If Klaus was known as a brilliant man, then Alexa was a genius.
Before becoming Mors Industries' CEO, Alexandra Cohen was a senior employee at LR Enterprise. The 22-year-old woman had been serving the Lee Family since she was a child.
Starting from an orphanage, Robert Lee adopted her to become a loyal servant of the Lee Family. She received an exclusive education and foster parents who could support her in growing into a quality individual.
With an IQ of 200, she was able to graduate summa cum laude in Business and Management at the age of 18. After successfully demonstrating her abilities, she was given a junior position in the Marketing Strategy Management Department. Since joining the company, LR Enterprise's profit had increased by 40% over four years."
Of course, it was all thanks to her contribution to providing advice and marketing strategies to the department chief.
However, her beautiful looks and intelligence were not matched by her nature. Alexa was known as the Ice Princess. She was always flat-faced and never smiling at anyone she spoke to. Alexa did not care about political correctness. She would say critical things even if it offended someine, including Klaus.
He hated her vices but knew her words would not be taken lightly.
"What do you mean artificial arcana won't sell? It is an innovation that humanity has never achieved in the last 17 years. If we successfully market it, we can monopolize Manhattan. It's impossible if it fails." Klaus frowned.
"It might be a huge success for the first three or four months. But after that, these people forget about it."
"Why?" asked Klaus with a deep look in his eyes.
Alexa exhaled. "Artificial arcana will lose to the real one."
Klaus was silent momentarily, and then he opened his eyes wide. "How so?"
The woman with glasses pointed to a paper on the table. "That's a financial report. It says how much money the company spent during artificial arcana's research and development process."
After seeing the 9-digit number, Klaus crumpled the paper. He realized why. "The price of the materials used to make one artificial arcana is equivalent to two common-grade arcana. We're outmatched on price?"
Alexa snapped her fingers. "Exactly. Artificial arcana might still be able to compete in the market if it had the same effects or advantages as regular arcana. But the problem is that it has many drawbacks. We're back 40 years ago, selling electric cars amid oil cars. It will take a long time to perfect it."
"You don't have to worry about that. If we substitute materials from the dungeon, the effect of the arcana will increase. My men can perfect it in a month."
Hearing Klaus' answer, Alexa raised her eyebrows. "That won't change anything but add new problems. With our current capacity, we can only make one type of product. Where do we get the stock of materials that are always available? You know we're not the only ones buying items from the awakeners. If we depend on them, they will eventually choke us."
In the USA, hundreds of companies spent millions of dollars every day to buy items from awakeners. They operated in various fields, but the most common were pharmaceuticals and the food industry.
However, most awakeners preferred to sell their items at auctions. The profit-sharing system benefited them more than selling to companies—especially unique-grade items and above.
Klaus hissed, and his face looked sour.
Everything would have gone smoothly if he had already obtained the exclusive rights to raid the dungeons. However, the Awakener Association or Director Logan had yet to contact him even though the Rays of Hope had received attention from television news stations.
The atmosphere became quiet for a moment. Klaus was silent as he learned this fact. The thing was running out of his control.
"Do you have any ideas, Alexa?"
The bespectacled woman shrugged her shoulders. "Honestly, I don't have any. But, to compete in the market, we must sell it at the lowest possible price and be unique."
Pursing his lips, Klaus was thinking of an idea.
Creating a product at a low price meant he had to keep production costs down, using low-quality and readily available materials. On top of that, it had to be unique and different from other arcana.
Klaus had knowledge from his previous life. However, arcana was something else. These magical items were composed of different materials and runes formulas, so they had other functions or effects.
Creating artificial arcana that differed from others was almost impossible because arcana were inherently unique.
"Something accessible to everyone, huh?" Klaus muttered.
Suddenly, Klaus smiled broadly.
"I know!"
Alexa raised her eyebrows. "You got any ideas?"
Klaus didn't give her the answer. He just smirked. "Sorry, but you must leave now. I need to do something, Alexa."
Snorting, she stood up from her seat. "Alright, looks like you've found a solution. Let me know when you're done."
As the CEO left his office, Klaus sat down and got his mouse. He stared at the computer screen, and his fingers began to clash with the keyboard, creating a blueprint for his new arcana.
Klaus was so immersed in his work that he didn't realize the sun was setting.
After finishing, he headed straight to the Research Division's place. The room was empty as some employees had gone home. However, Jonathan was still seen at his desk.
Seeing his superior's presence, Jonathan quickly stood up. "Boss, do you need anything?"
"You're staying late with me tonight. We're going to work on something important."
The dark-skinned man furrowed his brows. "Uh, but I have a date."
"Cancel it. She can wait. We have something more important."
Jonathan let out a weak sigh. His soul seemed to have left his body. Orders from the boss were absolute. He couldn't refuse even though he had been working overtime for 5 hours every day for the past month.
Reluctantly, Jonathan said, "Yes, of course."
Klaus plugged the flash drive into the computer port, and a blueprint appeared on the monitor. Their eyes were glued to the screen. Not long after, Jonathan took a deep breath and shook his head.
"Dayum," Jonathan muttered.
"What do you think? Cool, right?"
"I don't know. I can't say anything. It is likely to cause controversy." Jonathan looked at Klaus. "Where did you get these blueprints?"
"I told you, I have a lot of connections." Klaus smiled confidently.
Jonathan breathed through his teeth. "We're going to build it now? But where did you get these materials."
"Of course. When else."
The two of them then headed to the lab. When the employees went home to rest, they were creating a masterpiece.
