Imperial Palace;
After the court session is over, Shang Bo went to the Emperor's chamber to meet his father to report the investigation results as 2 days of time were finished. Unfortunately for the Emperor, Song Yue's location hasn't been tracked yet but received a shocking piece of news.
"Minister Song deceived me?" The Emperor flared up in anger upon hearing that the ransom note that Song Yun presented was a fake and Song Yue wasn't abducted but ran away on her own. He might be disappointed with this fourth child of his, nevertheless, as a father he trusts him. However, he was also an Emperor who can't take his word for granted.
So, he said sternly, "I'm going to summon Minister Song here and ask him directly. If he doesn't apologize and stick to his earlier words, then, you will have to prove yourself innocent. Or else, you will be punished for giving false information to the Emperor."
"Then, I will go and start preparing to gather the evidence, Your Majesty." Unlike the last time, Shang Bo didn't show emotions on his face and behaved like the leader of WEB.
Soon after he left, the chief eunuch was summoned and he was told to invite Song Yun to the Imperial Palace for the dinner. Since Song Yun is the cousin of Bai Xun, who is not only the Supreme Commander but also the brother-in-law of the Emperor, Shang Fu would try to be less harsh on this minister of public works even though lying to the Emperor is considered a huge crime. It is why he wanted to handle this privately.
Meanwhile, at the Genesis Training ground;
"So, this is the mighty weapon that will bring revolution to the army?" The second prince stared at the panzer in awe. He further commented, "It looks like a lesser version of your… what was it called again, yeah, Battle tank. Isn't it?"
"Yeah, you can say so. The machine guns on the top can be controlled while you control the vehicle. And there…"
Mark explained to him everything about the mobility of the vehicle and the firepower of the weapon. It looked like the princess also appeared to be amazed by its prowess. To be able to kill a bunch of 4-circle experts by just spending extra money is something that is out of her expectations. What's more, even a normal civilian will be able to do that.
No wonder her father doesn't want to go against her brother. What would happen if he sells these to the northern Empires? It would indeed threaten the safety of the Phoenix Empire. Shang Jiao was only getting impressed by the weapons sold by her brother. She couldn't help but really wonder, "Where do all these amazing weapons come from? Who is that mysterious manufacturer? Is it perhaps brother Lu's master?"
As Mark let him inside the panzer and gave a demonstration of driving, Shang Jiao became curious and asked for a drive after a little bit of hesitation. Mark wanted to refuse it but because of Shang Wen, he complied with the request and let her experience the feeling inside the panzer.
Unfortunately, she doesn't like it as she felt suffocated inside. She didn't say it but her expression made it obvious to Shang Wen. The prince chuckled as he pinched her nose, "That was a vehicle designed for battle, not to roam around."
She puffed her cheeks and looked away in response, "I know that."
For a moment, Mark felt a little bit envious as he saw the closeness between his siblings but he reminded himself that he wasn't a part of their family and the two of them are nothing but the children of the Emperor.
*Ahem*
Clearing his throat, he then said, "Since we have the training ground here, you can send the soldiers. Allen will train them for a month. And as I said to His Majesty, for any new weapon you buy in bulk, atleast 50 in number, he will be available to train your soldiers."
The second prince soon decided to make an order.
They returned to the store and completed the pending transactions first. 5000 bullets (9mm); 20-M99 sniper rifles with 2000 rounds (.5 inch caliber); 10-Rocket launchers with 1000 warheads (110mm); 10-Grenade launchers with 1000 grenades (40mm).
It totals 31000 gold coins, which was finalized back when Mark was a guest in Shang Wen's camp.
Allen carefully packed them from system-provided sturdy metal boxes with the imprint of the store printed on top of it.
The prince handed him the rest of the money, not only completing the deal but also unknowingly helping him to complete the quests.
*Ding! You completed Side quest I.
*Ding! You completed side quest II.
After that, the second prince made a new order for the army, which is 5000 rounds (9mm), 2000 rounds (R.I.P.), 50 Panzers, 100 Ak-47s, and 3000 rounds of 7.62mm caliber. This deal is about 40000 gold coins.
This might not be as high as the one made by Prince Feng Wu but Mark was more than satisfied because of the potential transactions in the future. But, the army needs to get drunk in success after success and increase its dependence on modern weapons.
Once the deal was completed, the second prince didn't feel the need to stay much longer at the store and thought of returning to the palace but then, Shang Jiao asked Mark about using the training ground for sparring.
It surprised him a little bit but he nodded. Meanwhile, the prince realized the meaning behind her words. As soon as she looked at him, Shang Wen accepted her challenge, "alright, let's see how much you have improved."
At first, Mark wasn't interested to become a spectator but then, he thought that it would be better to learn about their abilities in case they become opponents in the future. But before that, there's something else that he needs to do.
Mark then said to the both of them to proceed to the training ground again while he will join them a bit later. Once the brother and sister pair is out of his sight, he spoke to the system, "Open Quest list."
A holographic screen with quest details appeared before him.
MAIN QUESTS:
Main Quest I: Sell a total of 10000 firearms (In progress: 876/10000)
Reward: Submachine gun (All models)
*
Main Quest II: Become Rank-6
Reward: Host's share increases to 70% permanently, and 16000 credits.
*
Main Quest III: Create ten types of weapons at the factory. (In progress-0/10)
Reward: A random ether version of the host's designed weapon
**
SIDE QUESTS:
Side Quest I: Earn a total of 100000 gold coins from selling the weapons created by the system excluding the ammunition (Completed)
Reward: Ether Pistol
*
Side Quest II: Sell Exclusive weapons to ten different people (Completed)
Reward: C-4
*
Side Quest III: Spend a total of 500000 credits (In progress: 600/500000)
Reward: Amulet of Diyu
*
Side Quest IV: Tame ten monsters (4/10)
Reward: Taming skill
**
Mark proceeded to click on the completed side quests
*Ding! Ether Pistol has been unlocked. Check the gallery for details.
*Ding! You received a new side quest.
*Ding! C-4 (basic) and C-4 (advanced) have been unlocked. Check the gallery for details.
*Ding! You received a new side quest.
"Okay, let's see what the first sellable modern ether weapon looks like…" Mark eagerly opened the gallery and proceeded to click on the one with the image of a revolver that has a star attached to the image at the top right.
He clicked on it to check the details.
Ether Pistol
Grade: Copper
Maximum power: peak-2-circle (2.9)
Maximum Effective Range: 50 meters
Description: A semi-automatic revolver with six rounds capacity. It can absorb the ether energy and transform them into ether bullets. They will be stored in the cylindrical chamber.
How to Use: Press the red button that is located nearby the hammer. The pistol will go into absorption mode. Then, open the cylindrical chamber and pour ether energy into it. The transformation into bullets will happen automatically. Close the cylindrical chamber and drag the hammer for once. Then, you can shoot six consecutive ether bullets, one after another by clicking the trigger.
Note 1: As the ether pistol can only hold the maximum power of 2-circle, which is 999 ether points in each, the maximum ether energy it can absorb is 5994 ether points' equivalent to ether energy from the user.
Note 2: The user can also load 9mm rounds as a replacement.
Price: 64 gold coins.
"64 gold coins, huh."
