Chapter 1171: Chapter 1170: Planning Ahead

Making the expensive cheap, the rare widespread, and the unreliable stable and controllable—these are the main reasons why Magic Guide Technology can change the way the world operates in this era.

The elves have a Sacred Stars Temple; for thousands of years, this never-falling sky fortress has been the greatest guarantee of the Silver Empire’s ability to awe all nations. Although its deterrence is limited to the southern part of the continent due to the aging of the temple itself, as long as that fortress floats in the sky, most kingdoms on the Loren Continent can only look up to it with reverence—this situation isn’t related to whether the elves themselves "adhere to peace and neutrality," but is instead a result of overwhelming power.

In the current international situation, Gawain and his entire governing team do not intend to make Cecil a hegemonic empire, but even so, he still hopes to make breakthroughs in the Empire’s aerial power. The sky fortress held by the elves is an extremely attractive and practically significant target. Even without considering military deterrence, such a flying fortress capable of extended high-altitude operation, with substantial protective force, and providing reliable support for expeditionary units holds significant importance for Gawain’s long-term plan:

Counterattack the wasteland.

There is only one Sacred Stars Temple, and due to power and maintenance issues, it cannot stray too far from the Silver Empire. Relying on it to be the main force for counterattacking the wasteland is unrealistic, but the threat of the wasteland is there, and its hidden power grows daily, requiring those living around it to find other ways to ensure their safety. Using Magic Guide Technology’s unique advantages to attempt to produce a mass-producible version of a magical sky fortress to build up strength for future wasteland counterattacks, this is the plan Gawain formulated—one of many plans.

But realizing such a bold project is not easy, even with the Origin Laboratory’s cheat-like rapid acceleration and full-immersion simulation test system, substantial technological support from the elves, convenient magic assistance, and relatively mature anti-gravity technology, creating a human version of the "Sacred Stars Temple" is not so easy—this is far more complex than a mere oversized "dragon cavalry."

Rebecca’s attention returned to the sketches before her, her gaze slowly moving between the regularly arranged anti-gravity devices and power spine, muttering to herself while thinking: "So far, we have encountered the two biggest challenges... firstly, the magic shock and resonance damage caused by the simultaneous operation of a large number of anti-gravity rings within the same system. Last time, when we used the dragon cavalry’s anti-gravity ring for testing, it directly burned out all the test equipment and almost blew up the entire platform. We now have a solution idea for this, which is to add an isolation layer and energy release device between the power spine and energy-consuming units. Whether this will be effective remains to be seen in the next test.

"The second challenge is how to effectively integrate such a vast system so that all parts of the system can operate in concert—we designed this thing with a massive scale and a complex structure. The number of Magic Guide devices operating within the same Magic Power system is astonishing; there are at least a dozen anti-gravity rings alone, and these things are interrelated... If the synergy fails, it might lead to a shutdown. A sky fortress is supposed to fly in the sky, unlike ships and boats; if the system shuts down, it will fall..."

"That’s why we need an ’operation center’," Marin Leslie nodded and said, "This operation center can immediately detect the status of all systems in the entire fortress and efficiently control each part. Given the overall scale of the sky fortress’s system, the complexity of this control center will exceed the limits of our current control technology—even if we barely manage to build it, there might not be many people in this world who can actually operate it..."

"That’s why I said the servo brain and wetware hosts are good things, even if the ancestors think they don’t look good," Rebecca laughed, "Nothing is more suitable than neural networks for commanding such a large and complex system. I strongly agree with what Mr. Egg once said—the most beautiful creations of life are machines, and the most beautiful machines are life itself. Wetware hosts and neural networks can bridge the gap between machines and biological entities. As long as the neural cables cover the entire system, the control issue of the sky fortress is no longer a problem. Next, we should consider how to incorporate the validated system from Gran Heavy Industries into our blueprint..."

"Essentially, this idea is in reference to the elves’ Sacred Stars Temple," Marin Leslie remarked with a slightly complex expression, "I heard that their ’temple’s’ control technology is essentially a sort of neural network..."

"That’s not the same," Rebecca immediately shook her head, "Wetware hosts don’t take up population, at most they cost some sugar—the Sacred Stars Temple of the silver elves costs the Empress."

