A 30% share of the patent royalties and the exclusive rights to sell Strong Vibration Steel and Red Crystal Gunpowder weapons were two very large slices of the pie.
When the leaders of the families present learned how those two slices had come about, they couldn't help growing fond of Logo. The more they looked at the boy, the more they liked him.
Herbert was right. What had a thick-browed, wide-eyed fellow like Augustus done to deserve a grandson like this?
"Your Excellency, when does the Royal Court plan to start producing the weapons and equipment?" Viscount Borgia asked, a little impatient.
The sooner the Royal Court produced the weapons, the sooner their families could receive their share of the royalties, and the sooner their exclusive rights could actually be put to use.
The old count smiled and explained, "According to the Royal Court's plan, we'll first stockpile raw materials on a large scale, especially Flame Fluid Crystals. They're very cheap, but once Red Crystal Gunpowder is introduced, their price will probably skyrocket."
"Stockpiling more raw materials while we have the chance will save us a great deal of money."
The others looked thoughtful. Without needing to discuss it, they all planned to buy up Flame Fluid Crystals and other relevant raw materials as soon as they returned. Any profit was worth making.
The old count cleared his throat and continued, "According to the Royal Court's estimates, in about a month, the price of Flame Fluid Crystals and the other materials will rise sharply due to the Royal Court's large-scale purchases, even if Red Crystal Gunpowder hasn't been introduced. We can start production then."
"The Royal Court's workers and technicians will use that month to familiarize themselves with the production process and complete the weapon designs. Once production officially begins, we'll aim to manufacture the weapons and equipment in large quantities as quickly as possible, achieve economies of scale, and break into the market in one fell swoop!"
"Our Red Maple Clan needs to make preparations too. During this time, we'll need to build good relations with all the parties involved. Angedora Bay's arms market is too large for us to handle. We'll secure the arms market in Sunset Territory first!"
Viscount Carven's eyes flickered. "Should we bring in the other two great clans?"
The Gendaya Tribe had three great clans, all of which belonged to the Sunset Jungle.
They were the Red Maple Clan, the Thorn Clan, and the White Ape Clan.
In terms of overall strength, the Red Maple Clan ranked last because it had no Legendary combatant.
The Thorn Clan had a Legendary ice elemental mage, Annabelle Carlos. She was a pureblood Gendaya, nicknamed the Light of Frost. She was very powerful and had once killed a Legendary opponent of the same rank.
The White Ape Clan, meanwhile, had an incomparably powerful Legendary magical beast, the Variant White Ape Gain.
This kind of magical beast had a very unusual life form. He had no sex and reproduced asexually.
When an old white ape reached the end of his lifespan, he would condense the power he had accumulated over his life into a seed and store it in his young offspring. The day the child was born was the day the Variant White Ape's life ended.
Because the power seed remained within its body, a young Variant White Ape grew very quickly. It would regain its parent's power in a short time and continue climbing toward a higher level of existence.
A Variant White Ape could have only one offspring at most. In a sense, this was an alternative form of immortality.
The White Ape Clan had once been incomparably powerful. With a white ape at the peak of Epic rank to rely on, it had been one of the Royal Court's great clans. But a tall tree attracted the wind. When the Western Capital fell, the Variant White Ape died in battle. He hadn't even had time to leave behind a power seed and could only condense a portion of his bloodline power to form an embryo.
After relocating to the Sunset Jungle, the White Ape Clan paid a great price to finally bring the Variant White Ape to life from the embryo.
Although the inherited power was gone, the Variant White Ape's powerful bloodline remained.
In just over a hundred years, the Variant White Ape Gain entered the Legendary realm and once again became the White Ape Clan's protector.
The three great clans were closely linked. They were spread across the southeastern corner of the Sunset Jungle in an inverted triangle.
The Thorn Clan was at the upper left, the White Ape Clan at the upper right, and the Red Maple Clan below. The three supported one another, forming a tight defensive system.
