LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 96.2
“A subsidiary model?”
“We’ll establish separate companies for different industries and group them together under a single umbrella.”
“Do you mean setting up subsidiaries for, say, pottery and artwork separately?”
“Exactly. From now on, Arad Company will be known as Arad Group.”
***
The Next Day
The turmoil from the previous day hadn’t yet subsided at one of the factories in the Arad Industrial Complex.
Inside the factory, now numbered 50, machines and workers were bustling just as energetically as in other factories.
Whirrrrr, hissssss, hisssss.
The steam engine continuously released steam and heat.
That energy powered the camshaft of the belts, moving the upper roller, which transferred ink to the lower roller.
A mechanical arm attached to the equipment then spread the ink evenly across the surface of a metal plate.
Once the rollers completed their task, the mechanical arm rotated, sequentially placing sheets of paper onto the press.
Thunk, thunk, thunk.
The press stamped each sheet that came through, producing prints with remarkable speed and precision.
This printing press, capable of producing hundreds of pages per minute, was inspired by Earth’s letterpress Columbian printing press.
It could print intricate illustrations, making it suitable for producing not only books but also newspapers.
“This printing press is called the Arad Press.”
“Of course, it is.”
Naturally, that was its name on Earth.
In this world, however, it was destined to be called something else.
“It’s only natural to name it after its inventor.”
“At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole world ends up named after Arad. Hahaha!”
Arad and Entir laughed heartily as they spoke.
Arad Jin, however, was unaware that the press he had created resembled Earth’s letterpress printing technology or the Columbian printing press.
In fact, he knew very little about printing technology on Earth.
He had simply applied his MAX-level mechanical engineering skills to create it.
As the saying goes, “Great minds think alike.”
Printing presses from the Arcane-Punk era 100 years in the future and those from Earth were fundamentally similar, differing primarily in their power sources.
“What are you, really, President Jin? I’m curious and excited about your limits, but at the same time, I find them terrifying.”
“I’m just an excellent mage-engineer.”
“Right… and you want me to actually believe that answer?”
“Please don’t look at me so strangely. The Empire and Kingdom also have similar printing techniques, don’t they?”
“Even if they do, they’re relatively recent inventions. They’re costly and time-consuming to produce. Most importantly, they can’t print at this insane speed using steam engines.”
Entir, who was about to return to the Empire, decided to delay his departure for a few more days.
He had no choice. Before him lay an enormous contract that was worth altering his schedule, whether for a week or a year.
“But I find that process over there even more revolutionary than this press.”
Entir’s gaze shifted from the Arad Press to the series of operations taking place in the adjacent factory.
“What’s the point of advancing printing technology if paper remains scarce? But with that paper manufacturing method…”
Gush, gush, gush.
Entir’s words were drowned out by the sound of machinery.
The paper manufacturing process he admired was similar to Earth’s mechanical pulp production method.
Using steam-powered machines, wood was ground into pulp to create paper.
“It’s magnificent…”
Entir’s eyes sparkled like those of a boy falling in love as he observed the printing press and the paper production process.
With this, the literate population in the Empire will skyrocket. The spread of information and ideas will accelerate, and so will the Empire’s fragmentation. This is the otherworld version of a revolution—let’s go!
With this, I could publish the gazette daily instead of monthly. And at an incredibly low cost too. I’ll control the Empire’s public opinion!
The thoughts and gazes of the two men, as they observed the printing press and the pulp-making process, were nearly identical.
After silently admiring the holy production process for a while, Entir turned to Arad with eyes full of admiration.
“So, are you selling these two machines as well this time?”
Though phrased as a question, the tone made it clear he expected only one answer.
“Yes.”
And Arad’s reply matched Entir’s expectations perfectly.
Though it was the answer he had anticipated, hearing it in person made Entir’s eyes gleam with delight.
“Will the payment terms be the same as last time?”
“You can choose. A lump sum or installments with interest. Oh, and royalties are separate.”
“I’ll go with installments.”
“Understood.”
This man has no idea how terrifying compound interest can be, does he? Arad struggled to keep a neutral expression.
“And I have one additional request.”
“A request from President Jin? Please, tell me anything.”
Arad had far too many tasks on his plate.
But the situation was complicated, especially with population, talent, and environmental factors constantly holding him back.
“When you adopt the pulp production process, I’d like you to prioritize selling paper to the North.”
“Paper? Doesn’t the North already have abundant forests?”
“The problem is the extreme cold. Moreover, the dense forests are near the magical zones, teeming with monsters and wild beasts.”
“Ah, I understand.”
Currently, the North has an overwhelming number of jobs beyond the Arad Industrial Complex.
They had to mine minerals, a traditional and lucrative industry. They also had to hunt monsters and beasts and defend their lands from the wilderness and magical zones.
Additionally, they needed to harvest weeds, farm crops, expand the church, deliver materials required by Arad Company, and build roads and structures.
Even if the productive age range was set from 15 to 50 among the one million Renslet citizens, there simply weren’t enough hands.
“The North is excellent in every aspect, except for constantly being short on manpower.”
Arad nodded in agreement with Entir’s observation.