Other people who transmigrated had to go it alone. He had the entire Blue Planet's brain trust behind him!
Advice poured in from every direction like a landslide, but soon it was mixed with advertisements from all sorts of companies. Chu Men didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and replied, "Come on, everyone, don't rush! You have to eat one bite at a time..."
But once the viewers saw Chu Men respond, they flooded the comments even faster!
The strength of the masses was great, their wisdom boundless, but their enthusiasm was more than most people could handle!
Chu Men set the list aside and returned to the workshop, once again assessing the Fire Dragon Battle Armor.
Just as he took out the modified angle grinder and prepared to get to work, someone knocked on the door again.
"Knock, knock, knock!!"
This time, the knocking was especially forceful!
"Who could it be now?"
The instant he opened the door, a cold, iron-blooded aura washed over him!
Before you continue