Chapter 1657: Price Suppression and Airships

Seeing that Xia Duo did not persist on the issue of measurement standards, Lord Leisen also made some concessions, proactively proposing to lower the purchase price to 500 Gold Coins per pound.

However, Xia Duo was not satisfied with this price; although it appeared to be slightly lower than the market price, it was still somewhat too high as a factory price.

Furthermore, he was offering a long-term order, which was enough for Leisen Territory to use as leverage to lower purchase prices in external ore procurement, and it could also be used to improve processes and reduce costs.

Thus, the ideal price Xia Duo gave was—

"300 Gold Coins per pound, I believe that is quite reasonable!"

"Lord Xia Duo, 300 Gold Coins is absolutely impossible. The quality of ore Leisen Territory purchases from outside varies, and with transportation and ore dressing, it might take 3,000 pounds to smelt 1 pound of Standard Mithril. At 300 Gold Coins, I wouldn't even be able to cover the costs."

To this, Xia Duo did not refute; he knew the situation with Mithril Mines. Under normal circumstances, raw Mithril ore only accounts for about two-thousandths of the total volume, which is two-thousandths of the total useful ore after rough sorting.

And not two-thousandths of the total mining project volume!

Plus, now that Netheril has abandoned enslaving Gnomes, those high-quality miners, costs will rise again. Even counting the silver, copper, and other "waste" produced during the Mithril smelting process, it would be very difficult to cover all costs at 300 Gold Coins.

But since Xia Duo intended to support the growth of Leisen Territory, he had certainly already considered these things. "Lord Leisen, do not be anxious, listen to me explain."

"First, regarding transportation, the biggest cost comes from time—caravans, guards, transit fees, and so on. The longer the time, the more the consumption. But what if there were a high-capacity aerial transportation solution with a speed far exceeding ground travel?"

"Second, regarding ore dressing, it can be done locally first. This reduces the work on your end and can also lower transportation costs."

"As for smelting, if Lord Leisen trusts me, why not take out a Crude Refining Furnace and modify it according to the plan I provide? If nothing goes wrong, it should also be able to reduce costs to some extent."

"Combining all of the above, even if Standard Mithril is sold at 300 Gold Coins per pound, it would be enough to cover the vast majority of costs."

After Xia Duo finished speaking, Lord Leisen fell silent. Although he did not quite believe that Lord Xia Duo could provide an effective modification plan, the points the other party mentioned were undoubtedly in the direction he was currently striving toward.

The Nether Core Region had long been fully developed; aside from a very small number of bandits, it was basically impossible for beasts or alien races to attack people on the road.

But in the future, not all ore could come from the Inner Land; Mithril mines might also be discovered in the New Expansion Land such as the Kangqi Plain, Aibi Hills, and Kelong Plain.

Even if it were just in the Inner Land, aerial transportation would be more convenient and faster than ground transportation.

And regarding ore dressing, Leisen Territory was already negotiating with some Mithril mine origins, but previously it was difficult for him to compress costs in various aspects, and thus he could not offer a price that satisfied the local lords.

Additionally, Leisen Territory was not the only one in the Inner Land interested in integrating Mithril resources and developing the Mithril smelting industry; competition would also bring higher costs.

If everything Lord Xia Duo said were realized, then many problems would no longer be problems.

With increased efficiency and reduced costs, what would it matter if he gave Xia Duo a price of 300 Gold Coins per pound? He would still have more output that could be sold to others at a higher price.

"Lord Xia Duo, is everything you said true?"

"Of course it is true."

Xia Duo nodded without hesitation. "Regarding aerial transportation, I wonder if Lord Leisen has seen a drifting bottle? A sealed wine bottle filled with air can float on the water's surface. So, if a gas lighter than air were wrapped up, could it float in the air? If the buoyancy were great enough, could it be used for transportation?"

"Buoyancy?" Lord Leisen's eyes suddenly lit up. Previously, he had only considered Flight, and had never thought of such a simple solution.

Flight tools with Flight as the core were too difficult to realize, but if a gas lighter than air could be found, aside from the step of wrapping the gas, the other steps would not even require Magic!

This meant that as long as there was enough manpower, it could be replicated infinitely.

Thinking of this, Lord Leisen hurriedly asked: "Does Lord Xia Duo know how to do it?"

In fact, Lord Leisen already had a vague plan in his mind, but it was still far from being a practical aerial transport tool. If there were a mature plan, he could immediately start the relevant project.

"Of course, since I brought it up, I certainly have a plan!"

As he spoke, Xia Duo directly projected an image of the conceptual Airship between the two. "I call this tool an 【Airship】. Below is a simple flat-bottomed cargo ship, and above is an airbag, using the buoyancy of the airbag to lift the cargo ship below."

"As for how to move forward, just equip it with an Intermediate Mage who knows Flight or Wind Creation, or replace it with a Magic Item."

"Wonderful, wonderful! The buoyancy of the airbag offsets the gravity of the cargo below. In this way, it can even be pulled along with a rope, like flying a kite!"

With the previous analogy of the drifting bottle, how could Lord Leisen not understand? The key to this Airship was using buoyancy to offset gravity. As long as it could float, moving forward and such would just be a small matter.

At this moment, he couldn't wait to arrange for people to start building it, but since Lord Xia Duo was still here, he could only suppress his excitement and asked again:

"Using only light gas to lift the cargo ship below must require a large amount of gas. Where would one find such a large airbag?"

This question was quite simple for Xia Duo. He slightly adjusted the projection, moving the perspective deep into the airbag above the Airship, and explained:

"There is no need for such a large single airbag. What I am showing is just the skin; the interior is actually composed of a large number of small airbags."

"So that's how it is!"

Lord Leisen had already thought of how to make small airbags. As for the preparation of light gas, that was not difficult either; it was mostly just a process of searching that would take a little time.

This was probably the only place where Magic would need to be used.

"Lord Xia Duo, your Airship plan has been a huge help to me. I fully agree with the price you just mentioned: 300 Gold Coins per pound, and I will never raise the price!"

In reality, the Airship was by no means just for transporting ore, or rather, using it to transport ore was somewhat of a waste. The value of a ship of ore was definitely not comparable to a ship of grain or other more valuable goods.

This Airship could definitely have more uses.

Xia Duo was somewhat surprised that Lord Leisen made a decision so quickly; he hadn't even mentioned the plan for modifying the Crude Refining Furnace yet!

"Does Lord Leisen not want the Crude Refining Furnace modification plan anymore?"