The manufacturing of [steam turbine] airships is much faster than the old-fashioned gliders.

By following the standard size and material requirements, air bags can be sewn and processed. Using a rubber coating to fix the flying threads is much easier and more stable than manual weaving.

The gondolas, likewise.

Tail fins, auxiliary equipment, and the like all have various parameter standards; they just need to be made accordingly.

As the manufacturing bases of Twin Rivers, Mechanical City, and Yin Shang Company, they quickly adjusted the airship production lines, added a new list for the procurement of various materials, and with the data handbooks provided by the Program Department, operations could be done just by following the instructions.

For Wasteland Company, this greatly reduced the labor required for assembly testing.

Manufacturing Department Director Yuan Tong initially had some concerns.

"Chairman, you say this new technology is good, but sending the flying threads to external manufacturing bases to have them rubber-coated and setting the airbags... wouldn't that lead to leakage of flying threads..."

Zhou Yi asked with a smile, "Then do you think our partners now don't know how to make flying threads?"

"Of course they know. They could figure it out by dismantling a glider," so said the Artificial Eye Department Director.

"Yuan Tong, I understand your point."

Zhou Yi said, "It's the same thing again. We need to change our way of thinking and not cling to one thing and rely on it until the end of time."

"Flying threads are the core of the glider system, that's true. But all parties collaborate with us and are willing to become our manufacturers and purchasers, not only because of this technology but also because our new technology development is ongoing."

"For example, with gliders, we developed manned gliders, now we have large airships, and we can make them cheap enough."

"The key reason why our partners have been working closely with us is the expectation for the future."

"We created a positive outlook for them, making them believe that there will be new airships in the future. Indeed, aren't we almost done building the Electric Cat System?"

"Innovative capability and value for money are our core competitivities."

Yuan Tong listened, his artificial eyes shining slightly.

He pondered for a while, "The things you said, I'll remember them. I was just thinking, more than 80% of our company's employees work in the manufacturing department, if all these processes are handed over to external parties... what should our workers do then?"

"The Guangtai Dam, although it is a long-term operating natural ore source, makes much less profit compared to new products. I am truly envious of the developments in the neighboring energy department."

"Right now, I feel our manufacturing workers are a bit behind the development of the company. Most of them have a low level of education and insufficient technical experience, making it difficult for them to keep up with new things and to manufacture high-standard, high-precision devices. I'm afraid that any turmoil in the Light Soot industry might lead to a decrease in workers' income, and honestly, I'm quite worried about this."

Zhou Yi was moved.

This former pirate leader was thinking about the way out for the company's ordinary workers. Finally acting a bit like a director.

"I've studied the technological development of the Old Humans."

Zhou Yi spoke slowly: "In earlier times, Old Humans used horses and donkeys as means of transportation, which gave rise to the profession of coachmen. Later, cars were invented, and some of these coachmen became car drivers, while others were forced to change careers, and of course, some became unemployed."

"It is up to each individual whether to change and adapt or to stay on their original tracks. All we can do is provide an environment with more choices."

Yuan Tong seemed to come around, nodding his head.

Zhou Yi then asked, "How are Little Apricot and A-Mian doing on your side?"

Yuan Tong showed a hint of a smile: "They are both lively and cheerful kids. I sent them to each section to record and communicate with the workers about their specific difficulties at work, and everyone likes them a lot. However, these two kids do have some sudden bursts of inspiration."

"They asked me why there isn't a clothing factory here. The company has many employees, and it's quite wealthy. Jade City and Wasteland Company are very well-known outside, and in Flower Town, famous flora ladies can sell for a high price just for the clothes they wear. The same piece of clothing, if worn by Little Peach, can sell for 100 Light Seeds, but if worn by other flora ladies, it can only go for 100,000 'mush'."

Yuan Tong wiped his forehead with his hand, "They think, with the company's reputation, we could entirely sell clothing and the like. But if we produce value for money, how can we sell such expensive clothes?"

Zhou Yi was taken aback for a moment but thought, "This could really work."

"Ah?"

Yuan Tong was astonished: "Chairman, are you serious?"

Zhou Yi said earnestly: "Clothing, food, housing, and transport are the basic needs of most people. Previously, our clothes largely depended on the stock of the Old Humans from the Dead Sea, using up one piece after another. We still need to learn how to make them ourselves."

"The uniforms for the employees, weren't they made by your department? It's perfect to start a Clothing Factory, specializing in the design and manufacture of garments. Weren't you also looking for a way out for the workers? Here's the way out."

Yuan Tong scratched his head: "This is indeed an industry the company hasn't touched before."

Zhou Yi said seriously: "Don't underestimate the clothing industry. For the company, it's essentially about expanding publicity externally. It's the same thing as Lord Sand Sea using a luxurious glider coated in gold to fly around everywhere."

"Of course, the clothes must be cheap, affordable for ordinary people - our style has always been public-friendly."

"Every time the company releases a new product, we'll launch a new item of clothing to match. For instance, with [steam turbine] airships, our T-shirts should have airship images or logos. Same goes for the Electric Cat series."

The more he spoke, the more Zhou Yi felt his idea was really good.

In this Wasteland environment with no television broadcasting, clothes were like mobile billboards, walking advertisements. Beneficial for enhancing the company's recognition and reputation outside.

"There's another point."

Zhou Yi thought further: "Clothes, hats, blankets, and the like are all possibilities - we should do all of them. The key is to display our company's brand and our various products, but also to focus on comfort."

"Little Peach is very good at designing and making clothes, and she knows how to sell them. Ask her more about this area."

