110: Chapter 110 The Positioning of All Lines

Manager Wei sat down in the conference hall.

He did not drink tea; he directly took a draft contract written on Logistics Department official paper from his briefcase.

The paper was the grey-blue stationery designated for the Logistics Department, with the department's material dispatch seal stamped in the top right corner.

"A one-year long-term contract. Monthly supply of two hundred bottles—the unit price increases from forty-five Spirit Stones to fifty-five Spirit Stones." He pushed the draft contract to Lu Changyuan. "The premise is that Blue Moon Island can increase monthly production from the current one hundred twenty to one hundred fifty bottles up to two hundred bottles within two months. If you can't reach it—we will settle based on actual production capacity, no penalties."

Lu Changyuan took the draft contract and read through it.

The terms were very concise—eighty percent shorter than the three-year exclusive sale contract from Jubao Pavilion.

There were no exclusive sale terms, no requirements for reporting formulas, and no transfer of pricing power.

There were only three points: monthly supply quantity, unit price, and quality standards.

"Two hundred bottles—two months." Lu Changyuan placed the contract on the table and turned to look at Chen Mo, who was sitting nearby.

Chen Mo took out his production schedule notebook from his pocket and opened it.

"A monthly production of two hundred bottles requires two array cauldrons and six people. Currently, the Trial Workshop only has one cauldron—I bring two apprentices, and the three of us handle everything from preparing materials to sealing, with a monthly output of one hundred twenty to one hundred fifty bottles. To add another cauldron, we need to open an additional operation room next to the Trial Workshop and recruit three more apprentices—the training cycle is about one month."

"Are there enough raw materials?"

"Old sand—the current replacement cycle is once every month and a half, and the monthly production is enough for one hundred fifty bottles. But the thunder bamboo has grown by half an inch in the last month, and the old sand replacement cycle can be shortened to once a month by next month—at that time, the monthly production of old sand will be enough for two hundred bottles. Thunder-struck wood shavings and fine bark—they follow the growth speed of the thunder bamboo, and the output will increase by about thirty percent next month."

Chen Mo flipped the production schedule to the next page. "The first three months—the three new apprentices will be in the training period, and the old sand output is still climbing. I can only commit to a monthly supply of one hundred fifty bottles. After three months, when the apprentices have finished their training and the old sand output is ready—two hundred bottles."

Lu Changyuan summarized Chen Mo's schedule and reported the key points to Manager Wei.

"We can sign the long-term contract. For the first three months, the monthly supply will be one hundred fifty bottles—after three months, it will be adjusted to two hundred bottles. The premise is that the growth rate of the thunder bamboo continues to follow the current trend. If the growth of the thunder bamboo encounters problems halfway—we will settle based on actual production capacity."

Manager Wei did not quibble.

He took back the draft contract and filled in two lines in the blank space of the monthly supply quantity column—'First to third month: monthly supply not lower than one hundred fifty bottles. From the fourth month onwards: monthly supply not lower than two hundred bottles. If production capacity fails to meet the target due to fluctuations in raw material supply, settlement will be based on actual output, no penalties.'

After filling it in, he pushed the contract back.

"What the military wants is stability and honesty—not for you to brag about a large amount and then fail to deliver. Since you truthfully said that you can only deliver one hundred fifty bottles in the first three months, I will write it as one hundred fifty bottles. If you can deliver two hundred bottles after three months, I will collect it as two hundred bottles."

Lu Changyuan signed his name at the end of the contract and stamped it with the Blue Moon Island Lord's seal.

Manager Wei took the contract, glanced at the signature and the seal, and put the original contract into his briefcase.

"After the three-month trial supply expires, this long-term contract will automatically take effect. The unit price will be adjusted to fifty-five Spirit Stones starting next month." He stood up and paused when he reached the door. "Deputy Envoy Lu—this purification liquid line now has a formal number on the Command Headquarters' material supply list. In the future, it won't just be procurement for Zhenhai Fortress—logistics procurement representatives from other fortresses will also come knocking when they see the terms and unit price of this long-term contract."

"The more, the better."

"The more there is, the more you must stabilize quality control." Manager Wei turned around and said this, then carried his briefcase and walked out the door.

