At the munitions factory.
Jiang Chuan set down the satellite phone, narrowing his eyes slightly with a hint of confusion on his face.
This order had gone through even more smoothly than the last one.
But precisely because it was too smooth, something felt off to him.
After all, he was an arms dealer that the other party had never met—someone introduced by a con artist, no less. Yet they hadn’t shown any suspicion, nor did they seem to find anything questionable about the deal.
Either they were incredibly bold, or they felt confident they could handle him if things went south.
Or—they were setting something up.
But the latter didn’t seem very likely. That con artist didn’t have that kind of capability.
The reason he’d thrown out the demand for ten thousand guns and two hundred thousand rounds was to gauge their reaction—to see if they’d back off. If the buyer was someone the con artist had roped in, they’d never agree to those terms. The con artist himself couldn’t possibly afford that much, either.
Ding…
Just as he was lost in thought, a computer notification chimed.
Jiang Chuan saw that a wire transfer had come into his bank account—exactly 2.6 million Eagle Coins.
Well, they sure were quick to pay up. They’d sent the deposit without any hesitation.
That only confirmed his suspicion that they had some kind of ace up their sleeve.
Shrugging it off for now, Jiang Chuan got up and headed back to his bed, settling into the most comfortable position he could find, a grin spreading across his face.
Two orders in a row, each with sizable quantities of guns and ammunition. Just the deposits alone had brought in over three million Eagle Coins—which, converted to Jiuzhou currency, was more than twenty million.
And once the guns were manufactured, there was still a huge balance waiting for him. This money was almost too easy to make!
With those thoughts drifting through his mind, Jiang Chuan soon fell asleep.
All he had to do now was wake up tomorrow morning and get the factory running.
——–
8:00 AM.
Shift start at the munitions factory.
The workers filed in one by one, taking their positions and getting ready for the facility’s very first day of production since its completion.
Wang Mingyuan stood at the entrance to the workshop, waiting for Jiang Chuan to arrive.
He’d gotten a call from Jiang Chuan earlier that morning, telling him to gather all the workers—production was starting today.
He’d been thrilled when he heard the news.
After all, since the factory was built, there hadn’t been a single order, which meant no production tasks. Both he and the workers had been sitting idle.
Now that they finally had work to do, they couldn’t have been happier.
Just then, Jiang Chuan walked in.
“Good morning, General Manager Jiang!” Wang Mingyuan called out from a distance, his voice ringing loud and clear.
The rest of the workers followed suit, their voices thundering in unison: “Good morning, General Manager Jiang!”
Jiang Chuan raised a hand in greeting, smiling warmly. “Good morning, everyone.”
“Today marks the very first day of production for our munitions factory. I won’t give a long speech—just do your best, and let’s make sure the quality of our products reaches world-class standards!”
Jiang Chuan hadn’t prepared any lucky money for the occasion, and he didn’t plan to.
These workers—Wang Mingyuan included—were all standard technical personnel assigned by the factory system. More precisely, they were provided by the system itself, which meant he didn’t even have to pay their salaries.
In other words, his only costs were the raw materials for manufacturing the guns and the system points he spent. Every cent left over after those expenses was his to keep.
“Alright, everyone. Without further ado, I’ve already purchased the materials. Go ahead and unload them.”
Jiang Chuan waved his hand, directing the workers to head outside the workshop and unload the gun-manufacturing materials from the convoy of trucks.
He’d bought all these materials from the system marketplace, using the points he’d earned.
After all, with fifteen thousand guns and three hundred thousand rounds of ammunition to produce, they needed plenty of raw materials to get the job done.
Besides, he wanted to keep a bit of surplus in stock, just in case more orders came in later.
While the workers went to unload, Jiang Chuan pulled Wang Mingyuan aside and led him to the office inside the production workshop.
Once inside, he plugged a USB drive into the computer and pulled up the corresponding design and manufacturing blueprints for several automatic rifles.
AK-47 automatic rifle.
FN-FAL automatic rifle.
Steyr AUG rifle.
…
Five different automatic rifle blueprints in total.
“These are the design blueprints I’ve compiled—all ready for production,” Jiang Chuan said, getting up to let Wang Mingyuan take his seat at the computer.
Wang Mingyuan didn’t stand on ceremony. He sat down immediately, his attention glued to the screen.
As the head of the production workshop, he was in charge of both manufacturing and quality control. The moment he got his hands on the blueprints, his first priority was to study them thoroughly and become as familiar as possible with every detail. That way, he could better oversee the production process and minimize defective products.
Seeing how intently Wang Mingyuan was studying the designs, Jiang Chuan didn’t interrupt. He waited until the man had finished reviewing everything before speaking. “Five thousand AK-47s—these are for export, so quality has to be top-notch. If this deal goes well, we’ll have plenty more opportunities for cooperation in the future.
“As for the remaining ten thousand guns, split them evenly among the other four models—twenty-five hundred of each. Got it?”
Wang Mingyuan nodded, but then asked, “General Manager Jiang, won’t that be too much trouble?”
Each firearm model had a different exterior, different components—down to the smallest spring and up to the main receiver. That meant they all required different molds.
If they followed Jiang Chuan’s production plan, they’d essentially have to switch molds shortly after starting production on one model to move on to the next. That would definitely hurt efficiency.
Jiang Chuan was well aware of that. He shook his head. “Our factory doesn’t have a reputation yet. No one knows what our products are capable of. This batch of guns is what we’re using to break into the market. If these perform well and get good feedback, we’ll have orders pouring in nonstop from then on.
“So, if we have to deal with a little extra hassle right now, so be it. Even if it means pushing back the delivery date, we absolutely cannot compromise on quality.”
Earlier that morning, Jiang Chuan had gotten in touch with both the leader of the Sumaha organization and the big client introduced by Zhang Songyang to confirm exactly what types of firearms they needed.
As he’d expected, the Sumaha leader specifically requested AK-47s.
While that model had heavy recoil, a tendency to drift upward, and slightly less accuracy, it was an absolute powerhouse in combat situations. Plus, his people were already used to handling AK-47s—they weren’t comfortable with other rifles.
As for the big client Zhang Songyang had referred, they’d ordered 2,500 of each model except the AK-47.
It seemed they wanted to test the quality of the different options.
Since the clients had made their requests, Jiang Chuan had to deliver.
And as he’d said, the factory was still in its early stages—he wasn’t in a position to be picky about his clients just yet.
Once they grew bigger and stronger, then he’d have the leverage to call the shots.
“I understand, General Manager Jiang,” Wang Mingyuan replied.
Jiang Chuan waved him off. “Alright, go check on how the workers are doing with the unloading. If everything’s ready to go, start production right away! I promised the clients a one-month delivery window, so let’s aim to get it done on time while maintaining quality.
“But I’ll say it again—quality comes first. Deadlines can slip, but the quality cannot be compromised. Understood?”
“Don’t worry, General Manager Jiang. We’re professionals.” Wang Mingyuan stopped in his tracks and gave a crisp, standard military salute.
