Chapter 206: Doesn't Know What's Good For Himself
Translator: Ash Editor: Millman97
At Willow House, the largest tea house in Wild Waves City, Gao Guanyu who, having taken a small sip of the tea, could not help but frown.
The environment of the Wasteland was rather poor, so poor that even the best tea had a sandy taste to it, bringing a sour flavor to the tea.
Gao Guanyu was a handsome and refined middle-aged man. At first glance, his good-looking, round, and chubby face would make anyone have a good impression of him; they would not be even the slightest bit vigilant against him and might even find him somewhat clumsy.
However, in the Zephyr Guild, he went by the name of "fat fox", for the hidden dagger in his smile and the fame he acquired by employing treacherous and deceitful tactics.
Gao Guanyu was the senior manager of the Zephyr Guild's patent center.
Zephyr Guild was a major refining clan. The new patents exercised by it every year were as vast as the sea.
It stands to reason that hundreds and thousands of patents could not be developed by the refiners of Zephyr Guild themselves. Many of the patents were purchased from outsiders.
Gao Guanyu's job was to find a patent that had more potential in the market and buy it back at a rather low price before its inventor could see its value.
Then Zephyr Guild could make a huge fortune by using it themselves and reselling it through their vast network.
Having been in this line of work for a couple decades, Gao Guanyu had a vast experience and was keenly aware of the value of the Demon Beast Detector's patent.
Once it was commercialized, maybe it would set off a wave.
What was even worse was that its application somewhat overlapped with many magical equipment produced by the Zephyr Guild.
Not to mention the fact that, in Gao Guanyu's opinion, the Demon Beast Detector's design was much better than the Hunting Watch and other similar magical equipment produced by the Zephyr Guild.
Once the Demon Beast Detector was on the market, it would impact the sales of Zephyr Guild's magical equipment for sure.
Ergo, Gao Guanyu was determined to acquire the patent of Demon Beast Detector.
"The difficulty of this task should not be that high.
"The other party is just a freshman who isn't even in his twenties. Whereas the Grand Desolate War Institution's Refining Department is ranked third among the third-grade sect. Until now I have never even heard of them ever refining this kind of magical equipment.
"If my guess is right, then this kid must have been momentarily inspired and designed the Demon Beast Detector by chance. Perhaps he himself isn't even aware of its value.
"So long as I gave him a little bit of money, he would sell the patent to us..."
A slight smile appeared on Gao Guanyu's face as he closed his eyes and rested his mind, using the final few minutes, to ponder what he was going to say.
Suddenly, two waitresses chatting with each other came to his attention:
"Have you seen the video yet? The Vulture is a really apt nickname; he is truly insidious and cunning!"
"But of course, I think this Vulture is our Grand Desolate War Institution's newest ruthless figure. If I am going to provoke someone, I would rather provoke Iron Fist Club and Chaos Edge Hall!"
The Wild Waves City was an academic city. Many students worked at tea houses, restaurants, and other establishments in the Wild Waves City as part-time workers. It was not just for the money but also for developing their self-sustaining abilities.
The two waitresses were, in fact, students of Grand Desolate War Institution.
"Vulture?"
Gao Guanyu was intimidated before he broke into a laughter; he was laughing at his own nervousness.
The Grand Desolate War Institution was famous for its Combat Department. Having heard of the name Vulture, he reckoned that he must be a ruthless figure from the Combat Department, whether he's insidious or fierce, what's that got to do with him.
He must think of some ways to deal with this silly freshman!
After a moment, apart from his bright and shiny eyes, a seemingly mediocre teenager dressed in school uniform walked into the tea house. After having looked right and left for a while, he started walking right towards Gao Guanyu.
Putting the most kind and cordial expression, Gao Guanyu said with a smile, "Student Li Yao, hello.
"I'm Gao Guanyu from Zephyr Guild. This time I came mainly to discuss regarding the transfer of Demon Beast Detector's patent with you.
"We have carefully studied your patent and although it is somewhat impractical and hard to commercialize, in terms of design, it is still somewhat ingenious, we can see your ingenuity in it. It can play a supporting role in some magical equipment crafted by our Zephyr Guild.
"Therefore, we would like to buy it from you and enrich our Zephyr Guild's patent library.
"Here are some of the clauses drafted by me, you can take a look. In fact, our Zephyr Guild buys hundreds and thousands of patents from outside sources every year, basically, we operate in accordance with similar clauses.
"You don't need to worry; our Zephyr Guild is a famous and major sect with a long line of history. The aforementioned clauses are perfectly just; we would not let you suffer any loss."
Gao Guanyu transferred the contract to Li Yao's crystal processor.
Having heard Gao Guanyu say that the Demon Beast Detector was impractical and quite difficult to commercialize, a slight frown appeared upon Li Yao's forehead.
When his gaze swept through the contract and saw the series of digits, a ridicule could not help but appear in his eyes.
"Five million?
"Want to buy all the legal rights to the Demon Beast Detector with just five million?"
With a faint smile on his face, Li Yao glanced at Gao Guanyu.
At present, Li Yao was at the 6th level of the Refinement Stage and on the verge of breaking through to the 7th level of the Refinement Stage, earning just 5 million wouldn't be difficult!
Not to mention the fact that he could simply go on a spree hunt and slaughter demon beasts in the Wasteland. And if he sold them in the market rather than taking the hunt back to the institute to redeem them for credits, he could very well earn 5 million quite quickly as well.
