Chapter 698: Yield Rate, Talking Points

"Wow—ooh!"

Inside the Workshop, both Official Mages and Apprentices cheered. Although it was only a doubling of their weekly performance bonus and a reward of 50 Gold Coins each, it signified Xia Duo's affirmation of their day-and-night work over these past few days.

After promising the rewards, Xia Duo steered the topic to the trial production. He tossed the Crystal Ball in his hand and asked the group: "Since qualified products have already appeared, what is the current yield rate?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the previously lively Workshop fell silent, and the atmosphere grew tense. Tilake opened his mouth, seemingly not knowing what to say, so he desperately signaled to Dien.

Dien was likewise signaling to the others. How could the small movements of these few escape Xia Duo's notice? However, he had long been mentally prepared for the state of the trial production.

He had even prepared himself for the trial production to fail. Now that qualified products had appeared, it could already be considered a success. As for the yield rate, it could be improved slowly in the future.

He had only asked casually. Seeing the tense atmosphere in the room, Xia Duo began to comfort them, "I am already surprised that you were able to figure out the process flow in such a short time and even produce a qualified item. No matter how low the yield rate is, I will not blame you, but you should at least give me a baseline now!"

With things having reached this point, Tilake, Dien, and the others felt a bit embarrassed. After exchanging glances, Dien, who was closest to Xia Duo, ultimately explained:

"We started the trial production research three days ago and have now completed the first qualified item. We failed countless times during the process, but because the Mithril and some of the Five-Colored Gemstones can be reused, what was actually consumed was the depreciation of the Alchemy Array, the Crystal used for encapsulation, and the Crystal Softener. Calculated as a yield rate, it is about one-tenth."

After finishing, Dien hurriedly added, "However, the process flow is now determined. As long as proficiency increases, the final yield rate can definitely be maintained at over 90 percent."

"Then what is the approximate cost of producing one final qualified Communication Magic Tool?" Xia Duo asked again.

"Based only on the current process flow and projecting a yield rate of over 90 percent—"

Speaking to this point, Dien swept a glance at the Apprentices and Mages on the production line, "If labor costs are not counted, the cost is very close to the price of the materials themselves."

Once said like this, Xia Duo understood immediately, and it was also his original expectation.

The emergence of the production line incorporated Apprentices into the production link, greatly reducing the work of Official Mages, and the work of Official Mages was the bulk of the price of Magic Items in the past.

In more serious cases, it could even account for more than two-thirds. (Of course, the practices of some black-hearted mages doubling and redoubling prices were not included; this only counts normal market conditions.)

And now, the money that needs to be paid to Official Mages for a single Magic Item is less, so the cost has dropped significantly, coupled with the low-cost advantage of the 【Permanent Magic】 technology itself.

It is foreseeable that as long as Xia Duo is willing, these Communication Magic Tools could completely be sold at "cabbage" prices.

"Very good!"

Xia Duo praised them once more, then looked at the production line, which only had a dozen or so people including the Official Mages, and asked Tilake, "How many people does a complete production line need? How many Apprentices and Mages each?"

The answer to this question had long existed in Tilake's mind, just waiting for Xia Duo to ask, "Currently, we have divided the entire production link into 19 steps. The optimal configuration requires 17 Apprentices and 3 Official Mages."

Xia Duo nodded, "I will have Saier Town Mayor send people over as soon as possible. Before that, you all should further refine the production process and organize the production manual. Once the people arrive, arrange for training and start work immediately!"

"Understood!"

Next, Xia Duo had Tilake arrange a relatively complete production process. After watching it, he left the Workshop 021, which was destined to be remembered by history—or at least by the history of the Tower of Time.

……

Afterwards, Xia Duo still did not return to his residence. Having just watched the trial production process, how could he sit still? He wished he could start working immediately with a full staff.

Passing through the Portal and arriving at the Savile Territory, Xia Duo headed straight for the Town Hall.

The "cloud and mist effect" accompanying 【Cloud-Riding】 attracted the attention and discussion of many Guard Soldiers, but Xia Duo's mind was not on this at all; he was preoccupied with why those old Apprentices had not been recruited yet.

It was just that after Xia Duo circled the Town Hall, apart from a few Clerks, he did not find any sign of Sain. Since he still had to continue processing Spellbooks in a while, Xia Duo did not waste any Spell on Sain, but instead found the Guard Soldiers at the Town Hall to inquire:

"Samu, do you know where Saier Town Mayor has gone?"

"My lord, Saier Town Mayor has gone to the Military Camp," the guard Samu answered honestly, while another soldier beside him looked at him with envious eyes, occasionally glancing at Xia Duo and revealing a look of awe.

Xia Duo ignored the small movements of an ordinary soldier. He sought out Samu purely because among these soldiers at the entrance, he only knew Samu and knew the other's name.

Knowing Sain's whereabouts, Xia Duo was about to leave when he suddenly thought of another question, so he asked again, "Has Saier Town Mayor recruited anyone recently?"

"No."

"I see!"

Xia Duo did not continue to ask. He would know once he saw Sain in a while, so he flew toward the Military Camp on his clouds again. Behind him came the proud voice of the previously honest-looking Samu:

"Do you know? I knew Lord Xia Duo when he was still an Apprentice. At that time, he—"

As the distance grew, the voice gradually faded, becoming background noise of the environment. Thinking of the short segment he had just heard, Xia Duo could not help but chuckle.

He did indeed know that Samu a long time ago, but the situation at that time was much the same as today; they had just spoken a few simple words. It was only because his status had changed that he had become a talking point for others to show off.

……

Arriving above the Military Camp, Xia Duo did not pay attention to the ordinary soldiers who had suddenly become alert and then quickly relaxed. His gaze had already been drawn to Sain and Keyaan, who were tugging at each other in front of a barracks.

What is this for?

With a trace of doubt, Xia Duo landed directly in front of that barracks. The slight movement of the soldiers clearly had not caught the attention of these two, and it was not until Xia Duo landed that the two suddenly separated.

"Lord Xia Duo, why did you come in person!" Sain said in surprise.

And Keyaan on the side had a somewhat subtle expression. He did not dare to look directly at Xia Duo, but instead glared at Sain, seemingly regretting not having beaten him up just now.

However, the necessary etiquette was still there. After inviting Xia Duo into the room, Keyaan carefully asked about Xia Duo's purpose, "My lord, what are your instructions?"

"Don't be nervous. I just came to ask Saier Town Mayor when the people I want will finally be gathered."

However, before Sain could speak, Keyaan let out an exclamation, "Ah—is the person Sain wants to find really the one you want, my lord?"

The expression was too exaggerated! Poor acting!

Xia Duo silently gave an evaluation, but he truly acted as if Keyaan was unaware, "I don't know what Sain told you, but I do indeed need a batch of old Apprentices who have come out of the Tower of Time in recent years. So, what is the situation now?"

When saying the last sentence, Xia Duo turned his gaze toward Saier Town Mayor.