"This… seems to be true."
"As expected of Yu Chen, what he said makes perfect sense. Whether they are residents of Sea God Island or not, who can refuse to live a good life?"
"As long as Civilian Soul Guidance Devices are introduced, they will definitely be a huge hit."
"Exactly! I believe so too."
Seeing Yu Chen so confident,
it wasn't just School Master Ning and others on the heavenly curtain who were swayed.
At this moment, below the heavenly curtain, the common people of Douluo Continent also reacted in the same way.
Some with strong imaginative abilities, speaking up this time, had even begun to wildly fantasize about the scene after Yu Chen unified Sea God Island.
Hearing their lavish praise,
within Shrek Academy,
Ning Rongrong and others, who were Yu Chen's fans, could still remain calm.
Some black fans, who were already very displeased with Yu Chen, naturally couldn't hold back.
This time, they didn't even wait for them to finish speaking before they snorted coldly and retorted.
"What do you mean by 'a huge hit'? Aren't you thinking too optimistically?"
"Are you really treating Yu Chen as an omnipotent god, capable of doing anything? Even ignoring objective facts."
When Tang San and the others spoke, their expressions were sour, clearly showing their extreme displeasure.
Seeing their sarcastic demeanor, Ning Rongrong naturally didn't indulge them.
She immediately snorted coldly and retorted again.
"Are you serious, Tang San? It's one thing for you to be sour about other things, but you're even questioning this?!"
"Don't you know how terrifying Yu Chen's Civilian Soul Guidance Device is? It completely crushes traditional spirit tools, alright?!"
"You even said others ignore objective facts. That should be said about yourself, shouldn't it?"
Ning Rongrong became increasingly angry as she spoke.
Seeing her appearance, Tang San, on the other hand, wasn't angry. He chuckled coldly before speaking, adding,
"Of course, I know everything you said. However, I also know that for something to become widespread, besides its effectiveness, its price is equally important, especially since this thing is supposedly a Civilian Soul Guidance Device intended for all common people."
"Leaving aside whether the residents of Sea God Island will truly like what Yu Chen has prepared, even if they do, how to transport spirit tools in large quantities to Sea God Island is also a problem."
Yu Xiaogang had long been displeased with Yu Chen, and now that he had finally caught an opportunity, he naturally wouldn't let it go.
So, just after Tang San's words fell,
he immediately nodded and seriously added,
"Exactly. Another crucial reason why Spirit Hall failed in its expedition to Sea God Island earlier was this."
"Sea God Island is surrounded by the sea and is extremely difficult to reach. Even elite Spirit Masters struggle to get there, enduring countless hardships, let alone ordinary people."
"If you want to open a trade route between Sea God Island and Douluo Continent, the effort required will probably be far more difficult than imagined. Even if it truly succeeds, it will definitely consume a massive amount of manpower and resources. By then, the Civilian Soul Guidance Devices transported to Sea God Island will probably be more than ten times more expensive than on the Continent."
"If it were only two or three times more expensive, then you could say Civilian Soul Guidance Devices could become widespread on Sea God Island, but that's a full ten times the monetary difference."
"If you were an ordinary common people of Douluo Continent, would you spend ten times the money to buy a Civilian Soul Guidance Device? Just because it can save you time and effort?"
"If you had that money, wouldn't it be more time-saving and labor-saving to directly hire people to farm or something?"
Yu Xiaogang's voice grew louder as he spoke, and his final questioning was truly resounding.
"I…"
Ning Rongrong naturally felt unhappy hearing this. She wanted to retort, but the words were stuck in her throat.
Because deep down, she also knew.
What Tang San, Yu Xiaogang, and the others said this time was the truth.
However, her frustration didn't last too long.
Because on the heavenly curtain,
School Master Ning and Yu Yuanzhen raised the same doubts as Tang San.
And at this moment, facing everyone's questioning,
Yu Chen showed no panic on his face.
