Chapter 388 - 377: The Best Advertisement
Chapter 388: Chapter 377: The Best Advertisement
The wind and snow of the Frost Wind Plane seemed a few degrees colder than usual.
Three days had passed since the Glacier Academy was wiped off the map.
But the scorching shadow of the mushroom cloud that had blotted out half the sky still loomed over the heart of every Wizard on the Frost Wind Plane.
In Snow Rock City’s largest tavern, the "Ice Beard," the atmosphere was thick with tension.
The Mercenaries and traveling merchants who usually held forth loudly had all lowered their voices. The focus of their conversations was a single topic: the North.
"Did you hear? The Black Thorn Association’s three Second-level Wizards, along with the entire Glacier Academy, are gone," a one-eyed Mercenary said, downing a large gulp of strong liquor.
"What do you mean, ’gone’? They were vaporized! My cousin’s mentor was gathering materials nearby. He saw a beam of light shoot down from the sky, and then... the ground started shaking like it was the end of the world."
"I heard from an apprentice who escaped that it was an army of steel. There was a sky-blotting floating fortress, and two... god-like giant Golems."
"Bullshit! What kind of Golem can take out three Second-level Wizards? Especially that old poisoner, Glen. With his causal curses, anyone who crossed him died."
A well-dressed, middle-aged Wizard sneered and set down his crystal glass.
"Ignorant. That was the work of a Second-level Golem Wizard. An inside source says it was the boss behind a power called ’Weisren Heavy Industry.’ The Glacier Academy’s new western branch was their property. The Black Thorn Association’s people went after their employees and assets."
"Weisren Heavy Industry, never heard of it? Are Second-level Golem Wizards really that powerful?"
The name caused a small stir in the tavern.
Someone who often bought things on the terminal asked in surprise, "That new Golem shop on the World Commerce platform?"
"That’s them! A friend of mine in Hub City said this company started out selling their Golems at ridiculously low prices and even offered a ’three-month warranty.’ Everyone thought they were crazy at the time."
"And now?" someone pressed.
"Now..." The middle-aged merchant raised his glass, his tone profound. "I’m afraid they’re about to blow up!"
「Six months later.」
Hub City, Weisren Heavy Industry Headquarters, second floor.
Colin slapped a thick, twelve-page business data analysis report on the table and slid it in front of Allen.
Allen opened it to the first page.
"The incident on the Frost Wind Plane fermented completely within a matter of days."
The Frost Wind Plane itself was a small, remote Plane. News from there typically didn’t travel beyond a three-Plane radius.
But news on the level of "three Second-level Black Wizards annihilated in under half an hour" didn’t need a distribution channel. It grew its own legs.
The first place it spread was Snow Rock City.
The mushroom cloud had blotted out half the sky, and every Wizard within an eight-hundred-kilometer radius felt the tremors in the leylines.
That night, there was only one topic of discussion in Snow Rock City’s three largest taverns: what in the world had happened in the North.
Three days later, a few apprentices who had fled from the direction of the Glacier Academy brought the first firsthand reports—fragmented, exaggerated accounts, delivered with the tremors of survivors.
Within a week, the news reached the Frost Wind Plane’s three major cities. Within two weeks, it had spread to the six neighboring Planes via the mouths of Star Gate merchants.
A month later, the World Commerce information network caught this piece of intel and labeled it a "Class-C Event"—not a high rating, because the Frost Wind Plane was simply too remote, and three Second-level Black Wizards weren’t considered major figures.
But those with a keen eye would naturally take notice.
On the fourth page of the report, Colin had marked a key turning point: on the forty-third day after the incident, the search volume for "Weisren Heavy Industry" on the World Commerce platform showed an abnormal spike.
Previous daily average searches: seventeen.
Day forty-three: two hundred forty-one.
Day sixty: surpassed one thousand.
Allen closed the report.
"Was the statement released?"
"It was." Colin summoned a golden Scroll. "As you requested, it was published through two channels: the Association’s public information network and the World Commerce supplier notice board."
The statement wasn’t long. It was a formal document of three hundred characters, stamped with the Weisren Heavy Industry seal and Allen’s personal Wizard’s Mark.
The wording was extremely restrained.