"It's okay if the profit is low, get the Clothing Factory built quickly, and coordinate with the airship for external publicity!"

Yuan Tong also understood the promotional strategy behind it, his head nodding repeatedly: "I got it, Chairman, this is a step in our five-year plan to go out; I'll get on it right away!"

He hurriedly left.

...

Under the operation of Recursive City, the necessary equipment for the garment factory, including cutting tables, sewing machines, buttonhole machines, button attaching machines, ironing presses, pattern making machines, and others were sequentially air-freighted in parts via airships.

It took only half a month for Jade City Clothing Factory to officially start its operations.

Yuan Tong doubled as the factory director.

Xiaotao became the chief designer of the garment factory.

Xiao Xing and A Mian were assigned to the garment factory, specifically responsible for the clothing design and production work there.

Part of the garment-making masters were tailors recruited from outside, and the others were workers selected from within the manufacturing department.

The first piece of clothing produced in the factory was a light brown hemp short-sleeve shirt.

As it was already summer, it was designed to be quite loose. On the chest of the short-sleeve shirt, there was a print of an airship, with the Chinese characters for "steam turbine" written on it.

Xiaotao looked at Zhou Yi with a satisfied face: "Chairman, you look very good in this!"

Zhou Yi looked at the Chinese on his chest: "Most people wouldn't understand this ancient Chinese, right?"

"That's the point."

Xiaotao said confidently, "Sometimes to attract people, you need to have elements that are incomprehensible. Using writing from the Era of Gods has more impact than contemporary text."

"And our clothes are super cheap, priced at 99 mushrooms. Out there, a handmade hemp garment would also cost 100 mushrooms."

"It's just that the profit is a bit low. After deducting the cost of materials and transportation, we only make 10 mushrooms per piece, so the profit is 10%."

"But being able to let everyone wear nice and cheap new clothes, that's just wonderful!"

As soon as this linen shirt was launched, it was insanely bought up by the staff internally.

Yuan Tong had no choice but to stipulate that each person was currently limited to purchasing one piece and no more.

Fortunately, the production capacity of the garment factory was sufficient, and after several rounds of restocking, they finally sent the first batch of company-produced clothes to various places in the outside world via airships.

Thanks to its price advantage, as well as the fame of Wasteland Company backing it, the airship linen shirts were quite popular everywhere.

...

While Zhou Yi was paying attention to the clothing factory, Red Kestrel found him.

"Zhou, the company currently has four Electric Tamers."

"Besides the earliest Walker, there's also 703, Da Vinci and myself. We've all adjusted to the standard electrical potential constant according to the relevant operating procedures and have connected with electric cats."

"After testing for a period of time, we found that connecting with electric cats brings an additional effect."

"Our Breathing program's positive feedback ratio has increased significantly, from 0.04% in the past to 0.55%. Of course, this data may not be accurate because the four of us are still too few as samples, calculated on the basis of 10,000 near-death cycles."

"But recorded by external observation devices, the data indeed reflects that maintaining connection with electric cats brings more variables. The electric cat variables can provide intense stimulation during near-death experiences, thereby evoking more positive feedback electrical signals."

"Through electric cats, all of us have entered a state of overloading [inspiration burst] multiple times, with duration increasing from the previous 0.31 seconds to a maximum of 1.27 seconds."

Zhou Yi was overjoyed upon hearing this: "Good, good!"

The drone continued to speak: "That's the latest progress with the Electric Tamers. Since 703 is currently busy with the Stone Molt Reactor, I'm here to deliver the summary report."

"Now, about the foreign trade department."

Red Kestrel said, "I suggest starting to offer electric cats for sale or transfer to others."

Zhou Yi's smile faded as he shook his head, "We do not have enough electric cats to start selling them externally yet."

"It's not like that."

Red Kestrel went on to say, "What we need are qualified working electric cats. Both the Thunder Team and the Flash Spirit Team require strict training and selection before the electricity department can confirm that they are ready to leave the cat house and take on jobs."

"However, the overall success rate so far is only about 10%, and many more electric cats fail to meet the work standards. This portion of electric cats has not been eliminated, and their number is growing."

"I visited the electricity department to observe, and the number of these electric cats is up to 511, with at least 160 considered to be completely unfit for work and ultimately left to go—effectively humane destruction because electric cats cannot survive in the natural outside world. It can be said that most of these electric cats are unworkable."

Zhou Yi listened with a frown.

He knew about the low success rate of the electric cats, but he hadn't realized there were so many unqualified ones stockpiled.

"Maintaining this portion of electric cats continuously consumes a significant amount of electricity—a huge expense."

"So, I suggest we sell off these unqualified electric cats."

Red Kestrel explained, "This way, we can significantly reduce our energy consumption, prevent their deaths, and also make a profit."

Zhou Yi's frown relaxed: "That's a good idea. How do we price them?"

"I've discussed it with the electricity department. Electric cats are Class-B Energy State Lifeforms, somewhat famous in the Spark Plain. Pricing one at 5,000 Light Seeds is reasonable, and depending on the tameness of the electric cat itself, prices can range from 5,000 to 30,000 Light Seeds. Due to the company's reputation, the outside world will quickly absorb this batch of electric cats."

The drone spoke coldly: "Selling off this batch of non-working electric cats, we can recoup at least 2.55 million Light Seeds."

"I believe that electric cats will be a major growth point in the company's economy in the next phase."

2.55 million Light Seeds.

Zhou Yi's breath quickened for a moment.

"Sell! Start selling!"

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