Arrogant Knower

Resembool, grain warehouse.

"Mr. Hawkbali, after all this discussion, you still don't believe I can maintain a steady supply?"

Wang Shui wore a smile. Over the past hour, he had tried plenty of ways to persuade the short, stout little old man before him, but his half-baked sales pitches and tricks had been completely useless.

"I have no intention of prying into your secrets, Mr. Via, but I still find it hard to believe there could be any stable grain production in a region like this. This isn't a grain-producing area. There's desert to the east and undeveloped wilderness to the west.

"Besides, it's only 400 tonnes of wheat. That isn't a particularly large quantity. If you can produce ten times that amount, I'll reassess your claims. That is my principle as a merchant."

Wang Shui felt helpless. He couldn't even offer the merchant a kickback or anything of the sort. This little old man was the grain depot's owner, who happened to have time on his hands, not an ordinary purchasing agent.

"Even so, buying wheat with an 8% moisture content at the price for 12% moisture-is that your principle as a merchant?" Wang Shui dropped his smile and glanced helplessly out the window, then stopped wasting words. "600. That's the price for second-grade quality. Take this shipment, and next year's wheat harvest season, I'll supply more than ten times this amount."

"570. I'll continue to keep an eye on your company." The short, stout old man offered a compromise considerably higher than his original price.

"A pleasure doing business with you." Wang Shui chose to compromise as well.

The subsequent formalities went quickly. Both parties were directly in charge, and the entire process, from signing the contract to booking a freight train, loading the shipment out of the warehouse, and settling payment, took only a week.

"So this is what merchants are like. Haggling over every penny." Silvia had watched the entire transaction. Including the preliminary preparations, it had been so tedious that it left her frustrated.

"It was already much better than I expected. In his position, I wouldn't believe a batch of surplus grain could suddenly appear in this region either. Besides, we demanded quick payment, which made it obvious we needed money urgently. We exposed our own weakness. It would've been strange if he hadn't taken a bite."

Wang Shui expressed his understanding, but his tone was cold.

"We can't establish retail channels in the short term, and grain-processing factories can't settle their payments quickly. Fast money isn't easy to make. But I've found professionals, so the logistics and grain companies will soon be up and running.

"Heh, countries that leave their capital markets unchecked are just wonderful. Grain controls are so lax. If local output weren't already insufficient, and productivity too low, merchants alone could overthrow and control this country, then go on to take hold of the world.

"Speaking of which, doesn't your hunting group have a dedicated merchant? Haven't you ever encountered anything that called for commercial methods?"

"We have dedicated finance staff-the deputy commander in charge of logistics. But all he really knows is how to manage the hunting group. As for business matters... there aren't many business opportunities in battlefield worlds. And in fantasy worlds, they're more inclined to just fight their way through."

Fair enough. Wang Shui understood.

Silvia didn't dwell on it. She merely shared a distant surveillance feed, then said:

"Let's get down to business. At the new base in the Crater region, the core food factory is 30% complete. The constructs are building defensive facilities around the perimeter, and some of the growing areas are already usable. This entire mountain region is barren and remote. You really picked a good spot."

"I chose this place partly for concealment, and partly because crustal activity is frequent here, the dragon veins are strong, and there's plenty of energy. It's already on the edge of the country, with no human settlements nearby, but it isn't too far from the nearest major city, [South City], which makes it convenient to build transport routes. Pretty much perfect."

Of course, most importantly, Wang Shui had discovered the underground passage of the [Nationwide Transmutation Circle].

The base absolutely had to be placed outside the Nationwide Transmutation Circle. He hadn't followed the plot in detail, but for an old anime like this, he had still seen videos covering the broad spoilers. This enormous Transmutation Circle spanning the country was under close surveillance by the villains.

If his excavation connected with it, things would inevitably get a little awkward.

Wang Shui had never considered replacing the protagonist in taking down the big boss, [Dwarf in the Flask]. He only wanted to fish in troubled waters and secure enough time to grow, so he continued to follow the original plot without getting involved.

Yes, he only wanted to watch. The industrial revolution in SAO had just been an accident! He didn't want to stir up any more weird trouble in this world.

