06. Evolution?
06. Evolution?
Bari let out a sigh.
Honesty is a virtue, but sometimes it can be poison, and this was exactly that timing.
"...What do you mean?"
"But don't worry too much. You have to go way down deep to reach it. And the earthquake countermeasures are perfect."
"...."
Using someone else's land underground without permission, yet with such a brazen attitude.
Yeonseo was at a complete loss for words.
Just what was she supposed to do with this guy?
"Come to think of it, aren't we actually protecting you from earthquakes and stuff because of us?"
"...Not particularly, but if you take measures like that later, then sure."
"Yeah, that's what she said."
"...."
Sihwan maintained his brazen attitude even in front of Yeonseo's frozen face.
He wasn't the type to care about others' reactions in the first place.
"Alright. Thinking about that, 5% isn't a bad deal. I'll keep borrowing it from now on too."
Tap tap.
Patting her shoulder while notifying her he'd use it going forward.
"Ha."
It was so absurd she could only stare.
Even as this lowly human dared to touch her body, she was just dumbfounded.
"I need to take a deep breath for a sec...."
Belatedly, her anger started bubbling up.
Did this guy even have a single shred of common sense?
Even if it was underground, did he just decide to use it however he wanted without knowing what might be there?
"The contract's already done, so let's just move on nicely. Honestly, 5% of total sales for this land is way too much, right?"
"...."
Yeonseo trembled, her eyes glaring wide.
Her lips pressed tight was a bonus.
"You... watch your back at night."
She barely managed to curl the ends of her lips into a smile.
Her quivering mouth was pitiful.
"Yeah. Thanks for the concern."
"...."
Should she call it fortunate?
For someone who was angry, she didn't make a huge fuss.
Probably because the expected profits from Sihwan were substantial.
From what she'd seen, the cigarettes were more than capable of becoming a massive hit.
Roughly calculating, even selling just 10,000—not 100,000 or 10,000 bundles, but 1,000 bundles—a month would net 2 million gold. His 5% would be a whopping 100,000 gold.
It might not be big money to her as the granddaughter of the Great Ha Family, but in absolute terms, it was equivalent to the monthly wages of 6,700 city dwellers.
If it sold 100,000 bundles as expected? Total sales would hit 20 million gold, and her share would be 1 million gold.
And this was a lowball estimate; considering the cigarettes' potential, if she leveraged her connections to advertise across the entire Tower she currently dominated, the profits could multiply hundreds of times over.
Kicking him out over just(?) one base underground would be throwing away far too much money.
.
.
There wasn't much in the way of interior design inside the Factory.
For now, it was just vast open spaces on each floor, impossible to imagine as a production site.
But this was the pinnacle of science.
Depending on what you wanted to produce, you could install Small, Medium, Large, or Massive Printers, and once you input the product info, production started automatically.
"Teleportation doesn't make financial sense, so we have to supply resources directly."
That was its only drawback.
Sihwan's resource base was deep underground, and this was at the Academy entrance.
And in a completely exposed spot.
But it wasn't like there were no solutions.
"We'll just drill through. Drill from here down to underground and install a freight elevator, then connect it to the Underground Base."
"Hmm."
Bari glanced subtly at Yeonseo.
If she weren't here, fine, but with her right there, Sihwan was openly talking about expanding the base.
"You're asking for permission now? That's even more annoying~."
Yeonseo seemed to catch on, letting out a deep sigh.
She'd long since given up on Sihwan.
She'd developed a kind of belief that no matter what he did, he wouldn't change.
"Then I'll drill."
"Yeah. I'll be setting this up."
Bari headed out to the yard.
Meanwhile, Sihwan fiddled with the tablet, pondering.
Required Area: 1 pyeong
Max Output: 1-meter regular hexagon
Max Complexity: 0.007 nano
Output Speed: 15 seconds
Resource Consumption
Compressed Material 1/t
Meta-atom 0.1/t
<Medium Printer>
Required Area: 4 pyeong
Max Output: 2-meter regular hexagon
Max Complexity: 0.0007 nano
Output Speed: 150 seconds
Resource Consumption
Compressed Material 10/t
Meta-atom 1/t
Nanomaterials 0
<Large Printer>
Required Area: 16 pyeong
Max Output: 10-meter regular hexagon
Max Complexity: 0.00007 nano
Output Speed: 300 seconds
Resource Consumption
Compressed Material 50/t
Meta-atom 10/t
Nanomaterials 0.001/t
<Massive Printer>
Required Area: 64 pyeong
Max Output: 30-meter regular hexagon
Max Complexity: 0.000007 nano
Output Speed: 1200 seconds
Resource Consumption
Compressed Material 1,000/t
Meta-atom 300/t
Nanomaterials 0.1/t
Out of the four printer types, the suitable one for cigarettes was the , taking up 1 pyeong each.
