Chapter 198 — The Height of Technology

Pei Yun nodded slightly, and Amber suddenly shot Gao Yang a look of horror. "You're not going to kill me to keep me quiet, are you?"

Gao Yang rapped the half-elf on the head. "Is there anything resembling normal behavior in that head of yours?"

"Good grief, killing someone to keep them quiet isn't normal behavior?"

Gao Yang turned to Pei Yun with a helpless look. "Honestly—how on earth did you and your old pal bring this girl up back in the day?"

"Ah, we never imagined she'd turn out like this either," Pei Yun sighed dejectedly. "Her foster father and I worked diligently, earning money and raising the child. We taught her stealth, poisoning, grave-robbing, tomb-digging, swindling and cheating, and pilfering on the sly. We even found her the finest shadow tutor. We educated her so earnestly—how did she grow up so crooked..."

Gao Yang: "..."

Damn it, how could she not grow up crooked with an education like that?! By now Amber had only a little habit of petty thievery—that already counted as an innately good nature, didn't it?!

"...We'll have to properly straighten out your worldview one of these days," Gao Yang said helplessly, waving a hand at Amber before turning back to Pei Yun. "Draw up a detailed document on the new production process and the technical requirements for each piece of equipment. I'll have the industrial department start designing the corresponding equipment and workshops for you. Winter is on us now, so if it's finished within a few months, it'll be ready for use come spring. Also—I recall you took on a batch of apprentice apothecaries. Are they up to any real use?"

Following Gao Yang's instruction to "expand the talent pool," Pei Yun had recruited a batch of apprentice apothecaries in the territory to pass on the way of nature. That sort of storybook scene—where a child plucked at random from some poor household turns out to be heaven-gifted, and a bit of training makes a world-defying talent—did not occur. Among the dozen-odd apprentices, not one possessed druidic talent; only two or three had a faint sensitivity to magic, and even they would have struggled to become mage apprentices. Fortunately, druidic knowledge included not only spells but all manner of knowledge about compounding potions, taming animals, and cultivating plants, which ordinary people could learn. So under Pei Yun's guidance these apprentices had grown quickly enough, and now they were the territory's doctors and apothecaries; when there was need, they also helped Pei Yun brew the catalytic potions required for agriculture.

"Calling them 'up to real use' flatters the little fellows, but they're hardworking enough, and their basic alchemy is passable," Pei Yun said, stroking his beard. "You have something in mind?"

"Preparing potions in reaction vessels is skilled work—untrained ordinary folk can't manage it. Once the potion-synthesis factory is built, it will need not only laborers for the odd jobs but technicians who know the trade. Pick a few reliable, steady apprentices and have them manage the factory."

Pei Yun was a little surprised. "I thought you meant to put me in charge of the factory."

"What you should manage is the higher research-and-development system, not one specific plant," Gao Yang said, glancing at Pei Yun. "There will be more than one potion factory in this territory in the future. And the druids' ancient divine arts... were not meant solely for brewing potions."

"It seems you are thinking far ahead," Pei Yun said with a nod. "I understand. I'll pick a few suitable apprentices to train, and have them get familiar with the 'factory production' model over at the steelworks and the mechanics institute."

Gao Yang let out a breath. "Then... beyond these tasks, I think you should start considering your next research project."

Pei Yun blinked. "Next research project?"

"The study of 'why,'" Gao Yang said, looking at the divine runes and elemental runes on the alchemy bench, and at the "inversion array" serving as the conversion interface. "Why can the inversion array convert primal magic into so-called 'divine power'? Why must a divine-art array be driven by converted second-order energy? And what exactly is the difference between magic and divine power?"

Gao Yang softened his tone, but his expression remained gravely serious: "Traditional spellcasters rarely pay attention to the deeper principles of magic, and you just mocked them for that very thing, so we must never be like them. The inverse-conversion array in particular—that is a technique dug out of the grave, a legacy of the ancient Gondor Empire. It is no unanalyzable gift from the gods; it was researched and developed by ancient mages who were every bit as mortal as we are. And fortunately, we happen to have the chance to study it, so we absolutely cannot let that chance slip away."

Pi Yun was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly smiled faintly: "Whenever I think I have thought far enough ahead, I always find that you are already standing somewhere even farther away, waiting for me to catch up..."

Before Gao Yang could answer, Amber had already spoken the words about to leave his mouth: "That is the wisdom of old age."