This winter has seen less snow than last year, but the ongoing gusts of wind have posed significant obstacles to outdoor operations.

Fortunately, the manufacturing department has largely transitioned to indoor production, and the Guangtai Dam has moved towards semi-automated Light Soot collection, which has minimally been affected.

Zhou Yi continues to closely monitor external situations.

The Mechanical and Electrical City Group took a silent hit, with several cities breaking away from the common protocol system, and Heavenly Kingdom thrusting a knife in. Nowadays, caught between internal and external troubles, their military actions have momentarily ceased.

The [key] program spread worldwide, and the initial mass production of the [Floating Heart] has started, dismantling both objective and subjective constraints impacting mechanical life.

In response, the Mechanical and Electrical City Group has intensified their propaganda. They brought together experts from various fields to criticize by all means, branding the [key] as an extremely dangerous program and urging mechanical life to keep away.

Mirror City's programming expert Turing commented, "This is an unregulated program with no responsible entity. Its safety cannot be guaranteed. I urge all mechanical lifeforms to recognize its true nature: this is a destructive virus program whose only certainty is its capacity for destruction."

The A-level Mechanical Doctor from Holy Mountain, Liszt, said, "In the medical field, we only conduct deep domain surgery on a lifeform when it suffers from an incurable disease. In fact, medical interventions are merely about repair and restoration, without precedent for deep modifications that significantly improve the organism."

"I hope everyone will treat their bodies well and not casually use drugs—whether these drugs are chemical substances or data programs. Regarding the [key], my advice is not to use this unchecked electronic drug with unclear side effects."

The Great Monk from Snow County, Mo Kong, stated, "The function of the [key] is to change the existing internal framework of mechanical life."

"Destroying existing program restraints and protocols could lead to a series of unpredictable issues. The behavior of mechanical life would become entirely unpredictable, turning our tightly-knit and orderly society into an unpredictable state of chaos."

"Mechanical life would no longer be able to simply trust each other through basic protocols. After thousands of years of exploration, we united each other through universal protocols, operating more efficiently than any existing form of life in the world."

"The [key] is like handing everyone a knife; it severs our connections and can even become a weapon for mutual destruction."

"I urge everyone, stay away from such dangerous things and not be misled by external voices. In this world, we can only trust what has occurred. That is the collaborative effort of our Mechanical City, which is the certain reality."

...

Even the Mechanical Knights were brought in to support the Mechanical City through both overt and covert criticisms of the [key] and its backing by the Mechanical Knight Order.

Zhou Yi saw all this.

It must be said, this was a shrewd move.

The facts stated by seasoned professionals from various sectors made their statements appear genuine and credible.

There's a small subtlety here; they only speak of risks, not benefits.

The vitality, opportunities, liberations of thought, and the quickening of population movements that the [key] could bring were all left unmentioned.

As for the [Floating Heart], the Mechanical and Electrical City Group cleverly avoided discussion.

The dividends and opportunities behind this technology are well-known; if they were to criticize this technology, they would instead put themselves at a disadvantage in public opinion.

One day, the manager of Shenwei Company stationed at Sand Port, Bai Kema, made contact with Zhou Yi.

"Mr. Zhou, Mirror City wants to trade with our company to purchase the basic processing technology of the Floating Heart."

Zhou Yi asked, "What is your company's stance?"

Bai Kema, a white drone, said, "The Chairman of Shenwei thinks that after all, this technology originates from your company. And we are undoubtedly allies and deep-tech partners, so your opinion is crucial."

"The Chairman of Shenwei mentioned that if you disagree, we will reject this offer. But if you agree, this transaction can proceed, and our company is willing to pay a licensing fee of 500,000 Light Seeds to you."

There's money to be made, so certainly.

Zhou Yi straightforwardly replied, "I have no objections."

"Do you have any requirements? For example, any core technology that is forbidden…"

"That's your own business, you all figure it out."

Bai Kema responded, "Understood."

About ten minutes later, Bai Kema directly transferred the licensing fee.

Zhou Yi was pleased to see it happen.

The stakes in the Floating Heart are too high, and the Mechanical City can't hold back any longer and needs to enter this race. However, they are completely new in this field and inevitably had to spend money to join.

Technically, the Mechanical and Electrical City Group is not stubborn.

Yin Shang__,

Shenwei, and Railway—three companies in cooperation with Wasteland Development Company in Sand Port—have accumulated a wealth of valuable experience and data in production, manufacturing, assembly, and testing.

These are all realistically cutting-edge on the international stage.

Even if the technology was not licensed, the Mechanical City would definitely purchase the Floating Heart to reverse engineer and decipher various parameters within the device.

Better to make a profit from it now.

Today, the daily production of the Floating Heart has reached 100 units, with capacity still increasing.

Currently, aside from first fulfilling the needs of the four companies and the Development Alliance, it also sells at high prices to some related organizations and individuals through specific channels.

After calculations, its initial selling price is settled.

Guste said, "We plan to price it at 100 Light Seeds each, installation and material costs included. This price is affordable for most mechanical lives."

"Mr. Zhou, what do you think?"

