Kevin pondered for a while. His eyes gradually brightened, feeling it's feasible. "That's a good idea. Although the runes are complex, they do have some patterns. So the fine-tuners won't have to be an apprentice runemaster. Even an ordinary person could do it with some training."
Basic runes only needed to be inscribed with one rune. And runes used in basic equipment were nothing more than the basic runes such as sharp rune and armor rune.
To make this method feasible, one group of people will be responsible for debugging the A rune, while another group will be responsible for debugging the B rune.
"If we want to reach 1.000 production targets in a day, how many survivors do we need? And how long do they have to train before they're ready to work?" Tang Yu asked.
Kevin was the pro in this matter, and he certainly won't act like a dictator.
By producing 1.000 pieces of equipment daily, Tang Yu felt he could fulfill the demand from Luoxia Shelter. But it's just for a starter.
They would need more than that. Although the existing equipment would be gradually phased out and replaced with an advanced version as their strength increased, that set of equipment was usable for half a month, or even a whole month. So, it's not a big problem.
This limited the equipment sale. In Tang Yu's heart, he had never thought of equipment as the most profitable commodity.
Consumable items were!
He also had several items such as rune scrolls, spirit powerbombs, and spirit energy crystals that could restore physical strength… even if they're just a consumable item, but it could save someone's life in a time of crisis. Which one is more important? Life, or money?
Of course, Tang Yu felt the second was more important, ahem, the first. Of course, it's the first!
His goal was to empty the hunters' wallet. It's for their own good, though. Where else could they spend their money on important things?
But selling items wasn't his top priority for now. By the time the demand for equipment increases, Tang Yu estimated they would have enough trained workers ready to work.
"We need around 50 people for the early stages. When they're already skilled, we only need about 20 debuggers. It took a week of intense training before they could work. If the Lord is in a hurry, it can be done in 3 days, but the inscribed runes quality will only reach 80% at most."
Kevin took out a pencil and sketch it on a piece of paper. "In order to train enough competent people in a short time, these people will have to be talented enough."
"Talent? We can't find that many people with talent in rune mastery." Tang Yu frowned.
"Ah, no… it's nothing like that." Kevin waved his hands repeatedly. "They don't have to be talented in rune mastery. They just need to have some sort of sensitivity to runes. The kind of person that could distinguish between one rune and another. It's also a runemaster trait, but it's nothing too advanced, so it would be easier to find them. With the Lord's current territory subjects, it's possible to gather around 50 people."
Tang Yu nodded.
That won't be a problem.
80% rune quality wasn't that low. And the runes inscribed by Lindong Academy of Sciences couldn't even reach 50%.
Even his own runes could only reach about 90%. After a few days of working, these trainees could reach close to 90%.
It's not because these people were of a higher standard than him, but because the rune main body was inscribed by the rune seal, which was inherently easier.
Even so, this was an industry that will be in close contact with runes. After working for a while, these rune debuggers would be able to grow into a rune apprentice.
With enough education, some of the talented ones could even be runemasters.
After a while, Tang Yu spoke. "I'll choose a suitable place for the factory. You will be in charge of manufacturing the equipment. As for the talents screening, I'll let the Municipal Affairs Department do it."
...
Early the next morning.
As usual, after a simple breakfast, Yang Wei went to the open space by the central square and waited for Group 7 to gather.
For the past week, he had been working in the commercial district construction. He had already gotten used to this life and was already familiar with the other workers in the group.
Soon, 20 handymen from Group 7 had gathered in the open space, waiting for the group leader to lead them and go about their workload today.
"Weird. Why isn't the team leader here yet?" As the minutes passed by, someone glanced around.
"Why rush? It's still 5 minutes away at 7 AM." Someone immediately pointed to the newly built clock tower.
The hour hand pointed at 6:55, just 5 minutes before 7 AM. This was the time they usually started working.
Yang Wei looked around, frowning. "No, usually the team leader always arrives early. At least 10 minutes early. Today is the first time he's late."
"Probably, he had diarrhea or stomach ache from bad food or something…"
"I don't think so." Yang Wei looked at all the workers gathered in the square. "Usually, at this time in the morning, most groups would have already headed to the construction site. But they're still waiting here like us."
They glanced around and found what he said was true. Most of the group leaders didn't show up…
Something's up.
At exactly 7 o'clock, the clock tower chimed.
'Ding'.
Signaling the start of a new day.
The adventurers dressed in fine equipment walked out of the territory amidst the envy and admiration from the ordinary survivors' eyes.
'If one day I could earn some spirit stones a day like a hunter, I won't have to drool over the delicious food in the cafeteria.'
Yang Wei longed for it but understood he would never be a hunter in his life.
The shelter had a method that allowed ordinary people to become a hunter, but it cost a huge amount of resources. And it's certainly more expensive than just from eating at the cafeteria.
Just then, he saw the leader of Group 7 rushing towards them.
"This morning's work schedule is canceled." The team leader said.
"Canceled? But why?"
Yang Wei couldn't accept the cruel fact. Even if it's just half a day, it would mean that his modest income would shrink by half.
"Hey, don't worry about it." The team leader grinned, revealing his broken front tooth. "I know what you're worried about. This morning's work schedule is canceled because the shelter is going to give us a test. The test is voluntary, but you'll get paid from taking the test so you won't lose your salary today."
Yang Wei was relieved. He didn't have to work, but he won't lose money. He had nothing against participating in the test. Instead, he was curious about it.
"They said this test is for a new job screening. I'm not sure about the job, but the salary is very high as far as I know. It's said the salary ranged from half a spirit stone a day to dozens of it. Your life will change drastically if you pass the test."
Everyone's eyes brightened at the news.
All including Yang Wei.
As a skinny handyman, his working efficiency was low, and the salary he got from working a full day wasn't much.
Although he won't starve, eating delicious food was impossible.
It would be nice if he could pass this test.
But… he didn't even know what kind of test it will be.
Yang Wei's eyes were gloomy again.