Seven days later.

The city pages of Snow County published "Jue Mingzi's One-Month Monastic Experience in Jade City."

This great Mechanical Monk returned to Snow County and initiated a lecture debate.

It shared the experiences and observations in Jade City, as well as discussions with Zhou Yi on racial issues and the electric cat threat theory.

Jue Mingzi publicly stated.

—I hope more monks and mechanical lives would visit Jade City, their schools, factories, and dams, to witness the spirit of its ordinary people and understand why they are so confident about life and the future.

—Data is an essential basis for judgment, but it is not reality. It is merely a reflection of the world outlined by the flames of a program; the positioning of the flame and the wind's influence can cause significant deviation between the shadow and the reality. I hope everyone will not blindly believe in data. Experience, observe, and interact to attain feedback that is closer to the truth.

The influence and independence of the Great Monk proved to be much stronger than Zhou Yi had anticipated.

It spoke directly for the company, and surprisingly, Law did not prohibit this.

Red Kestrel said: "That's natural. Whether it's Law or the Common Agreement, what they maintain is just the present of the Mechanical City and mechanical life, but the future needs to be guided by new ideas and knowledge, and that's precisely what monks are doing. If the independent thoughts of monks are suppressed, then mechanical life would thoroughly lack the group capable of innovation."

"In fact, according to historical records, the birth of the Light Imprint Technique was initially through the study, research, and trial use by the monks. To become a monk, one must meet a high threshold, attaining level B in a particular field before having the chance to apply for conversion."

"If successful, one must fulfill the duties and responsibilities of a monk, henceforth renouncing wealth and pleasures, seeking only knowledge and thought."

"They are also the protected beings among all mechanical life."

Monks belong to an advanced conversion class of mechanical life; they are thinkers, critics, and pioneer scientists.

At this moment, Zhou Yi realized that he had always held stereotypes and preconceived notions about mechanical life.

Always imagining them as workaholic robots.

Stereotypical and cold because they were born that way.

From birth, work had been their most essential life pursuit, uniting different mechanical lives, constructing society and cities.

But they also wonder, is this the right way? Is this correct? Must we always live this way?

Mechanical life is also striving to break through the structural confines, building Mechanical Cities to safeguard each other and strengthen their existence, becoming monks in search of the future and hope.

Zhou Yi slightly understood the choice of this group.

Red Kestrel continued reporting: "There is news from Recursive City."

"Two monks have contacted Recursive City, expressing interest to travel and study here."

"But the issues they are exploring are quite controversial."

"The direction of research for Monk Wu Liao is human-machine integration. It believes that the complete integration of humans and mechanical life would be the ideal form of the next generation of life, having both the creativity of humans and the stability, efficiency, and scalability of mechanical life."

The drone said: "The inquiries of another monk, Hui He, are more dangerous. It proposes conducting numerous experiments in the Dead Sea to find an effective technique for awakening mechanical life. It is highly interested in the newly repaired semi-enlightened beings, believing that the key has unlocked their shackles, and sees more potential in them."

Zhou Yi listened and smiled: "Controversy means there is support and opposition, indicating that the ideas are touching on matters of great concern to many. This is good."

"Let them come, have more discussions with each other. We here welcome the collision of various thoughts. If you don't even dare to think, then achieving it is even more impossible."

Without mentioning anything else.

These two directions, human-machine integration and exploration of the principles of mechanical life, are fields that Zhou Yi himself is also very interested in.

"When the time comes, schedule some time for me. I too would like to chat with these two monks."

"Okay, I will arrange the schedule according to your availability."

Red Kestrel then said: "Zhou, there is another matter within the company that requires your decision."

"The second generation Floating Hearts are gradually entering the market, although the current supply is not abundant, as production lines are still being increased and adjusted."

"After discussion among the two seniors, Liu and Chen, and the heads of the three major companies, following our company's consistent low-price and widespread benefit strategy, the preliminary pricing is set at 14 Light Seeds per unit. The second generation are 55% more efficient in the long run, and would be more cost-effective than the first generation. How do you feel about this price?"

Zhou Yi pondered.

This price was already quite sincere.

After all, the first generation was priced at 9.99 Light Seeds.

"But for those who bought the first generation hearts, if their financial condition is not good, they may not have the spare means to switch to the new model in such a short time."

Zhou Yi reflected for a moment: "How about this, let's provide a trade-in offer. Purchasing a brand new one is an option, but you can also trade in the first generation heart for a second generation heart, just adding an extra 5 Light Seeds. However, the first generation heart must not have functional damage."

"This would reduce repeated expenses for the buyers, and on the other hand, aren't we cultivating upgraded hearts? These hearts have been nurtured for months by the users' energy supply, the floating organisms have achieved a certain growth stage, making it easier for promotion towards C level, and it would also shorten our cultivation cycle."

Red Kestrel's electronic eyes flickered: "Good idea. Then I'll discuss the specific details with them."

Two days later.

The second generation Sihe Brand Floating Hearts officially went on full sale.

Many returning customers took advantage of the trade-in offer, and a large number of first-generation hearts were collected after inspection and recertification, sent to Sand Port for deep upgrade cultivation of the floating organisms.

