"That’s funny," Princess Octavia chuckled. "But let’s go back to our topic. If the Reborn company can truly help us with our problem, then they will have my cooperation. It’s even more important if they do it before my brother can accomplish it with his cohorts."
Octavia’s rush could be explained by the fact that their time with this problem was quickly coming to a close.
Her brother had already made some allies with the humans, and they would surely start to renovate the lake in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Princess Octavia and her camp were still deciding on who they were going to ally with. She was afraid that by the time she chose someone, it would have already been proven moot. By that point, the consensus within the lake would flow towards her brother, basically confirming his leadership within New Sparta.
"I’ll go back to the Reborn company and they can start to work on it," Michael promised.
"I’m only trusting you because of your reputation and my sister’s endorsement. But I can’t give them too much time," she warned him.
Michael nodded, understanding her predicament. With a wave, he bid Princess Octavia goodbye before his bubble started to ascend back to the surface of the water.
...
...
...
Even before he broke out of the water, he immediately engulfed himself in a dome of shadow, allowing him to teleport directly back to the Nation of Reborn.
He found himself in the middle of the Dwarven Forge, with the heat from multiple furnaces strong enough to disturb the invisible prismatic shield around his body.
"Boss! Do you need something again?" one of the Dwarves asked him.
"Yup," he answered. "No, you can go ahead and keep on working."
Most of the Dwarves were still busy creating works of art intended for Rebornian use. He could see them working on Mithril Artifacts meant for new citizens.
The nation kept on expanding, to the point where Michael was quite backed up on the people that he had to awaken. Even on his off days, he had to dedicate most of his time awakening more Rebornians to officially welcome them into the nation.
But it seemed that the rate of acceptance was much higher than even what he could realistically handle. The list keeps on growing and growing, with no signs of stopping.
It was worth it though, as the talent pool in Reborn was getting more and more skilled as people began to join. Most of them were ’talentless’ but were able to find their calling after Michael awakened their true powers.
I wish there was a way I could awaken people without having to touch them.
[Would you like to create a new app on the phone?]
Michael stopped in his tracks, completely forgetting about why he was here in the Dwarven Forge in the first place.
Say what now?
[Theoretically, your Supreme Talent can awaken someone even from a distance. The only problem is the fact that there’s nothing that connects you and them. But with the phone, that becomes possible.]
Michael started to consider it, and he couldn’t help but smack his own head for not thinking about it before.
A phone connected to the ’Internet Cube’ through mana, through Unity.
And his Supreme Talent allowed him to control mana to a maximum extent. There was nothing he couldn’t do with mana.
So theoretically, he could program an app that allowed him to basically perform a magic spell from a distance, and transfer it from the phone to its user! Once that connection was secured, he could reach deep into their psyche and awaken the latent talent within their blood!
You’re right! That’s amazing, ChatJK5. What’s going on with you today? You’re on a roll!
He couldn’t help but notice his AI assistant’s initiative recently. It’s as if she was taking a much more direct position within Reborn. He wasn’t mad at that! She was his partner, after all. She wasn’t just a secretary!
[Thank you for the compliment.... glances at Harbinger and smirks. ]
[Tsk... kiss-ass. You do know that I’m him, and he is me, right? So technically you are—]
[Ahem... Michael, would you like me to create the app?]
As much as Michael was intrigued with this idea, he simply couldn’t let himself get sidetracked.
Let’s table that for later. We don’t even have a reliable way to manufacture phones en masse. For now, we gotta focus on the Mermen.
With an incredible, almost spartan self-control, Michael shook off his urge to perform a side mission and focus on his main one instead. His focus quickly returned once he reminded himself that one million Sand Dollars was on the line.
Where was I? The underwater machine, yes, yes...
He quickly ignored the weird looks he got from the Dwarves as he got caught up in his own reverie, and went to gather all the material he would need for the contraption.
Once he obtained the raw materials, he went back to his room and started to work on its assembly.
About ten minutes later, the machine was finally finished. It was a tall, black rectangular box the size of a human, with a tube going from the top, and out to the bottom.
Even if one didn’t have an aquarium in their homes, they would still recognize this contraption with one single look.
It was an aquarium filter.
How was this going to solve the lack of mana in the lake? Well, it was quite a simple solution, really.
Water would be flowing from the top of the tube and get sucked inside. There, the water would undergo a process that would imbue them with mana, enough to satiate them into normal levels that would bring the population of phytoplanktons back to normal, and therefore restore the balance of the marine ecosystem.
This could be achieved using an object that was brimming with mana.
And that was none other than a Unity Bomb, or a [Unity Power Source]---the same one giving energy to a phone.
The Unity Power Source was technically a bomb. But Michael found a way to make them small enough to be a stable source of energy.
But what if he didn’t? What if he made something so big and so unstable that it would explode even with the slightest of bumps?
Then all eight mana inside that Unity PS would explode outwards, destroying anything it touched.
But even with magic, this world still followed the basic principles of thermodynamics.
Matter can’t be made or destroyed.
That explosion wouldn’t magically destroy mana. No, it would disintegrate it into its most basic particles that would slowly reintegrate back into nature.
Now, what if after that explosion, he sent a mana-hungry stream of water through it?
The result would be simple. All those mana would get absorbed by the water, making it dense and rife with energy—energy that the phytoplanktons would love to eat.
That was the basic principle for this water filter.
Mana-devoid water goes in, saturated water goes out.
Make the filter big enough, then this contraption could easily level out the problems in the lake.
Now you may ask. What happens with the excess energy from the explosion?
Well, ChatJK5 thought of something amazing.
She put a turbine inside the filter.