Chapter 230: A Continent-Wide Monitoring Network

Chapter 230: A Continent-Wide Monitoring Network

October 13, 2024

“The fifty-second secondary magic stone vein has been successfully established.”

In the study, Lizze's cool voice echoed softly.

“The apprentices we sent out these past years have scoured the entire continent. They found a total of seventy-three geothermal nodes, but only fifty-two of them meet the energy standards required for cultivating secondary magic stone veins.”

“Unless something unexpected happens, fifty-two secondary magic stone veins will be the continent’s limit.”

Su Nan asked, “What about the scale?”

“One is small, two are medium, and the rest are large.”

“The comprehensive popularization of secondary Magic Energy technology will take time. In the early stages, the output from one small and two medium secondary magic stone veins will be sufficient. Once the large veins mature, their output will surge, perfectly aligning with the timing of the Secondary Magic Energy technology boom.”

Su Nan nodded in satisfaction, then asked, “What about the teleportation network plan?”

“This one is a bit slower.”

Lizze waved her hand through the air, and countless thin beamss of rays into a map of the Starumin Continent, formed a vast network of interconnected light points.

Next to it, another map of the surface world appeared, with only the central area marked by light points, the rest being blank.

“The teleportation network in the surface world is complete. We are now focusing on building the underground network.”

“About how long will it take to finish?”

“With the secondary magic stone vein project nearing completion, we can reallocate some of the workforce to the teleportation network, which will alleviate the manpower shortage. At the current speed, it will take about sixty to seventy years.”

Su Nan frowned slightly.

By this calculation, the entire teleportation network would take over a century to complete! However, he understood the situation. After all, the number of apprentice wizards who could simultaneously set up teleportation arrays was at most a thousand.

Compared to the vast Lumina Continent, this number was woefully inadequate.

The slow progress was inevitable.

“The number of admissions to Lumina Academy has been gradually increasing in recent years. The number of people available for the teleportation network project will also grow, so it might take less than sixty years,” Su Nan thought aloud.

“About that, I have something to discuss with you,” Lizze said suddenly.

“Go ahead.”

“Do you remember the star core you obtained in the Fallen Star City?”

Su Nan nodded gently.

After acquiring the star core, he had studied it for a while and found it to be a high-capacity energy storage device, similar to a large elemental pool. However, Su Nan, with his ability to synthesize large elemental pools, didn't find the star core particularly useful. The most significant drawback was that the star core, once placed, could not be moved. If it were a portable energy supply, it would be like carrying an elemental pool with him, which would have been more valuable.

After that, Lizze had taken the star core from him, saying she wanted to conduct an experiment. Su Nan had agreed.

“I used the star core to create a magical device. The academy’s mentors have produced a working model, called the Eye of the Star. It is currently in use at Lumina Academy to collect experimental data.”

Lizze waved her hand, and a document floated toward Su Nan.

Su Nan reached out to take it and began reading it carefully, his eyes gradually brightening.

Admittedly, this Eye of the Star was quite intriguing. It could sense and record all energy particle fluctuations exceeding a certain standard, making it an excellent tool for monitoring extraordinary powers!

The only drawback was its limited range.

“Is this something designed by the Starfall Guild?”

“Yes.”

“Can the range of this device be expanded?” Su Nan asked with interest.

Lizze pondered for a moment. “Under the condition that the effectiveness remains unaffected, the maximum range can be expanded to a circular area with a diameter of three hundred kilometers. Any larger, and the precision of sensing energy particles will be compromised.”

A radius of three hundred kilometers.

Su Nan felt a bit disappointed.

This range was only enough to cover a city, which wasn’t particularly large.

Using a star core equivalent to a medium-sized elemental pool to monitor the extraordinary activities of a city seemed a bit of an overkill.

It appeared that the Eye of the Star wasn’t very practical.

Wait a moment!

Su Nan suddenly realized.

Lizze couldn’t possibly be unaware of this. If the Eye of the Star was only this effective, Lizze wouldn’t have brought it up to him specifically.

There must be more to it.

