Chapter 560 — The Proposal

And "bold"... that was merely his own impression. Ordinary people in this world would probably see no difference between a train running on wheels along a track and one floating in midair by magic—mages could fly about freely with levitation spells, after all. When it came to magic, wasn't flying perfectly normal?

As he read on, Gao Yang suddenly realized that whether this proposal was feasible depended on one important factor: the magic-net construction within Cecil.

Compared with the original engine-driven train, the hovering train had one great distinguishing feature: the power needed to keep it afloat came from the track.

That required an uninterrupted magic-net supply along the entire route the train traveled.

An engine-driven train carried all its power aboard, so it could run on tracks without magic-net coverage; a hovering train, by contrast, had to travel within magic-net range, or it could not float at all. It was precisely because the Duchy of Cecil had pressed on ceaselessly with its magic-net construction, because the nets between several major cities had already been linked, that Rebecca's new proposal had any practical value at all.

Gao Yang could not help murmuring softly: "So infrastructure really does set the limit of development..."

Rebecca immediately thrust her face over. "Eh? Ancestor Yanren, what did you say?"

"Nothing—just thinking aloud," Gao Yang said, pushing her back by the forehead. At the same time, curiosity stirred in him. "But how did you suddenly come up with this proposal? It... it's fair to say it leaps completely outside the previous framework, isn't it?"

"Actually, it wasn't originally my idea—I was inspired by Daniel."

Gao Yang was somewhat surprised. He had not expected Daniel, who had only just come into contact with the Cecil technical team and only just begun to learn about the magic-energy train project, to have played such a large role. "Daniel's inspiration?"

Rebecca nodded eagerly again and again, then recounted in full how she had first drawn her inspiration from Daniel.

A man who had never known what a magic-energy train was had found the key to breaking the deadlock from an angle no one else had thought of.

"Limited thinking, limited thinking," Gao Yang said after hearing her out, shaking his head in self-mockery. "And here I thought that because I reflect on myself all day long, my mind had genuinely opened up..."

Then, looking at the diagram of the track, his thoughts suddenly came alive. "In your proposal, the track itself is charged with power along its entire length, correct?"

"Of course," Rebecca nodded. "Not only is it charged along its entire length, but Master Camille has also installed a small magic-net relay point in each section to monitor whether any section suddenly goes offline—after all, the train runs at high speed, and a sudden fall to the ground midway would be far too dangerous."

"Since it's charged along its entire length..." Gao Yang stroked his chin. "Then that means shield generators could be installed along the whole track, couldn't they? Would that impose too much extra load?"

"Shield generators? That should be possible..." Rebecca was briefly taken aback, then caught on. "Ah, you're worried someone might steal the metal components from the track?"

Before Gao Yang could say anything, a voice suddenly chimed from the air beside him: "Who'd be interested in that stuff! Too heavy, and a pain to take apart!"

...This goose had a remarkably keen professional instinct.

"No one was talking about you," Gao Yang said without turning his head, then looked back at Rebecca. "Preventing sabotage of the track is one thing. The other... is to guard against wild beasts, monsters, and even... aberrations. The wilderness isn't safe, is it?"

"I understand," Rebecca blinked, her expression turning serious. "I'll go verify this proposal. Also, should we set some explosives near the tracks..."

Gao Yang flew into a rage on the spot: "Take that unreliable idea of yours and put it right back! Under normal circumstances, no one is so stuffed with food they've got nothing better to do than blow up their own railway!!"

Even as he cursed, he felt a flicker of curiosity: was getting her head bashed in and chewed out every single day some kind of daily quest for this girl? How was there never a day she didn't ask for a beating...

Soon enough, Rebecca, having completed her daily quest (1/1), left the study, and the vast room was for a time left with only Gao Yang and an invisible Amber.

With a stir of shadow in the air, Amber's figure gradually emerged. She walked toward the stack of documents on Gao Yang's desk, a note of feeling in her voice: "You really are something... The proposal you first put forward was, in effect, thoroughly rejected. Don't you regret it?"

"I only feel lucky—lucky that someone was able to overturn my proposal completely, and lucky that Rebecca and the other technicians wouldn't, just because the original proposal was mine, keep plowing down a thankless road to the bitter end," Gao Yang shook his head. "This Daniel... is a real talent."

"A real talent indeed—which is exactly why I'm curious. How does a man of such ability come to loyally serve you unto death?" Amber glanced at Gao Cen, her tone full of puzzlement.

Gao Rong laughed.

At first it may have been awe; afterward... it was the power of knowledge.

He shook his head: "An old man's secret."

Amber rolled her eyes where he couldn't see, thinking, fine, if you don't want to talk, don't talk—"an old man's secret," honestly. Back in the day, the business of him romancing over eighty princesses had made it into books; what secret could there possibly be...

But given that she really had been slapped into the wall several times, she didn't dare say what was in her mind.

Gao Yang, for his part, had no idea how many thoughts worth being slapped into a wall had been turning through Amber's head. He simply put the documents on his desk away properly, then fished a personal item from his person.

A silver-white ring.

Seeing the ring, Amber asked curiously: "Hm? What are you going to do?"

Gao Yang rubbed the surface of the ring, and said unhurriedly: "An old man full of secrets is going to see another person who may be hiding secrets just the same..."