The Demon Beast Detector would also play the most crucial role in his efficiency to hunt the demon beasts.
With a mere 5 million, how could he ever think of buying off the patent of Demon Beast 'Detector?! Do you really think of me as nothing but a stupid brat who has never seen money?!'
And the aforementioned clauses made Li Yao shake his head. On the spot, Li Yao abandoned the idea of cooperating with the Zephyr Guild.
In accordance with the clauses, Zephyr Guild buying off the patent of Demon Beast Detector wasn't just limited to that, the contract also included the subsequent improvements as well as the research and development of this patent.
In other words, once Li Yao signed the agreement, he would be unable to conduct further refining as well as research of the Demon Beast Detector.
Which was absolutely unacceptable to Li Yao.
In Li Yao's mind, the current Demon Beast Detector was just 1st generation, it could not even be counted as a true "detector".
For it didn't have the ability to detect itself. All it could do was scan, and by relying on the shape and characteristics obtained through the scan, it would then compare it to the database.
If an unknown type or a rare variant of demon beast appeared, and there was no relevant data in the database, then it would fail to detect.
Furthermore, even among the same kind of demon beasts, some were strong and some were weak. High-level demon clan members could also cultivate. It would be basically impossible to judge their strength after cultivation by solely relying on their species.
Therefore, Li Yao planned to continue to develop the Demon Beast Detector to 2nd generation, 3rd generation, 4th generation...
Until the point when the Demon Beast Detector could possess true detecting ability where it wouldn't have to rely on the database. As long as it performed a scan using the mystic beam, it would be able to roughly estimate the strength of the enemy.
This kind of magical equipment would not just detect the battle force of demon beasts but also detect the battle force of cultivators and devil cultivators as well.
This was the ultimate magical equipment in his mind; the Battle Force Scouter!
Therefore, how could he hand over all the rights of subsequent research and development to others?
Shaking his hand, Li Yao refused, "I'm sorry, the noble conditions offered by Mister Gao somewhat differed from what I had in my mind. Let's work together again if we ever have the opportunity in the future."
Refused?
Gao Guanyu raised his eyebrows. In his heart, he was slightly surprised. With a brighter smile on his face, Gao Guanyu calmly said, "Student Li Yao, the difference doesn't matter. We can slowly discuss. If you are not satisfied with the price, I still have a bit of authority, I can help you fight for it."
Li Yao smiled, "I am really not satisfied with the price. Perhaps the difference could not be compensated with 'a little bit of authority'. But what I find the most unacceptable is transferring the rights of follow-up developments and improvements.
"What I can accept is the authorization of its production.
"After getting my authorization, the Zephyr Guild can mass produce the Demon Beast Detector, and the resulting profits can be shared by both party. I can lower my shares a bit too.
"But the patent of Demon Beast Detector will remain in my own hands so that I can do further development and crafting at will."
Gao Guanyu's smile became a bit stiff, "Student Li Yao, is that necessary?
"We are not clear about the market prospects for the Demon Beast Detector, and even if it is successfully commercialized, who knows how well it will sell and for how much?!
"And speaking of dividing the profits, your risks are pretty big!
"If you feel that 5 million is too low, I can forward a request to the headquarter and increase the final transfer price to 8 million!
"But we must get the complete patent rights, including the rights for subsequent modifications and R&D.
"Our Zephyr Guild isn't some ordinary, insignificant sect. Just the production rights aren't much different from contract manufacturing, which we never do. We must have the entire patent rights of the magical equipment produced by us.
"How about this, if you are willing to forgo the rights of subsequent modifications and R&D, I will add another 2 million to the price I previously offered, making the final patent transfer price 10 million!
"What do you think?"
Seeing Li Yao being silent, Gao Guanyu came to believe Li Yao was hesitating, so he added another spark, "Student Li Yao, let's be honest.
"The Demon Beast Detector is indeed a pretty good piece of magical equipment.
"But even a pretty good piece of magical equipment would face many problems in the process of its commercialization, such as distribution channels, marketing, quality of control of mass production, after-sales service, so on and so forth. Even the slightest mistake would not only stop us from earning a lot of money, there is a pretty big chance that we would not even be able to earn back the cost price!
"Our Zephyr Guild sincerely want to get the patent of the Demon Beast Detector. 10 million is already our limit, and I believe no one else would offer such a high price.
"Not to mention that the utility patents are ensured for only three years. After three years, everyone else could follow the design of Demon Beast Detector and produce similar magical equipment!
"You will only get a one shot and you must grasp it!"
This statement of Gao Guanyu's could not be counted as completely deceptive.
Ten million to buy the R&D rights for a utility patent from a university student was indeed pretty price.
However, Li Yao had other plans in his mind.
Having stood up, Li Yao slightly bent his body, "I am truly sorry! Mister Gao, I'm afraid we cannot agree on this issue. If we have the opportunity in the future, let's cooperate again."
Li Yao turned around and left.
Since both parties could not agree on the core issue, there was no meaning in continuing on discussing the details.
Li Yao's time was rather precious, he still had to study and cultivate a lot more.
Watching the disappearing silhouette of Li Yao at the entrance of tea house, the smile on Gao Guanyu's face turned incomparably gloomy in a second.
This fat fox squeezed out seven words from his clenched teeth, "He doesn't know what's good for himself!"