At this moment, the corners of his mouth curved slightly.
Instead, he once again wore a faint smile.
Although Ning Rongrong didn't know what method Yu Chen had come up with at this moment,
the moment she saw the smile appear on his face, her previously anxious heart settled back into her chest.
Because based on her understanding of Yu Chen during this period, she knew very well that once Yu Chen showed such a smile on his face,
he must have a well-thought-out plan.
He had already thought of a countermeasure in his heart.
And the facts proved that her thoughts were not wrong at all.
Facing everyone's doubts at this moment,
Yu Chen then spoke without keeping them in suspense. He immediately explained the relevant issues and asked the people in front of him again.
"So, from 1,000 to 10,000, what everyone is most concerned about is still the issue of transportation and cost, right? So what if I say that I can control the cost of spirit tools transported to Sea God Island to only half, or even 1/2, of that on Douluo Continent itself? How much do you think my plan's feasibility is?"
He spoke casually.
The several people in front of him were truly startled when they heard Yu Chen say this.
Among them, School Master Ning's reaction was the most intense.
After all, he was not only the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School but also the master of the largest merchant guild in the entire Douluo Continent.
No one could more deeply appreciate the weight of the words "transportation cost" than him.
He also understood far better than anyone else what arduous hardships and efforts were required to compress costs.
Precisely because he knew all these difficulties,
he felt particularly surprised to hear Yu Chen say this now.
So much so that after regaining his composure, his first reaction was not joy.
Instead, he felt that Yu Chen had made a mistake in his words, saying something wrong.
He then spoke, not only pointing out the error in his words but also educating him on the ways of commerce.
"You said how much the cost is, only half?!"
"No, Yu Chen, are you thinking too simply about these things?"
"That's sea transportation. This cost is not something you can compress just because you want to."
"Not to mention the hardships and difficulties of this sea route, just the labor cost itself is extremely high. If you want to compress costs by starting from this aspect, either you reduce the number of crew members, or you lower their wages."
"But neither of these is easy to do."
"Leaving aside other things, your transport ship is so big, you can't possibly only have one crew member on board to escort it, can you?"
"That's exactly how big problems are most likely to arise." School Master Ning's expression was serious as he said this.
His words were somewhat harsh.
However, upon hearing him say this, Yu Chen did not feel angry.
Because he could truly feel the deep care School Master Ning held for him in his current statements.
With this thought in mind, a smile appeared on his face.
He calmly and patiently explained to the other party once more.
"School Master Ning, you've misunderstood. The method of cost compression I'm talking about right now is not about reducing personnel. From the perspective of compressing labor costs, this not only cannot effectively reduce costs and increase efficiency, but there's also a high probability of good intentions leading to bad outcomes.
After all, sea voyages are inherently extremely dangerous.
Under these circumstances, repeatedly lowering the salaries of maritime personnel will only suppress their enthusiasm for sailing and greatly increase the danger of the voyage.
So, if you ask me, I will not only not reduce the number of personnel on each transport ship, but I will also choose to significantly increase personnel and raise their salaries.
Because only when their salary levels remain at a relatively high level can the safety of the shipping route be guaranteed to a certain extent."
"Your idea is correct."
Upon hearing Yu Chen say this, School Master Ning first nodded in approval.
Then, as if remembering something, he asked with a bewildered expression, "But you're going to increase the number of personnel and raise salaries. Isn't that all increasing transportation costs?"
"Doesn't this go against your stated goal of lowering the sales price of Civilian Soul Guidance Devices on Sea God Island?"
"How can this be called going against it?"
Seeing his expression, Yu Chen smiled even more brightly, and calmly continued to explain, "It's true that I've increased the personnel on each transport ship, but what if I make the ships larger so they can transport more goods?"
As soon as he said this, many fans under the heavenly curtain brightened up.
Ning Rongrong didn't think much and immediately clapped her hands in approval.