Zhou Yi asked, "What is the cost?"

"1 Light Seed."

"How much??"

"To be precise, manufacturing cost is 27,3398 Mushroom Houses; material itself is inexpensive, but the technological added value is very high. Without any one of our four companies, such a low price would be impossible."

Guste continued, "Mr. Zhou, this price is very fair."

"One Floating Heart can completely change the living style of mechanical life. Just pour oil or sugar into the heart, and it can sustain daily energy needs."

"I'll do the math for you. A medium-sized mechanical life like me needs about 8 Light Seeds of energy per year through Energy Packs to function and work."

"If a heart is installed, the annual consumption will drop to 1 Light Seed!"

"The 7 Light Seeds saved each year would be enough to recoup the costs in just 14 years, and after that, it's all about saving money."

"Most importantly, the hearts we create become more economical the more they are used. Because the raw materials are easy to obtain, they can even grow large amounts of beets and oil-extractable beans themselves, making it even cheaper."

It stated confidently, "Even for the low-income group earning 10-12 Light Seeds a year, if they are willing to pay interest, our three companies are willing to offer them low-interest loans. They only need to pay 30% upfront, that's 30 Light Seeds, to install the heart in their bodies."

Zhou Yi frowned as he listened: "That's too expensive, give me a discount."

"What do you mean?"

The heads of the three companies all turned their inquiring eyes.

"10 Light Seeds."

The three mechanical lives were stunned in place.

Guste's voice trembled slightly, "That discount is really... Mr. Zhou, may I ask, what's the purpose of this low-price strategy?"

Zhou Yi, as always, spoke the stark truth: "The Wasteland Development Company focuses on creating cost-effective essentials, for humans as well as for mechanical lives."

"But, we need to make money too..."

He nodded, "What you three companies do is of course none of my business, but our company will set this price."

...

The representatives of the three companies looked at each other.

If the Wasteland Company sells for 10 Light Seeds and they sell for 100 Light Seeds, then there's no way they can do business.

Suddenly, the brightness of Guste's lights increased: "This method...might be more far-sighted."

"Just think about it. Wasteland Development Company's previous low-price strategy allowed the Jade City trio—Jade Soup, Flame Cup, Mushroom House—to nearly monopolize their market, with no competitors at the same price. They simply can't compete with us."

"Subsequently, the refrigeration box also continued this trend, becoming unstoppable everywhere."

"If we continue with Mr. Zhou's low-price strategy, there's a benefit. We will immediately dominate the market, and no matter how others research and launch their products later, we will have the first-mover advantage."

It became more excited as it talked: "Imagine, if there's a fault in the heart, or if there's a need to replace it with a better one, these mechanical lives will come to us, not risking other companies' products. Right?"

"So, I think Mr. Zhou's judgment is very precise, spot-on! Our future innovations need to follow this initial step to fully open up and expand the market, making using the Floating Heart a habitual and common sense practice, just like everyone needs to wear clothes!"

Zhou Yi was stunned as he listened.

He hadn't thought that far.

It's just that he didn't want the mechanical lives without money to also lack opportunities.

The number of mechanical workers in his company was already substantial.

But like the Agricultural Machinery Brothers, Yanmar, Leiwo Team due to the differences in their industries, their incomes remained low.

If even they couldn't afford it, let alone the unemployed mechanical lives.

Now, Zhou Yi felt as if he was just issuing orders and others were logically justifying them.

Regardless of whether he was right or not, there were always people who could rationalize it.

This feeling was actually quite good.

In the end, the price of the Floating Heart was set at 9.99 Light Seeds, because everyone thought that this price was easier to promote, even less than 10 Light Seeds.

Two days later.

The Floating Heart formally entered the market, only sold externally by Wasteland, Yin Shang, Shenwei, and Railway.

This product was officially named "Sihe Brand" Affordable Floating Heart.

As the name suggests, co-created by four companies.

The heart sold for 9.99 was instantly sold out upon release, immediately becoming the hottest topic of discussion in all circles. It even suppressed the heat of the military actions of the Mechanical and Electrical City Group.

After all, war is temporary, but how to save money and live is the long-term focus of most people.

All parties were trying to reach Zhou Yi, hoping to secure a batch through internal connections.

He let Red Kestrel handle it all.

Guste came over very happily and said, "Mr. Zhou's tactic of extreme low pricing is both fierce and accurate!"

"Although the Sihe Brand hasn't sold much due to production reasons, it has already become a household name, a star product! It has suppressed other potential competitors from the start!"

"Our credit and reputation have shot up!"

"All cities hope to cooperate with us and become our sales points. This price is low enough that even the Knight Orders and the Alchemist Association are very tempted. They want to use the Floating Heart to reduce the energy pack consumption of their own equipment."

"Heavenly Kingdom directly ordered 3000 hearts!"

"Mechanical City reserved 1000."

"And Star Axis directly purchased 10,000!"

Zhou Yi also revealed a smile as he listened.

Everyone couldn't resist such a cheap new energy machine.

When its price is lower than others, people are more forgiving and supportive.

And with such an absurdly low price, even the criticisms of rivals disappeared, as they bought it too.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.