As a mage, I just want to pursue the truth

Chapter 188 Opponent
The emergence of magic and Merlin allowed China to re-formulate its space strategy and then proceed steadily according to the plan.

To be precise, the country has increased its investment in scientific research.

Not only China, the whole world seems to have found its direction again.

Previously, the entire Blue Star civilization had been climbing the technology tree to the point where it could no longer find the way forward.

I don’t know which direction to go.

Virtual reality, controlled nuclear fusion, space mining and colonization, quantum computers
In these areas, no matter how much money you invest, you may not see any results.

The emergence of Merlin and the magic system he represented helped Blue Star find its direction again.

The magic coin system has attracted the blue planet civilizations to turn their attention to space.

Astronomy and mathematics have received a lot of attention and investment from both the official and private sectors.

The existence of the soul has been proven, overturning the existing foundations of biology and physics.

There are a lot of unknown questions about the soul waiting to be explored.

Later, Merlin posted a bounty on the magic forum, which directly told the Blue Star civilization what problems could be studied.

The difficulty is even divided according to magic coins.

If the online literature fans of Blue Star knew the inside story, they would definitely realize:
Merlin has installed a system for Blue Star. It has all the basic elements of the system, including tasks and rewards, and even a chat group function.

There are various speculations about Merlin's true identity, both among the public and the official.

After so many years of scientific education, the researchers mostly believe in science.

In other words, most people want to use the scientific system to explain magical phenomena and do not believe in idealism.

This includes the need to inject magic brain to become a magician.

It also makes them think that mages are just a different technological system.

So this brings up another question, which is who exactly is Merlin?
Is he King Arthur's assistant in history, a wizard in English legend, or an alien visitor?

Or are they the Blue Star people who inherited alien technology?

All kinds of speculations flooded social platforms.

Some people even speculate that the world is actually a virtual world and all people are just pieces of code.

Magic is also a piece of code, just written in a different language from the Blue Star cognitive system.

Most Chinese scientists believe that the magic system comes from aliens.

There is absolutely no such magic in the history of Blue Star. At least the magic is completely different from the magic in foreign legends.

Although history is full of legends of talented people both abroad and at home.

The research institute under the China Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau has a special research team focusing on this issue.

"Merlin's magic is definitely not the magic in European and American legends. The key lies in the language."

"Whether it's magic in the Norse mythology or Roman mythology, or magic in modern American mythology."

Due to their short history, the Americans do not have many myths and legends, and it is impossible for them to take the Indian mythology system and claim it as their own.

Therefore, America adapted and recreated its own mythological system based on the mythology of the European continent.

Decades from now, who can deny that this is their mythology system?

The most important thing about a mythological system is not the story, but consensus.

"The magic in these mythological systems has a very key factor, that is the spell. There is no magic system that does not require a spell."

"Spells are essential elements of magic in Western mythology and legends."

"Of course some people would say silent casting, but no matter how silent the spell is, no wizard starts out with silent casting, right?"

"But after our mages gained the ability to cast spells, they could only move objects like telekinesis because they had no spell learning materials."

"But after acquiring biological storage technology, the spell to change the material properties is still cast silently, and all operations are completed at the brain level."

"No spells, no gestures, and no rituals are needed."

"So I absolutely don't believe that magic has anything to do with the magic in Western legends."

"On the contrary, the magic effects that Merlin demonstrated in Stockholm were closer to the gods in Chinese mythology and legends."

The China Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau administers several research institutes, and most of the magic-related research teams involve mages.

There are currently only six mages in China. In addition to their main research work, each of these six mages basically has to participate in the work of three to four research groups.

Chinese wizards have very few opportunities to participate in and communicate with groups like those that study the relationship between magic and magic in Blue Star mythology and legends.

The significance of group research like this is not so intuitive, and fewer resources can be obtained.

"According to what you said, why does Merlin have a magic wand? There has never been such a thing as a magic wand in ancient Chinese legends." The Chinese wizard asked back.