Marin Leslie’s expression instantly became a bit peculiar: "That remark is a bit..."

"I’m not making things up," Rebecca tapped the table seriously, "The last time I spoke with Queen Belsetia, she mentioned that once seated on the Sovereignty Chair, a person becomes part of the machine, and must concentrate fully on controlling the system. Also, the selection of operators is exceptionally stringent, first requiring that one must be a member of the Morning Star Royal Family, otherwise they can’t pass the biological authentication, and then there’s something about synchronization rate... If the synchronization rate doesn’t reach a certain level, the efficiency of the Sacred Stars Temple decreases. Isn’t this fundamentally no different from the old days, when mages relied on innate talent to cast spells, or magic supplies required casting abilities?"

Saying this, Rebecca crossed her arms, seriously assessing: "So, in my view, the elves’ Sacred Stars Temple has a flaw at its root—even if the elves manage to fix it, it’s going to become a constraint sooner or later. For the Silver Empire to develop, it eventually needs to get rid of this problematic ’antique heritage.’ What did the ancestor say again? Something about breaking first and then standing up again... Anyway, I think the Silver Empire needs this ’break’ now."

"Uh... You’re right, but that wasn’t really my point just now... whatever, you’re right," Marin Leslie awkwardly coughed twice, raising a hand to touch nonexistent sweat on his forehead. This Princess always had a peculiar way of speaking, and a traditionally-minded person like himself often felt extra pressure when inadvertently discussing certain ’upper-level topics’ with her. He even suspected that at least half of his hair was lost during conversations with this Princess.

Rebecca seemed unaware that she had once again put her reliable subordinate under new pressure. Her attention was drawn to Marin’s action, and she glanced upwards in surprise: "Wow, Marin, you’ve lost more hair!"

"Ah... Thank you for your concern," Marin was momentarily awkward, touching his nose, "It’s not too bad, after all... people do reach middle age, you know..."

"Ah, then I suggest you seek Pittman’s help. He seems to be researching some hair-regrowth alchemical ointment again recently—though I’m not sure who keeps ordering this ointment from him every now and then, but you should try it. His ointment may sometimes lack effect, but I haven’t heard of any serious side effects either..."

"Thank you, I’ll consider it." Marin’s awkwardness was almost palpable, desperately racking his brain for something to say to divert the Princess’s attention and swiftly move on from this topic. But fortunately, before he could speak, Rebecca had already moved on—as usual, her attention quickly jumped from one thing to another; as Marin stood awkwardly, fidgeting with his nose, she had already stood up from behind the wide desk and walked to a nearby floor-to-ceiling window.

Rebecca gazed out through the floor-to-ceiling window.

This was the deepest part of the facility, an area highly confidential, where only the window in her office could directly view that site—the huge enclosed space where high-power magic crystal lamps illuminated the expansive assembly platform and crisscrossed steel support structures. Under the beams of spotlights, cold shadows were cast, and amidst those massive platforms and support structures could be seen unfinished anti-gravity rings, giant power spines being welded, mobile Magic Obelisks, bustling engineering vehicles, and countless workers and technicians busying themselves among the gigantic components.

"The previously burnt components have been replaced... Before installing the batch of parts sent from Pompeii City, we should do more preparation in Test Site No. 2," Rebecca said softly, "Marin, prepare another set of simulation frameworks, we’ll verify the modification plan for the power spine once more. Also, contact the computing center and borrow their wetware servo—both the new power spine and the neural network control system can be tested together."

"Regarding the budget..." Marin couldn’t help but say, although he didn’t need to worry about this aspect, the conversation he overheard outside the door left him feeling a bit anxious.

"I’ll apply for it, it’s just an unplanned test," Rebecca waved her hand, "Besides, even if something burns out, burning a simulation framework and wetware servo is better than burning the main power spine on the shipyard, Aunt Heidi will understand."

Marin looked at the Princess Veronica in front of him, then lowered his head after a moment: "...Yes, Minister, I’ll arrange it now."

...

In the Grand Governor’s office at the Administrative Office in Cecil Castle, Aunt Heidi, looking slightly tired, put down a report in her hand, rubbed her somewhat sore eyes, and couldn’t help but sigh softly.

