Chapter 427 - 415: A Hundred Difficult Problems
With the data collection from the Jade Plane complete, Allen returned to the Aiselan Kingdom without delay.
「The western suburbs of Golden Stone City.」
For the past three days, the small plain once occupied by the steel fortress had been completely empty.
The atmosphere in the Royal Capital grew visibly tense, and even the prices on the black market began to fluctuate slightly.
Nobles frequently requested audiences outside the royal palace, while commoners periodically glanced westward, their eyes filled with apprehension.
Until noon that day.
The sky was overcast when, without warning, the clouds were torn asunder.
A massive, blue geometric framework took shape over the plain. Countless metallic modules poured forth from the void, and a city of steel materialized from nothing.
When that familiar silhouette—a symbol of absolute order and power—appeared on the horizon, countless people working and living in the nearby city instinctively glanced up, the tension finally leaving their shoulders.
Patrols on the streets puffed out their chests. Workers changing shifts in the factories murmured to one another, their faces breaking into relieved smiles.
’The Guardian has returned.’
Without anyone realizing it, this city of steel, which had arrived only a few years prior, had become the strongest pillar of support in the hearts of Aiselan’s people.
「Inside Cybertron, in the dedicated Puppet fabrication laboratory.」
The room was littered with leftover parts from Rhine’s previous body swaps.
A dark-silver forearm skeleton leaned against the corner. Three leg components of different specifications lay side by side on a workbench. Two heads, their Control Cores not yet installed, rested quietly on a shelf.
There were also spare joints forged from meteoric iron, nerve bundles made of drawn Mithril, and half-finished AT Field Generators...
Any one of these parts, taken individually, was worth tens of thousands of Magic Stones.
This was especially true for the skeletal components made from meteoric iron; their physical resistance was high enough to nullify any attack below Level 2.
’Leaving them to collect dust seemed like a waste.’
Allen thought for a moment before speaking. "Jarvis, create a new project file. Codename: ’Android.’"
"Using these components as a base, design a small, highly mobile combat unit. Its role will be special operations and high-tier protection."
’In his current military structure, he had strategic-level units like Gabriel and Cyclops, and the standard Golem Legion for conventional warfare. What he truly lacked was an elite Humanoid Golem capable of flexibly executing infiltration, decapitation, and protection missions.’
[Project Established. Preliminary Model Construction in Progress... Estimated Requirement of Seventeen Additional Rare Materials. Total Budget Assessment Underway...]
[This R&D Project Has Been Placed at the Top of the Low-Priority Queue.]
"No rush. I’ll work on it when I have the time."
"Commander," Jarvis’s voice suddenly switched tones. "Prince William is requesting to communicate. He is waiting outside Cybertron."
"Have him come here."
Ten minutes later, William strode into the laboratory, carrying a square object shrouded in black cloth.
This wasn’t his first time inside Cybertron, but his eyes still flashed with shock as he took in the room full of precision instruments and components. He quickly composed himself, however, and gave Allen a standard noble’s bow.
"Lord Guardian." William’s voice held a trace of excitement. "I’ve brought you an... interesting ’trinket.’"
William whisked away the black cloth, revealing a crude brass device. It looked like an oversized pocket watch, its interior densely packed with gears and several faintly glowing crystal tubes.
"My lord, this is a little device cobbled together by a few young apprentices from the royal workshop." William’s tone was tinged with excitement. "They combined the ’Theory of Magic Pressure Conduction’ mentioned in your textbook to create this... ’constant-pressure valve.’"
Allen glanced up, giving it a quick look.
[Scan Complete. Crude mechanical structure. Energy conversion rate of only 17%. However, its core utilizes a reverse-spiral circuit, which effectively resolves the issue of pulse oscillation during low-tier magic power output.]
Jarvis’s analysis scrolled across Allen’s retina.
Allen’s eyes narrowed slightly.
’Pulse oscillation. It was a minor but persistent issue for small Magic Engines running at low power. To solve it, Allen had previously used a high-tier Rune Array, which was extremely expensive.’
’He never expected that a few local apprentices, using the cheapest brass and scrap metal, would manage to bypass the problem with such an ingeniously simple physical design.’
"Interesting," Allen murmured. He raised a hand, and the brass device flew into his grasp.
He opened the casing and examined the crystal tube inside. It was twisted and lacked any sense of aesthetic beauty, but it was remarkably practical.
’The locals’ craftsmanship was crude, but this kind of uninhibited intuition was precisely what he and Jarvis—who relied on massive computational power and brute-force methods—lacked.’
’With a population of thirty-five million, even a blind squirrel will find a nut eventually. A few geniuses were bound to emerge.’
