"Ah?"
Ed felt like there was something wrong with his ears, and he repeated the lich's words incredulously:
"Slowing down the Demonic Tide?"
"That's right, in that Psionic Energy operating model, this is the final effect that was envisioned."
The lich's expression was very serious:
"If you want to know the details, I can tell you, but you might not understand."
Hey, that's a bit disrespectful...
Ed raised an eyebrow and asked Little Green in his mind:
"Are you confident you can translate this clearly for me?"
"Have!"
Ed looked at the lich:
Let me introduce myself; I don't think I'm that ignorant.
"Alright, let's start with the basic structure of Psionic Energy Formula..."
Two minutes later, Ed crossed his arms in front of him, buried his head between them, and spoke with shame in his voice:
"Master, please stop chanting... I believe in your abilities. I'll learn this knowledge slowly. Please stop chanting."
"All right."
The lich became so engrossed in his narration that he turned around to find his only audience member had already surrendered. He then realized he might have jumped around a bit too quickly in the flow of the story.
"I apologize, I may have assumed your basic knowledge of Psionic Energy."
"Don't say anymore... I will study hard."
Ed, who was used to teaching Haji Dragon, experienced the feeling of wanting to sleep in class for the first time, which was completely different from his knowledge of economics.
Even if Ed himself didn't quite understand the content of the lessons he taught Haji Dragon, he could use his ability [ Otherworldly Half ] to sneak back to another world's internet to find information.
But when faced with Psionic Energy, something that doesn't even exist in another world, his cheat-like abilities are somewhat powerless.
In fact, Ed was not completely ignorant of Psionic Energy. After acquiring the Territory Secret Pact, he was even able to use Baron Tuer Tour's anti-gravity secrets with ease.
However, his and Little Green's grasp of Psionic Energy is more like copy-paste, which is actually good, but it can't be combined with the lich's knowledge system, making Ed look like a desperate illiterate.
"Let's discuss the results. Once this research is completed, it can stop the erosion of the Demonic Tide, right?"
"Yes."
The lich nodded firmly.
"So what are the costs and limitations?"
Ed knew there was no such thing as a free lunch. If the Demonic Tide were so easy to control, the world would have returned to order long ago.
The lich shook his head:
"It's not clear yet, because the research isn't completely finished. My mother has only completed the most core part of the configuration; the rest requires a lot of experiments to complete."
"Okay, I understand."
Ed imagined a future where the Demonic Tide would pause its erosion, and said with a smile:
"Your research concerns the future of the world. Regarding reimbursement, if you exceed the limit, just let me know anytime; it's not a problem."
"Good."
"There's one more thing."
"What?"
I am very interested in the lich race.
Ed looked into Willow's eyes:
"You really can survive without eating?"
The lich nodded and said:
"Yes, food is not a necessity for us; Psionic Energy is."
"Do you still need to breathe?"
This question stumped Willow. She seemed to ponder for a moment, or perhaps hold her breath for a while, before stammering, "..."
"Well, I think it's still necessary, after all, we're not completely dead..."
"I see. So, what is the connection between liches and humans?"
Willow thought for a moment and replied:
"We should be somewhat 'related'. It is said that our ancestors were a group of mad mages who pursued the truth. They permanently changed their inner selves, forming this race with an innate and extremely strong affinity for magic. After the outbreak of the Demonic Tide, our magical affinity became Psionic Energy affinity, but our areas of expertise have remained basically unchanged."
"Is this why you're planning to find a reliable human faction to develop with?"
"Yes, Mother once said that even before the Demonic Tide broke out, humans and liches were not entirely hostile to each other, because humans occupied two-thirds of the continent and had a huge population. So after the Demonic Tide, she believed in humans even more."
So that's what kind of race they are...
Ed, who loved learning, mentally summarized the information he had gathered that day and said to Willow:
"If you could, please give me a drop of blood. Don't worry, it's not for cursing."
"Okay... alright."
The lich agreed, and then he and Ed simultaneously stretched out their hands, one with fingers outstretched, waiting to be pricked, the other with palm open, waiting for blood to drip down.
The atmosphere became awkward for a moment, and Ed asked in confusion:
"What are you waiting for?"
Willow's expression at that moment resembled that of a child waiting for a doctor to give them an injection at the hospital:
"It hurts so much, I can't bring myself to do it."
Ed felt this was a bit outrageous and couldn't help but wonder and complain:
"... Did you really live for a hundred years after the Demonic Tide?"
"... ninety-seven years."
[Genes collected: Lich]
Looking at the notification in front of him, Ed knew that Little Green had received a new sample and that he would soon have Psionic Energy affinity. He thought that when Willow explained Psionic Energy knowledge to him, he might understand it more easily.
Ed mentally switched the screen (to view the player's perspective), stood up, and said to Willow:
"I have no more questions. You get paid on the Number One of every month. If you haven't received your salary, come find me. Now I'll take you to the room assigned to you, and then you can start working."
"I still need to see that clan chief, so let's stop here for today."
When Ed said that, he clearly heard Willow exhale; her demeanor was just like that of a recent college graduate going through a job interview.
Thinking about it carefully, it's true that he used some tricks from another world to deceive and ambush the 97-year-old recent graduate...
That's a very strange saying.
Ed abandoned his wild ideas and led Willow to a spacious room in a corner of the castle to serve as her laboratory, before returning to the vine-covered table and chairs to wait for the patriarch.
Feeling utterly bored, Ed felt as if he were playing an incredibly realistic game.
Placing the special unit [ Willow Seretima ] in the special building [Laboratory] will continuously generate " Psionic Energy Technology Points";
Placing the special unit [ Seraphina ] in the special building [Bank] will generate a continuous supply of currency;
By assigning the special unit [ Gungnir ] to the instructor unit [ Xilǐ'er ], automated training can begin...
In addition, there are all sorts of locals, such as Dragonborn, Tree Worship Church, Surviving Experiments, Elite Graduates, and Soul Returner —no two are alike—these are all unique special groups...
This is practically a hodgepodge of idle farming, strategy, and coloring games. If it weren't for the random spawning of Blood Corpse and enemies, it would probably need a turn-based element as well.
Now a new type of local special unit has appeared—the nomads. I wonder if they will bring me any Eureka.
However, through the [ Dark Archmage's] vision, he had already noticed that the nomads seemed to have their own techniques for taming Vine Sheep and other Aberration animals. He figured becoming a member of the Second Holy See would likely spread this technology...