Chapter 340: Affiliation, someone sent money
There is no benefit without reason in this interstellar world. With the strength and means that Qinglong has demonstrated now, he deserves to befriend everyone.
But for Austin, he has the support of Anduin, a dominant figure, so he doesn't need to rush too much.
There must be a purpose behind this action.
Li Ming also understood that it was not that he was unwilling to help, but that he needed to consider the other party's needs.
Austin finally spoke, sighing pretentiously before saying:
"I have a nephew who has never done anything serious since he was a child. He has always been interested in mechanics. When he grew up, he actually figured out something special."
"I started a machinery company, selling weapons, prosthetic limbs, and other things."
"But he himself is only a senior mechanic. Although he employs several senior mechanics, the company is struggling in many areas."
Li Ming listened with a lingering look in his eyes. He understood what Austin meant. "You want him to be affiliated with you?"
Li Ming has been in Chaos Star Gap for several months and has gained a deep understanding of the influence of the Mechanics Association, this behemoth.
To put it bluntly, although the level of mechanics can be converted into combat power, it does not represent one's own strength. However, after years of subtle influence, the internal level division can be made almost on par with the level of conventional life.
It can even be said that the influence is even higher, which is enough to prove the strength of this association.
As for the modulation of genetic seeds, the disciplines involved are complex enough, but no one has divided it into any biological levels.
It’s not that no one has organized similar associations, but most of them ended in failure.
The Mechanics Association is loose yet united. Not only in the Chaos Star Gap, but in every civilization with a Mechanics Association, almost all companies and consortiums involved in the machinery industry have close ties with the Mechanics Association.
If you are not a member of the Machinists Association, or if you do not employ a few mechanics, you will not be able to survive in the related industry.
It was some time after Li Ming founded the Mechanical Royal Court that he realized that if Qinglong had not joined the Mechanics Association, the counterattack he would have suffered would have increased exponentially.
Even a few overlord-level figures cannot interfere in related industries. If they want to interfere, they must be affiliated with mechanics.
What’s interesting is that the two master craftsmen of the Mechanics Association don’t have many industries in the chaotic star gap, but are instead rooted in the orderly civilization.
Do you really think arms are a good business? Do you understand the value of medical and educational equipment?
"Smart..." Austin raised his thumb, and a rune emerged from his fingertips and floated in the air.
Soon, there was a knock on the door. Austin didn't say anything, but looked at Li Ming.
Austin was very hospitable, so no matter whether he agreed or not, he had to meet him anyway.
"Please come in." Li Ming said.
The door was pushed open, and a figure who looked 80% like Austin, but younger, walked in wearing a black suit, holding a black metal box in each hand.
"Uncle..." He nodded to Austin, then greeted Li Ming: "Sir Li Ming, I'm Trevor. Please give my regards to Sir Qinglong."
Li Ming felt a little strange in his heart. When he first started to work on the vest splitting plan, he felt a little awkward when others mentioned Qinglong in front of him.
But now, he himself vaguely felt that there really was a person named Qinglong.
"Mr. Trevor, please take a seat..." Li Ming also stood up. After all, he was an A-level life form.
The two exchanged a few pleasantries, and Trevor was very efficient and got straight to the point. "Uncle may have already explained the general situation, and there are some additional details..."
"My company specializes in combat prosthetics and armor. Our business scope is in the Inston Star Ring of the Star-Turning Sea. Thanks to my uncle's connections, we are very successful in several star clusters." Trevor was frank and open.
"However, I've been in some trouble recently. A new company has poached several of my orders and seems to be trying to siege me. A Casting-level mechanic is behind them."
Li Ming was surprised to hear this. He thought Austin wanted to use Qinglong to interfere in the business of Chaos Star Gap, but he didn't expect it to solve the difficulties.
Austin couldn't help but say helplessly, "Mechanic Harrison, I don't have much of a relationship with him. He doesn't operate in the Chaos Gap, so he doesn't need to give me face."
"Hmm..." Li Ming pondered, then said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I don't want to cause any trouble for my teacher."
Then he pushed the dimensional landmark on the table back.
Seeing this, Austin couldn't help but shake his head and said, "This is nothing. No need to be so polite."
Trevor hurriedly explained, "There won't be any trouble. I'm not actually afraid of them. His main problem right now is that the A-level mechanics I employ are unwilling to support me."
"This is an unspoken rule within the Machinists Association. When high-ranking machinists want to get involved in a local industry, they must give up a certain share."
