Floating cannons were already known for their agility and flexibility, and now, with their ability to be assembled like building blocks into various types of soul tools, calling them endlessly versatile was hardly an exaggeration.
With the large amount of rare metals now in his possession, Huo Yuhao could fully utilize his soul tool crafting skills to add more modular functions to the floating cannons. At present, he'd only developed two assembly forms, but as time went on, those options would only grow more numerous.
"Calling it a growth-type soul tool… that's actually quite a fitting name."
After another round of testing, Huo Yuhao put away the floating cannons and exited the testing field. By now, the early light of dawn had begun to brighten the sky.
"Around six o'clock… well, since I don't have classes this morning, I'll swing by Boss Mu's place and have a look."
As a third-level soul engineer and Jing Hongchen's personal disciple, his attendance in first-year classes really didn't matter anymore. Jing Hongchen had already approved his freedom in the mornings, as long as he came to class with him in the afternoons.
"Good morning, Student Huo."
"Good morning, Student Huo."
At the school gate, the two security guards greeted him warmly with beaming smiles.
"Morning."
Huo Yuhao nodded coolly and walked right out the gate. Even so, the guards weren't upset—in fact, they looked at his back with eyes full of reverence. 'As expected of the headmaster's personal disciple… he really has presence.'
Now that word of Huo Yuhao's identity had spread through all of Mingdu, he was already on a completely different social level from the average person.
When he arrived at the bustling heart of Mingdu's business district, which was already teeming with people despite the early hour, Huo Yuhao soon found the brightly decorated and rapidly growing "Muhao Soul Tool Store," and stepped inside.
The moment he entered, he saw Boss Mu dozing off at the reception counter.
"Boss, being this lazy, you'll never achieve anything great."
Walking up to the counter, Huo Yuhao picked up a soul tool from the display and tapped his fingers on the desk.
Startled out of his dream about striking it rich, Boss Mu nearly cursed aloud—until he recognized the one person he absolutely could not afford to offend: the store's top earner, Huo Yuhao.
"Ah! Scared me half to death. I thought it was someone else. Turns out it's Brother Hao!"
Looking at Boss Mu's sycophantic grin, Huo Yuhao felt slightly speechless. 'Bro, how do you manage to flatter someone while sounding like you're mocking them?'
Watching a grown man call a twelve-year-old "brother" was quite the sight.
"Alright, save it. Got any business at the store recently? I need money."
While speaking, Huo Yuhao paced around the store, eyeing the wide variety of soul tools displayed on the walls.
Truth be told, he still had over a million in savings, and those rare metals weren't running out anytime soon. But he still wanted to earn a good chunk through his own efforts.
Sure, Jing Hongchen had deep pockets, but he couldn't expect his teacher to pay for everything. What if the old man got annoyed and stopped handing out resources?
The moment business was mentioned, Boss Mu perked up.
"Oh yeah, we've got a big one this time! So big, even you'll be shocked, Brother Hao!"
Huo Yuhao stopped in his tracks and looked toward the excited shopkeeper with growing interest.
"A big deal?"
Boss Mu pulled out a note filled with writing and put on his glasses to read.
"I'll read you what this big customer ordered. You'll understand right away."
"Iron Fist Rocket Launchers, 1000 units.
Quad-Barrel Rocket Launchers, 250 units.
Gauss Rifles, 500 units.
High-Energy Soul Tool Annihilation Beam Sniper Rifles, 50 units."
Listening to Boss Mu recite the massive numbers line by line, Huo Yuhao froze.
'Wait a sec, I thought this was a soul tool store, not a weapons manufacturing plant? Why is everything on this list customized combat soul tools modified to be usable by non-soul engineers with energy infusions?'
After what seemed like ages, Boss Mu finally finished reading and gulped down some water to soothe his throat.
"Ahem. Well, Brother Hao? Isn't that a huge order? I roughly calculated, and this one's worth over a billion gold soul coins!"
Huo Yuhao was speechless.
"Boss Mu, just the two of us… we're supposed to make all that?"
Boss Mu grinned confidently.
"Heh, the client's deadline is measured in years. If we need more hands, we can just hire some low-level soul engineers. With this kind of budget, we can expand production capacity too."
Huo Yuhao thought about it and agreed—it would be a huge loss to pass on such a deal.
But then…
His brows furrowed. Something wasn't right.
Someone who could place such a massive order for military-grade weapons had to be a big deal. Someone from the military? Quite likely.
But from what Huo Yuhao knew, Crown Prince Xu Tiannan hadn't seized full control yet. The military was still fragmented into different factions. Don't forget, in the original timeline, Juzi had helped him suppress several rebellious armies.