In just four days, 140,000 second-generation hearts were sold.

One-fifth of these were from returning customers using the trade-in offer.

Even so, the total revenue reached 1.7 million Light Seeds.

Following the previous profit-sharing agreement among the four companies, this single sale credited Zhou Yi's account with 425,000 Light Seeds.

He felt baffled himself: "This makes no sense; how are they selling so well? How can this sell even better than the first generation, what's going on?"

Red Kestrel said, "This batch of buyers is mostly from major power groups."

"The Heavenly Kingdom has purchased 40,000 units."

"Star Axis procured 15,000 units."

"The various Mechanical Cities together purchased a total of 70,000 units, among which the Holy Mountain alone acquired 20,000 units."

"The rest were collectively purchased by various Knight Orders, Alchemist Associations, Craftsmen Guilds, and other urban areas."

Zhou Yi seemed to understand.

"So they got used to the first generation and now switched directly due to the enhanced efficiency?"

"That's right."

Red Kestrel continued: "Another important reason is the recently introduced Revised Floating Heart, which was developed by the Mechanical City to compete with our first-generation heart, and is also publicly available for sale. The reviews from different places are mixed. The Mechanical City emphasizes its advantages, which are excellent stability, extremely long endurance supported by the compatible raw material box, and potential future upgrades."

"But with the introduction of the second-generation heart, we have officially released the Floating Heart efficiency standard 'Floating.'"

"Under this standard, the Revised Heart seems to have fallen behind by two generations."

"Previously, the Revised Heart underwent massive promotion in various places, which served as free pre-promotion for the sale of our second-generation heart, and it became the best comparison target."

"Buyers who were hesitating over the Revised Heart, many of them directly chose our latest second-generation heart."

Zhou Yi couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Well, I can only say thank you, Brother Law.

"Moreover, the promotion of the Electric Cat System also played an influential role."

Red Kestrel elaborated further: "The previous batch of non-industrial Electric Cats were distributed externally through the Yin Shang Company, and the buyers were all major organizations."

"They have strong information capabilities and knew about our power infrastructure early on."

"After purchasing Electric Cats, many places started to emulate us, building generators and wire networks. There are currently two most mature applications."

"The first one is city defense. The cheapest barbed wire can encircle the city wall, forming a region where Electric Cats can run. Extending the metal structures outward allows Electric Cats to patrol different districts."

"Although these non-industrial Electric Cats are harder to train, given enough electricity, they will do some work, albeit not very responsibly, often slacking off. But then again, this is not much different from most Guangna Species."

The drone continued to introduce: "The second application is to attach Electric Cats to some weapons, such as knives, swords, and other cold weapons, or even to armor and missiles. Their power can greatly amplify these weapons."

Zhou Yi nodded.

These two methods were indeed simple and easy to learn.

When it comes to self-interest, everyone thinks quickly.

"Behind the Electric Cats, a large amount of electricity is needed for support. To obtain power, the most cost-effective and stable way is to generate electricity through Floating Hearts consuming oil or sugar."

"Yin Shang Company announced early that we would continue to transfer Electric Cats to the public, telling everyone to wait and see. Now, our power infrastructure is expanding further, with the Moon Landing Area transformed into a major power system hub. These developments are closely monitored and highly regarded by all parties."

"To keep up with the Electric Cat System, a large number of Floating Hearts is necessary."

Red Kestrel concluded: "For this series of reasons, the second-generation hearts sold very well."

Zhou Yi responded with a sound of acknowledgment.

The drone projected a report on the wall: "This is the total revenue generated by the first-generation hearts and the corresponding list. Over two quarters, a total of 412,000 Floating Hearts were sold, with a gross revenue of 4,095,900 Light Seeds. After deducting manufacturing costs, transportation, maintenance, and after-sales losses, the total profit was 4,012,200 Light Seeds."

"After profit sharing among the four companies, our side received 1,003,000 Light Seeds."

"I have already conducted a review and verification; the account is without any issues."

Red Kestrel extended its mechanical arm and handed over a Guangna Box stored at the bottom of its body to Zhou Yi: "This is the payment for that transaction."

Then it took out another Guangna Box: "And this is the profit share from ordering the second-generation hearts. Normally, the settlement would be based on quarterly profit sharing, but since the sales were good and the amount was not insignificant, we decided to settle this amount in advance."

Zhou Yi suddenly received 1,420,000 Light Seeds.

Together with his previous savings, his total reserves had reached 6,500,000 Light Seeds!

He couldn't help feeling emotional.

It's really the industrial goods with a technological monopoly that make money fast!

Lower prices help stimulate everyone's active consumption and encourage upgrades.

I can give the employees a nice year-end bonus at the end of the year.

That night, Zhou Yi slept especially well.

He woke up groggily and suddenly noticed an extra stick by the window.

Huh?

What's this?

I don't remember putting any stick there...

Zhou Yi took a closer look.

It turned out to be a prosthetic leg.

It had sneakily made its way back; Jade City was completely unable to prevent its infiltration.

Zhou Yi couldn't help but reach out to grab it.

Let's see, what good things have you found there over the past month?

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