Lamian had been filled with anticipation. During breakfast, Huang Cao told her about the future he envisioned.
Everyone would be able to hear their loved one's voice from hundreds of kilometers away with ease, and even distances of several thousand kilometers would take only a day to cross...
These wondrous things would soon become reality in the not-so-distant future...
The days that followed passed without incident...
Although Huang Cao was in Eden, the Seed he had planted inside Shi Huaiya allowed him to quickly learn about the major events taking place in Victoria.
For example, King Aslan had decided to completely lift restrictions on Originium in order to compete for Terra's future supremacy.
Once the decree was issued, nobles and commoners alike threw themselves into a frenzy of Originium purchases.
Thanks to this law, even the rather inefficient Originium engine was officially put into use with the approval of the Victorian Parliament.
As for how many Infected this engine would create in the future, no one could say.
That, however, did not stop Huang Cao from continuing to enjoy the conveniences Victoria provided.
Future Victoria might be somewhat pathetic, but it was still an old empire. A starving camel was still bigger than a horse, and besides, it had not yet starved.
The nobles of Victoria could climb the basic technological tree themselves. Huang Cao only needed to harvest the fruits in his territory and tinker with Abundance Technology.
After some time, Huang Cao officially issued a notice in Eden calling for instructors and soldiers.
The number of applicants reached an astonishing three thousand. That might not sound like much, but it was actually the territory's entire population, including children in their teens.
That was only natural. More than a decade ago, the townspeople who had followed Huang Cao numbered only a few hundred.
This was already the result of an impressively high birth rate. For now, he would wait until the second-generation Sarkaz came of age before selecting the best candidates.
In any case, the War of the Four Emperors was still a long way off, and the population of his territory was nowhere near its limit.
There was no need to rush into expanding his borders.
Waiting was the best fuel for development.
Over the following months, Huang Cao completely integrated the cells he had created into the frame of the High-speed Battleship, then perfected its engine using the information in the Originium Database.
It was not difficult. The raw materials were sufficient, and the technology was already available. The rest followed naturally.
The High-speed Battleship only needed to be functional.
No other country had anything like it yet. No matter how crude the ship he built was, it would still be advanced!
Even Siergrag, that impoverished backwater, could cobble together something like this. Surely Eden could build one too?
In the future, when Mobile Cities ran all over the place, this snowy mountain nation would be even worse off than present-day Kazdel.
After all, Theresia had already begun to consider progress, while Siergrag would still be thinking about hiding inside its shell several hundred years later.
...Meanwhile, in Victoria.
Shi Huaiya held a patent document in her hand as she stood on an elevated platform and delivered her speech.
"Everyone, this invention, the telephone, will completely transform Victoria's inadequate communications system. Can you imagine how it feels when someone hundreds of kilometers away merely dials a number and sends a sentence straight into your ear within a second?"
"This is not some noble form of Originium Arts. This is the power of technology! Even a child can use it!"
"Today, our honored speaker, Mr. Huang Cao, the highest authority of the Abundance Group, has released this technology for the sole purpose of helping us crush those old nobles."
"Therefore, this honored gentleman is willing to offer thirty percent of the technology's shares and invite everyone to join him. Colleagues, the opportunity to seize the future is today."
Shi Huaiya's eloquence was truly impressive. With only a few short sentences, she further elevated Huang Cao's standing in the eyes of Victoria's new nobles.
Everyone knew the telephone's strategic significance, let alone these aristocratic elites.
The new nobles knew that the telephone's existence could not be kept secret, so instead of hiding it, they might as well be the first to use it themselves.
As long as they used it quickly enough, the old nobles would never catch up!
In the past, almost all new technologies had been controlled by the old nobles. There were countless examples, such as the Steam Knights.
The telephone's appearance would undoubtedly strengthen the new nobles' control over various regions while reducing the cost of information transmission and saving enormous amounts of manpower.
The efficiency of commercial operations would certainly increase dramatically in the future.
Previously, almost everyone had to rely on the formations of masters of Originium Arts for long-distance communication.
But now, just as Shi Huaiya had said, anyone—even a newborn child—could speak beside a telephone and have their voice reach family members hundreds of kilometers away within seconds.
There was one thing Shi Huaiya herself knew perfectly well, however.
A few days earlier, when Huang Cao had given her the patent, he had made it clear that this so-called telephone was merely a crippled version.
It worked, but only barely.
Its main purpose was to have the nobles build the relevant production lines, after which his side would produce something more advanced.
Only by keeping the advanced technology in his own hands could he always stay one step ahead.
The telephone was an advantage for the new nobles, while an even more advanced telephone was likewise an advantage for Huang Cao.
Revealing all his trump cards was not the act of a wise man. Besides, this thing would be invented within a few years anyway.
If someone was going to make this money, it might as well be him!
Faced with this brand-new technology, nearly all the new nobles worked at full speed, doing everything they could to build the first telephone line according to the principles and manufacturing methods Huang Cao had provided.
In just one year, they had produced a large number of corresponding production lines and devices.
Using this equipment, Shi Huaiya easily produced even more advanced communications devices and secretly sent them to Eden through the trade routes.
Thank you for all the votes, and thank you everyone for your support!
Chapter 64: Another Defect
Because Terra's land was obstructed by catastrophes, the development of wireless communications became extremely difficult. Most systems could only support communication between people within the range of a Mobile City.
The wired telephone Huang Cao had laid solved this problem. In theory, as long as the telephone wire was long enough, communication between nations was not impossible.
The mobility of Mobile Cities, however, meant that this would never be possible in the future.
