Chapter 511: Soda factory
Michael and Max visited a few other companies in Metropolis in search for the right ingredients for the soda. It took them the whole day, since everyone exhibited the same surprise and shock as Vishna. They all thought that the Vanderbilts had no capacity to buy the bulk amount of materials they were looking for.
Of course, all Michael had to do was pay up front, and they quickly changed their tune and processed the sale very easily.
They were even so apologetic about their initial offense that they ended up delivering the materials right into Michael’s new factory without any fees at all.
Because of this, the production of the soda was finally on its way.
At this point, the other Vanderbilts had gotten a satisfactory-level of mastery over the controls over the big machines. The engineers designed it so that they were user-friendly, so it was intuitively easy to learn. They would be able to keep the factory running day to day without much trouble.
"Good morning, everyone!" Michael said as he stood in front of the group of the Vanderbilt workers. "As you can see behind me, these are the materials that you are going to be working with. If you need sugar for the mixture, you take it from that large chest over there."
He pointed at the barrels of sugar that Vishna provided for him.
"That much?! That must have cost a fortune!"
"I didn’t think that we’ll be using premium ingredients for this drink."
"Nephew Michael, how are you able to afford all this stuff?"
Michael shrugged. "My company is doing well in the Kings region so I’m not tight on budget."
They all nodded to themselves, proud of their relative that he was able to accomplish this much.
In fact, they praised his bravery. The fact that he was willing to risk his savings to build up a new business in Metropolis meant that he had nerves of steel that weren’t fazed by the unknown.
"We’ll make sure not to waste a single ingredient, Michael!"
"Yeah! We mastered these metal machines enough to make sure that we’ll have 100% efficiency!"
"We’ll make sure you won’t get bankrupt!"
They all rallied with a cheer, which added to their motivation for working hard.
Michael awkwardly scratched his chin.
Do they think this is all I can afford? he thought to himself.
"Ahem...anyway, for the first few weeks, we’ll be producing only less than ten thousand bottles a month. But after that, we’ll probably be ramping up production even more.
I’ve already planned for an expansion for the factory. Don’t be surprised if we produce a hundred thousand bottles a day in the near future."
Everyone’s jaws were on the floor. A hundred thousand bottles a month?! This meant that they would need ten thousand times more materials than right now! They couldn’t fathom the price that those ingredients would cost.
Not only that, but Michael told them that this expansion was set. He was going to ramp up the production of the soda no matter if soda was a success or not.
They didn’t know if Michael was simply that confident in his product, or he had a lot of money to spare.
"Are you sure? Why don’t we just wait a bit before increasing the number of bottles we produce?"
"Yeah, if we see that it’s selling well, we’ll increase it little by little."
"Max, why don’t you advise our nephew so that he doesn’t waste his money."
They all turned to Max. After all, his impatience was what ultimately led the Vanderbilt business to almost go bankrupt. They didn’t want Michael to repeat the same mistakes he had.
However, Max just raised his hands, choosing not to interfere.
Just like them, he thought that Michael was just a talented, budding, young businessman with a lot of ideas and products to sell.
But as he got to know more about Michael, he began piecing together some bits and pieces of the truth. The automobiles, the eight-elemental mastery talent, the endless amount of money, and most of all, the rumored Nation of Reborn that he overheard Bart and Lylia talking about.
If he came from the Kings region all the way to Metropolis, then it could only mean that he had already conquered it with his company. Michael didn’t say it outright to him. He didn’t have to. He just let his indifference to spending a lot of money talk for itself.
Michael wasn’t a rising star. He was already blazing through the skies! However, his initial brilliance was only seen on the other side of the world, which was why most, if not all of Metropolis knew nothing about Michael.
However, Max knew that it was only a matter of time before Metropolis caught up with Michael’s brilliance.
"Guys...trust Michael. He knows what he’s doing. Even if he wastes a hundred thousand bottles of soda, it won’t make a dent on his pockets."
The other Vanderbilts were speechless. They looked at Michael, who was silent and didn’t deny the claim.
It was at that moment that they finally realized how much they didn’t know about Michael.
Just how rich was he?
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The soda factory finally started its production.
The sounds of heavy metal pounding into another metal resounded through the walls, the scent of bubbling soda wafted through the air and out the vents. And most of all, the feeling of that satisfying pop echoed as the caps were installed inside the glass bottles.
The Vanderbilts manually loaded the soda bottles onto the crates and stacked them on top of each other.
By the end of the day, there were almost a thousand bottles of soda produced in the factory. This would be enough for the opening day tomorrow.
He thanked the Vanderbilts for their efforts before they all went on their way back to their estate.
And just as Michael was about to leave, he heard the sounds of hooves clacking on stone slabs echoing through the streets.
He looked at the corner and saw a single horse rider wearing a uniform of white and gold. He recognized him as the royal man who brought them into the Duchess’ palace the other day.
"Greetings, sir Michael!"
The man got off of his horse and bowed at Michael.
He then took out a scroll from his pockets and began reading it out loud.
"On behalf of the royal family, dearest congratulations to the successful production of your magnificent soda. The royal twins would like you to know that they would be visiting your establishment early in the morning to be your very first customers. They hoped that you made enough soda to fill an ocean."
Michael chuckled to himself. "Tell them I’m thankful for their support. The taste for the soda will be different from the usual, but I know that they’ll like it too."
The royal man nodded. "Very well, there is just one question left, and it is from the Duchess herself. What is the name of your soda product?"
Michael thought about it long and hard. Eventually, he came up with something that was still branded to the Reborn name, while also fitting for a soft drink.
"RebirthDew."