At the center of the three great clans was a river valley with abundant water and grass. Its fertile soil and plentiful water and grass made it suitable for growing crops and raising livestock. The three clans occupied it jointly, and the white-skinned water buffalo Crassus loved to eat came from the valley's pastures.
With such a close relationship, it would be hard to justify not sharing something good.
Besides, given the Red Maple Clan's size, even the arms market in the Sunset Jungle alone was still too large.
Even bringing in the other two great clans wouldn't be enough. They needed outside help.
"I've already sent people to notify Annabelle and Ronaldo. They'll be here soon..."
No sooner had the old count finished speaking than the temperature in the hall plummeted. Snowflakes drifted down and formed a human figure of ice crystals.
The ice crystals then shattered, and a little girl appeared before everyone.
She wore a long black dress, stood about 1.5 meters tall, and had her hair tied in twin tails. Small black leather boots covered her feet.
Cute little bears were embroidered on her white lace-trimmed socks, and she held a white magic staff in her fair, delicate little hand.
A floppy purple mage's hat covered nearly half her body, making her look like a large mushroom.
The Light of Frost, Annabelle Carlos, was 122 years old and the strongest person in the Thorn Clan. Rumor had it that she had a very nasty personality.
"Hee hee hee, everyone's here!" Annabelle bounded over to Viscount Howard as though they were old friends. He hurriedly gave up his seat for the lady.
"Where's Ronaldo? Does he owe me 100,000 Ta Pounds and not dare show his face?" Annabelle rose on tiptoe and looked around. She even rummaged through the trash can under the table, seemingly checking whether Ronaldo was hiding inside.
At the sight, black lines appeared on the old count's forehead. He scolded her irritably, "Can't you sit properly? You're over a hundred years old, and you still can't behave yourself! Besides, could anyone hide in that trash can? Ronaldo's a knight, not a mage!"
Annabelle took off her mage's hat, revealing an exquisitely beautiful face. She stuck out her tongue at the old count, puffed out her cheeks, and said angrily, "I'm only a hundred and twenty, all right? How am I old?"
She had clearly focused all her attention on the first half of what he had said.
The old count was left speechless. True, Legendary beings could easily live for a thousand years. At just over 120, she really was still a little brat.
"Why isn't Ronaldo here yet? That guy's always the last to arrive. Who does he think he is? Does he not want to pay me back?" Annabelle sat in the chair, swinging her legs.
She was sitting directly across from Logo.
At that moment, Logo was studying Annabelle curiously.
He had never seen a Legendary creature in this life.
If he could study her, surely he could raise his bloodline studies level considerably?
"Hey, brat, what's with that look?" Annabelle instinctively covered her flat chest and glared at Logo. Her little pointed canines poked out from beneath her pink lips.
Logo's gaze was all too familiar to her, because she often looked at her own test subjects the same way.
But this kid...
Annabelle was somewhat suspicious.
"I'm sorry, Your Excellency Annabelle. I was simply too curious about the composition of your great life form. Please forgive me if I offended you!" Logo apologized sincerely, while giving himself a hard slap in his mind. He had become somewhat obsessed with studying alchemy lately and wanted to cut open everything he saw to take a look.
His curiosity and desire to explore were also growing stronger and stronger. He didn't know whether other alchemists were like this too.
"Hey, kid, if you weren't the one who provided the formulas, I'd seal you in a block of ice for a month to teach you a proper lesson."
"Remember, don't look at creatures stronger than you like that, especially spellcasters!"
Annabelle warned him.
Logo nodded repeatedly.
At that point, Annabelle instead became interested in Logo. She skipped over to his side, took a lollipop out of her little pocket, and held it out to him. "Here, have this!"
"Huh?"
Logo froze and raised his hand to take it.
"Just kidding, hahaha! Only I get to eat my candy, bleh!" Annabelle stuffed the lollipop into her mouth and stuck her little pink tongue out at Logo.
Like the old count, Logo now had black lines on his forehead.
The rumors were right. The Light of Frost really did have a nasty personality!
Where was the dignity befitting a powerhouse?