It didn’t embellish the battle, show off the results, or even mention the "killing of three Second-level Black Wizards." It was all handled with a single short phrase: "The relevant threats have been eliminated."
The core section consisted of only two sentences.
"Weisren Heavy Industry bears an undeniable responsibility for the safety of all its employees. Any malicious act of aggression targeting our company’s personnel, regardless of where it occurs, will be met with a resolute, swift response, no matter the cost."
No matter the cost.
Those four words, read in conjunction with the mushroom cloud over the Frost Wind Plane, carried a different weight entirely.
"What’s the feedback?" Allen asked.
Colin pushed up his glasses, a smile he couldn’t quite suppress tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"On the third day after the statement was released, we received seven job applications. On the fifth day, twenty-three. As of yesterday—"
He flipped to the last page of the report. "One hundred and nineteen. Among them were twenty-six First-level Wizards and eighty-three Advanced Apprentices. Three of them wrote directly in their applications, ’I decided to apply after seeing your company’s statement.’"
Vera chimed in from the side, "Our recruitment costs have been cut in half. Before, poaching a single First-level Wizard would cost tens of thousands of Magic Stones in headhunting fees alone. Now, they’re coming to us."
This was still within expectations.
The real surprise was on the order front.
Lina pushed the door open and walked in, carrying a stack of printed order records. She placed it directly on the table with a dull THUD.
"This is the order summary from the World Commerce platform for the last three months." Her voice was steady, but there was a light in her eyes she couldn’t hide. "A total of one thousand seven hundred and twenty-three transactions."
The meeting room fell silent for two seconds.
Colin remembered the previous quarter’s numbers clearly. The war Golems had only garnered a few dozen scattered orders in total, amounting to less than a hundred units.
One thousand seven hundred and twenty-three transactions.
Colin’s finger hovered over the light screen, his lips pressed into a thin line. He took a moment, then began to read.
"Spider Slayer Mk. II: eight hundred and ninety-four deals closed, for a cumulative shipment of two thousand six hundred units. The lead generation effect far exceeded expectations. Thirty-one percent of customers who purchased the Spider Slayer made a second purchase within thirty days."
"Purgatory Platform: four hundred and twelve deals closed, with the ’Legion Starter Pack’ accounting for forty-seven percent. The Red Lotus-II ammunition resupply pack has a repeat purchase rate of sixty-three percent."
"Peacekeeper PX-1 Mass Production Model: one hundred and ninety-one deals. Storm Falcon: one hundred and forty-four deals. Shadow Assassin Complete Edition: sixty-seven deals."
He took a deep breath.
"Hive motherships: fifteen units sold."
Fifteen units. Seven hundred thousand Magic Stones each. This model alone accounted for ten million five hundred thousand.
"Total revenue for the Golem Division this quarter—" Colin’s voice grew heavier, "—is forty-two million Low-Level Magic Stones. Net profit: thirteen million six hundred thousand."
The numbers hung on the light screen—white, silent, yet more impactful than any weapon.
Vera propped her chin on her hand, looking at the numbers on the screen, and suddenly chuckled.
"Lina, what was that phrase you used last time? The barrier of trust?"
"It no longer exists," Lina replied.
She had attended four arms conventions in the past three months. When facing every potential client who brought up Weisren Heavy Industry, she perceived a fundamental shift in the emotional spectrum she read from them.
"Desire" and "possessiveness" were still there.
But "hesitation" and "distrust" had vanished.
In their place was a more primal, more effective emotion.
Awe.
"A third of those orders came from the Frost Wind Plane," Colin added, providing the final piece of data.
The Wizards who had personally witnessed the mushroom cloud over the ice fields became Weisren Heavy Industry’s first and most loyal customers.
Allen leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the tabletop.
An "advertising fee" of four million three hundred thousand Magic Stones had yielded a quarterly net profit of thirteen million six hundred thousand.
The return on investment was more than substantial.
"What about the Environmental Protection Division?"
"Quarterly net profit of three million two hundred thousand, a year-over-year increase of seventy-one percent," Colin said, flipping quickly. "The Educational Aids Division has a net profit of one million nine hundred thousand, and our number of partner academies has increased to fourteen."
All three engines were now firing on all cylinders.