After returning from Akron, Lyudmila wanted to find a place to spend her annual vacation, so Roland got in touch with Otto and Indira, and took Lyudmila to the astral plane, where she took the "Crystal" on a week-long vacation. Once on board, Roland opened the Scepter of Akron and released Jessica and one hundred and eighty-three other children from Akron to travel together on the ship.

The Hyrule astral is rich in magic crystals, and the fleet of the "Koras-Otto Astral Trading Company" is mainly going to buy magic crystal ore this time, and it is the same as carrying Roland, Lyudmila and the children on New Year vacation. With some of the most beautiful scenery in the surrounding star fields, mysterious ruins, temples, and cute creatures that come out of fairy tales, Hailar is the first choice for family vacations in the astral world.

Roland carefully observed Jessica and her friends with evil blood during the week-long trip, first confirming that children do not need sleep in the astral realm, and secondly, it doesn't matter if they fall asleep, the astral realm is a magical plane where subjective consciousness overwhelms objective physiology, as long as you have the idea of refusing to dream, then you will never dream, and "spiritual victory" is no joke in the astral realm.

Roland chatted with Daria for a few words, then left the children in the care of her, Lyudmila, and Indira, and talked to Otto about Silver's business alone.

"Our trip to Hailar this time, it took two months to go back and forth, and a total of 50,000 tons of rough-processed magic crystal ore were purchased, and the purchase price plus transportation costs was about 2.5 million gold coins, and at least 500 pounds of standard industrial magic crystals could be refined, and according to the market price of one pound of magic crystals for 10,000 gold coins, the net income of this transaction would not be less than two million gold coins." Otto made the calculation.

"According to your calculations, the cost of smelting and refining the magic crystal is less than half a million gold coins, will this cost be underestimated?"

Roland has been studying all aspects of the magic crystal processing industry during this time, and found that the profit of smelting magic crystal is even higher than that of mining magic crystal, which makes him think of the oil industry on the earth, and the profit of selling crude oil is not as high as that of those refineries controlled by multinational monopoly groups, which is the result of the division of labor in the industrial chain - the profits of more technology-intensive industrial links are correspondingly higher, and it is not much profit to simply sell raw materials.

Otto smiled unexpectedly, stroked his belly and replied, "I knew you would ask that, if you send these ores to other smelters to be processed into magic crystals, it will cost at least a million gold coins, but why leave this business to someone else?" Don't forget that this is the Silver Sky, we can completely open our own magic crystal smelter, process ore by ourselves, and provide smelting services for those mine owners and traders after the capacity is expanded in the future! ”

Roland, the "Lord of the Silver Sky", can't stay in the Silver Sky for a few days all year round, and his understanding of the local situation is not as deep as Otto's, and when he heard him, he remembered that the Silver Sky was once a highly prosperous magic crystal mining area, although it is now decaying because of the depletion of the magic crystal, but the local area still has a good mining base, and most of the local residents have been engaged in work related to the mining and smelting of magic crystals. There is no future for the mining industry in the silver sky, but as Otto said, the smelting industry still has a lot to offer, and it doesn't matter if the local magic crystal deposits are depleted, you can import the magic crystal ore for local refining, or provide smelting services for small and medium-sized miners who lack smelting capacity, and occupy this lucrative intermediate link in the magic crystal industry chain - just as the refineries on earth do not necessarily have to be located in crude oil producing areas, it may be more profitable to choose a trading port with convenient sea transportation.

Roland's positioning of the Silver Sky as a "Star Trade Port" is in line with Otto's plan to rebuild the Magic Crystal Smelter, and he certainly has to fully support it. According to the old rules of the trading company: the "Sovereign Wealth Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Kolas" provided a portion of the cash, and he provided a plot of land and related factory facilities for the smelter in his capacity as the Lord of the Silver Sky, with a total of 60% of the shares, and the remaining 40% of the funds were provided by Otto and his friends of the Astral Chamber of Commerce.

"Within five years, I am sure that the Silver Sky will transform from a decaying magic crystal mining area into the largest ore smelting and trading center in the Divine Fall Star Domain!" Otto confidently declared.

"If there's wine here, we should have a toast to your ambitions." Roland said with a smile.

If the Silver Sky becomes the hub of the Astral Crystal trade, as Otto wishes, it will greatly contribute to the industrialization process of the Kingdom of Korath. For example, the magic crystal ore purchased by Otto this time will be bought by the Kingdom of Kolas after being processed locally in the silver sky, providing an energy supply channel for industry, especially the defense industry.

The Far East's industrial and military shards mainly rely on the two import channels of the Twilight Valley and the New World, but the production of sparks in the Twilight Valley is often affected by conflicts between the Order of Naluo and Parnia, and the maritime trade is more risky and more vulnerable to imperial blockades.

Roland must consider the worst-case scenario: if the Far East's import channels for magic crystals on land and at sea are cut off, the state-led industrialization process will fall into an unsustainable predicament, where will he get the magic crystals and provide timely blood transfusions for the industry in the Far East?

Considering this issue from the perspective of national construction and national defense security, the strategic position of Yinkong is particularly important. The Crystal Smelter is not only Otto's personal business, but also a fulcrum related to the long-term sustainability of the Koras regime.

It was based on the above considerations that Roland felt more and more that time was pressing, and he had to reserve as many magic crystal resources as possible before the empire launched the Eastern Crusade. So he entrusted Otto to buy more magic crystal rough ore, which was processed locally in the silver sky, and the kingdom of Kolas would buy it all.

Friendship is friendship, business is business, and both Roland and Otto know that the two cannot be confused. Negotiated the future development plan of Yinkong, and signed a long-term underwriting contract for Magic Crystal by the way. The market price of a pound of magic crystals is 10,000 gold coins, and according to the contract signed between Roland and Otto, it only costs 8,500 gold coins to buy a pound of magic crystals, which is a big discount.

"Otto, you're going to run around with the ship, and you still have the energy to manage the Magic Crystal Smelter yourself?" Roland asked.

"I didn't plan to run this plant myself, I didn't do this business, rather than blindly directing it myself, it was better to ask an insider to be the manager of the smelter." Otto replied with a grin.

"So, you've found the right manager?" Roland looked curious.

Otto nodded affirmatively, "You know that guy Eugene, right?" I'm going to pull him in and do it together! ”