Chapter 364 - 353: I’ll Teach You How to Do Business
Chapter 364: Chapter 353: I’ll Teach You How to Do Business
Shortly after Allen returned to the Deep Blue Residence, a notification came from the Cybertron Workshop.
"Commander, the first batch of five thousand Tutoring Golems has completed final packaging."
Jarvis reported, "All twenty-three core metrics have been re-tested, with a one hundred percent pass rate. Among them are two thousand instructional-type, two thousand service-type, and one thousand of various other models."
"Good. We’ll make the delivery tomorrow."
The next morning, Allen went through the Star Gate bright and early, arriving in Hub City’s Central Business District.
Wizards, apprentices, merchants of various races, and Alchemy Servants crisscrossed on the streets.
Floating billboards, one after another, advertised Magic Potions, runic devices, soul insurance, and planar travel packages.
Allen walked past the street corner, looked up at a golden sign, and entered the ground-floor entrance of the "New West" headquarters.
The showroom was even more complete than it had been half a month ago. On the white moonstone walls, six giant display panels, imprinted from memory crystals, were lined up in a row.
On them were half-length portraits of six outstanding former students, with some highly compelling short phrases underneath:
"From a miner to a First-level Wizard, it only took me twelve years."
"A success story in specialized tutoring for those with Meditation impediments."
In the reception area, all three cubicles had their "Occupied" Rune lights on.
Colin was standing at the front desk, clutching a stack of forms and speaking rapidly with a Wizard in a gray robe:
"Sir, this is the absolute best we can do. The earliest available slots for intensive tutoring for six Advanced Apprentices are in the middle of next month. Our instructors need to rest."
The Wizard frowned, about to haggle, when Colin caught sight of Allen at the entrance out of the corner of his eye.
His eyes lit up. He shoved the forms into the hands of a nearby assistant and said, "Stick to the original schedule. No exceptions for cutting in line." With that, he strode over to greet Allen.
"Boss, perfect timing," Colin said, lowering his voice, an excited glint flashing behind his lenses.
The two of them went straight up to the second-floor office area and entered the soundproof office at the end of the hall.
"Time for your monthly briefing."
Colin pulled out a chair and sat down, activating the light screen of his personal terminal. "The tutoring business... it’s booming so much it feels unreal."
Allen nodded, gesturing for him to continue.
"Out of eight target academies, we’ve already secured official operating agreements with six. The Clare Family Academy and Lilith’s Cottage signed twenty-year contracts directly. At the Seven Towers Alliance’s main campus, revenue is up eight percent month-over-month. The schedules for our teams at every branch are completely full."
Colin stared at the data on the light screen, a hint of disbelief in his voice. "The management at those smaller academies... when they see our curriculum and tiered assessment system, they act like they’ve just seen a high-tier artifact."
Allen smiled faintly. "That’s because they haven’t."
Colin looked up.
"From my observations, the education market in the Wizard Civilization is extremely fragmented."
"The vast majority of academies have teaching systems born from the master-apprentice model. One mentor takes on three to five apprentices, and what they teach and how they teach it depends entirely on their personal experience and mood for the day. There are no standardized textbooks, no progress tracking, and no remedial support for struggling students."
He looked at Colin. "For these smaller academies, the ’standardized teaching, tiered services, and precision pricing’ model that New West has spent twenty years honing isn’t just a minor improvement—it’s a massive leap from zero to one."
Colin fell silent. He had worked at New West for twenty years, but being so close to it, he hadn’t seen things as clearly as Allen.
"What about Vera?" Allen asked.
"She’s stationed at Lilith’s Cottage." Colin pulled up a communication log. "She said the academy’s Dean of Academic Affairs holds our system in extremely high regard. He even privately proposed outsourcing their entire basic Witchcraft curriculum to New West."
"And she refused," Allen stated, not asked.
"How did you know?" Colin was taken aback. "She did refuse, citing a lack of manpower. But I think if we just transferred a few instructors over, we could easily handle that business."
"It has nothing to do with manpower," Allen said, leaning back in his chair. "The logic of the tutoring business is parasitic."
Colin’s hand, which had been adjusting his glasses, froze.
"We’re a supplement, not the main course. The moment New West takes over their basic education, the guest upstages the host, and the academy’s management will go from being partners to competitors."
Allen’s gaze was profound. "Vera’s intuition is sharp. She knows where to draw the line. That’s her value on the front lines."
Colin nodded thoughtfully.
"The tutoring business is fine. Let’s talk about the arms business," Allen said, cutting to the chase.
The excitement on Colin’s face vanished instantly, his brow furrowing deeply. He pulled up another, more dismal report.
"The Golem Division... is in bad shape."