The grey-bottomed fast boat at the Pier was waiting for him.

Su Qingli crossed out the words "three-month trial supply" in the account book and wrote a new line next to it: 'Upon expiration, convert to a long-term contract—starting from a monthly supply of one hundred fifty bottles, unit price fifty-five Spirit Stones (ten Spirit Stones more per bottle than the trial supply period). To be implemented from next month.'

She flipped back to the first account page from three months ago.

The first cauldron of purification liquid—three cauldron bottoms of liquid, about eighty-seven small bottles.

At that time, she didn't know if it could be sold, nor did she know who to sell it to.

Jubao Pavilion was suppressing prices, and the military channel hadn't been opened yet.

Chen Mo was squatting in the Trial Workshop facing that handmade array cauldron, doing everything from preparing materials to sealing by himself, not knowing if he would make the next batch after finishing this one.

Three months later. The three-month trial supply was fully delivered—the first batch of eighty-seven bottles, the second batch of one hundred twenty bottles, and the schedule for the third batch was already set.

The long-term contract was signed.

The unit price rose from forty-five to fifty-five.

The military took the initiative to come and renew the contract.

An account book was flipped through, the ink marks were dry or new.

In the afternoon of the same day, Lu Changyuan gathered the three matters on his desk one by one and began to organize the three directions for the next stage.

Deep sea direction—routine monitoring of Cold Dragon Abyss has been established.

Three fixed observation posts, monthly observation records, and Luo Qingcheng conducts a Divine Sense review every half month.

The giant beast has re-entered deep slumber—the breathing interval has dropped from forty-seven breaths to sixty-two breaths, and it will not wake up in the short term.

But Luo Qingcheng reminded him: hatch the black turtle within three years while the giant beast is sleeping.

Once the black turtle hatches, even if it is just a young turtle in the growth stage, its innate deterrent power will be enough to make sea beasts below the Golden Core level afraid to approach Cold Dragon Abyss.

By then, whether the giant beast wakes up or not will no longer be the key issue.

Old case direction—Warehouse Chief Cui is at Liyuan Ferry.

Commander Tie Zhan has found his transfer order record, and also found a clue that the person who signed the transfer order and the person who signed the circular for exemption from inspection might be the same person.

The next step requires Governor Xue Zhen to cooperate in investigating the old personnel files of Liyuan Ferry.

The letter has already been sent.

The wording was restrained—'Investigate if convenient, wait if inconvenient.'

Governor Xue Zhen will investigate.

He has no reason not to.

Substrate direction—six substrates, two have seen initial harvests (the first layer of cold marrow jade shell exceeded the estimated warehousing baseline sample, and the self-sufficiency rate of the first season harvest of earth vein jade spike rose to fifty-seven percent), two are progressing slowly (the Starlight Coral mother branch paved more than seven zhang of purified water area in one month, and the tide sound spirit bamboo increased the wood Spiritual Qi concentration around the thunder bamboo, promoting the production capacity of purification liquid raw materials), and two require patience measured in years (the Sea-Covering Xuan Turtle egg is still hatching—the spiritual aura of the eggshell is heavier and more stable than when it was put into the water, but it is still far from hatching; the golden-patterned iron thorn vine has taken root on the broken reef, and the vine body has just emerged less than three inches from the surface of the reef).

He wrote a summary for each of these three directions and put them into a hidden compartment—together with Commander Tie Zhan's reply, Xu Sanlan's testimony, and Zhou Laogen's interrogation notes.

The stack of papers in the hidden compartment was getting thicker.

From Xu Sanlan to Yongtai Firm to Zhou Laogen to Warehouse Chief Cui—every piece of paper was a step in the Old Seal Bid Case.

From the six substrates being put into the soil and water to the realization of the first harvest—every step was a season of Blue Moon Island going from "relying on windfall" to "growing it themselves."

Evening.

Outer Port berths.

Lu Changyuan stood by the Pier watching the low tide.

The Starlight Coral mother branch was emitting a faint cold light on the reef wall outside the berth—it had paved more than seven zhang outwards this month.

The water quality was visibly clearer by a layer.

In another year or two, this sea area would be able to raise seaweed, fish schools, and clam farms underneath.

The raw materials for the purification liquid need clean water—this is the foundation that the Starlight Coral is paving.