Yeonseo had given 500 pyeong of land, with the Factory built to 400 pyeong per floor over 5 floors, totaling 2,000 pyeong usable.
If he filled all 2,000 pyeong with , that'd be 2,000 units, each producing at 15 seconds per item, so as Bari said, running the whole Factory full of Small Printers printing cigarettes 24/7 would churn out about 10 million bundles a day.
Of course, producing only cigarettes like that would be a massive waste.
"For now, let's aim generously for 10,000 bundles a day? Each does about 5,000 a day, so two will do."
"Still hard to understand what you're even doing."
"Yeah, what's he doing standing there alone?"
"Wait and see."
Sihwan selected 2 and 1 <Large Printer>.
The were obviously for cigarettes, and the <Large Printer> for making cars.
Since these women didn't get impressed by anything ordinary, he was going with this extreme(?) approach.
'Having cars won't hurt.'
The outer city had well-maintained roads for carriages anyway, so driving cars shouldn't be much of an issue.
No traffic lights and narrow streets, but autonomous driving would handle that.
More importantly, as cars started popping up one by one in the city, they'd need related infrastructure, and naturally, they'd have to come to him for it.
Since Yeonseo owned the city, she'd end up in the position of begging him!
Chwaruruk!
The printers Sihwan selected began forming in a manner similar to when the Factory was built.
In just a few seconds.
Plausible facilities appeared.
Now, once Bari opened the resource passage, production prep was done.
The Factory could read Sihwan's intent on its own, so it automatically set the to cigarettes and the <Large Printer> to cars.
"Science is the best, after all."
This convenience.
It finally felt like returning to civilization.
"No matter how I look at it, it seems impossible with science~. Are you really human? Or maybe an Angel?"
Yeonseo tilted her head and approached.
"Angel? Don't compare me to those pathetic weaklings."
"Omg?"
Calling Angels pathetic.
Sihwan's bravado no longer surprised her.
But he wasn't bluffing just for show.
Just as he pitied the continentals who couldn't conquer one Tower, the Angels and gods who couldn't push them out were equally pathetic from his perspective.
Once Bari grew properly, they could play planetary soccer, so fighting over one Tower was laughable.
"Master, passage opened. Resources will flow in soon."
"Oh. Good job."
No sooner had she spoken than the printers started moving.
When resources were supplied directly to the Factory, they got distributed to each printer.
"Master, what's that?"
Bari pointed at the <Large Printer>.
"Ah, making cars."
"Cars?"
"Yeah. Nice to have comfy rides when moving around."
The <Large Printer>'s output speed was 5 minutes.
Run it for one hour, get 12 vehicles.
He planned to keep one and distribute the rest.
And on the sides of those cars, posters advertising cigarettes and other products.
While he thought that, cigarettes were already being produced.
The two spat out one every 15 seconds, already stacking up 6 bundles.
For now, with no warehouse or logistics center, they just piled neatly in a corner, but for full operations, he'd need to designate space for that too.
"See? This is how it produces."
Sihwan held up a bundle in each hand, boasting.
"Still makes no sense."
"Of course you wouldn't get it."
"How is that even possible?"
"No need to know."
Truth was, Sihwan didn't know the principles either.
He just figured Bari could do it, so whatever.
"You did this?"
"Uh... well, sort of?"
"How can a human do this?"
"Nah, I can't explain it. I just can."
"?"
"Y'know, some ancient guy said, 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.' But in my view, science is greater than magic."
"Explain it so I can understand."
"Dunno. What can I do when you guys lack the knowledge?"
"...."
Thoroughly rude.
But he'd always been like that, so it barely fazed her anymore.
"Fine, got it for now. But it doesn't need manpower or adjustments... So besides cigarettes, can it make other stuff?"
"Of course. Limits per size, but the whole Factory can handle pretty much anything."
"Then Artifacts too?"
"Artifacts? Gotta research that. But probably possible?"
It'd need Mana and formulas, but Bari had already learned magic.
If she applied it, maybe?
"Hmm... No matter how I think, you don't seem human. You really human? Not an Angel?"
"I'm human, I said. Bari's the special one. She basically does everything."
Greed flickered in Yeonseo's eyes.
She'd long lusted after Bari, and now it intensified.
"Wanna have her~ for real."
"Yeah. No."
"Why would such a capable doll follow a human like you~."
"'Cause a human made her."
"Hard to believe. A human made that?"
"The dumb humans living in this world couldn't."
"?"
While they bantered, a car finished printing.
Swish.
As soon as it was done, it rolled right up to Sihwan and the door opened.
He hopped in without refusal(?), fiddled with the built-in tablet, and the covered car roof opened, transforming into a convertible.
"Hey, hop in."