His thoughts flashed through his mind, and Su Nan gave Lizze a half-smile. “You must have more to say. Spit it out.”

Lize’s eyes twinkled with amusement, and she smiled. "With just one star core, the Star Eye’s monitoring range won’t be very large. However, if we use the Star Eye as the core and connect it with multiple secondary star cores to form a network, we can significantly expand the monitoring range!"

"Secondary star cores?"

"Exactly as it sounds. They are energy cores that are a step below the primary star cores in terms of effectiveness."

Lize reached out into the air, and an image slowly appeared—a crystal ball that resembled the star core but was much smaller.

"The star core is the Starfall Guild’s most crucial creation. Only the wizards on the council possess the knowledge to create them. However, secondary star cores can be crafted by all official members."

"Secondary star cores don’t have the star core’s ability to detect energy particle fluctuations. They are purely energy cores, but when used in conjunction with star cores, they can resonate with the star core, thus amplifying its capabilities."

"I see." Su Nan nodded in understanding. "How much can they amplify it?"

"With around two hundred secondary star cores, we can at least amplify it tenfold."

"Tenfold? A monitoring range of three thousand kilometers?" Su Nan shook his head. "Not enough. That range doesn’t even cover the Southeast Domain."

Lize, both amused and exasperated, said, "Don’t be too greedy. Are you planning to cover the entire Starlight Continent?"

To her surprise, Su Nan actually nodded.

"Preferably."

Seeing that Su Nan wasn’t joking, Lize’s brows furrowed. "The amplification effect of secondary star cores is not infinite. After two hundred, the amplification effect drops sharply. The upper limit is around twelvefold. Beyond that, adding more secondary star cores won’t improve the effect at all."

"Then what if we enhance the quality instead of the quantity?"

Lize was taken aback for a moment, then frowned. "Secondary star cores are already mature magical items, the result of extensive research and countless wizards’ improvements over the years. To further enhance them would require far more time and effort than you can imagine."

Su Nan remained resolute. "That’s not your concern. Just answer my question: if we improve the secondary star cores, can we expand the monitoring range?"

Lize hesitated before replying, "It would depend on the specifics, but theoretically, it should be possible."

"Then that’s fine."

A smile played on the corners of Su Nan’s lips.

Regardless of other factors, in enhancing the effects of a single item, the Starfall Guild’s wizards combined could not match him with the Magic Cube.

"Give me the design for the secondary star cores, and I’ll improve them to be even more effective."

Seeing Su Nan’s confident demeanor, Lize couldn’t help but feel curious. She knew Su Nan wasn’t the type to speak rashly, and if he said something, he was at least seventy to eighty percent certain of it.

Lize was very curious to see if Su Nan could succeed.

She took a piece of parchment and, using her Mage’s Hand, manipulated the rune pen to sketch and write. It took her more than two hours to replicate the design.

Su Nan glanced at the design and asked, "What about the star core’s design?"

Lize shook her head. "That’s the Starfall Guild’s highest core secret. Only council members know it."

Su Nan was slightly disappointed but took the design and headed straight to the laboratory to start manufacturing the secondary star cores.

In the laboratory, Su Nan laid out the design on the workbench.

"Tower Spirit 2, scan the secondary star core design."

[Command received, beginning scan. Scan complete.]



"Prepare the materials."

[Command received. A total of one hundred thirty-eight materials are required. One hundred thirty-three materials have been retrieved from the warehouse. Five materials are not in stock. Should I search for materials with similar properties?]



"Search."

[Searching... Search complete. The following materials with the highest similarity are: Crimson Rift Iron, Shadowline Crystal.]



Tower Spirit 2 was the second tower spirit Su Nan had refined, specifically to assist in experiments.

Its core abilities were the Mental Library and Data Analysis.

The former represented an extraordinary recording capability, storing all the books, experimental records, and knowledge Su Nan currently possessed.

To increase Tower Spirit 2’s knowledge, Su Nan even had Lize input all the knowledge she had into the ‘Mental Library’ of Tower Spirit 2.

The latter represented Tower Spirit 2’s computational and data simulation capabilities.

