122: Chapter 0122 Major Twist

As the horizon turned the color of a fish's belly, Li Size straddled his Blue Star witchcraft motorcycle, preparing to return to Gele City.

The pale blue runic glow of the motorcycle pierced through the morning mist, where fragments of wind energy particles from sorcery crystals still floated in the air.

He looked back at the gray skies of Wojin City; there was not only the smell of rust there, but also the inescapable net he had cast.

“Calvin, tomorrow's market will be very 'lively'.”

He whispered, adjusting the motorcycle's acceleration controller as the duct thrusters abruptly spat out a blue-violet stream of Demonic Energy.

The Blue Star turned into a streak of blue light and vanished into the horizon, leaving a faint trail of sorcery energy in the sky.

Recalling the hardships and challenges of this period, Li Size couldn't help but heave a deep sigh.

What had truly caught him off guard wasn't the sudden cutoff of raw Materials.

He felt as if he had returned to that day...

When Felina handed him the letter from Infinite Studio terminating their cooperation.

Their eyes met, and in that instant, both realized the severity of the problem.

Felina clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white, her voice carrying suppressed fury:

“We completely underestimated the ruthlessness of the Dekerus Merchant Guild.

They didn't just cut off the raw Materials; they even strangled our contract manufacturing channels. This is a direct stab at our vital point!”

She bit her lip, a flash of panic in her eyes as her fingers tightly gripped the runic embroidery on her skirt, yet she quickly forced herself to remain calm:

“How about we look for other studios to take over?

We should be able to find someone who isn't afraid of their threats, right?”

Li Size leaned against the edge of a table engraved with runic patterns, lightly tapping the surface with a furrowed brow:

“That would just be drinking poison to quench thirst. If Dekerus could force out Infinite Studio, which of those small studios would dare to take the job?”

He looked up at Felina, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness:

“You just mentioned asking other instructors at the academy for help with production?

It might work as a stopgap, but those instructors can help us once, not for a lifetime.

We can't always rely on others to bail us out.”

Logically, such a blockade should have been nearly impossible for them to withstand.

However, a turning point was quietly hidden within Li Size's recent Breakthroughs in sorcery machine tool research.

He had always focused on the field of Mechanical Alchemy, especially recently, making significant progress in 'Sorcery Machine Tool Manufacturing Technology (Zero Ring)'.

This technology had just broken through the Proficient stage, reaching the maximum value of 100/100, and through his Pay-to-Win enhancement, it successfully advanced to the Mastery level.

Now, his Pay-to-Win Ability prompt clearly displayed:

【Sorcery Machine Tool Manufacturing Technology (Zero Ring) - Mastery Level 10/100】

Note:

Mastery-level Zero Ring sorcery machine tool manufacturing technology can support the automated assembly line manufacturing of twenty-one technological processes.

Having mastered Mechanical Alchemy, mechanical principles, and sorcery machine tool manufacturing technology, you are now capable of independently creating automated production assembly lines for Zero Ring elementary sorcery items!

This didn't just mean a significant increase in the number of processes; it marked their entry into a brand-new Domain:

Autonomous production of sorcery items.

Li Size had initially leveled up this skill to optimize the 'Inferior Potion Automated Production Machine Tool'.

He hadn't expected that the first thing it would be used for was the production dilemma of the 'little sorcerer donkey'.

The core module of the 'little sorcerer donkey' used a rune-locked assembly structure, consisting of six relatively independent sub-modules.

Each was only equivalent to a simple sorcery item, far below the performance standards of Zero Ring elementary items.

Although the overall process involved seventy steps, after disassembly, each sub-module actually only required 8 to 15 steps.

Therefore, Li Size only needed to manufacture six—no, four machine tools—to achieve full autonomous production of the little sorcerer donkey's core sub-modules.

Because three of the energy output control modules had the same structure.

He only needed to build four types of sub-module production lines, and from then on, he would never have to rely on any external contract manufacturing again.

This was truly a case of the flowers one plants not blooming, while the willow one didn't mean to plant grows into shade.

The technology originally reserved for another path had unexpectedly become the key to escaping the predicament.

The sorcery wind chimes outside the window made a crisp sound, as if celebrating this turning point.

Thus, while arranging for others to carry out the counterattack plan for the raw material war, he locked himself in the Laboratory once more...

The Laboratory door automatically dropped its runic lock, isolating him from external interference.

Once it was quiet, he immediately activated his Pay-to-Win Ability to deduce the design blueprints, a blue-violet light flickering at his brow:

【Consume 3000 Demonic Energy points to deduce the design blueprint for the little sorcerer donkey Energy Storage Sub-module automated production line machine tool. Time required: 1 Sorcery Hour】

...

【Consume 2000 Demonic Energy points to deduce the design blueprint for the little sorcerer donkey Energy Conversion Sub-module automated production line machine tool. Time required: 1 Sorcery Hour】

...

【Consume 1000 Demonic Energy points to deduce the design blueprint for the little sorcerer donkey Energy Output Sub-module automated production line machine tool. Time required: 1 Sorcery Hour】

...

