March 15, 1347, Backlund, Hillston District. When the carriage carrying Altair stopped in front of the building that already bore the sign of the Bianchi Bicycle Company, a waiter hurried forward to open the door.
After getting off, Altair was led by the waiter across the red carpet to the guest check-in area to sign in and receive a promotional brochure.
After finishing this, Altair went to the VIP lounge and chatted with the people who had already arrived.
As for why Altair, the organizer and largest shareholder, would go through the check-in process, the main reason was that she had used the "hidden shareholding" method for her shares in this company.
Because Altair was still an "underage" female noble on the surface, this method of hidden shareholding helped maintain her safety and peaceful life.
Unless an insider revealed it, outsiders would never know exactly how many shares she held. Others would have little reason to target her.
Altair wasn't the only one doing this; others, such as Uncle-Grandfather Leif...
Uncle Owen, Vivian, and others, all used this method to hold shares.
With everyone choosing hidden shareholding, the public target for the bicycle company could only be borne by Audrey's father, Earl Hall.
Although the Holst Family's shares were the lowest among them, after considering the pros and cons, he was very happy to be the target.
The main reason Earl Hall was willing to be the target was the difference in political stance between him and Uncle-Grandfather Leif and the others.
Earl Hall was not a member of the military; he was a politician. This status meant he could use the bicycle, an industry that was both "beneficial to the people" and "emerging technology," to bring him great prestige.
As for whether a noble politician doing business would be mocked for being undignified, that depended on what kind of business it was.
If the noble politician only did a simple charitable business for the people, like "selling cheap flour," he would certainly be mocked for losing his status.
But if he was investing in and founding the world's first bicycle company, he wouldn't be laughed at; instead, he would be seen as enlightened and visionary.
Because such a new industry was both dignified and beneficial to the public, and it could link his name with the progress of the era.
After chatting for a while, everyone in the VIP lounge was invited to the main hall.
As the largest public shareholder, a local government official, and a well-known banker, Earl Hall took on the responsibility of being the speaker. He first spoke from a government perspective about Backlund's industrial development, affirming the new bicycle as a supplement to urban transportation, and mentioned "His Majesty King George III's encouragement of industrial innovation"—
From an industry perspective, he praised the clever design of the bicycle, emphasizing the "ingenuity of Loen's industrial creations."
After saying all this, he designed an original intention for the birth of the bicycle. The basic meaning was that the main intention of designing the bicycle was to solve the travel problems of the Loen Kingdom. As long as people bought a bicycle, they no longer had to worry about travel, because with it, people could quickly travel back and forth on short trips.
After the introduction, he had workers demonstrate the simple construction and practical advantages of the prototype, and finally thanked the guests and workers.
After this set of rhetoric, even Altair, who stood below the stage feeling nothing about selling bicycles, had a slight desire to buy one.
After the speech, Earl Hall invited all the guests qualified to participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony to join him.
After the ribbon-cutting, Earl Hall, as the host, led everyone on a tour, introducing the new products while taking questions from reporters.
For example, he briefly introduced the convenience of the bicycle; it completely abandoned the clumsy horse-drawn vehicles, allowing one to ride and go at any time. Tricycles and "Reverse Tricycles" could also be used as freight vehicles.
Then he introduced the price: the retail price of an ordinary bicycle was only 3 to 5 Gold Pounds, while Tricycles and "Reverse Tricycles" for hauling goods would be slightly more expensive, around 5 to 10 pounds.
When Altair originally set the price, she directly stole Klein's idea, focusing on cost-effectiveness so that people with a weekly salary of 1 pound and 10 sols could "afford it if they gritted their teeth."
After the tour, Altair still bought two ladies' bicycles as a guest before leaving.
March 20, 1347, Backlund, Empress Borough, Sheffield Manor. Altair, carrying the necessary Beyonder materials, once again entered the laboratory she had used when she advanced to Witch.
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She was preparing to advance to sequence six Demoness of Pleasure.
Yesterday afternoon, after selling the potions, she felt that wonderful sensation again. She knew it was the feeling of the Witch potion being acted out and digested.
The Acting for "Witch" was much slower than imagined. It had taken Altair a full seven months from advancing to sequence 7 until the Acting was complete.
Altair couldn't do anything about this; it was because she was too special. The "four-in-one" Beyonder characteristic meant she needed four times the Acting time of other Beyonders.
As for the "Demoness of Pleasure" she was about to advance to, she still hadn't figured out how to act it out, so for now, she could only take it slow and let things take their course.
The main material for the Assassin Pathway sequence six Demoness of Pleasure was a ready-made Beyonder characteristic provided by the Demoness Sect—a pink gemstone with countless threads entangled inside.
Supplementary materials: 100 ml of pure water, 5 drops of Black Datura juice, all the remaining hair of a Lustful Banshee, 10 grams of powder ground from Fenepotter flies, and 5 grams of real mummy ashes.
The appearance of the prepared potion was a liquid that emitted wisps of pinkish-blood color.
For the Spectator Pathway sequence six Hypnotist, the main material was also a ready-made Beyonder characteristic: a mass of viscous jelly, like a mirror that couldn't fix its shape and could reflect everything around it; deep within the jelly were tiny transparent bubbles reflecting sunlight from different angles, showing various colors.
Supplementary materials: 80 ml of a young Mind Dragon's blood, 3 scales of a young Mind Dragon, 1 Belladonna fruit, and a mirror that had been in her room for more than three months.
Once the potion was made, it appeared as a mass of transparent, colorless, viscous liquid. When still, it was like a mirror surface, perfectly reflecting everything within range; when it rippled, tiny vortices turned silently beneath the surface.
For the Moon Pathway sequence six Potions Professor, this special Pathway didn't require considering ready-made materials; having a Beyonder characteristic was already good enough.
Main material: a blood-red gemstone that emitted a glow like moonlight.
Supplementary materials: 100 ml of a Troll Sage's blood, 7 strands of Dark Bat fur, 10 drops of essential oil made from Snow-in-June, and a potion of her own invention.
The appearance of the potion was like a glass of clear water into which the red Moon had fallen; the color was deepest in the center and became lighter toward the edges, and it was highly irritating.
For the Savant Pathway sequence six Artisan, the main materials were: the brain of a Four-armed Lunatic and the fire seed of a Corpse-eating Furnace.
Supplementary materials: 150 ml of a Four-armed Lunatic's blood, 30 grams of ash from a Corpse-eating Furnace, a hand-polished gear, and a newly conceived mechanical blueprint without major Errors.
The appearance of the potion: it seemed to be composed of crimson flames, but various iron-black objects floated within it.
Altair's evaluation of this potion was that it was the potion that looked the least like a potion.