Chapter 2057: New Opportunities, All Working Hard

However, although Xia Duo had explained the source of the upcoming infrastructure materials, for Saixili, there was one problem that could never be overlooked: the problem of money.

Even if it's put on credit, it still has to be paid off in the end, right? Where will the money come from?

Mentioning this issue, Niya also seemed somewhat confused and asked Xia Duo, "That's right, even if we don't have to pay cash for now, we'll have to pay eventually. We can't just drag it out for several years, can we?"

"Saixili can actually answer this question herself!"

"Me?"

Saixili said with an expression of disbelief, continuing to hug Niya's arm and complain, "The Tower of Time doesn't have much capital left on the books. Although there will be quite a bit of income in the future, it all has to go toward paying off previous orders first."

The Tower of Time had already incurred a huge debt to maintain itself and support the construction of the Floating City; if it weren't for the income from mass-producing Magic Items, it might have gone bankrupt long ago.

Now that there are more expenses to be incurred, who knows when this debt will ever be paid off!

"Sigh—"

Xia Duo really wanted to say "the shortsightedness of women," but Niya was also waiting for his explanation, and for a moment he couldn't tell if Niya really didn't know or was just playing dumb.

"Saixili, tell me, what is the current monthly net income of the Tower of Time?"

"About 200,000, but the sales volume of Communication Magic Tools has recently started to slide. The market must be nearing saturation. It's all being supported by the high profit margins of the Second Generation Communication Magic Device, but it's foreseeable that this won't last too long either."

Speaking of her own professional work, Saixili understood it better than anyone, but it was precisely because she understood that she was even more worried, "But the vast majority of this 200,000 net income has to be used to fill the holes of previous orders, especially the reserve resources item, which is simply a bottomless pit."

The reserve resources Saixili spoke of were actually the consumption from the early construction of the Floating City. At its peak, it required receiving over a million Gold Coins worth of materials every month. Fortunately, the main construction period was short, which prevented the Tower of Time from going directly bankrupt.

Now that it has shifted to a more moderate reserve, it is actually breaking even, if not for this current move by Xia Duo.

"Saixili, you only see the declining sales of the Tower of Time's Communication Magic Tools, but you don't see the overall downward trend in the prices of Netheril Magic Items. Do you know what this means?"

"What does it mean?"

"It means a price war more brutal than ever before is coming, and this is the Tower of Time's brand-new opportunity for development!"

"What kind of opportunity is a price war? If we fight until the end and no one has any profit, then no one should do it!"

Saixili's words clearly carried a bit of petulance. Before Xia Duo even needed to refute, Niya tapped her heavily on the forehead and said with a smile:

"Are you stupid! Right now, only the Tower of Time can mass-produce Magic Items. If we fight to the end, of course we'll be the only ones left standing!"

If this were before Xia Duo went to Siluwende, Niya might have worried about whether a price war would eventually lead to actual combat between Mages, but knowing the true power of the Floating City, Niya was no longer worried about those things; instead, she was somewhat eager to try her hand at the trouble that might arise.

Although her way of putting it was a bit blunt, it was closer to the essence of the matter. The reason the Tower of Time can make money now is not because of those specific products, but because of its mass-production capability!

Without things like Communication Magic Tools or Warning Amulets, one could find ways to develop other products. As long as there is mass-production capability, there will be no shortage of opportunities to make money.

And Xia Duo had long understood that even if technology is only one step ahead, one can reap quite a few dividends, let alone being ahead by more than half an era!

When the Tower of Time develops more general-purpose Production Machines in the future (mainly in terms of software), it could completely be said to be an entire era ahead of Netheril!

Actually, Xia Duo did not like engaging in price wars and preferred to make a fortune in silence as he had before, but the progress of the era cannot be stopped. In the beginning, one can only use price wars to occupy the market, and only later can one increase premiums by managing a brand.

Of course, if one can become the setter of industry standards, the benefits involved would be hard to calculate in terms of money.

Xia Duo is confident that the Tower of Time can maintain its existing advantages and remain at the forefront of the field of Magic application.

As for theory, with some effort, it is not unreachable. The Equation Spell Xia Duo discovered previously can be said to have reached the pinnacle of Netheril Magic, or even opened up an entirely new domain.

The theoretical foundation of the 【Mythallar】 is not complex; it is just an Independent Arcane Fire Device. It is only limited by materials or other factors that make it difficult to realize. It can be said to be an engineering miracle, but it is hard to call it the pinnacle of theory.

As the core of the Netheril Magic System, even without the current Iolum or Xia Duo to create the 【Mythallar】, others would eventually create corresponding Independent Arcane Fire Devices in the future.

There is no doubt about this; it could have been foreseen from the moment the theory of Arcane Fire was born.

After explaining the reasons why the Tower of Time would inevitably not spend more than it earns, Xia Duo wanted to dismiss Saixili directly, but seeing that Niya and Saixili were so close, he couldn't help but offer a few more words of advice:

"In the future, the division of labor in the Tower of Time will be more clearly defined, and related work will be more professional. Saixili, if you still want to continue working in fields like material coordination, budget management, and even financial planning, you need to put more effort into these areas."

Xia Duo did not want Saixili to rely on her relationship with Niya to keep her position in the Material Department of the Tower of Time. From a long-term perspective, it is almost an inevitable result that someone more competent than Saixili will appear in the Tower of Time.

If Saixili does not put more effort into her own professional work, Xia Duo will inevitably have to replace her in the future.

In fact, Xia Duo's words were not just for Saixili to hear, but also for Niya. When Xia Duo gave everyone two choices at the meeting just now, Niya was already persuading Saixili to choose the Learning Machine.

Because Niya understands him and knows that he will definitely find a way to perfect the Learning Machine, but—

If Saixili has great talent in Magic, then this choice cannot be called wrong, but what is Saixili's true talent?

Among the few students left behind by Lord Epps, only Saixili is still an Apprentice to this day, while among the Apprentices recruited two years ago when the Tower of Time was transforming, there have already appeared Intermediate Mages.

You must know that the benefits and treatment that the current Apprentices and new Mages of the Tower of Time can enjoy, Saixili only receives more, never less. Under such circumstances, she has still made no progress.

In that case, choosing the Learning Machine would be a pure mistake.

The perfected Learning Machine is not some Artifact that makes you understand everything at a touch; in essence, it is not much different from Xia Duo teaching personally, but Xia Duo has no confidence in cultivating Saixili into an Arcanist.

Of course, if there were no time limit, she should be able to grind her way to becoming an Arcanist, but learning is something that has stages. If you don't learn it after a certain amount of time, even if you learn it later, it won't have much significance.

In the foreseeable future, Xia Duo does not intend to popularize the Longevity Technique, at least not to everyone.

Then, rather than letting Saixili painfully develop in the field of research and never making a name for herself in her whole life, it would be better to choose a field she is good at and develop it now; perhaps she could even achieve a decent accomplishment.

A normal, orderly civilization will not have distinctions of high or low status within it, only different divisions of labor.

Although there may be some gaps in reality, under his own efforts to steer the helm, Xia Duo believes that the gap will be controlled to a level that most (future) people can accept.

To put it in current terms, he is now persuading Saixili to choose a direction with good employment prospects to work hard in, rather than choosing a field of basic research that she is not good at, perhaps not even interested in, and which is too lofty for the common people.