No sooner had Shi Feng issued his new orders than Anna got to work.
Compared to ordinary NPCs, Anna was far too clever, and she quickly took care of everything Shi Feng had requested.
Just as Shi Feng was contemplating how to use the Star Trail Trading Company to earn thirty thousand gold coins, the entire Star Trail Trading Company began its renovations. Following Shi Feng's instructions, the first and second floors were redesigned into showrooms — the first floor would sell ordinary, commonly used items, while the second floor held the real highlights. Floors four through six were all converted into workshops for various life-skill professions.
The entire fourth floor was dedicated to the Forging Room, the fifth floor to alchemy laboratories, and the sixth floor was split between other profession workshops and a warehouse, all available for use by both NPCs and players.
The Star Trail Trading Company's renovations quickly drew widespread attention among players.
Thanks to the viral video of Shi Feng and Anna, plenty of curious players had wanted to come take a look — only to discover that the Star Trail Trading Company, situated in prime real estate, had closed its doors for renovations.
That only fueled everyone's curiosity. What on earth was going on?
"Your Highness, everything you requested has been taken care of. Is there anything else you'd like me to do?" Anna approached with a gentle smile, her soft voice carrying over to where Shi Feng was working on a business plan.
"As long as it's done, that's fine. How many people did you find in total?" Shi Feng asked.
"Across eight cities, we found 245 potion masters — 209 novice potion masters, 29 intermediate potion masters, and 7 advanced potion masters. We also found 228 blacksmiths — 188 novice blacksmiths, 31 intermediate blacksmiths, and 9 advanced blacksmiths." Anna placed a roster on the table.
"That's quite a lot." Shi Feng looked over the NPC count on the list and nodded with satisfaction.
If the core leadership of a first-rate guild saw these numbers, they would probably be stunned beyond belief.
These were genuine potion masters and blacksmiths — not apprentices. With this kind of terrifying force at his disposal, a third-rate guild could instantly be elevated to a super guild.
That was the power of the Star Trail Trading Company. If a player-owned shop tried to recruit these high-level NPCs, they wouldn't stand a chance — at best they might lure a few NPC apprentices. But with the Star Trail Trading Company making the call, they could attract this many potion masters and blacksmiths. The gap was staggering.
Of course, they were far superior to player apprentices in raw skill, though their efficiency was somewhat lacking and their growth rate painfully slow. Their potential was also much worse than that of players.
"Your Highness, I'm concerned this isn't wise. Offering such high wages to hire this many people, on top of supplying vast quantities of materials — it's a losing proposition. At this rate, the Star Trail Trading Company won't last a month. It'll go under in just over ten days." Anna's worry was plain on her face.
To recruit these people, the trading company had paid a thirty percent premium. On top of that, it had to absorb their failure rates. It was madness.
Moreover, whether it was potions or equipment, neither had ever been particularly profitable. Sales volumes were mediocre at best.
Only the master-level craftsmen could truly bring in serious money. Hiring all these people now was purely a money pit.
Anna genuinely couldn't understand why Shi Feng wanted to bring them on. Wouldn't it be better to simply buy finished products from their hands? That way the trading company wouldn't suffer any losses at all.
What Anna didn't realize was just how important these potion masters and blacksmiths were to players in the current state of the game.
"Don't worry about that. From here on, just have the potion masters keep producing their specialty — novice recovery potions and novice mana potions. As for the intermediate and advanced potion masters, they'll produce intermediate recovery potions and intermediate mana potions. As for the blacksmiths, have them all mass-produce whetstones," Shi Feng said with a smile.
The Divine Realm had plenty of NPC potion masters and blacksmiths, but generally only players who had opened their own shops were qualified to hire these NPCs to craft items. Even if ordinary players found these NPCs and supplied them with materials, the NPCs simply wouldn't do any work for them.