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. If he made and delivered these weapons and accidentally chose the wrong side… Well, he did have Jing Hongchen and Kong Deming as backers, so it wouldn't be disastrous—but still, it would be a serious mess.
"Boss Mu… do you know who that client is?"
"Of course, he's a big shot among big shots. I don't know all the details, but I know he's royalty—probably a prince!"
Hearing that, Huo Yuhao nearly let loose a string of elegant Huaxia curses. The Sun Moon Empire had three princes. The second had been murdered by the ruthless crown prince, Xu Tiannan, who certainly wouldn't go to some tiny shop to buy weapons.
That only left one possibility: the third prince, Xu Mochen, Xu Tiannan's rival in the power struggle.
Looking at Boss Mu's still-excited expression, Huo Yuhao sighed helplessly. 'Well, it's still a feudal era. Can't blame the boss for not having great political instincts.'
So, with a heavy heart, he patiently explained to Boss Mu the serious risks and entanglements hidden within this business deal.
By the end of it, Boss Mu looked like he'd seen a ghost.
"I-I-I… oh my god, what are we supposed to do now, Brother Hao?! I already agreed to the deal! Should I… go cancel it?"
Huo Yuhao sighed again.
"Let's wait. If we cancel a royal order, it'll destroy our reputation. But maybe… this won't turn out to be a bad thing. I'll ask my teacher and see how he wants to handle it."
'If done right, this hot potato might actually become a golden opportunity.'
And with that, Huo Yuhao left the shop, leaving Boss Mu behind to wring his hands in anxiety.
---
Inside Jing Hongchen's office, the man furrowed his brow and sipped tea while listening to Huo Yuhao explain the entire situation from the sofa.
"So that's it, Teacher. What do you think?"
Jing Hongchen pondered for a moment and didn't answer immediately.
"Yuhao, those rifles and rocket launchers… can normal people use them?"
"They can, technically. But only with limited use. Without soul engineer-powered recharges, they'll become useless quickly."
At that moment, Jing Hongchen recalled something—his fellow disciple under Kong Deming, Xu Ziwen from the Mingde Hall, had been researching self-charging energy bottles. Originally, they were meant to solve the massive energy demands of humanoid soul tools…
He explained the device's function to Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao, though already aware of it, feigned astonishment.
"If that's really how it works, Teacher, then with the help of these self-charging bottles, my soul tools could become fully usable by ordinary soldiers!"
Jing Hongchen's heart skipped a beat. He wasn't stupid—he immediately realized what that would mean.
But he didn't pursue that topic any further.
"This deal isn't an easy one, Yuhao. But if you want to do it, there's no reason not to."
"It seems you're not just some bookworm. You understand our empire's political situation. So let me ask—what do you think of our Crown Prince?"
"Don't worry—nothing you say here will be heard by others."
Jing Hongchen's words were subtle, but Huo Yuhao understood. He was asking whether they should support Xu Tiannan.
Originally, Jing Hongchen had been fully committed to helping the powerful crown prince. But after Xu Tiannan's paralysis, he had begun to waver.
Huo Yuhao cleared his throat.
"I'll speak frankly, Teacher. I believe the most qualified and most likely candidate to inherit the throne is the Crown Prince."
"He's decisive and ruthless. With the empire's increasing tensions with the three rival nations, he aligns with the needs of the country. He holds many trump cards. If not for his injury, the throne would have been his already."
"Compared to him, the third prince doesn't measure up."
Jing Hongchen nodded with satisfaction.
"Very good. That's close to what I think as well. In that case, take my advice—go ahead and take the deal."
"With my help, it won't be clear who this business ultimately benefits."
"And when the time is right, we'll solidify the Crown Prince's claim to the throne."
Jing Hongchen then began to explain his plan.
Huo Yuhao listened in amazement. 'Teacher's methods are truly ruthless… For the third prince, this is basically a 'kick him while he's down' situation.'
He kept praising Jing Hongchen's brilliance, prompting the old man to laugh and scold him affectionately.
"Alright. Later I'll speak with Elder Kong. When the time comes, I'll take you to meet the Crown Prince."
"Once everything's settled, I'll also assign some lower-level soul engineers to help with production. And since you're already here, let's begin today's lesson. I'll teach you about some of Xu Ziwen's breakthroughs with his self-charging bottle."
"…"
Excited, Huo Yuhao thanked his teacher and focused intently.
This core technology was something he had longed to learn—and now, he had the chance.
(End of Chapter)
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