"That's right! As long as the transport ships are made larger, wouldn't the previous problems be solved easily?"
However, no sooner had she spoken than Tang San, who was beside her, immediately scoffed and mocked, "What's right? No, are you all treating others like idiots? If this problem could really be solved so easily, would it have become such a mess now?"
"Exactly! Are you really treating Spirit Hall from before as idiots? They couldn't even figure out such a simple problem. If ships could truly be built bigger and better, then the problem would be simple."
"The key is that this is simply impossible, okay?"
Yu Xiaogang also chimed in.
He kept shaking his head as he spoke.
He even turned to look at Ning Rongrong with a somewhat contemptuous expression.
However, compared to the simple contempt and disdain from these few people, School Master Ning's demeanor on the heavenly curtain appeared much more natural.
He spoke slowly and patiently, explaining to Yu Chen, "Wooden ships of that size are already at their limit. If you want them to be even larger, setting aside everything else, you won't even be able to find the relevant timber."
As he said this, before Yu Chen could even reply, his father, Yu Yuanzhen, who had been silent until now, also spoke up in agreement.
Clearly, both of them thought Yu Chen lacked common knowledge about sea and land transportation.
Seeing their reactions, Yu Chen felt both amused and a little helpless.
He spoke again, explaining, "Is it possible that the ships I'm talking about are not made of wood?"
However, this time, before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Yu Yuanzhen's playful remark beside him.
"Not made of what? Not using wood? What else is there for shipbuilding besides wood? You can't possibly use iron, can you?"
His words were unintentional, but upon hearing him say that, Yu Chen's eyes brightened.
He nodded solemnly and said, "Don't say that, you actually guessed right! The material I want to use for shipbuilding this time is steel!"
Yu Chen nodded after saying this.
His expression was resolute and firm.
While he was firm, upon hearing him say this, everyone under the heavenly curtain changed their expressions dramatically.
They couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"Ah?"
"What? Steel?"
"He's gone mad, mad! Yu Chen has truly lost his mind."
"Exactly! How can a block of iron float on water? Isn't that common sense? What's wrong with Yu Chen? How can he not understand such a simple thing now?"
"That shouldn't be! With Yu Chen's knowledge, how could he make such a low-level mistake?"
As everyone spoke, besides their astonishment, there was also a hint of disappointment.
They clearly felt that these words, coming from Yu Chen, were highly inconsistent with his image as a knowledgeable scholar.
However, compared to the surprise and astonishment displayed by those around them, another group of people found this matter perfectly reasonable, within the realm of acceptability.
"What's impossible about this?"
"There's no omniscient person in this world. Although Yu Chen is broadly knowledgeable, that is only limited to Spirit Master knowledge. It seems normal to me that he would be lacking in this area."
Tang San and others clearly belonged to the latter group.
When they spoke this time, there was a subtle hint of self-satisfaction in their words.
Yu Xiaogang became even more energized. He had intended to use this opportunity to completely ruin Yu Chen's image as a top student.
Unfortunately, before he could gloat or make any further moves, reality, like a merciless slap, had already landed hard on his face.
Because on the heavenly curtain, facing everyone's reminders, Yu Chen not only didn't show an expression of sudden realization as if he had just learned about it, but instead, with a smile, he calmly explained again, "Of course I know. A block of iron has far less buoyancy than wood—this most basic common sense."
"But is it possible that I'm not wrong, but rather that common sense is flawed?"
"A kilogram of iron does indeed sink more easily in water than a kilogram of wood, but this is not simply a matter of weight; it has a great deal to do with the volume of contact with the water surface?"
"What… what does it have to do with the volume of contact with the water surface?"
The more Yu Chen spoke, the more serious his expression became.
Seeing his confident demeanor, the expressions of those who had been skeptical earlier couldn't help but change even more.
Finally, they put away their contempt and adopted an attitude of listening attentively.