Thinking that he wouldn't stir up trouble, Wang Shui issued a new command:

"[Soul Workshop], activate batch 322 of the constructs. Have all 200 construct robots in town set out together for the new Crater base. They'll be responsible for launching the underground railway construction project. Outside the circle I marked, build an additional aboveground warehouse. From now on, transport the grain directly there, then distribute it nationwide through [South City]."

"Received. Command executed."

Wang Shui issued the instructions through the [Silvia Network]. The artificial souls were more obedient than Silvia. They merely replied with blank-faced expressions to acknowledge receipt.

"To lay the railway, we need to build base stations first. That part of the work will require the two of us."

Silvia was very interested in expanding the base stations. Within the base station network's coverage, she could teleport to any network device node with a mere thought. It was a very interesting experience.

"Too slow." Wang Shui shook his head. "I prepared for this long ago. New command: activate the intelligent server."

"[Core Computing Cloud Cluster: Crater] self-check complete. Network permissions assumed. [Artificial Soul Computing Cloud Cluster: Resembool Soul Workshop] permissions downgraded, switching to a dedicated channel. All devices within the network will undergo a comprehensive self-check in one hour. All devices and construct personnel, please finish your current work as soon as possible."

A new voice joined the "Sil Network." This new computing center had used up all the computing cards Wang Shui had brought. Wang Shui needed an intelligent computer to help him coordinate big data. Clearly, Silvia, the network core, wasn't intelligent enough for the job. She could only serve as half a network cable.

"New command: after the self-check, prepare to launch [Stratospheric Loitering Drone: Vulture One]. Now activate the remote transmutation laboratory."

"Received. Task queued with countdown. Remote transmutation laboratory activating."

Wang Shui soon detected the device actively contacting him. He took ten rings from his pocket and put them on all ten fingers according to their markings, then clasped his hands together, interlacing his fingers. Faint blue lightning burst from his fingertips.

At the same time, hundreds of kilometers away at the national border, inside a hollowed-out mountain among the peaks, a tidy laboratory suddenly erupted with lightning!

Thick plasma licked the instruments in the room. On the alloy plate atop the central laboratory bench, the complex Alchemy Array engraved in advance began to activate.

Wang Shui currently possessed three kinds of alchemy-modern alchemy from the main world, equivalent alchemy, and dragon vein alkahestry.

They shared few similarities in principle. Wang Shui hadn't forced them to fuse, either. He had merely integrated their respective technologies so they could work together.

The transmutation lasted two minutes. The activated alloy plate became a silver-black metal sphere, its surface densely covered in patterns of text-like lines.

"Dashan-the Crater intelligent computer-add this [High-Power Mobile Base Station] to the network and install it on the loitering drone awaiting launch. Set its loitering patrol route above the railway we're going to build."

"Received. Executing."

Within the network, which carried Silvia's excitement, everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Wang Shui put away his remote transmutation tools and curled up on the sofa to ease his mind. Unlike research, coordinating the overall situation brought a different kind of mental fatigue. Still, having his will carried out so efficiently felt pretty good-much better than directing a bunch of people who each had their own ideas.

"Hey, it's almost evening. You can't neglect combat training either. You've had my personal instruction for over a year, and you still haven't reached the intermediate level. Do you want me to lose all face?"

"I'm so tired, Lady Sil. How about you use my body to fight your own construct, and I watch to broaden my horizons?"

"Absolutely! Not! You've seen it before! Your [Physical Fitness] and [Coordination] attributes have both reached the limit of '5.' If you want to break through your physical limits, you need to understand your own body well enough!"

Indeed, Wang Shui hadn't expected his physique and agility attributes to reach their limits before his three internal attributes, [Perception], [Thought], and [Mind], in just over a year. Silvia's training plan was far too efficient. Combined with his own diligent study, Wang Shui's personal attributes were gradually becoming well-rounded.

"Aah~ No, please. I've trained my level up to 9 too. Lady Sil, how about helping me advance to the first tier first?"

"Once you leave this world, the system will naturally guide you through advancing a tier. Enough nonsense! Tonight, I'll control your second-tier powered armor and fight you. Remove all your weights and limiters. I refuse to believe this!"

Wang Shui kept wailing in the "Sil Network," but he still didn't escape that evening's training.