Chapter 2265: Smuggling Cutting-Edge Technology

No matter how much the Absolu Chamber of Commerce asked for, Jiamu would convert it into Makala for Xia Duo, while what Xia Duo used to pay were Arcane Crystals.

It was a business with no cost to him, so he did not care how much more the other party could earn, as long as he felt he was not losing out.

Now that Jiamu quoted a price of 2.72 million Makala, to be honest, Xia Duo was very satisfied; when converted into Arcane Crystals, it was less than 500 Arcane Crystals.

With the current production of Arcane Crystals in the Floating City, Xia Duo only needed to count "1, 2, 3" in his heart a few more times to easily save up that many Arcane Crystals.

But he felt this price was a bit of a loss, so bargaining was inevitable; otherwise, it would be easy to be slaughtered like a sucker.

"Mage Asuosi, Manager Ha Man says this price really cannot be lowered any further. A single Multi-functional Puppet costs nearly one million Makala just in materials, and then there is that anthropomorphic puppet. Before today, no one had ever thought about making a puppet completely anthropomorphic; usually, just having a human-like appearance is enough. This kind of anthropomorphic puppet needs to be redesigned from scratch. Charging this little is already out of respect for Prince Aben."

"Were there no anthropomorphic puppets before?"

"No, absolutely not. Humanoid Magic Artifacts are not very popular in Yimaska to begin with, let alone completely anthropomorphic ones. Perhaps craftsmen in the past might have studied this, but the Absolu Chamber of Commerce definitely would not. The purpose of the Chamber of Commerce is to make money; why study things that don't make money!"

After much discussion, Jiamu finally agreed to waive the odd change—not the odd change of the 2.72 million Makala, but the odd change of the Arcane Crystals Xia Duo needed to pay, requiring only 400 Arcane Crystals.

"Do I need to pay a deposit? How long until delivery?"

"No deposit is needed. As for how long until delivery, I wonder how long Mage Asuosi plans to stay in Yimaska?"

"I came with the Keman caravan, so I should be leaving with them as well!"

"According to past experience, the Keman caravan usually stays in Yimaska for about a month. If that is the case, the Absolu Chamber of Commerce will definitely be able to deliver before you leave, and we can settle the payment and goods then."

Xia Duo considered it for a moment and nodded, "Fine, but for the anthropomorphic puppet, I do not want the Absolu Chamber of Commerce to just slack off. If that is the case, I will not pay."

"Rest assured, it will definitely satisfy Mage Asuosi."

These words, of course, did not come from Jiamu's personal guarantee, but were a translation of Manager Ha Man's strong confidence. Regarding this, Xia Duo did not say anything more; anyway, if he was not satisfied, he just wouldn't pay.

The main reason he wanted to propose the requirement for an anthropomorphic puppet was to use it as a way to peek into the technical level of Yimaska.

Wanting to design and create a puppet that mimics humans in every aspect is not an easy task; at least with Xia Duo's current abilities, he could not make such a puppet.

He could even say that all of Netheril could not design such a puppet.

Of course, if one only pursued a similar effect, Xia Duo still had many alternative plans, but here he had already restricted the conditions: he wanted a puppet, or rather, he wanted it realized in the form of a Magic Artifact within the Creation Magic System.

Xia Duo believed this would definitely not be an easy job.

On Earth, this would be like making a robot with a human appearance, internal human organs, and the ability to move like a real person. Given the complexity of humans, just thinking about it makes it an impossible task.

Therefore, Xia Duo did not actually require the Absolu Chamber of Commerce to make a puppet that was 100% similar to a human; as long as the limbs and the main system functions of the body were similar to a human's, he would consider the other party qualified.

It can be said that only in the classical Magic era, where many cognitions were still imperfect, could this anthropomorphic puppet, which could be called the pinnacle of technology, be so easily "smuggled" into Xia Duo's hands.

Of course, it is still too early to say this; only when the puppet is truly in hand can it be considered a small victory.

Having finished negotiating the custom puppet, Xia Duo did not go to a second place for combat-oriented Magic Artifacts, but settled it directly here. However, since this was a workshop, Manager Ha Man only provided some samples for Xia Duo to refer to; the actual products could only be obtained at the store.

"This is a Guardian Belt. Once the wearer encounters an external attack, it will automatically trigger a protection barrier, capable of resisting at least Level 5 damage."

"This is a Strong Attack Gloves. The wearer can emit a Destruction Ray from their palm, destroying all targets in front, with a damage level reaching Level 6."

"This is—"

Jiamu introduced the combat-oriented Magic Artifacts to Xia Duo incessantly. Xia Duo nodded from time to time to show his approval and placed orders, but after all the introductions, he discovered a problem: these combat-oriented Magic Artifacts were all for individual combat use.

They did not possess the attributes for large-scale battlefield operations.

"Tax Official Jiamu, when I was in Zhanjite City before, I remember the rebels seemed to have used a type of long-range siege weapon. Do you have any here?"

"Those are war weapons privately made by the rebels. They only pursue destructive power and have absolutely no safety guarantees. Of course, we do not sell such inferior products here."

"Tax Official Jiamu, you know that is not what I wanted to ask!" Xia Duo could not help but raise his volume to show his dissatisfaction. You can choose not to sell, but you cannot slack off and beat around the bush.

Xia Duo completely understood and could accept the former, but although he understood the latter, he did not accept it.

"Mage Asuosi, war weapons are indeed not for sale to outsiders. Combat-oriented Magic Artifacts are already very sensitive, and as for that, I am worried—"

"Can't you just say you don't sell them! I am not an unreasonable person. Xilu also has various restrictions on war weapons, and I can fully understand that."

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"Yes, yes."

In the end, Xia Duo placed an order at the Absolu Chamber of Commerce for over a hundred combat-oriented Magic Artifacts, as well as hundreds of civilian Magic Artifacts with different functions and uses, for a total price of five million Makala.

This price had a lot of water in it, but Xia Duo did not care at all. If you want to learn from others, how can you not pay some tuition?

Although from the current perspective, Magic Artifacts seem more suitable for civilian promotion than the Magic Artifacts of Xilu, Xia Duo believes that as long as the advantages of the Magic Artifact system are absorbed, Magic Artifacts will not be inferior to them.

Moreover, because the main material for Magic Artifacts is generally only Mithril, which is much more convenient than the various materials of Magic Artifacts, as long as a cheap preparation method for Mithril is mastered, Magic Artifacts will definitely become the most common Magic Item.

"Tax Official Jiamu, I would like to visit Prince Aben to express my gratitude in person. I wonder if you could introduce me."

Since Prince Aben had already shown his sincerity, Xia Duo naturally could not be too impolite. Furthermore, meeting is meeting, and trading is trading; the two are not exactly the same thing.