After all, when faced with a catastrophe, people had to choose between communication and their lives. Most could still tell which mattered more.
Thus, hardly anyone was willing to lay transnational telephone lines. What would happen if a catastrophe destroyed the line along the way?
But none of this was a problem for Huang Cao.
Why not simply lay the telephone wires underground? He could also protect them with growing plants. Even if an earthquake occurred, it would not be easy for the wires to be torn apart.
Other countries had no Earthborn Child, nor could they spend so much effort merely to lay a line for chatting.
"That is the advantage of plants. No, I should say it is the Grass-eating Demon's specialty. It cannot control earth, but when it comes to digging tunnels, it is second to none in the world."
Huang Cao arrived at an open stretch of land and prepared to establish a telephone station there. After choosing a location, he snapped his fingers.
After the snap, a vine sprouted from beneath his feet. It pierced the hard soil effortlessly and spread downward.
It quickly split into two branches. One headed toward Banshee River Valley, while the other extended toward the more distant Victoria.
After using plant roots to clear away the soil, Huang Cao needed only a few days to clear a pipeline tunnel leading to Victoria and Banshee River Valley.
The tunnel was neither too wide nor too narrow. It was more than sufficient to hold telephone wires.
Actually, if not for the terrain, Huang Cao could not possibly have needed several days to clear the tunnel.
The main issue was that there were many ruins underground. The pipeline could not be buried inside them. What if they collapsed?
Moreover, something extremely strange happened while he was digging.
As soon as Huang Cao's vines entered the vicinity of these ruins, he instantly lost contact with them and could only pull them back through physical means.
The sensation was extremely peculiar, as though one of his fingers had suddenly lost all connection with his palm.
As long as he kept his distance, however, the effects were not that severe.
Huang Cao dug out a large hollow some distance from the ruins.
If going inside made him blind, then he would not be blind once he came back out, would he? Looking from a distance was the same.
After digging a hole and carefully observing the site, he discovered that the ruins were located on the border between Victoria and Kazdel. Their appearance resembled a large ancient altar.
Six triangular towers with a sci-fi appearance stood on the altar, with a book in the center.
A strange symbol was engraved on the towers. It was neither Originium's diamond nor the origin symbol of any other nation.
Strange...
Huang Cao carefully explored the surroundings and discovered that the other fixtures around the altar also appeared highly technological—at least, they were not things this era could have built.
The key was that this thing could actually block Abundance's perception!
Could this also be a method of the Pre-Civilization? As expected, this world was not as simple as he had imagined.
To prevent any accidents, Huang Cao used the Power of Abundance to create a barrier around the ruins, wrapping them into a sphere with a huge flower bud.
Fortunately, the ruins' area of influence was limited. As long as Huang Cao wrapped up the surrounding layers of rock without touching the central area, he could still sense the flow of his own power.
He wrapped it up mainly to mark the location and prevent himself from losing track of it later.
Once he became strong enough to ensure absolute safety, he would try exploring this cursed place.
He would explore this area another time!
Still, after returning, he would have to ask Cyber Ghost whether this had been one of their research projects.
Bypassing the strange ruins, Huang Cao smoothly extended the plant pipeline he had built to Victoria.
At the other end, in Victoria, Shi Huaiya had already been waiting for a long time with all kinds of equipment.
She directed her subordinates to push the telephone wires, which were more than a thousand kilometers long, through the pipeline.
There was nothing they could do. For now, they could only rely on brute force. How could they produce so much wireless communications equipment in this era?
They could only use the most primitive method. Even this was the result of Huang Cao's side possessing superior technology; they could not manufacture anything more advanced.
Several thousand kilometers was a long distance, but because the telephone wire was so thin, it did not take up much space.
Although the telephone wire was expensive, compared with the profits it would generate in the future, this cost was insignificant.
There was no need to doubt whether Victoria could manufacture these things. The power of industry was beyond ordinary people's understanding.
A few days later, after Huang Cao sent the communications equipment to Banshee River Valley, Lamian connected the telephone as well.
From that moment on, Warfarin chatted with the sisters in Banshee River Valley whenever she had nothing else to do.
She talked most about the interesting things that happened between herself and Huang Cao each day. For some reason, however, Lamian always fell silent whenever she heard anything about Huang Cao.
Moreover, every night, she would take the initiative to call and check on Huang Cao.
Warfarin was beside him most of the time. After all, she did not work overtime at night. If the two of them did not sleep together, what else could they do?
Lamian merely made small talk, so Warfarin showed no signs of jealousy.
Sometimes, however, she might make several calls in one night, as though deliberately choosing moments when that particular vampire was not present.
Warfarin assumed that Lamian was simply playing around with her. After all, the telephone was genuinely novel.
She often played with it that way too!
Apart from the slight distortion in the sound, it had no flaws whatsoever!
While the two women were chatting, Huang Cao decided to meet that woman again.
Presis! It was time to wake up and answer his questions!
After a bout of shaking, Cyber Ghost finally revealed her form inside the water tank.
"What is it?"
Presis asked in confusion, seemingly irritated by the man in front of her.
"Was this altar one of your research projects?" Huang Cao pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and pointed to the altar depicted on it.
"This altar was a project overseen by the Doctor. It could be used to enhance the physical constitution of New Humans."
"Why is the interference so strong?"
It could actually block Abundance's perception. Could there be an expert involved?
Presis frowned on the surface of the water, seemingly unable to understand what he meant by interference.
"I do not know the exact reason either. When this altar enters defensive mode, it clears away all Originium in the surrounding area."
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