The issue of Black Emperor appointing his successor was just a minor episode to Zhou Yi.

He never thought about becoming an emperor.

He simply listened to the discussion without taking it seriously.

After leaving the Heavenly Kingdom booth, Zhou Yi made his way to the Legal Front's area.

For his former opponent, now his collaborator, he intended to learn what was currently popular.

The Legal Front had dedicated robotic salespeople. They did not solicit customers but only answered their questions when asked.

This place adopted the large supermarket model of the old humans.

The shelves were neatly arranged with products, each clearly priced, marked with production certification and origin, and accompanied by samples.

Many people lingered to browse and select products.

While the Legal Front's business was not the busiest, the foot traffic was sufficient and steady, with no shortage of buyers.

Zhou Yi observed for a moment and found that the best-selling items were those related to the Light Imprint Skill.

Equipment fitted with Light Imprint, such as electron microscopes, MRI machines, mass spectrometers, laser interferometers, radars, invisible drones, and advanced enhanced controllers—such high-precision and expensive devices held irreplaceable positions in specialized fields. Various sea lords were testing and inquiring about purchasing these items.

Currently, only the large Mechanical Cities could produce A-grade Light Imprints.

There were no substitutes for advanced equipment, and after-sales maintenance had to be considered, so they mostly chose to deal with the Mechanical Cities.

Zhou Yi slowly walked between the shelves.

It was quiet here, completely different from the company's style.

He noticed an area where customers were gathering, so he joined in.

The shelves here surprisingly held food.

The first row featured soy sauce, seasoning packets, ketchup, and mayonnaise, all packed in plastic bags.

The second row contained candies and biscuits, including gummies, hard candies, milk candies, cookies, and soda crackers.

The third row, inside a refrigerated cabinet, included hot dogs, frozen meatballs, and some minced meat patties.

What caught Zhou Yi's attention was that these items were very cheap.

The price of each bottle of seasoning ranged from 100 to 300 mushrooms, a price that human cities could not match.

The candies and biscuits, each box costing between 300 and 1500 mushrooms, offered a substantial quantity and good value. Even scavengers from Mao Valley Town could afford them with some savings.

Meat products were a bit pricier, with pork sausages at 100 mushrooms per 100 grams, and fish sausages at 75 mushrooms per 100 grams, although slightly more expensive than the company's canned food, they still counted as cheap meat products.

The more Zhou Yi saw, the more astonished he became.

The Legal Front seemed to have seen the light.

With their massive manufacturing capabilities, once they started industrial food production, they could compress costs and prices to an extreme.

As long as these giant machines stayed on track, the company would have no price advantage.

He immediately used the enhanced controller to contact Vivian.

This legal consultant had now become Zhou Yi's exclusive liaison officer.

Vivian's voice came through the earphones: "Mr. Zhou, the Legal Front has formulated the [Resource Concentration and Allocation Act], significantly tilting resources towards agriculture, which has shown initial success within a year of investment."

"We have opened up four million mu of agricultural land, producing 720,000 tons of oil and 812,000 tons of sugar. Currently, over 71% of the market's floating hearts use oil and sugar provided by us. We plan to continue expanding the scale of agriculture in the future."

"In this process, we also produced many related crops, which require further processing and storage to avoid waste. To reduce inventory pressure, we found that processing sugar and oil mixtures into food is the best way to ensure digestion, so we made this attempt."

"After introducing artificial intervention and consultant mechanisms, the consultants collected a large number of resident opinions. It was finally decided to start mass food processing to make affordable and durable food for export."

"This can efficiently convert agricultural products into value, achieving a long-term stable investment cycle. Some meat products are co-produced with certain cities, adopting a joint operation model. We are also emulating the cooperative model between Plastic Island and your company."

Zhou Yi broke out in a sweat.

The Mechanical Life forms were indeed learning rapidly.

However, if you keep copying my work, aren't you developing a dependency?

He felt a bit resentful about it.

"Very sorry for causing you displeasure."

Vivian said: "Then can we cooperate directly?"

"In food processing, with your company's experience and innovation capabilities, combined with the Legal Front's production efficiency and cost control, we will surely produce the most benchmark industrial food products in the market. They will also align with your promotion of affordable quality goods."

Zhou Yi thought it over and realized it was indeed the best solution.

The company produced daily necessities, including Jade Soup, Flame Cup for heating, refrigeration boxes for cooling, and Mushroom House for living, focusing more on lifestyle infrastructure rather than profit.

The main profits were from developing the Dead Sea, now with an additional Mars industry.

Ensuring the populace can eat and not freeze in winter was key for new humans to thrive in the Wasteland era, playing to their intellectual and creative strengths.

If the Legal Front could handle this, conducting mass industrial manufacturing of foods and daily necessities, these costs could be further reduced.

Coral Port had once lowered the price of Jade Soup to 15 to 20 mushrooms for the city's progress, compared to 30 mushrooms for a meal in Mao Valley Town. It was simply astounding.

Industrial production power was indeed terrifying.

The Legal Front and the company had reconciled; they were formidable enemies, but even stronger allies.

Zhou Yi immediately said: "This can be arranged. I will have Red Kestrel contact you with the specifics."

"Thank you for your trust! Vivian is always online and at your service."

Vivian's voice sounded pleased.

