Chapter 690: Chapter 427 Strange Behavior_2
"No significant progress," Lillian shook her head, "We have searched all the minerals on the market, but we haven’t found any that are similar to charcoal and can burn, as the junior mentioned."
"Without stable fuel, creating a steam engine that does not rely on Magic Stones and is practically useful is very difficult..."
Colin nodded, also feeling somewhat troubled.
Without coal and no known sources of oil... Fuel is obviously crucial for steam engines, although using Magic Stones with some Witch Array runes could provide a stable energy source.
But Magic Stones are only affordable by wizards, lacking practical conditions to be popularized among regular people.
’However, if we really can’t find a cheaper fuel, we may have to use Magic Stones, first producing various large machinery to enhance the productivity of Tilamei Plain.’
After all, these matters were secondary, and Colin soon put them out of his mind.
His current efforts to promote industrialization were not primarily intended to change the Wizard World but to first enhance the prosperity of the Tilamei Plain, then use it to strengthen his own power.
After all, the industrial process, no matter how impressive, even if it brings prosperity to every peasant, with plentiful food and goods, could not resolve the greatest problem wizards face today—
The war with the Divine.
The direct cause of the final outcome of this war does not lie with middle-level wizards like themselves, nor with countless ordinary people.
It lies solely with the six Supreme Councilmen and those Divine.
This was a despairing truth Nois had told him, but indeed, it was the reality.
Upon further questioning, Nois didn’t explain much, only vaguely revealing that the current war was a product of compromises under mutual restraint of top-level forces.
Since the Supreme Councilmen couldn’t take action, those Divine could only descend as limited power avatars; hence, it was up to ordinary wizards like them to fight bitterly, forming a roughly equal match of troops to troops, generals to generals.
Indeed, reality was not a game where superior forces always engage inferior ones, exploiting their weaknesses, like Colin participating in mortal wars now. Even if the enemy had countless Great Knights, he could devastate the enemy without a single soldier, just by himself.
If those top-level forces could enter the battlefield, the situation would likely be the same.
As for the idea of using industrial thoughts to improve production of Witch Tools to enhance the power of lower- and middle-level wizards on the battlefield... that wasn’t entirely unfeasible.
But it was not easy to implement, given that the Wizard World, although lagging in civilian and infrastructure development, was not behind in combat.
There were no shortage of Witch Tools used in warfare by wizards.
Alas... it wasn’t a time of peace.
Otherwise, with his intellectual wealth from his past life, causing the entire Wizard World to undergo a thorough industrial revolution could probably sharply enhance the strength of the Wizard Clan within a century, potentially doubling the number of lower- and middle-level wizards and possibly giving rise to many top-level wizards...
After Lillian left, Colin continued discussing agricultural pollution with Shelley.
"The specific appearance of those polluted fields is hard to describe... if I have to say, it’s like a multicolored grayish mire..."
Shelley listened intently.
Now that they had a general understanding of the agricultural pollution, the next step was to start researching solutions.
"Do these polluted streams actively gather inside the plants?" Shelley asked, after pondering Colin’s description.
"Yes," Colin nodded.
"Perhaps, we can try using this characteristic to deplete them slowly by planting crops?"
Colin furrowed his brow, thought carefully for a moment, then nodded, "That might be worth a try."
Although he felt that agricultural pollution wouldn’t be resolved so easily, Shelley’s suggestion was still a viable option.
"Let’s try that for now.
Later, once you’ve discovered more about the agricultural pollution, we can try other methods based on its newly exposed characteristics," Shelley added.
"Uh-huh." Colin nodded, "What we plant might not necessarily be plants, as long as it entices that polluted flow to enter, we can try it..."
A week had passed in a blink.
Colin had not made further progress in solving the pollution in the farmland, the main reason being that each plant infected by the pollution consumed such a negligible part compared to its massive total volume.
The size of a palm’s worth of soil, continuously planted with plants for a week, had its pollution reduced by less than one percent.
Nevertheless, they did not give up trying to plant new plants, as different plants could remove different amounts of pollution, and they hoped to find some particularly effective species.
However, Colin had not found such a plant, but instead, he received a guest from afar.
Wizard White Tower salon.
"Master Ryden, what brings you here today?"
Colin and the brilliant wizard sat opposite each other on comfy sofas, with steaming white porcelain teacups of red tea on the brown coffee table in front of them.
"I didn’t come specially to find you, I just happened to be passing by," Ryden said straightforwardly.
Colin was not annoyed; he could feel that the wizard opposite him was merely frank and meant no harm.
"Just passing by?" Colin took a sip of his red tea and continued along Ryden’s words.
"Yes." Ryden nodded, not saying why he was passing by, but instead asked, "Master Colin, would you be interested in a friendly duel with me?"
Colin set down his teacup, paused, and said, "A duel... perhaps it’s not necessary, we’re not in the Sky Duel Field, without the Witch Array to assist, it’s hard to control our force."
Ryden frowned slightly, but he didn’t insist, only saying, "If you ever feel like dueling, you’re welcome in Merredith City."
With that, he stood up, preparing to leave.
Colin stood to see him off.
"By the way, there’s one more thing." Ryden walked a few steps, as if he remembered something, then turned back:
"Do the Tilamei Plains under your control still have enough food?"
"...For the time being, they can still hold on," Colin replied after a pause.
"I saw the serfs you provide for on my way here," Ryden paused, not giving any opinion, only saying, "In Merredith City, the food reserves generally can last only for a year and a half, I imagine Tilamei Plains must be about the same, Master Colin, please be cautious."
"I will." Colin nodded.
Ryden paused, then spoke in a lowered voice: "Merredith City’s food market has already collapsed, schools and wizards are plundering the kingdom nobles’ grain reserves, and nobles are plundering the lower-class civilians’ reserves... and as far as I know, Neustadt isn’t faring much better."
"That the Tilamei Plains under your control, though the farmlands are ruined, still have considerable food storage..."
"Are you saying, someone in Neustadt is eyeing the grain storage of Tilamei Plains?" Colin inquired.
Ryden didn’t answer; he just smiled and said, "Actually, my visit this time wasn’t that incidental."
With that, he turned briskly and left.
Watching Ryden’s figure gradually disappearing into the distance, Colin’s heart sank.
This distinguished and brilliant wizard from Merredith City had clearly not spoken without cause.
Moreover, if the Supreme Council of Neustadt issued a directive needing Tilamei Plains’ food, he indeed couldn’t stop it.
This place was known as the Golden Barley of Neustadt, and according to the Council’s rules, Neustadt could requisition Tilamei’s grain reserves at market price, and such requisitions couldn’t be refused.
Furthermore, in extraordinary situations, this requisition was compulsory and would offer no compensation.
Arriving at the laboratory with a slightly anxious mood, Shelley brought him a piece of good news.
A plant called No Flower Plant, when used in pollution soil planting experiments, exhibited peculiar behavior.