Chapter 30: [Level-One Energy Block]

Apart from the HR Alliance, representatives from Russia, the United States, and India also arrived one after another at Jiangnan Base City to meet with Jiang Chen.

Even the European Union—which had not acquired the “Boxer”—and the two major martial arts academies sent envoys to negotiate with Jiang Chen, hoping to obtain the technology behind the “Boxer” or, at the very least, secure more finished units.

As for the smaller factions that couldn’t even send a planetary-level envoy, Jiang Chen had no intention of meeting with them at all.

The agreements eventually reached with these major powers were largely similar: Jiang Chen would sell “Boxer” mechs to them at around twenty-five billion per unit, providing after-sales service, while the major powers would pay using a combination of treasures and cash.

After reviewing the lists of treasures provided by each faction, Jiang Chen first rejected those offered by India and the United States.

Neither insisted; they simply withdrew their treasure lists and opted to purchase the “Boxer” mechs directly with cash at three billion per unit.

The treasures provided by the other factions were more substantial, and Jiang Chen saw no need to alter the agreements already reached.

Afterward, Jiang Chen invited the representatives of all the major powers to discuss order quantities and estimated production capacity. Through multilateral negotiations, they agreed on a distribution and delivery plan that was acceptable to everyone.

According to Jarvis’s estimates, the first “Boxer” production line would be operational within half a year.

If there were no issues after the initial debugging, and assuming a sufficient supply of raw materials, they would be able to produce one hundred finished “Boxer” mechs per month.

Thirty percent of those would be delivered directly to the Chinese military, ten percent reserved for Jiang Chen’s own use, and the remaining sixty percent divided among the other seven major powers.

However, out of caution, before they had acquired the “Boxer” mechs in large quantities and used them in actual combat, the powers only placed orders for half a year’s worth of production—a total of three hundred sixty units.

The four great nations ordered the most, each reserving between fifty and one hundred units.

The HR Alliance ordered forty units.

As for the Extreme Martial Arts Academy and the Thunder Martial Arts Academy, they ordered only twenty units each.

This distribution made it clear that the five great nations were more focused on “battlefield lethality,” caring little about where that strength originated.

The two martial arts academies, however, showed less interest in such technological creations, preferring to enhance the strength of their own martial artists.

Even so, in the face of the beast threat, neither academy refused the “Boxer” as a technological weapon.

As for the delivery sequence, it was mostly a matter of wrangling among the seven major powers; Jiang Chen did not involve himself much, merely signing a multilateral agreement once consensus was reached.

With this order finalized, a vast sum was deposited into the corporate account of Jiang’s Industrial Group under Jiang Chen’s name. The down payment alone amounted to a staggering six trillion.

However, all this wealth would have to be used to purchase materials for the “Boxer” production. There was some surplus, but not enough to divert much for other purposes.

If he truly wanted to expand his mechanical army on a large scale, he would have to wait until after the orders were delivered and the remaining balances collected.

The lists of treasures offered by the major powers, however, greatly interested Jiang Chen. There were many valuable items brought out from “ancient civilization ruins,” though unfortunately, he would only receive them after order fulfillment.

But this was merely a matter of time, and Jiang Chen had patience to spare.

Once the agreements were signed, Jiang Chen left the production line preparations to Jarvis, intervening only when Jarvis was unable to handle something alone.

Most of his time, Jiang Chen spent immersed in the system’s library.

He was particularly intrigued by the newly revealed “Alchemical Technology” system.

Comparing the technologies in the blueprint archive, Jiang Chen chose “Transformation and Synthesis” as his first area of focus.

After preliminary study and research, Jiang Chen discovered that the greatest difference between “Alchemical Technology” and traditional scientific routes lay in the involvement of “extraordinary powers.”

For example, in the transformation and synthesis of materials, the process consumed certain “extraordinary traits” inherent in materials to convert them into other substances.

Of course, “extraordinary traits” could also be added by supplementing with special materials or directly infusing extraordinary power.

But in any case, only by consuming enough “extraordinary traits” could material transformation be achieved.

Simple experiments confirmed that neither Source Force nor psychic power could directly imbue the “extraordinary traits” required for alchemical processes; instead, these could be refined from the blood and organs of certain monsters.

“No wonder so many myths and novels depict alchemy as requiring the blood or organs of specific creatures as materials,” Jiang Chen mused, a somewhat whimsical thought flashing through his mind.

After more than three months of effort, Jiang Chen raised the “Transformation and Synthesis” branch of alchemy to Level 10 and redeemed the first blueprint that truly excited him: the “Level-One Energy Stone.”

According to the blueprint, this was a mineral with extremely high energy density, which could, through very simple means, be converted into a range of common energy types, including heat and electricity.

Jiang Chen planned to use the “Level-One Energy Stone” as the energy core for the “Boxer” mechs and, potentially, for all future mechanical creations.

Testing showed that a single “Level-One Energy Stone” was enough to power a “Boxer” at full capacity for an entire day, greatly enhancing the mechs’ sustained combat abilities.

Moreover, modifying the energy supply module was not complex; it required little adjustment to the production line, and the cost increase was minimal.

An additional few hundred thousand in cost was negligible compared to the overall cost in the billions.

However, the process of synthesizing “Level-One Energy Stones” required Jiang Chen to continuously guide it with his mental power, making full automation impossible and limiting production.

Given that these energy stones would likely be useful elsewhere in the future, Jiang Chen decided not to sell them, reserving all for his own use.

Even though the “Boxers” sold to other factions had built-in backdoors, allowing him to seize control when necessary, there was still a marked difference in performance between his own products and those sold externally—a common practice.

With the “Level-One Energy Block” completed, Jiang Chen put his alchemical research on hold and shifted his focus back to traditional technology.

It wasn’t that alchemy was weak, but at this stage, traditional technology was simply of more immediate use to Jiang Chen.

Any system involving extraordinary powers tended to become more formidable in the later stages, whereas traditional technological paths were already strong from the outset.

Furthermore, Jiang Chen had already mapped out clear plans for Earth and even for the future initial stages of cosmic exploration.

Even with the emergence of an entirely new system in the archive, it could only serve as a supplement to his plan—it would never cause Jiang Chen to abandon his original route.