The two are complementary.

The more knowledge one has, the stronger the data analysis capabilities of Tower Spirit 2 become.

Using Tower Spirit 2 as an experimental assistant can save a significant amount of time and effort in calculations and predictions.

With Tower Spirit 2's assistance, Su Nan spent two months developing five substitutes and then began manufacturing secondary star cores.

Secondary star cores are not particularly complex magical items, at least not for Su Nan, who has already reached level 5 in the "Magical Item Creation" skill. The process was almost effortless for him.

Soon, two secondary star cores were successfully manufactured.

Su Nan immediately proceeded with the synthesis.

The result did not disappoint him; the synthesized secondary star core was indeed superior.

Ultimately, Su Nan used five secondary star cores to synthesize a new, enhanced secondary star core.

When he placed the enhanced Secondary Star Core in front of Lizze, her usually cold expression showed a rare mix of shock and amazement.

"You actually managed to improve it?"

After a thorough inspection, Lizze confirmed that the secondary star core's effects were indeed comprehensively enhanced. Her gaze towards Su Nan was filled with barely concealed astonishment.

She never expected Su Nan to actually complete the improvement, and in just over a month, no less.

It was simply mind-boggling!

What did this say about the Starfall Guild's wizards?

Compared to Su Nan, their previous attempts to improve the secondary star core seemed like child's play!

"Do you think this level of improvement is enough, or should we continue to enhance it?"

Su Nan's words interrupted Lizze's thoughts, causing her lips to twitch slightly.

Could it be improved further?

After a moment of silence, Lizze said, "I need to conduct practical tests to be sure."

Su Nan immediately waved his hand and made the necessary arrangements.

The Star Eye, which was installed at the Starlight Academy, was moved to the wizard tower's laboratory that same day.

After a series of tests, it was confirmed that the secondary star core still had room for further enhancement. Su Nan continued with the synthesis and reinforcement.

Each time he reinforced the core, he conducted another test.

In the end, the number of enhanced secondary star cores was controlled to eight.

This number of synthesized cores provided effects closest to the maximum. Further enhancements would actually result in the core's effects lagging behind, leading to a decrease in overall performance.

"The detection range of over 7,000 kilometers is sufficient to cover the Southeastern Domain. Are you satisfied now?" Lizze glanced at Su Nan. "Or do you really want to cover the entire continent?"

Su Nan pondered in silence.

While this result was acceptable, it still felt somewhat lacking.

Ideally, Su Nan hoped to cover the entire continent, which would be crucial for monitoring the invasion of foreign wizards after the elemental awakening.

To achieve this, he either needed to enhance the star core's effects or create a second star core.

For Su Nan, these two methods were essentially the same.

Unless he could synthesize a true star core from secondary star cores, his goal would be impossible to achieve.

However, Su Nan had already experimented and found that secondary star cores could not be synthesized into a true star core.

Secondary star cores lacked the energy fluctuation detection capability of true star cores, meaning no matter how many secondary star cores he used, he could not synthesize a true star core.

On the other hand, if secondary star cores could be given even a slight ability to detect energy particles, he could synthesize something with similar effects using magic formulas.

"Secondary star cores and true star cores can resonate, proving they share some similar properties. Therefore, improving secondary star cores to give them a slight ability to detect energy particle fluctuations is theoretically possible."

Su Nan had a plan and shared his thoughts with Lizze.

Of course, he didn't mention the synthesis, only the improvement of the secondary star cores to give them a weak energy detection capability.

"Is it feasible in theory, but what's the point?"

Lizze was puzzled.

"Even if the secondary star cores have a weak detection ability, they will still be in an auxiliary position in the detection network. This won't significantly improve the overall effect or help you achieve your goal of covering the entire continent."

Su Nan smiled. "I have my reasons. Just assist me with the research experiments."

Lizze had extensive experience in manufacturing secondary star cores, and her help would make the improvement experiments much smoother.

After staring at Su Nan for a while, Lizze pursed her lips and let out a light sigh.

.

"Being so mysterious."

Despite her complaints, she eventually agreed.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end