Su Qingli walked over from behind.

She held two things in her hands—in her left hand was the one-year long-term contract draft just signed by Manager Wei, the ink still wet.

In her right hand was a newly arrived transmission talisman.

"Governor Xue Zhen's reply."

Lu Changyuan took it and unfolded it.

The letter was very short, totaling two lines.

'Warehouse Chief Cui retired due to illness after working at Liyuan Ferry for two years ten years ago, and his whereabouts are unknown. There is a temporary dispatch order in the old files of the Liyuan Ferry military warehouse three days before the Sealed Fleet incident—I recognize the signature on the dispatch order.'

He looked up: "He recognizes it?"

"Governor Xue Zhen said—the signature on the dispatch order was personally approved by him when he first took office at the East Sea Governors Office. He doesn't remember who he approved it for. But the old files are still there."

"Let him pull out the old files."

"He is already pulling them out." Su Qingli paused. "But he said that after these old files are pulled out, the investigation of the Old Seal Bid Case will no longer be chasing the people below."

The sea breeze blew in from the direction of the port.

Su Qingli finished the rest of the sentence.

"It is the person who could directly issue dispatch orders to the East Sea Governors Office back then."

The sound of the tide echoed between the two for a long while.

From Xu Sanlan to Zhou Laogen to Warehouse Chief Cui—every step was moving upwards.

Substrate verification clerk, receiving leader, warehouse supervisor—now it has reached the person who signed the dispatch order at the East Sea Governors Office.

Seventeen years ago, someone sat in the East Sea Governors Office and signed a circular moving the seal bid array materials into the "scrap exemption channel"—that person signed Warehouse Chief Cui's transfer order, and also signed a temporary dispatch order three days before the Sealed Fleet incident.

Governor Xue Zhen recognized that signature.

Governor Xue Zhen said he personally approved this dispatch order when he first took office back then—he didn't remember who he approved it for, but the old files were still there.

Two lines fell on the same person on the same evening.

Lu Changyuan folded both papers and put them into his embrace—the left hand was the long-term contract, and the right hand was Governor Xue Zhen's reply.

One was proof of a fixed income every month for the next year.

One was the step closest to the truth of the seventeen-year-old old case.

He looked up at the distant sea surface.

The low tide exposed the reefs outside the berth row by row.

The cold light of the Starlight Coral paved a few more inches outwards—it was paving very slowly, but it was always paving.

In the single-person shed on the east side of the Inner Harbor, Zhou Laogen should still be sitting under the lamp.

On the stone platform of Qixia Peak, Luo Qingcheng's breathing should still be rising and falling at that extremely slow healing frequency.

In the cave at the bottom of Cold Dragon Abyss, the pale gold light patterns of the Sea-Covering Xuan Turtle egg were flickering in the darkness—it was still far from hatching, but the spiritual aura was heavier and more stable than when it was put into the water.

Blue Moon Island Lords Mansion.

The lights in the accounting room were on until late at night.

Su Qingli copied today's three records into the account book one by one.

The first item—purification liquid long-term contract signed. Monthly supply starting from one hundred fifty bottles, unit price fifty-five Spirit Stones. From today, the purification liquid has a formal, long-term guaranteed one-year path.

The second item—cold marrow jade shell initial production baseline sample warehoused. Grade exceeded estimation. Three to five layers produced annually. Not selling samples—selling goods produced according to this standard every year in the future.

The third item—earth vein jade spike first season forty mu have been harvested. Self-sufficiency rate rose to fifty-seven percent. Fully self-sufficient after three seasons.

After she finished copying, she put down the pen.

Three months ago, what she wrote on the front page of this account book was "Blue Moon Island will no longer rely only on windfall to eat."

Today, she added a line under the last entry.

'From this month onwards—the food Blue Moon Island eats is grown by itself, the spirit liquid sold is brewed by itself, and the sea area is paved by itself. Behind every entry on the island that has a written record stands something that is growing up.'

She closed the account book.

Outside the window, the cold light of the Starlight Coral was shining quietly at the bottom of the water.

A very light sound of wind came from the direction of Qixia Peak in the distance—it was as if someone on the stone platform had finally changed a new cup of tea.