Chapter 128: Legitimate Excuse

“What? The Internet God sold a batch of flintlocks to the Three Gods of Pran?”

Dwarf King Kauth, upon receiving the news from a business partner, felt as if struck by lightning, shivering all over!

The thing he feared the most had finally happened.

The Internet God not only sold flintlocks on a large scale to the Three Gods of Pran;

Worse yet, the price was slightly cheaper than the dwarven flintlocks!

Even though the profit margin for dwarven flintlocks was currently over 400%, Kauth had a hunch that if he dared to lower prices, so would the Internet God.

In a price war, he would undoubtedly lose.

In fact, he didn’t even have the courage to try.

After witnessing the Internet God’s production line, he couldn’t muster the courage to fight.

He saw with his own eyes how the steel pipes flowed rapidly off the assembly line.

Each piece was manufactured in seconds without exaggeration.

How could he compete with such terrifying efficiency?

Even if he installed water wheels for smelting iron in every underground river, he couldn’t match it.

When he first arrived, the Dragon Factory had already sold six production lines. Less than half a month later, they were about to sell two more.

The efficiency was terrifying.

At this moment, Kauth hid in the factory bathroom under the pretense of needing to go, feeling as if mourning.

The graffiti on the stall door seemed to morph into mocking monsters laughing at his incompetence!

Before sneaking into the Dragon Factory, he was confident he’d learn by just looking.

Reality severely hit him.

Forget the whole production line, he couldn’t even understand the procedures.

The gears were too precise and complex to comprehend with just the naked eye.

Failing to learn the Internet God’s industrial techniques was almost equivalent to losing the weapon market.

Would the dwarves survive then?

Clearly not.

The dwarves, through long market choices, became more specialized in weapon forging, losing most other production capabilities.

Once the market no longer needed their weapons, even with thousands-year-old wealth reserves, their future remained dire!

What to do?

Kauth’s face turned pale.

“Is the production line ordered by Duke Mallory packed?”

At this moment, whispers came from outside the bathroom stall, accompanied by the sound of streaming water.

Kauth was startled, quickly holding his breath to listen closely.

“Don’t worry, manager. It’s packed and ready in Warehouse No. 2 for inspection.”

“Good. Duke Mallory will inspect it tomorrow morning. Keep it guarded tonight! Remember, this is no ordinary bicycle production line; its manufacturing precision far exceeds those. No mistakes allowed.”

“Yes!”

As the sounds outside the stall gradually faded, Kauth froze.

A bold idea popped into his mind.

If he can’t learn, then steal.

Once he stole the production line, with the dwarves’ forging skills, even if dismantled into parts and hand-polished, they could perfectly replicate it.

While replicating, they could learn and even surpass the original!

Thinking of this, Kauth’s heart thudded uncontrollably.

Blessed by the Titans! There’s always a way!

Thinking this, Kauth hurriedly left the restroom to return to his post.

That damned line leader yelled at him again, complaining about his long bathroom breaks and threatened to dock his pay.

The line leader’s angry scolding dispelled any lingering unease in Kauth’s heart.

He coldly chuckled inwardly, “You bastard, just wait. Once I get the production line back to Khazad-dûm, I’ll spend money to buy your life!”

From then on, Kauth no longer secretly observed the production lines during breaks, focusing solely on work.

He didn’t want any small mistake to ruin the entire plan.

In simple mechanical labor, time passed both slowly and quickly.

When the shift replacement arrived, Kauth sighed in relief, finally off work.

He left the factory with the workers, had dinner in the cafeteria, and joined the crowd heading to the Dragon Factory’s bath center.

Speaking of this bath center, it’s a perk of the Dragon Factory.

A large bath center was specially set up, offering free baths to the workers.

It was said to use hot water produced from the surplus heat of a magical steam engine.

Besides free supply for the bath center, it was sold at low prices to city residents.

Many said Lord Ajef, like the Internet God he followed, had a benevolent heart.

The Dragon Factory directly or indirectly provided countless jobs for the Empire.

They even thought of using the surplus heat to provide hot water to city dwellers. Which noble could think of that?

Even if they did, how many would go through the trouble for such little profit to install a surplus heat system?

The hot water sold by the Dragon Factory was cheap.

A copper coin could fill a large bucket. Nearby residents liked to fetch water here.

This even gave rise to water sellers.

They’d buy water from the Dragon Factory, wrap it in thick blankets for insulation, and sell it far away.

Since the cost was low, the water sellers’ prices were cheap.

Business was booming.

Speaking of which, the Internet Bank deserves praise.

Its emergence made transactions easier and allowed splitting copper coins into smaller units—’cents’ and ‘mils.’ This detail benefited countless people.

For instance, the water sellers didn’t need to sell a whole bucket.

Many just bought a bottle.

Previously, this was hard to sell, right?

Now, it’s easy. Just transfer five cents via the Internet Bank.

Don’t underestimate these five-cent deals.

Countless frail elderly survived on these five-cents sales.

Back to the point.

After entering the bath center, like most workers, Kauth bathed and chatted.

Halfway through, he claimed feeling dizzy and went outside for fresh air.

Then he disappeared without a trace.

No one cared about his whereabouts.

No one knew that after entering the bath center washroom, Kauth vanished.

Thousands of years of dwarf arms trading had accumulated massive wealth, including various rare magical tools.

The key to Kauth’s disappearance was a top-tier magical artifact—the Invisibility Cloak.

It’s one of the highest Light Element Magic works.

It perfectly refracts light to achieve invisibility;

The special materials cause minimal magic fluctuations, making it a perfect tool for stealth!

As an alchemical creation, there’s a chance of being detected.

This was why the dwarves didn’t initially use the cloak to sneak in.

Now he’s forced to use it, even if detected.

He doesn’t have time for detailed planning.

Perhaps it’s the Titans’ blessing;

Or maybe his observations during meals and baths of the Dragon Factory’s security.

Anyway, Kauth was surprised to find himself safely at Warehouse No. 2’s entrance.

Surprise, apprehension, disbelief, and doubt surged through his mind.

But facing the tempting production line, he gritted his teeth and slipped in while staff entered and exited.

“Beep… beep… beep…”

Upon stepping in, a sharp beeping filled the warehouse.

“Damn! Something got in? Protect the production line!”

Angry roars echoed in the warehouse.

Various detection spells swept through.

Kauth could no longer hold back, he dashed toward the pile of wooden crates in the warehouse center.

As he approached, he opened his right hand.

Instantly, his spatial equipment activated.

The mountain-high crates vanished.

“It’s done!”

Ecstatic, Kauth didn’t check the crates, wildly throwing distractions and activating a spatial teleportation artifact.

Amidst numerous angry shouts, he vanished from the Aezia Main Plane.

In a private mansion behind the Dragon Factory.

Lying on an office chair, Yu Sheng’an watched Kauth disappear through God’s Perspective, a smile forming.

Finally, a legitimate excuse!