’The wisdom of the collective could not be ignored.’
As Allen looked at William, a plan rapidly took shape in his mind.
’His own creativity, even augmented by all his sub-processes and Jarvis, had its limits.’
’So many things were incredibly time-consuming: basic material composition tests, innovative research into low-tier Runes, redundant engineering calculations. He simply didn’t have the energy to devote to all of them.’
’He was single-handedly responsible for the research and development of nearly all core technologies.’
’Model iteration for the Allen Network, Puppet technology, artificial souls, Golem design and optimization... every single project was consuming his time.’
’He didn’t lack the ability; he lacked the time.’
’Since this kingdom could no longer function without his industrial systems, why not plug all thirty-five million of their minds into his own "computational network" and use them as free labor?’
"William." Allen set down the brass device.
"Yes?"
"How many Spirit Art researchers does your kingdom currently employ? I don’t mean combatants, but those dedicated purely to research."
William thought for a moment. "Between the three major Spiritual Arts Academies and the affiliated research institutes in the various provinces, about twelve hundred people."
"Too few," Allen said bluntly. "And their focus is too scattered. They’re all working independently, with no system."
William frowned. "You mean...?"
Allen didn’t answer right away. His thoughts had already leaped to another level.
’The natives of this civilization weren’t stupid. They just lacked direction.’
’Give them direction, give them tools, give them a stage on which to compete, and a portion of them might just solve the problems he had the ability to fix but no time to address.’
"Go back and tell the King," Allen began, "that I have three things."
William immediately straightened his posture.
"First, I will compile a new set of advanced Alchemy textbooks. They will cover the theory of Mechanical Bodies, Magic Circuit design, and the fundamentals of materials science. The content will be a level deeper than what’s in *Steel Keystone*, and it can be taught openly throughout the kingdom."
William’s breath hitched. He realized Allen was about to make an even greater investment of knowledge into Aiselan.
"Second, build a university. Not like the Spiritual Arts Academies, which just teach how to fight. This will be a purely research-oriented institution specializing in Alchemy Engineering, Magic Mechanics, and material smelting. You’ll handle the location, funding, and faculty. I’ll act as a technical consultant, provide the core curriculum framework, and contribute a portion of the construction funds."
"Third—"
"Jarvis."
WHOOSH—
In midair within the main control room, a holographic projection instantly unfolded.
Dense arrays of formulas, blueprints, and material composition charts cascaded downward like a waterfall, bathing the entire room in a spectral blue light.
William’s head snapped up. He stared, transfixed, at the projections, his breathing instantly growing ragged. Although he couldn’t understand most of what he saw, he could sense that it contained terrifying knowledge—enough to overturn the entire kingdom.
"Here are one hundred problems in the fields of engineering and Alchemy."
Allen gestured to the air. "For example: ’The Permeability Limits of Different Magic Materials to Magic Power at Room Temperature,’ or ’The Anti-Fatigue Topological Structure of Magic Energy-Conductive Materials.’"
’These were all peripheral problems Allen had encountered during his research and development. What he lacked was the ability to perform the massive number of repetitive experiments and data verifications required.’
Each problem was marked with a difficulty level and a monetary reward.
The smallest reward was ten thousand Low-Level Magic Stones.
The largest—William’s fingers clenched into a fist when he saw the number.
One million.
"One hundred problems," Allen said, handing a Recording Crystal to William. "Whoever solves one gets the reward. There are no restrictions on status. Even if it’s a streetside blacksmith who mends pots, as long as their solution can be verified, the bounty will be paid in full."
’Ten thousand Low-Level Magic Stones! That was enough to buy a Baron’s entire estate!’
’The total reward money for all one hundred problems was enough to buy the second-largest city in Aiselan!’
"My... my lord, this money..." William stammered.
"Money isn’t an issue. I’m funding it personally," Allen cut him off.
’It was a classic case of shearing the sheep you feed. The productivity increases from these technological breakthroughs would easily earn him back the investment a hundred, even a thousand times over.’
Allen paused for a moment.
"Let’s call it the Wesley Refining Gold Award. There may be more problems and prizes added in the future."
William dropped to one knee, his entire body trembling with excitement.
’He could see the true hope for the kingdom’s rise.’
’The Guardian was doing far more than just giving. He was establishing new rules, sowing the seeds of fire. He was going to use knowledge and honor as a lever to move the entire kingdom’s future!’
’This bounty would directly create an entirely new social class—one that prided itself on knowledge and technology!’
"As you will, Lord Guardian! I will report to my father, the King, at once!"
Cradling the Recording Crystal that contained the "One Hundred Great Problems," William departed swiftly.
The laboratory fell silent once more.