Chapter 125 · Inspection (Part 2)
Inside Ninth High Tower, under a dome intertwined with metal and magic runes, the Council delegation walked into the hall under the escort of Royal Guard. A red-haired man wearing a lab coat was leaning against the console, playing with a Crystal that kept changing colors.
"Lord of the Tower George·Weasley," the leading official Council flipped through the files in his hand, "Where is your brother Fred?"
"I am Fred." The red-haired man raised his head and showed a sly smile, "Just kidding, I am indeed George. Fred is in the store. This week we launched the 'Color-Changing Slugs' special promotion, and he has to be there personally."
Several Council members exchanged helpless looks. Amelia shook his head slightly, but did not say anything to stop this casual attitude.
Ian walked forward with a smile, "I heard that you have updated the product catalog?"
George immediately became energetic. "Professor, you always know us so well!" He waved his hand to bring up the holographic projection, showing off several novelties, "Look at this, 'Rainbow Taste Potion', you can taste the color after drinking it."
Ian carefully studied the molecular structure diagram in the projection. "Interesting design. However, I guess you have passed the review of Magical Object Safety Committee?"
"Of course, professor," George assured, "We are good citizens who strictly abide by the Empire laws."
"Really?" Ian raised his eyebrows, "Then by just lying about being Fred, does that count as deceiving Empire officials?"
George spread his hands exaggeratedly. "Professor, even our mothers can't tell us apart, how on earth did you do it? We even developed a special Confundus Charm to ensure that it is foolproof."
Ian chuckled, "First of all, I habitually assume that you always lie about your identity. Secondly..." He pointed to his eyes, "The subtle differences in soul marks cannot escape my perception."
"Can you teach us?" George approached eagerly.
Amelia coughed lightly at the right time. "Your Majesty, we still have a schedule."
Ian nodded knowingly. "Okay, George, let us see your results this year."
George suppressed his joking expression and led everyone through an energy barrier and entered a laboratory full of buzzing sounds. A huge generator set occupied one side of the room, and all electrical energy was directed to a suspended blue Crystal ball in the center.
"As you all know," George's tone became professional, "Our task is to develop the Energy Conversion device. After repeated experiments, we have confirmed that electrical energy can be converted into magic power."
He called up a set of data streams, "Although the conversion rate is not ideal, with the support of nuclear fusion power plants, energy supply is not a problem at all."
Ian approached the Crystal ball and stretched out his hand to feel the energy flowing in it. "Very good direction. Although Leyline Nodes of Solar System is abundant, Multiverse exploration requires a more stable source of energy."
He brought up the design interface and quickly modified a few rune sequences. "If the enchantment structure here is adjusted, the solar energy conversion efficiency should be increased by thirty percent. The remaining optimization work..."
"Professor," George interrupted with a grimace, "I originally planned to go to Jupiter for vacation next week."
Ian continued the operation without raising his head, "It's normal during the vacation, but I want to see the improvement plan when I come back. If the delay is too long..." He glanced at George, "Royal Guard will be happy to 'escort' you back to the laboratory."
In George's sad eyes, the delegation left Ninth High Tower.
At the entrance of the eighth tower, Cedric Diggory (Triwizard Tournament Champion of Hogwarts) was already waiting in line with his assistants.
"Cedric," Ian greeted cordially, "How are you doing? How is Qiu?"
"Everything is fine, Professor," Cedric replied with a smile, "She just joined Mars Falcons and is preparing for the quarterly competition."
"Say hello to her for me." Ian patted his shoulder, "Now, let us see your results."
Cedric led everyone into the testing field. A giant mechanical spider with twelve legs stood quietly in the center of the field. Its single eye was a sphere that emitted soft red light.
"The eighth generation AG-23 reconnaissance puppet," Cedric introduced, "Has amphibious combat capabilities."
Under his command, the spider's legs retracted from its body and floated into the air. Then it landed in a simulated ocean area, glided on the water like a hovercraft, and finally dived into deep water, emerging a few minutes later with the collected mineral samples.
"Multifunctional combat platform," Cedric continued to demonstrate. A variety of weapon modules were deployed on the surface of the spider, "Equipped with an elemental magic launcher and an improved version of Exploding Charm device. It also has the functions of environmental scanning, life detection, and resource exploration..."
Ian called up the design blueprint, "Feasibility of mass production?"
"The new enchanted 3D printing technology can solve the core component manufacturing problem," Cedric called up a simulation diagram of the production line. "As long as resources are sufficient, the monthly output can reach 300 units."
"Very good," Ian nodded with satisfaction, "This will greatly improve the safety factor of the deep space exploration fleet."
The interior of Fifth High Tower is like a tropical rain forest, Neville·Long Barton is recording data in front of a glowing plant.
"Professor!" He hurriedly put down the instrument in his hand, "You are welcome to inspect."
"Neville," Ian looked around at the lush vegetation, "Is your grandmother okay?"
"She is very healthy," Neville took out an exquisite tea can from her pocket, "She specially prepared this for you, saying thank you..."
Ian took the tea can and nodded knowingly. "You have won this position by virtue of your own strength, Neville. Now, let me see your most proud achievement."
Neville led everyone to the center of the greenhouse. A towering giant tree stood there, with blue leaves emitting soft light in the air. When the wizards approached, they could feel the activity of the surrounding magic increasing significantly.
"Magic Tree," Neville's voice was full of pride, "Cultivation through a combination of gene editing and ancient plant magic. They can stabilize the energy output of Leyline Nodes and release active magic into the environment through photosynthesis."
Ian put his hand on the tree trunk, closed his eyes and felt the flow of energy. "What about the activation effect on the node itself?"
"Preliminary monitoring shows that node activity has improved," Neville called up the data, "But the speed is very slow. The most optimistic estimate is that it will take five centuries for a secondary node to be fully activated."
"What if planting is synchronized around the world?"
"Theoretically there is a synergistic effect, but more experimental verification is needed."
Ian thought for a moment, "Continue research in this direction. Time is not a problem, we must make reserves for the future."
When leaving Fifth High Tower, Ian looked back at the giant glowing tree. He knew that this seemingly slow project might be the most effective long-term strategy for Death Resistance.