Chapter 128: A Just Cause
"What? The Internet God sold a batch of firearms to the Plen Three Gods?"
Upon receiving the news from his business partner, Dwarven King Kaut felt as if struck by lightning, his entire body turning cold with dread.
His worst fear had finally co true.
Not only had the Internet God sold firearms to the Plen Three Gods on a massive scale, but—even more devastating—the prices were slightly cheaper than dwarven firearms!
Though the current profit margin on dwarven firearms exceeded 400%, King Kaut had a gut feeling that if he dared to lower prices, the Internet God would follow suit.
If a price war broke out, he would undoubtedly lose.
In fact, he didn’t even dare to fight.
After witnessing the Internet God’s assembly line, he couldn’t muster the courage to compete.
He had seen with his own eyes how those steel pipes poured out of the production line at a frenzied pace.
It was no exaggeration to say that each one was manufactured in a matter of seconds.
With such terrifying efficiency, how could he possibly compete?
Even if he filled every underground river with waterwheels for forging, it still wouldn’t compare.
To make matters worse, the Dragon Factory had already sold off six production lines when he first arrived, and now, less than half a month later, they were preparing to sell two more.
The efficiency was horrifying.
At this mont, hiding in the factory restroom under the pretense of relieving himself, Dwarven King Kaut looked as if he had lost all hope.
The graffiti on the stall door seed to morph into grotesque monsters, cackling at him, mocking his incompetence!
Before infiltrating the Dragon Factory, he had been brimming with confidence, believing he could learn everything with just a glance.
But reality had dealt him a crushing blow.
Forget the entire production line—he couldn’t even fully grasp the single process he was assigned to oversee.
The interlocking gears were too precise, too complex. There was no way to learn their workings just by staring at them.
Yet, if he couldn’t master the Internet God’s industrial technology, it would an losing the weapons market entirely.
If that happened, could the dwarves even survive?
The answer was clearly no.
Over ti, market forces had pushed the dwarves to specialize almost exclusively in weapon forging, leaving them with little capability in other production areas.
If the market no longer needed their weapons, even their millennia of accumulated wealth wouldn’t save them from impending doom.
What could he do?
King Kaut’s face turned deathly pale.
"Is Duke Mallory’s custom production line packed and ready?"
Just then, hushed voices and the sound of running water reached his ears from outside the stall.
King Kaut froze, holding his breath as he strained to listen.
"Don’t worry, Manager. It’s all packed and stored in Warehouse No. 2, ready for inspection at any ti."
"Good. Duke Mallory will be here tomorrow morning to inspect it. Make sure you post extra guards tonight! Rember, this isn’t just any bicycle production line—its manufacturing precision far exceeds standard models. There can be no mistakes."
"Yes, sir!"
As the voices outside faded into the distance, King Kaut sat in stunned silence.
A bold idea flashed through his mind.
If he couldn’t learn it, he would steal it.
If he could smuggle the production line back to Kazad-dûm, the dwarves’ forging prowess would allow them to perfectly replicate it—even if they had to disassemble it piece by piece and craft each component by hand.
At that ti, while replicating and learning, surpassing the master is not impossible!
At this thought, Dwarven King Kaut's heart pounded uncontrollably.
Truly, Titan bless—when one door shuts, another opens!
With this in mind, the Dwarven King hurriedly left the restroom and returned to his workstation.
That damned line supervisor scolded him again, berating him for taking too long in the bathroom and even threatening to deduct his wages.
The supervisor’s furious tirade completely dispelled the faint unease in Kaut’s heart.
He sneered inwardly—just you wait, you bastard. Once I get my hands on the production line and return to Kazad-dûm, I’ll spend every copper coin to buy your worthless life!
From then on, Dwarven King Kaut no longer stole glances at the production line during work as he used to. Instead, he focused entirely on his tasks.
He didn’t want the entire plan to fail at the last mont because of so minor mistake.
In the monotonous grind of simple labor, ti passed both slowly and swiftly.
When the replacent worker arrived, Dwarven King Kaut finally exhaled in relief—his shift was over at last.
He followed the workers out of the factory, had dinner in the canteen, and then joined the crowd heading to the Dragon Factory’s bathing center.
Speaking of this bathing center, it was one of the Dragon Factory’s welfare benefits.
The factory had specially built a large bathing facility, providing free showers for its workers.
Rumor had it that the hot water was produced using waste heat from the magic steam engines.
Not only was it supplied freely to the bathing center, but it was also sold at low prices to the city’s residents.
Many said that Lord Ajef, much like the Internet God he followed, possessed a kind and compassionate heart.
Not only did the Dragon Factory directly or indirectly provide countless jobs for the Empire,
but it also thoughtfully repurposed the waste heat from magic steam engines to produce hot water for the city’s residents. Tell , is this sothing your average noble lords would even consider?
Even if they could think of it, how many would go through the trouble of installing a waste heat utilization system for such ager profits?
After all, the hot water sold by the Dragon Factory was dirt cheap—
just one copper coin for a full bucket, and nearby residents all...
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