【Consume 1000 Demonic Energy points to deduce the design blueprint for the little sorcerer donkey Core Confidential Sub-module automated production line machine tool. Time required: 1 Sorcery Hour】

Li Size injected 140 gold coin energy points to deduce the automated production line machine tool blueprints for the four sub-modules. Four blueprints glowing with pale blue runes slowly unfolded in his consciousness.

Each blueprint was labeled with the name of the corresponding sub-module:

Energy Storage, Energy Conversion, Output Control, and Core Confidentiality.

He used a Sorcery Chisel to carve flowing Demonic Energy runes onto fine iron blanks and embedded sorcery crystals into the machine tool's core slots.

Finally, he spent three days and three nights building the four machine tools into physical form, each machine tool casing stamped with a unique sub-module identification rune.

When these machine tools started up...

The sorcery crystal slot at the input end of the Energy Storage Sub-module machine tool lit up with a warm yellow glow after oak and brass raw Materials were fed in.

After being squeezed by runic crushing rollers and tempered in a Demonic Energy furnace, energy storage modules wrapped in a pale gold Demonic Energy film rolled out of the output end.

The blue runic array of the Energy Conversion Sub-module machine tool rotated at high speed, and sorcery crystal fragments were decomposed and reorganized in transparent pipes, turning into shimmering deep blue conversion modules.

Silver-white runes flowed through the output control sub-module machine tool as metal parts were automatically spliced in precision jigs, spitting out control modules with a cold gleam.

Black runes flickered on the Core Confidential Sub-module machine tool as raw Materials were processed through multi-layered encryption runic arrays, outputting modules with complex anti-cracking patterns carved on their surfaces.

The four machine tools emitted a low Demonic Energy hum as they operated, and the conveyor belts at the output ends continuously sent sub-modules to the finished product area, glowing with various sorcery lights.

This crisis over the contract manufacturing of core modules had exposed Li Size's lack of sufficient Wizard Apprentice assistants.

Fortunately, Li Size relied on his own outstanding Mechanical Alchemy attainments to turn the danger into safety.

Now, relying on these automated production line machine tool blueprints, Li Size had not only escaped the constraints of those contract manufacturing studios.

He had also further reduced the cost of the core modules by at least fifty percent. The Laboratory's automated runic conveyor belt began to run, verifying this achievement.

Amidst the howling gale mixed with fragments of wind energy particles, Li Size took pleasure in recalling the events of the past ten days.

Driving his Blue Star witchcraft motorcycle, he secretly returned to Gray Mist Mountain Town; tomorrow would unveil a new act...

Just as the morning light of the ninth day spilled onto the bluestone slabs of the trading market, which were engraved with anti-slip runes...

An employee of the Dekerus Merchant Guild rubbed his eyes and rushed into Calvin's office:

“Chairman! Not a single one of Li Size's purchasing agents showed up today!

They definitely couldn't hold out anymore!”

Calvin was holding a bone china cup engraved with Family runes and sipping coffee; he paused upon hearing this, not even noticing that coffee stains had splashed onto his expensive silk cuffs.

He stood up abruptly, his mouth curling into a smug arc:

“Finally admitted defeat?

Pass down my order: prepare the fastest witch box. I'm going to Gray Mist Mountain Town.

While he's at his most pathetic, I'll buy up all those invention intellectual property rights of his!”

The black witch box left a streak of deep blue light on the road engraved with guidance runes. Calvin sat inside, his fingertips tapping the Demonic Energy sensing area on the box's wall.

He calculated in his mind:

That kid Li Size, with his raw Materials cut off and his contract manufacturing gone, must be like a stray dog.

When I see him later, I'll first feign a few words of comfort, then squeeze the price down by fifty percent to buy him out. He'll have no choice.

Thinking of this, Calvin couldn't help but laugh out loud, as if he could already see Li Size bowing his head to sign the papers.

As soon as the witch box came to a steady stop, Calvin jumped out impatiently, only to be stunned by the sight before him:

Dozens of yellow-painted witchcraft three-wheelers were 'putt-putt-putting' into Li Size's mechanical factory.

Every vehicle was fully loaded with shining brass, oak, and sorcery crystals. Workers were carrying burlap bags stamped with runic marks, their faces brimming with excited smiles.

On a high platform in front of the factory gates, Li Size was standing there, holding a Sorcery Megaphone, his voice booming:

“The problem with raw Materials has been completely resolved!

Starting tomorrow morning, all production lines will be at full capacity!

We're going to show the Dekerus Merchant Guild who the real winner is!”

The surrounding workers erupted in cheers...

Calvin's face turned white in an instant, and the runic ring on his wrist flickered erratically due to his emotional agitation. He rushed forward and grabbed a worker's arm:

“What is going on here?

Where did you get so many raw Materials?”

The worker shook off his hand, the workshop mark on his clothes lighting up as he said smugly:

“From the new channel the boss found, of course!”

The humming of the nearby sorcery machine tool conveyor belts seemed to confirm his words.