Chapter 472 — Typhon's Advance

The Typhon people had not found a way to produce alchemical potions industrially, but they had found a partial, cheap substitute. Brimstone-acidification workshops would greatly raise Typhon's grain output and release a great mass of agricultural population; Emperor Luoyan's professional army had gradually taken shape, and an ample food supply could sustain it at a larger scale, while those professional soldiers would receive more thorough training; and because labor was being freed, the newborn brimstone-acidification workshops would have workers in plenty, and the road-building across Typhon's lands would have manpower enough...

And more important still: Luoyan Augustus had realized that literate commoners could generate greater value. Judging by the timing, that Typhon emperor had begun advancing education almost immediately after the brimstone-acidification reaction was discovered—which showed that this emperor of grand vision had, in an extremely short time, grasped at least two things:

First, though the brimstone-acidification reaction was a product of alchemy, it required no magical power—which meant that great numbers of commoners with no magical aptitude could also engage in production, and the Dust of Abundance they produced would suffice to sharply raise the nation's grain output within a short time.

Second, literate commoners could operate reaction vessels better than illiterate ones.

Gao Yang drew a deep breath.

None of this had happened recently; it had begun years ago. Only because of the lag in information spread and the limits of productive forces had Typhon's borderlands only now begun building brimstone-acidification workshops. And Ansu...

Ansu knew nothing of any of it.

Seeing that Gao Yang had not spoken for a long while, Daniel finally could not help breaking the silence: "My lord, would you have me gather information on Typhon's population changes in recent years? I can contact old friends I know in the imperial capital..."

Only then did Gao Yang start from his reverie. He glanced at Daniel, and the many tangled threads of his thoughts were swiftly sorted and ordered, growing ever clearer.

Typhon's development was an established fact, and for so vast an empire, a development already under way was very hard for outside force to disturb or halt—and moreover, given the present situation, the Duchy of Cecil had no opportunity whatsoever to obstruct Typhon's advance.

Amber had once said: when your opponent is too strong, a poisoned dagger serves better than any blade.

Though Amber had added afterward, "But greasing your soles and running beats a dagger," Gao Yang held that the first half alone was enough.

"Never mind the rest for now. Take the Weave materials I gave you and go answer Luoyan Augustus's recruitment," Gao Yang said to the old mage before him, his tone most solemn. "Remember, do not bring out your work at the first moment—first see what stage their research has reached, see what they have on hand, then dole out your findings bit by bit. When necessary, you may share some of the credit with your apprentice. You must establish a foothold in Typhon's mages' association the way you rose through the Long Dusk Order—and take care not to expose yourself."

Daniel bowed his head deeply: "Yes, my lord. I will not fail you!"

"Good. Once you have entered Emperor Luoyan's corps of mages, you should have more chances to come into contact with their technical intelligence. Report to me promptly, and I too will have new orders for you at any time," Gao Yan nodded, then abruptly shifted his tone. "But this will raise your risk of exposure—your Sleeper traits are too conspicuous. Few know of the mind network's existence, yet your frequent connection to it is itself an abnormal phenomenon."

"My lord, you mean..."

"It's time you took on more hands," Gao Heng said unhurriedly. "I had you look into non-implantable neural cords and a more efficient brainwave amplification device — have you made any headway?"

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