China is very envious of the magic wand obtained by the European Alliance.

He has privately expressed his hope for joint research many times and is willing to exchange half of the usage rights of China's Sky Eye.

The Europa League rejected the offer straightforwardly: It would be better if you exchange it for an unused magic coin.

China said, then let me participate in the joint research first. If the research results are worth the price, we will also accept the magic coin.

The Europa League has been researching for weeks without any results, except for determining the material of the wand.

The Europa League naturally disagreed, and the two sides were deadlocked and neither was willing to compromise.

But the Europa League has confirmed one thing: the number of magic coins obtained by China is definitely not small, otherwise it would not be so generous.

The wand material is Scots pine.

This secret, known only to the European Union, did not deepen their suspicion that Merlin was English.

Because Merlin's true identity is unknown and all clues point to England, this is most likely just a means of covering up his true identity.

"A decoy. The wand in Merlin's hand was just a decoy. He definitely didn't need a wand to cast a spell. The crows circling in the sky at that time were the key point."

"The wand is just a decoy. The fact that he doesn't need a spell really shows that he is not a so-called wizard in the European and American mythology system."

"Merlin's true identity can only be a blue star who has inherited alien heritage, or he is simply an alien."

"I even have doubts about his physical form. It is very likely that he has no entity, or no fixed physical existence."

Of course, these are just guesses, and eventually a report with complete arguments will be formed and then passed on to the higher-ups as a reference for decision-making.

But no one knows whether it will be used in the end.

"Affected by the super lithium battery produced by Sinovation Biotechnology, Tesla's sales in China fell both month-on-month and year-on-year, but the decline was within an acceptable range."

"After Kechuang Biotech's breakthrough innovation in lithium metal cathode materials, the energy density of lithium batteries using new lithium metal cathodes is three times that of traditional lithium batteries."

"China's super lithium battery technology is currently only open to Chinese car companies, and even joint venture car companies have not yet been able to obtain super lithium battery technology." "In response, Kechuang Bio said that because the new lithium battery technology is in its infancy, the production capacity cannot supply super lithium battery technology to all car companies.

After the subsequent production capacity is expanded, super lithium batteries will be provided to all car companies. Super lithium batteries will also be used in all electronic devices in the future. "

"At present, in addition to new energy vehicles, the only application scenario of super lithium battery technology is the brain-computer connection VR under Kechuang Biotechnology."

"Thanks to the super lithium battery technology, the brain-computer connection VR called Futureverse has a battery life of more than ten hours."

Kechuang Future took the weight of brain-computer VR into consideration and therefore reduced the size of the battery.

If the super lithium battery is configured according to the battery volume of other VR devices, the battery life of Futureverse can reach 20 hours.

"But after I interviewed Chinese industry insiders, they made it clear that Sinovation Biotechnology did not want to open its technology to companies outside of China."

"The European Union's attitude towards this is ambiguous, but America has taken the lead in raising the banner of imposing tariffs."

"In the face of products with new lithium battery technology entering the American market, the American side will impose a 5% tariff."

"Currently affected products include brain-computer connection VR and some Chinese new energy vehicle models."

In the past, it was almost impossible for Chinese car companies to enter the American market.

The American automobile market is too mature, with Japanese, German and American products flooding the market.

The per capita car ownership rate in America is 0.9, while in China it is 0.23.

For such a mature market, Chinese automobile companies' several attempts to enter America have all ended in failure.

However, as new energy becomes a new trend and with the support of super lithium batteries, Chinese new energy vehicle companies have once again considered entering the American market.

It’s also a good idea to test the waters with a small amount of product.

Musk is not too concerned about Tesla's declining sales in China:

"We just need to maintain communication with our battery suppliers in China."

"They will supply us with super lithium battery technology sooner or later."