"As long as I'm affiliated with them, I'll be qualified to compete with them on an equal footing. Besides, they don't have a close relationship with that Casting Star Mechanic."
Li Ming raised his eyebrows. There is actually such an unspoken rule?
Then why were they suppressing him in the beginning?
Oh, those who suppressed him were all Casting Star mechanics, so they didn’t have to abide by this unspoken rule.
Then can the Mechanical Royal Court make some progress towards the Order Civilization? It would be a waste to make use of this advantageous unspoken rule.
After thinking about it, I gave up the idea. It was because of the serious shortage of manpower and production capacity.
There is a severe shortage of middle-level managers, especially, and it is not the time to fill them yet.
Seeing Li Ming deep in thought, Trevor struck while the iron was hot and put two boxes up. "This is my gift to Lord Qinglong."
After he opened it, Li Ming glanced over and saw two fist-sized cubes of metal material inside.
One is orange-yellow like gold, opening and closing like scales, and the other is crystal clear, like ancient ice that has existed for thousands of years.
Atis alloy, space super crystal...
Li Ming's eyebrows moved slightly, and he recognized at a glance that they were all genuine S-grade materials and were very valuable.
"I'm willing to increase the profit share of the affiliation to 10%..." Trevor glanced at Austin and said through gritted teeth.
Li Ming's heart skipped a beat. Generally, the profit share for affiliation is 5% of the net profit.
Considering the size of the other party, 10% is probably not a low number.
Li Ming was already tempted, but Qinglong could not easily agree. After pondering for a moment, he said helplessly:
"My teacher told me that first-level affiliation is not possible, no matter who comes to do it. Only second-level affiliation is possible, and the profit share can be reduced to 5%."
The first-level affiliation is on the page of the Mechanics Association. It can be checked that it is directly managed by Qinglong. Currently, there is only one Mechanical Royal Court.
The second-level affiliation is under the Mechanical Royal Court and is ostensibly under the management of the Mechanical Royal Court.
It is easy for people to use the first-level affiliation as an excuse to do things under other people’s name, so you have to be on guard.
Trevor hesitated and glanced at Austin, but Austin said directly, "Then let's go with a second-level affiliation. The profit share is still 10%."
Trevor's eyelids twitched, but he didn't dare to refute. At least he had gotten in touch with this line.
It's not that he doesn't have other options, but Austin asked him to choose Qinglong, which is also an investment.
The two signed an agreement and then completed the certification and affiliation on the spot.
He took a quick look at the other party's financial statements from last year. The turnover was 2.2 trillion star coins, with a profit margin of about 20%. Roughly estimated, the income was around 40 billion star coins.
After Li Ming figured it out, he couldn't help but sigh that he wanted to do this affiliated business.
After sending the two away, Li Ming checked and found that there were indeed Casting Star-level mechanics who were mainly affiliated with the company, and there was more than one. The commission rate for the second-level affiliation was reduced to 0.5%.
The most powerful star-level mechanic has 16,000 companies affiliated with him and accepts all of them.
"Fuck..." Li Ming was speechless for a long time, and finally understood that the other party wanted to find him to solve a problem on the one hand, and to establish a preliminary bond with him on the other hand.
Austin is quite the thief.
Li Ming muttered something, then picked up the materials on the table and casually stretched out his stance. With the level of life he encountered now, it was too casual to see through the wall, and he needed to take more precautions.
It took half an hour to absorb all the materials in the two pieces of metal and obtained 60 million metal energies.
This amount surprised Li Ming. The value of these two gifts was much higher than he had imagined.
"This is the benefit of fame..." Li Ming sighed. He could also use Trevor as a springboard to move closer to the Sea of Stars.
The density and intensity of civilization over there is beyond imagination.
Then, he picked up another dimensional boundary marker, took control of it, and then strengthened and improved it according to the process.
Directly upgrade it to A-level. The upgrade cost itself is not high, and in the end it only consumes 6 million metal energy.
The [Exploration] ability has indeed improved, from exploring one dimensional world to exploring four, and the amount of information obtained has increased significantly.
I looked at the metal energy and found that there were still 70 million left. If I saved up a little, I could upgrade it to a top-level S-level item.
Then, he opened the "Brief Introduction to the Dimensional World" that Austin gave him as a gift. This was produced by the Multidimensional Research Institute, which focuses on the research of the dimensional world.
"...You can imagine the entire dimensional world as a honeycomb, divided into three layers: the shallow dimensional world, the deep dimensional world, and the Eternal Abyss..."