Colin sighed. "While promoting the courses, all the branch teams also showed off product images and spec sheets for Weisren Heavy Industry, just as you instructed. The result is that we’ve had a few inquiries about the Tutoring Golems, mostly from the Academic Affairs Offices of various academies, but they’re all just waiting and seeing. As for the War Golems..."
He spread his hands. "Lots of questions, very few orders."
The office was silent for a few seconds.
"That’s normal," Allen said, his expression unchanged.
"Normal?" Colin raised his voice. "Our initial investment was astronomical! If the War Golems don’t sell, the company’s cash flow won’t last two years!"
"Colin, put yourself in their shoes. Would you spend two thousand Low-Level Magic Stones on a combat Golem from a brand you’ve never heard of, no matter how exquisite the blueprints are?" Allen retorted.
Colin choked, opening his mouth but saying nothing.
"Wizards are an extremely rational and suspicious group. A War Golem is a life-saving tool, so the barrier to trust is incredibly high." After speaking, Allen sent an inventory list to Colin.
"They’re waiting and seeing on the Tutoring Golems because they haven’t seen a physical product. I brought five thousand units with me this time. I’ll hand them over to you in a bit."
"Seeing is believing. It’s more effective than a thousand empty words."
Colin’s pupils contracted as he looked at the enormous numbers on the list.
’Five thousand units? He made five thousand units by himself in just over a month?’
"Two thousand instructional-type and two thousand service-type?"
"And guard-types, Spider Slayers, multi-purpose platforms..."
He snapped his head up. "Didn’t you say they were prototypes?"
"To the market, the first batch are always prototypes."
Allen’s tone was calm.
"Starting today, send ten instructional-types and one hundred service-types to each of our partner academies."
"Have the branch teams use them directly in their demonstration classes."
"The instructional-type Golems will be responsible for correcting student mistakes, and the service-type Golems will handle post-class lab maintenance."
Colin immediately started taking notes. "What about the War Golems?"
"No rush on those. I’ve already received some orders on my end. As for the academies, we need to establish a conversion funnel first."
Allen continued to explain:
"First, we get the apprentices accustomed to Weisren Heavy Industry’s products. Let them experience our precise interaction in the classroom."
"After using them, they might buy our service-types. They’ll discover that our Golems aren’t just smart, but also durable and cheap."
"At that point, the ’Weisren Heavy Industry’ brand will become synonymous with ’reliable’ in their minds."
Allen revealed a slight smile. "Then, demand for guard-type Golems will naturally emerge. They’ll think, ’Since their Tutoring Golems are so good, maybe their self-defense Golems are worth a try too?’"
"Finally, we have the practical-application models—the Spider Slayers." Allen turned to face Colin. "Building a reputation takes time. Before this funnel is fully established, don’t expect the War Golems to sell in large numbers. My projection is six to twelve months."
The anxiety in Colin’s eyes completely vanished.
The tangled mess of threads in his mind had been neatly unraveled by Allen’s words.
"I understand." Colin quickly took notes on his terminal. "I’ll adjust the sales team’s talking points and promotional focus immediately."
After he finished his notes, he looked up and brought up another matter.
"But it’s not all bad news."
Colin pulled up a deposit agreement.
"Last month, an instructor from the Seven Towers Alliance came to us. He had personally seen the Cyclops demonstration in the square and was deeply impressed with the Giant Golem you produced."
Colin pushed up his glasses. "He ordered twenty service-type Golems on the spot. Said he was sick of the stupid Servant Golems the academy provided—they couldn’t even sort materials properly—and wanted to buy ours for his own workshop and lab. I quoted him your price of four hundred fifty Low-Level Magic Stones per unit, and he didn’t even haggle. Paid a deposit of three thousand Magic Stones right then and there."
"This is Weisren Heavy Industry’s very first sale," Colin said with a grin.
Allen’s gaze flickered, and the faintest hint of a smile touched his eyes.
The long-tail effect of the Cyclops was beginning to show. The profit from this first order was negligible, but it was an extremely important market signal.
"Deliver them to him tomorrow. And include a complimentary high-tier dust removal module," Allen ordered decisively.
"Understood."
With their business concluded, the atmosphere in the office relaxed a little.
Allen walked to the window. Under the glow of the artificial sky, Hub City’s vast architectural clusters looked like an intricate gearbox, with countless powerful beings bustling about within it.
He gazed at the bustling city outside and suddenly spoke.
"Colin, there’s one more thing."
"Right now, all of our production capacity for the Tutoring Golems is on Cybertron."
"But as the tutoring business expands, and once that conversion funnel is fully established, orders for the War Golems are going to explode."
"I can’t just babysit the workshop and production lines forever."
Colin looked up, seeming to realize something.
"You mean..."
"Get the funds ready," Allen said, speaking each word with deliberation. "I’m going to build a factory. Here, in Hub City."