An initial investment of 120,000,000 copper coins and a daily operation cost of 300,000 copper coins.
Mag almost laughed out.
“System, are you trying to trick me?” Mag rolled his eyes. Building a demersal fis.h.i.+ng ground with 120,000,000 and burning 300,000 copper coins for daily operations just to make a helping of ‘Buddha jumps over the wall". Was he stupid?
“Host, being a G.o.d of Cookery, any sacrifice is worth it in order to make a perfect delicacy. Money is mere worldly possession. We bring nothing with us when we"re born, and we take nothing with us when we die. Isn"t it more important to bring happiness to your customers?” the system said sincerely.
“No, my happiness is of paramount importance.” Mag shook his head decisively.
“Wool comes from the sheep"s back. Why do you have to worry so much? As long as the price is reasonable, the Host will not need to fork out a single cent for the operation costs.” The system continued to tempt.
“Ah, do you take that as a miracle drug? A helping of shark"s lips and shark"s fins can make a helping of ‘Buddha jumps over the wall", which I could serve to about 10 people. Do I have to charge 20,000 copper coins for a person"s helping?”
“The Host will be incurring a loss if the price is 20,000 copper coins. The other ingredients for a person"s helping of ‘Buddha jumps over the wall" cost 1,000 copper coins,” the system added.
Mag rubbed the center of his brow, shaking his head, and said, “This is not feasible.”
He raised his head and looked at Gina, who was looking at him with her hands propping her head up. Mag"s eyes lit up, and he said, “System, you said you have enough machines to release ultrasonic waves to enclose an area as a fis.h.i.+ng ground to rear the Nether Shark. Using the same rationale, I can build a sanctuary with ultrasounds to allow the feeble and weak merfolk to go in and seek refuge too. Will the costs be reduced tremendously?
“I don"t need to catch all the Nether Sharks, either. I just need to find an enclosed canyon to rear 100 small and 10 medium Nether Sharks. According to the 10-days minimum period for re-harvesting principle, I can harvest 11 sets of Nether Shark"s lips and fins every day, which are already enough to supply the restaurant"s demand. This will minimize the rearing costs.
“Now, do a calculation according to this plan. How much money is needed?”
“…According to the plan provided by the Host, after the strict accounting done by this system, the final data obtained is as follows: the required cost to build the sanctuary is 20,000,000 copper coins, and the cost to build a small fis.h.i.+ng ground is 15,000,000 copper coins. Total cost is 35,000,000 copper coins,” the system finally replied after a period of silence.
“Alright, you can start to prepare all the equipment required. It would be best if everything is fully automated and no actions are required.” Mag agreed without further thinking. He had already saved over 80,000,000 which was a very successful cost-cutting.
35,000,000 copper coins weren"t a small sum, but he still had billions of savings he"d obtained from re-educating those three red dragons.
Of course, what Mag had focused on was the mission reward.
One strength point.
35,000,000 copper coins for one strength point was the ultimate good deal, okay!
Currently, the system wouldn"t give him the chance to purchase strength points directly anymore. If he didn"t grab this chance, n.o.body knew when he could return to the 8th-tier.
Mag wasn"t eager to share this news with Gina. She was a nice girl, but he was going to negotiate a business deal with the Lantisdeans, after all. Not everyone of the merfolk was going to be as nice as Gina.
He was already prepared to engage in tough negotiations in order to make a species that had 10th-tier powerhouses to be the ingredient supplier for the restaurant.
“Don"t worry, Gina. There will be solutions.” Mag, who already knew what to do, consoled Gina.
“Yes.” Gina nodded. She felt rea.s.sured looking at Mag"s smile.
Mag made an announcement after everyone arrived at the restaurant.
“Tomorrow, I am going to send Gina home. If I didn"t estimate wrongly, this should be the location of her home.” Mag pointed at a circle on the map.
“Boundless Sea Realm. That is the demons" territory. However, this location is some distance away from the Demon Islands. I have never heard about a place called Lantisde there.” Elizabeth looked at the locationt that Mag pointed out, frowning slightly.
Mag calmly continued, “I think that is the most possible location after researching through many materials. No matter what, let"s go and try.”
“Alright, I will send you all there tomorrow.” Elizabeth nodded.
“Can I go too?” Yabemiya asked softly.
“Of course.” Elizabeth nodded.
“It"s fantastic, Sis…” Yabemiya hugged Elizabeth and then stopped herself just in time before happily saying, “Big Sister Elizabeth!”
“If we are going to the sea, don"t we need to prepare a boat? Then, we can fish and even barbeque the fish as soon as we get them out. That would be fantastic,” Babla said thoughtfully.
“But, who knows how to build a boat?” Amy asked, raising her hand.
Everybody looked at one another, and then shook their heads.
At this moment, Firis, who was standing in a corner, raised her hand, and said, “If there is wood… I can make a simple boat.”
Everyone instantly turned their head to look at Firis with bright eyes.
“This is great. Then we can all sit in a boat and eat unlimited grilled fis.h.!.+” Amy said with elation. Everyone"s face had a happy smile too.
Everyone was smiling, except Mag who was looking glum.
Sea… Why are you filled with water!
As he"d drowned in his previous life, Mag gathered that he should have gotten PTSD from that. He would feel a pressure on his heart whenever the sea was mentioned.
I wouldn"t have drowned in my previous life if I haven"t gone fis.h.i.+ng for that d.a.m.n crab! Mag mumbled in his heart.
“No. This is simply a misconception of yours, Host. You would"ve still died even if you hadn"t gone out to the open sea to fish for the king crabs that day.
“It"s just that the cause of death might"ve been: the plane you took crashed, you burned to death during tanning, you drowned in the bathtub, you choked on a little bun, you fell into a concrete-mixer full of concrete, you were buried alive during a landslide, or you were eaten alive by a lion…
“Anyway, you were going to die,” the system said calmly.
“If G.o.d wants me to die at midnight, I will never survive to see the sun rise, right?” Mag c.o.c.ked his eyebrow. If this was the case, drowning in the sea didn"t seem so bad now.
“Face your fear and overcome it so you can become stronger. Then, you will become the invincible G.o.d of Cookery,” the system encouraged.
“p.i.s.s off.”
Mag rolled his eyes. That was easier said than done.
Mag readjusted his mentality after seeing everyone"s enthusiasm. Smiling, he said, “Alright, let"s agree to set out tomorrow morning. We are going to send Gina home, and this is going to be our restaurant"s first team-building activity. We are going to have a winter tour in the Boundless Sea, and I will grill fish for all of you.”