Chapter 109 - 105: Expenses and Gains (Part 2)
Chapter 109: Chapter 105: Expenses and Gains (Part 2)
The Master looked up at Velin and the others, his eyes full of admiration. Then, under Caroline’s urging gaze, he began to read.
"First, its Demon Crystal!" Valerius’s voice trembled slightly. "Fist-sized, Earth Attribute, and of extremely high quality! It’s not just a powerful energy source, but also a core material for crafting enchanted equipment!"
"Second, the Scale Armor of this giant crocodile leader." The Master’s finger tapped the second item on the list. "There are thirty-two complete main scales from its back, each possessing natural resistance to piercing. More importantly, they contain a faint resistance to Magic Power! This means that armor made from them, without any enchantment, can weaken the damage from Low Tier Magic! Armor with innate magic resistance... Rangers will be fighting tooth and nail for it!"
Caroline raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"And its blood, less than a hundred pounds? Oh... the Blood-sucking Vines absorbed some. Based on my assessment, it should be able to substitute for the main ingredient of [Lesser Healing Potion], and there’s even a chance of refining it into the more advanced [Greater Healing Potion]!"
Valerius grew more and more excited as he spoke, tapping the parchment with his finger.
"Its sinews can be used to make high-grade composite bow limbs; its bones, ground into powder, are a common medium for Alchemy of the School of Life. Even its teeth, Velin!" he shouted excitedly. "Every single one could be sold as a work of art to those nobles who fancy themselves connoisseurs, easily fetching several Golden Suns!"
He finally closed the list that had made his heart race.
"I... I’ll make a most conservative estimate. Just for the giant crocodile leader lying in the square, if its materials can be perfectly broken down and utilized, the total value will be no less than... six hundred Golden Suns."
"What about the others?"
The iciness in Caroline’s voice faded slightly.
"The others... the thirty-some adult giant crocodiles killed... though more than half got away. Hmm, while the quality is much lower, the sheer quantity makes up for it! All told, their value will absolutely exceed two thousand Golden Suns! And that’s not even counting the crocodile meat. If processed properly, it becomes a top-tier ingredient for nurturing bloodlines. Sell that to the Knight families, and that’s another fortune!"
After Valerius finished speaking, he slowly sat down, a gleam in his eyes.
The conference room fell silent.
Two thousand six hundred Golden Suns. The number was seared into everyone’s minds.
Ryo’s breath caught in his throat. He subconsciously gripped the hem of his clothes, as if to keep himself from floating away.
Ola’s large, bell-like eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. He glanced at Velin, then at Valerius, his mouth hanging half-open. He wanted to say, ’I knew we’d strike it rich,’ but found the number was beyond the limits of his imagination.
In Caroline’s jade-green eyes, the flames of anger had long since been extinguished, replaced by a complex, indecipherable emotion.
She had thought this was, at best, a long-term investment for the future, one that would surely lose money in the short term. She never imagined it would turn out to be a wildly profitable venture with a profit margin of over 400%!
"Processing and handling these materials will require a great deal of manpower, equipment, and time," her voice regained its merchant’s composure. "These are all costs."
"Yes, they are costs," Velin turned and smiled at her, "but they are also jobs. The workforce in Newly Town can’t possibly process such a large batch of materials. We’ll need to recruit a large number of specialized artisans from outside, and even that won’t be enough."
His tone took a sharp turn.
"What won’t be enough?" Caroline asked instinctively.
"This is all just a one-time profit." Velin walked back to the table and leaned forward, bracing his hands on its surface. "Sell it, and it’s gone. These materials can’t make us stronger, only richer for a little while."
"Let me ask you a question," he straightened up and began to speak slowly. "What is the most valuable asset of a territory?"
No one answered. ’Gold mines? Fertile fields?’ The words flashed through their minds, but they felt that wasn’t right.
"A unique, renewable resource that we completely monopolize," Velin answered his own question.
He paused, then calmly dropped a real bombshell.
"We brought back twenty-seven intact Gray Swamp Giant Crocodile eggs."
This news was even more shocking than the valuation of two thousand six hundred Golden Suns.
THUD! Ola shot to his feet, knocking his chair over backward. But a calm glance from Velin froze him in place, and he sheepishly righted the chair and sat back down.
"You... you intend to farm them?" Caroline’s voice was a little hoarse. She remembered the terrifying sight of those monsters tearing through shields and flesh on the battlefield, and a shiver ran down her spine.
"To be precise, domesticate and selectively breed them," Velin corrected her. "Setting aside their combat prowess, their economic value alone is more than enough."
"Imagine it, Caroline," Velin’s gaze turned to her. "A population of giant crocodiles completely under our control. They would be a renewable ’mine,’ constantly providing us with Scale Armor, blood, sinews, and bones. We will establish a complete production chain that is exclusively ours. From hatching and raising them in the lowlands, to processing and crafting in the town, to selling them worldwide through the channels of the Golden Sail Commerce Association... We would be making money at every single step!"
This insane yet alluring blueprint made Caroline feel her heart pound violently in her chest.
"Their bloodline," Velin’s voice was filled with intense anticipation. "That trace of Titan Earth Dragon blood will become the most important research topic for the Origin Association. We can try to purify it, strengthen it, and even... replicate it."
Caroline looked at him. Every time, this man managed to completely shatter her perceptions.
"I admit, Lord Velin, your... plan is very grand."
Caroline struggled to find the words. Her pride wouldn’t let her concede easily, but the facts had smashed all her doubts to pieces. "If... if this can be realized, then the initial investment of over a thousand Golden Suns is indeed... insignificant."
But Velin shook his head.
"You still don’t understand, Caroline."
He walked over to the tactical map in the conference room, a miniature model of the entire Gray Sea Marsh. The afternoon sun streamed in through the window, casting a faint golden halo around him.
His finger landed on the center of the marsh, on the lowland where they had fought—the nesting ground of the Gray Swamp Giant Crocodile.
"The crocodile corpses and the eggs were just side benefits."
"They were merely beasts guarding a treasure vault, and we didn’t pay such a high price and risk our lives just to kill a few beasts."
He looked up, his gaze burning as he looked at Caroline, and then at everyone else present.
"We did it to open the doors to the vault. And now, those doors are open."
"The real profit lies in that lowland—in that Aether-rich zone that the giant crocodiles have guarded for over a hundred years!"