Chapter 351: The Star Lord's Pot

When this guy heard there might be free armor, he happily followed along.

John Pu wasn't exaggerating either; this armor is pretty stylish, and it feels different from the Owl Rider set.

It's silver-white!

This alloy looks great; its toughness exceeds that of the fifteen‑tael set I sold you, and its main material costs only a little more. Your Highness, why not give your sidearm a try?

Great King looked wary: 'If it gets damaged, what then? It must be pretty expensive, right?'

'If it breaks, it's on me—if this armor breaks with one strike, your friend John Pu will give you a hundred sets… no, a thousand sets!' The metal he uses for Your Highness's weapons already contains this armor's main material; after being forged day and night on the assembly line, it's a finished product—how could it…

Just after he patted his chest, Great King drew Tai'a and thrust it through the armored dummy.

Tai'a pierced straight through, successfully silencing John Pu.

Great King moved so swiftly John Pu didn't even have time to react.

He belatedly looked at the pierced armor, then at the design drawings scattered everywhere… nah, did a typhoon just sweep through here?

His gaze quickly locked onto Tai'a: 'My goodness… unbelievable, what is this thing?!'

It can actually pierce armor made of aircraft material?

And what's with all this paper everywhere? And there really is a sword that can… produce sword qi?

No way? Sword qi isn't something you train… John Pu's thoughts are getting tangled.

Great King calmly withdrew Tai'a, held it sideways before him for a closer look, and said: 'Look, your armor isn't the best in the world—just holding an ordinary sword in my hand, I can thrust right through it.'

My friend, the times are advancing; your tech is about to fall behind, so you'd better sell your armor cheaper from now on! By the way, when will you deliver those thousand sets for Your Highness?

John Pu: ……

Having obtained Great King's permission, he photographed Tai'a, measured its dimensions, weighed it, and said he'd take it back for the researchers to examine.

When he returned, Great King was about to leave, but John Pu hurriedly stopped him: 'Your Highness, I'm giving you a thousand sets for free, and it only takes seven days. You really don't want to order anything else? I can make it cheap—price is negotiable.'

Great King looked torn: 'Look at this armor's color—it's nice, but it's not practical! If you wear it for a night raid, the enemy will spot you from ten miles away because of the glare.'

John Pu: ……

Exactly, it's the age of cold weapons. Without radar or thermal imaging, relying solely on the eyes to spot the enemy, overly flashy, glare‑inducing armor suddenly becomes kinda useless……

The product launch he was proud of turned into a clearance sale of useless leftovers before even an incense stick had burned.

He protested: 'How about wearing it in the daytime… no, I mean this armor's performance and comfort surpass the fifteen‑tael set—why not try other weapons? Or have your troops wear it for a few days?'

... Your Highness, don't you have an honor guard? Wearing this would look mighty imposing—throughout history, which army has ever made this a distinct troop type?

Great King nodded: 'Good idea. It would look sharp in a parade, but it's not worth my spending—I'm broke.'

'I'll give you a discount—just twenty taels.'

'Add eight more taels and you could buy a set like the Owl Rider kind.'

'Nineteen taels—can't go lower; it's truly better than the fifteen‑tael set.'

Great King's face said: 'You're so willful!'

'Fifteen taels—I'll order another two thousand sets.'

'No, no, no—it's genuinely better than the original fifteen‑tael version; how could they possibly cost the same?'

Great King chuckled: 'Just lower the original version to thirteen taels—problem solved!' …

John Pu: ……

He almost choked on his own saliva: 'No, no, no…'

Great King: 'Thirteen taels—I'll order another twenty thousand. You know, demand for armor is actually saturated; as a feudal lord, my troops are limited.'

Upon hearing twenty thousand, John Pu's nearly dead heart fluttered back to life.

'How about fifty thousand at thirteen taels and two thousand at fifteen? This silver‑white armor—why not put it on warhorses? It's only about 800 grams heavier than the Owl Bird armor, so horses can fully wear it without extra burden; how about adding three thousand sets of horse barding?'

'Five taels per pair?'

'How did it drop so much? Wasn't it originally twelve?'

Great King pointed at the pierced chest of the model and said, 'You're behind the times, aren't you!'

John Pu: '…Fine, the silver‑white armor isn't as good material‑wise as the Owl Bird armor—ten taels per set.'

Great King turned and walked off: 'Let's just order the armor first—you draft the contract; we'll discuss the rest when I have money.'

'No, no—888, eight taels will do!'

Great King, bare‑faced: 'Six taels, firm price.'

John Pu punched the calculator, the total came to nearly seventy thousand taels—some profit, but not as much as before. Sigh, looks like I need to develop some new products.

Both parties signed the formal contract, uploaded it to the Homeland System, and Great King finally went to sleep, satisfied.

This guy almost laughed awake in his dream—tonight's spending was basically paid for with those few ritual vessels, almost like a freebie.

As a result, he got too much of a freebie, and something came up the next day.

After court, Zhao Bao kept glancing at him, wanting to speak but holding back, until he finally couldn't and stepped closer to whisper: 'Your Highness, the new set of grand sacrificial vessels for this year has gone missing from the palace; the warehouse keeper has been kneeling in the affairs office all morning… Is the Old Star Lord suffering from his old ailment again?'

Great King: ……