Chapter 457 - 317: Four-Way Melee (18)
Chapter 457: Chapter 317: Four-Way Melee (18)
The Zhao Family also had its own techniques, allowing them to craft High-Toughness Leather Gloves with +100 Durability.
This technique was now passed down to Fifth Brother Wu, Zhao Jing, who continuously crafted and sold them.
It was a Zhao Family secret, one that even Zhao Chi didn’t know.
Usually, this would require Special Materials.
For example, using Snow Bear Hide could produce Leather Equipment with +50 Durability, +2 Defense, and +5 Cold Resistance.
However, the Zhao Family’s technique was clearly more advanced than that.
They were likely made from Ordinary leather, perhaps with some kind of special material added.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to produce such a large quantity, nor would they be sold so cheaply.
Creating a Special Effect using Ordinary leather meant lower costs and higher profits.
This was the key to how the Zhao Family had managed to develop and prosper.
If Zhao Chi were to buy them, he would get a discount, since it was his own family’s product.
But Zhao Chi had never once bought them.
He preferred Iron Armor.
’It would be best if all the Female Soldiers wore Iron Armor; they have no use for Leather Armor at all.’
But other Lords weren’t as fortunate as Zhao Chi; their subjects were merely from Ordinary Races.
Archers and Light Infantry still had to wear Leather Armor.
Therefore, sales of the Zhao Family’s High-Toughness Leather Gloves had always been good.
If they could be sold in other cities, Zhao Jing could stop participating in combat, retrain more of his people as Tailors in his territory, and become a purely production-focused Lord with a populace of Tailors.
Then, they could mass-produce even more High-Toughness Leather Gloves, and the Zhao Family would earn more money.
With more money, the Zhao Family would become stronger, attract more vassal Lords, and the entire family would grow ever more powerful.
Even independent players without a family could make a profit by flipping the goods.
All in all, it was indeed a good thing.
However, it also meant a large number of outside products would be sold here, potentially causing some families to suffer an Impact, grow weaker, and eventually fade into obscurity.
Everyone discussed it for a while.
Zhao Shizhang and the other elders were also discussing it amongst themselves.
Finally, they decided that Zhao Jing would expand production starting today.
In addition to fulfilling the current orders, he was to produce a surplus of High-Toughness Leather Gloves equal to his current output.
The newly crafted Leather Gloves would be transported by his fourth uncle, Zhao Qiye, to other cities to open up new markets.
He would also take his two wives—Zhao Chi’s two fourth aunts, Chang Yuzhu and Chang Yucui—to help with sales.
The three of them were all Lords, and their strength was considerable.
They had the power to fend off bandits and Magical Beasts on the road.
If sales were good, they could scale up to mass production later, which would justify the investment of these three Lords’ time.
But Zhao Qiye still had some concerns.
Namely, both of his wives were quite beautiful. Although they were over forty years old, they had maintained themselves very well, and the passage of time had left few marks on their faces.
If they went with him out of the city, he was afraid the Alien Race members guarding the public passages might get malicious ideas.
Zhao Qizong laughed. "Hahaha, Fourth Brother, you’re worrying too much. It’s precisely because Yuzhu and Yucui are so beautiful that we’re having them go with you."
Zhao Qiye was confused. "Why?"
Zhao Qizong explained, "The aesthetic standards of the Alien Races are vastly different from our Human ones. Have you forgotten they’re Werewolves? They have little interest in us Humans. At most, they might be interested in certain women who look a bit like Werewolves themselves."
"Is that really how it is?"
Zhao Qiye couldn’t help but look at his two wives. Their Appearance was excellent and bore no resemblance to a Werewolf whatsoever.
His second uncle, Zhao Qizu, also spoke up. "That’s right. That’s why that niece from the Xiao Family, Xiao Ning, was taken a fancy to by that Muchang—because her appearance was a bit strange."
Zhao Qiye nodded, feeling a little more at ease.
He had indeed heard such rumors before.
Zhao Chi had also heard similar information somewhere before. He had previously wondered why Muchang had only taken Xiao Ning, even though there were many beautiful women in Stream Village, like Su Qin and Zhao Jiao.
’It seems that information was correct.’
But Zhao Chi wasn’t thinking about that right now.
He, too, was thinking about the matter of trade.
To get from Snowfield City to other cities, you obviously couldn’t just walk there through the wilderness.
Instead, you had to travel through Spatial Rifts.
That was how the Elf Saintess, Shirel, had left before.
There were very few Magical Beasts in the Spatial Rifts, making them comparatively much safer.
The real danger to watch out for wasn’t Magical Beasts, but bandits.
There were two nearby cities: White Grass City to the north and Celestial Peak City to the south.
The journey to either took about three days.
There were three cities farther away: Ice Mountain City to the northeast, Withered Leaf City to the east, and Ambition City further south. Reaching any of them required a week’s journey.
Of course, that travel Time was for an ordinary merchant caravan.
Zhao Chi’s Female Soldiers were extremely fast.
After all, their agility was high, they had the Bonus from Zhao Chi’s Wind and Cloud Step, the Movement Speed Bonus from the Silk Stockings, and the rapid Physical Strength Recovery from the Carefree Spring.
A three-day journey would only take them one day, and a week-long journey could be completed in three days, and with ease at that.
If it was a small batch of Supplies, he could just put them directly into his System Space.
For example, Silk Stockings.
Zhao Chi suddenly realized that Silk Stockings would actually be an excellent product.
Gu Qing could produce the main raw material in large quantities, so the only cost to consider would be the Rare Materials.
The cost was relatively low.
Furthermore, the finished Silk Stockings were extremely light and didn’t take up much space.
A single cubic meter of System Space could hold a great many of them.
And the Attributes of the Silk Stockings Zhao Chi crafted were so powerful that he would have no trouble with sales, and he could set a high price.
’But the Attributes seem a bit too high.’
’Attributes that are too powerful will attract too much attention...’
’In the current situation, it’s better to be a bit more low-key.’
Besides, using Gu Qing’s Spider Lady Silk to make Silk Stockings resulted in 95 points of Durability. They were too durable.
For a piece of Equipment, being too durable was an excellent advantage.
But for a commercial product, it was a drawback.
If they were too durable, they wouldn’t break easily. If they didn’t break easily, no one would buy new ones, and sales would be limited.
’It’s better to use regular Silk.’
Silk Stockings made from ordinary Silk only had 5 points of Durability and would break very easily.
However, their Attributes would be much lower, and they wouldn’t sell for a high price.
And that way, he would have to buy large quantities of Silk, and Gu Qing’s Silk would go to waste.
’Perhaps...’
’When I’m crafting, I should check those grayed-out bits of information. Is there a way to control the Durability?’
’It’s not easy to increase Durability, but surely Destruction isn’t hard to achieve?’
’I’ll go back and try it in a bit.’