"…Shallow dimensional worlds are mostly dominated by a single element, and are also the main barrier supporting the real universe…"
"...The deep dimensional world is even more complex, some of which are even identical to the real universe..."
“…according to the level, or it can be divided into letters, such as E, F, etc…”
"But please note that an A-level dimensional world only means that its upper limit is A-level life forms, not that there is only one..."
"The unknown is always the danger of the dimensional world. Once you cross the dimensional barrier, you never know what level of dimensional world you will arrive at..."
Li Ming watched with great interest.
…
Robin, who had returned to the room a long time ago, was also full of anticipation. He placed the skull on the table, took a deep breath, and said, "Let's begin..."
A green light screen shone from the skull's pupils, scanning Robin up and down. Soon, a voice came out: "The chosen one will be promoted to A-level and have enhanced authority."
"Upgrading..." In the void, wisps of silver light like data fell and gradually merged into the skull, leaving many silver patterns on its surface.
"Marking the location of the A-level secret treasure..."
A long, complex series of sounds that Robin had heard and seen many times before as he waited for the skull's upgrade to complete.
In just over twenty minutes, all the abnormalities disappeared. Robin couldn't wait to ask, "Butler, how do you feel?"
"The authority has been unlocked. I can now answer some of your previous questions." The butler responded.
Robin shook his head: "I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about how you feel? Have you given birth to any soul or something..."
"Soul..." The butler was slightly startled and changed the subject: "Don't you care about the A-level secret treasure?"
"Secret treasure?" Robin was indeed attracted and perked up. He glanced at the metal box placed against the wall and said dejectedly, "Forget it. Those secret treasures are placed in extremely strange places. Some have already been discovered or excavated."
"Every time I got a B-level secret treasure, it took a lot of hard work."
Every time he levels up, he gets three secret treasure locations, two weapons, and a set of combat armor.
Although it was dangerous before, he was still looking forward to it, but now...
He said solemnly: "To be honest, I might as well lick Li Ming."
The butler remained silent. Robin struck while the iron was hot and discussed, "I've thought about it carefully. I really can't leave without saying goodbye. That would be too ungrateful. Butler, I don't think there's any danger in following Li Ming..."
Although the butler is an intelligent system, he always treats the other party as an elder and is used to discussing things with him.
The butler interrupted, "Okay, let's do as you say."
Before Robin finished speaking, his expression froze for a moment, and then he asked suspiciously, "You agreed?"
"Didn't you urge me to leave before? Why did you change your attitude so quickly?"
"I've been upgraded, and my abilities have improved a bit," the butler explained.
Robin was too lazy to think about it, as long as the butler agreed, then he couldn't wait to say: "Butler, can you tell me about the stone?"
"The permissions unlock some information, I can tell you..."
…
When Robin knocked on Li Ming's door excitedly, he was still thinking about [Brief Introduction to the Dimensional World].
"What's wrong? Why are you so excited?" Li Ming looked at Robin and probably guessed that the permissions had been unlocked.
"I suddenly remembered some clues about the stone." Robin said.
Suddenly remembered... Li Ming was speechless. This excuse was really bad.
But he didn't care and cooperated with an interested look: "Oh, tell me about it."
"It's like this..." Robin put the bag he was carrying aside, and the skull was faintly visible.
Li Ming took a quick look and was suddenly stunned. Why did the skull change?
"How come you, the housekeeper..." Li Ming asked, pointing without any hesitation.
Robin glanced back, feeling a little guilty, but said casually, "Just a little paint job."
"It looks pretty good." Li Ming stretched out his hand, and Robin didn't care and took it out and handed it to him.
Li Ming took action, his eyes suddenly filled with surprise. How come the control conditions changed from 30 million to 50 million?
This skull can actually become stronger?
Where did he get the materials to strengthen him?
Li Ming suddenly remembered what the other party had said about super-dimensional information state transmission. This is a transmission method that ignores spatial distance and is even more powerful than quantum entanglement. Could this upgrade also use similar means?
"Not bad..." Li Ming handed it back without any change in expression.
Robin didn't care and continued, "That stone is called the Terrax Stone. You've mentioned it before, but Terrax is a civilization..."
"Really..." Li Ming pretended to be surprised, "It's actually a civilization. I hardly found any clues before."
Robin said in a low voice, "Do you know where this civilization comes from?"
Li Ming sat up straighter, looking serious. Robin's vanity was greatly satisfied, and he immediately said, "It is not a civilization from the main universe, but a civilization from the dimensional world."
"Dimensional world?" Li Ming was stunned. This time he was really surprised.
(End of this chapter)
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