Zhou Yi suddenly remembered: "Vivian, I recall you were an investigator for Suzheng City. Have you officially changed roles now?"

"I am still doing that."

Zhou Yi was curious: "But how can you be on call for me all the time? What if you are investigating suspicious people or chasing down dangerous criminal groups and I suddenly call you..."

"That's not an issue."

Vivian said: "My work has been adjusted. I'm now specifically responsible for monitoring you."

"..."

So, I was being investigated.

Zhou Yi understood immediately.

...

Returning to the company booth.

Zhou Yi discussed the joint operation plan with Red Kestrel.

The drone was highly supportive.

"This is a good thing, beneficial to the company."

"We currently face two major issues: insufficient production capacity and high costs."

"These are precisely the areas where the Mechanical Cities excel. With the influx of ample goods into the market, the company's influence will grow significantly, which is crucial for us."

"I'll talk it over with Vivian right away."

Red Kestrel busied itself immediately.

Zhou Yi returned to Hei Fu's Light Core, put on an eye mask, and prepared for a nap. Although he had only been at the Universal Expo for a day, he had expended a lot of energy and accomplished much in these few hours.

In a daze, he heard someone calling him.

"Chairman, Chairman."

"Wake up, wake up..."

Zhou Yi opened his eyes and saw the concerned face of Yuan Xiao.

"What's up?"

"Chairman, there's a guy who wants to sell us a device he created."

Angel of Death said: "There were others like him before, trying to pitch their self-made food, tools, weapons, or bred creatures, but Red Kestrel rejected them after Identification. However, this one is different. Red Kestrel thinks it holds high value. Do you want to take a look?"

Zhou Yi stepped out from the Black Thorn, heading to the booth.

There stood a burly man with a full beard, over two meters tall, broad and strong, carrying a large knapsack, slurping on a bowl of instant noodles.

Yuan Xiao introduced: "This is Ye Si."

Quite the fierce look paired with a gentle name.

Ye Si put down the noodles, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand: "Mr. Zhou, would you like to see my creation?"

Zhou Yi nodded.

The man opened his backpack and took out a square box covered in leather.

He carefully removed the lid.

Inside was a sealed square glass device.

Each side had a threaded structure, filled with intricate optical components. The device embedded multiple round lenses, with a spherical lens at its core, which shimmered under light, giving it an almost fantastical aura.

Zhou Yi asked: "What optical device is this?"

"This is my modified Light Concentrator."

Ye Si pointed to the square glass container: "These threaded lenses on each side are Fresnel lenses. They are efficient at gathering light, very stable, and can withstand impacts. They work well outdoors."

"Inside, there are parabolic mirrors and... ultimately linked to the Light Imprint at the bottom, we can efficiently absorb and concentrate Death Light onto a single point through the Light Imprint Device."

He turned on the switch at the base.

The Light Concentrator began to glow.

Especially the central spherical lens, shining brightly.

Zhou Yi noticed sparks of light inside it—those were Light Absorption Monsters.

Ye Si explained: "It's also called the [Light Absorbing Monster Collector], capable of concentrating high-energy Death Light; the Light Absorption Monsters, which follow the Death Light flow, are drawn in as well."

"In fact, Light Absorption Monsters exist in nature, not just in the Dead Sea; they inhabit the ground we live on too. It's just under sunlight they're invisible to the naked eye."

"This device is highly energy-consuming. Despite my best efforts and various lens optimizations, attracting Light Absorption Monsters is similar to your company's Curved House housing electric cats."

"Of course, Light Absorption Monsters aren't as useful as electric cats."

The robust man added: "I've found through testing that the collector can actually nurture a Condenser if you accumulate 1.5 million Light Absorption Monsters and provide consistent energy. Fortunately, the Floating Heart you created has significantly reduced the cost."

Zhou Yi's tone turned serious: "You bred a Condenser?"

"Yes."

Ye Si proudly said: "It took off as soon as it emerged."

"Due to the experiments in the Dead Sea, consuming too much energy, and no way to monetize this device, I've exhausted my savings. It's really useful. I know it sounds fictional, but it's the truth!"

"..."

Zhou Yi immediately had Cat God summon the Condenser from Sand Port.

Jiong Hecang arrived at near light speed.

It observed the collector and then said: "Chairman, this thing focuses Death Light thousands of times. Although it lasts only briefly, it's quite astonishing."

"But it's not cultivating a Condenser."

"This device attracts numerous Light Absorption Monsters, concentrating them to a single point."

"If energy supply is insufficient, the point will disperse, making it seem as if the Condenser appeared and vanished."

Zhou Yi felt a pang of disappointment.

No wonder it didn't sell.

The device, indeed, lacked practical value.

"However."

Jiong Hecang added: "Its value lies in absorbing vast quantities of Light Absorption Monsters, even promoting their formation, making it a man-made Light Absorption Monster device."

Zhou Yi had an epiphany: "I recall, you need to accumulate Light Absorption Monsters to further evolve, right?"

"Yes."

"So, Light Absorption Monsters are your resource."

"Yes."

"Then, if this device mass-produced Light Absorption Monsters, it would aid your evolution into a Light Core Body, correct?"

The Condenser confirmed.

Zhou Yi's eyes lit up.

That works!

Mass produce Light Absorption Monsters to boost the Condenser's strength first!

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