At this moment, the door to the office was pushed open, and Gawain’s voice came from the entrance: "As soon as I come in, I see you sighing, Heidi. Have you encountered a thorny issue again? Has Baldwin Franklin’s village renovation and the retraining of the free mercenaries stalled? Or has the Planning Department given you another challenge?"

"If it were such issues, it’d actually be better, it’s merely a matter of reallocating staff and adjusting corresponding departmental work arrangements," Aunt Heidi rubbed her eyes again and sighed with a headache, "It’s our dear Miss Rebecca, she..."

Before Aunt Heidi could finish speaking, Gawain waved his hand casually and interrupted: "I understand, it’s the budget."

Aunt Heidi helplessly looked at her ancestor: "A month ago, there was a meltdown accident in Project 115, although there were no casualties, the key materials and test site were severely damaged. Half a month ago, the same site experienced a second meltdown, this time not only was all the testing equipment destroyed, but the test site almost exploded—fortunately, the safety measures were tight and effective, the disaster didn’t expand further. Now Rebecca has submitted the third phase budget application... The amount is even several percentage points higher than last time."

Aunt Heidi couldn’t help but shake her head, her originally beautiful face now shrouded in hesitation: "I understand the importance of Project 115, but it’s too difficult to maintain a calm heart when signing."

Whenever she saw a budget list from the Magical Technology Department, her signing hand trembled slightly and sometimes Aunt Heidi truly wished to hand these matters straight to the primary financial officers under her, but most of Rebecca’s budget submissions were related to confidential plans, ultimately requiring her, the Grand Governor, to review—Aunt Heidi couldn’t help but feel pessimistic about the future, fearing her trembling hand would continue to tremble for many years to come...

Seeing Aunt Heidi, who was always mature and calm in front of outsiders, revealing such an expression of helplessness in front of him, Gawain couldn’t help but want to laugh, but he managed to control his expression, slightly shook his head, and said: "Looks like this truly is a money-burning project..."

"It was you who initiated this project," Aunt Heidi shot a glance at her ancestor, "Don’t you remember?"

"Of course, I haven’t forgotten, and we all should know the necessity of Project 115," Gawain coughed twice, his expression turning serious, "Over there in the wasteland... I’m afraid we don’t have much time left."

Seeing Gawain’s change in expression, Aunt Heidi couldn’t help but straighten her back, her demeanor becoming earnest: "Has the outpost at Southgate Fortress discovered something?"

"Nothing has been seen yet, but news has come from the Silver Empire, their sentinel towers detected several irregular energy bursts deep within the wasteland... that doesn’t seem like a natural phenomenon."

"Energy bursts..." Aunt Heidi softly repeated the word, "It means those beings hiding in the depths of the wasteland are no longer concealing their tracks..."

"They know we outsiders can’t do anything to them, and the only force threatening them deep in the wasteland can’t leave the core area," Gawain nodded, "Their previous discretion was merely to prevent outside countries from becoming vigilant and accelerating their development, and now they’re less discreet... It indicates their confidence is expanding."

"If that’s the case... Can Project 115 really keep up?" Aunt Heidi asked with concern in her voice, "Hoping for something that might not succeed for a long time, and might not even be possible to prevent a threat that could explode from the wasteland at any moment doesn’t feel stable."

"That’s why Project 115 is just one of our plans," Gawain said firmly, "Right now, we’re building strength, seeing how much we can accumulate before that wall collapses, even preferably, gathering enough strength to attack the wasteland before that wall falls, settling everything before those evil cult followers cause trouble—I’ve already approved the suggestion jointly proposed by Maryland and Sir Philip this morning, to begin constructing several railways pointing towards the great walls before this autumn, to deploy our ground mobile fortresses, I’ve heard that Typhon also has similar plans, they’re busy rebuilding several main Empire Corps and have increased troop deployments along the great walls. The tribal country of Augari and the Highmountain Kingdom, even those Alliance Member States that don’t directly border the great walls have each taken action."

"It appears the warnings we’ve issued internally to the alliance have had an effect—countries are finally no longer underestimating the threats within the wasteland like they have in previous years, which is overall a good outcome."

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