Tesla's suppliers in China have clearly told them that it will take at most a year for super lithium batteries to be supplied to foreign automakers.

“We need to consider in advance the platform on which the super lithium battery technology will be installed. It can only be used on our high-end models.”

"The range of a Tesla that costs tens of thousands of dollars can already meet the needs of users."

Consumers have too many considerations when buying a car, and the advantage of battery life alone is not enough to win consumers.

Therefore, Tesla's price reduction of 30,000 yuan in the Chinese market is enough to offset its disadvantage in battery life.

Musk continued: “The most important thing we have right now is brain-computer connection.”

"Tesla's operations are on the right track, so I don't need to worry too much."

"According to the current development trend, Tesla will definitely be the most important player in the global new energy market."

“But in the area of ​​brain-computer connectivity we are playing catch-up.”

“The accuracy of brain-computer interface recognition has not yet caught up with the level of Sci-Tech Biotech three years ago.”

“Not to mention brain-computer VR and brain-computer prosthetics.”

"Neuralink will receive more resource support, and we need to move towards brain-computer connection VR."

The global success of Futureverse has deeply stimulated FB.

You should know that Quest, which FB spent a lot of money to acquire, was previously the leader in the global VR industry.

But in just three months, the sales of brain-computer connected VR were equal to the full-year sales of Quest last year.

This makes FB panic.

As early as 2021, FB was determined to fully transform into the Metaverse, and even changed its corporate name to META.

At the same time, FB is also the first company to fall behind among the four American Internet giants FAAG.

The reason for falling behind is not only the failure of the Libra coin issuance, but also many external factors such as the global economic downturn.

If the transformation to the metaverse fails again, although the foundation will not be damaged, the future will be gone.

There are no stories to tell in the capital market anymore.

FB's scale will be limited to social media with global influence.

This is unacceptable to Zuckerberg.

Therefore, in order to counter the impact of brain-computer connection VR, Zuckerberg has only one choice: Neuralink.

FB acquired more than 30% of Neuralink's shares by exchanging shares and cash.

Become the largest shareholder of Neuralink.

But Musk remains Neuralink's largest individual shareholder.

He is also most optimistic about the future prospects of Neuralink.

"As long as our technology can reach 80% of that of Kechuang Biotechnology, I am confident that the masters in Washington will shut Kechuang Biotechnology out."

"Zhang, I believe in you. I hope you won't let me down."

Previously, Neuralink's president and founder, Hodak, had been fired.

His progress cannot satisfy Musk, and even as a founder he will face the situation of being kicked out.

There are many cases where founders at home and abroad were kicked out by investors.

Domestic Ali is particularly fond of doing this kind of thing, sidelining the founding team after investing.

Musk's first choice is Li Wanqing, who previously worked at Neuralink and then served as the R&D director at Kechuang Bio's Lion City R&D center.

To put it bluntly, Neuralink is also a research-oriented company that requires a person in charge who is very knowledgeable about technology.

Therefore, Li Wanqing is the first choice on Musk's list.

Unfortunately, after the brain-computer VR was launched on the market, Li Wanqing had no intention of returning to Neuralink.

The second choice in the final list, Zhang Weimin, vice president of Sinovation Biotechnology in charge of brain-computer connectivity, became the new president of Neuralink.

Musk poached people from Kechuang Biotechnology with a simple purpose: to copy the other party's successful experience.

Zhang Weimin is Cheng Gang’s classmate. He holds a PhD in brain science and was previously a professor at Massachusetts State University. Later, he was invited by Cheng Gang to return to China and become the vice president of Ke Chuang Biotechnology.

Zhang Weimin was originally hesitant, but after learning that Cheng Gang was leaving, he decided to join Neuralink.

Neuralink helped him pay more than 20 million RMB in breach of non-compete agreement fees.

To be honest, 20 million is just a drop in the bucket for Neuralink.

I had something to do last night, so I made up for it this morning.
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(End of this chapter)