Dream Travel

Chapter 490 Don't overthink it

Bai Mu glanced at the report; after finishing it, Beatrice had also written a small application on it.

She wanted Bai Mu to make her a small alchemical device using the Dustless Jade, specifically for refining certain alchemical potions.

Even though the true power of the Dustless Jade lacks a matching 'drive' and is difficult to fully activate and use, its passive effect is still very strong.

In alchemy, even the most mediocre alchemist can create high-quality alchemical potions.

Dustless jade is incredibly effective at refining alchemical potions.

White Curtain immediately approved Beatrice's application, which was a good thing, as Beatrice's increased productivity would be a great help to him.

Although Bai Mu doesn't have many big businesses, the resources he has provide are not only quite profitable but also continuously generate income.

For example, the Bureau of Processing has been acquiring items like the Holy Silver Bullets.

One hundred of them can be sold for a very high price.

If you switch to regular bullets, a hundred rounds are enough; you can fire them at the shooting range and they'll be gone in no time.

However, no one was so extravagant with high-quality holy silver bullets.

As for the Bureau's acquisition of the Holy Silver Bullets, that's easy to understand.

In cases involving the smuggling of dreams, you can always see the figure of the devil. Prepare more of these kinds of bullets so that when you encounter the corresponding 'smugglers', you can give them a good beating.

The White Curtain was happy to sell to them, but the Rota Processing Bureau didn't buy many.

We've collected 100 bullets so far, since the Holy Silver Bullets are comparable to high-quality Holy Oil.

Every use is a waste of money. Even if the price of White Curtain were reduced by a zero, and the processing bureau were to charge a thousand or eight hundred rounds, the processing bureau would not accept that many.

What's the purpose of collecting so many Holy Silver Bullets at once?
Are they planning a major purge of those demonic councilors in Rota City, or are they planning something else entirely?

Where did White Curtain get so many Holy Silver Bullets?
They've collected too many; it's difficult for the authorities to handle this situation.

As for when the next acquisition will take place, that depends on how much the Bureau of Processing uses up the Holy Silver Bullets.

If cases of demons smuggling dreams continue to occur in Rota City, it's estimated that it won't be long before Borei contacts White Curtain to repurchase new Holy Silver Bullets.

With more cases, the number of re-acquisitions may exceed one hundred.

A single transaction can exceed two million, but Bai Mu still hopes that such situations will occur less frequently.

The main reason is that as more cases of smuggling dreams increase, the number of people who die as a result also increases.

Besides that, there's the mechanical activity that Atreus's body maintains, and the alchemical potions she makes on a daily basis.

All related alchemical potions will be processed through Lily's channels.

Those alchemical potions range from a few hundred to a thousand dollars each, and they are produced every day. Over time, they accumulate into a considerable income.

"Purifying water sources and easily and efficiently extracting toxins are both very practical uses," Bai Mu and Leone explained the new effects of the Dustless Jade.

Beatrice's test was quite good, but the functions of the Dustless Jade can be further explored.

Although bringing this item out of the Otherworld may have consumed a large amount of Otherworldly Mist, since the item had already been brought out, Bai Mu didn't pay much attention to it.

There's no going back now, so why not explore the many functions of the Dustless Jade?

Within a specific scope, this thing is indeed quite effective, and based on the functions discovered so far, Bai Mu is very satisfied.

It's not very useful in direct combat right now, but it's really good in support roles.

"But the enemy you face makes these features less useful."

Chelsea fiddled with a hair clip; she really liked it. She used to have something like this that would have made her concocted poisons even more potent.

But in this world, Chelsea couldn't be sure if her poison would work on demons, even if she refined it with this stuff.

With nothing else to do, Chelsea flipped through Beatrice's alchemy notes, finding some of the alchemical poisons quite interesting.

But she doesn't know alchemy.

"It will come in handy someday. I'm going to rest now."

This was his habit: after returning from the dream, he would take care of what he was doing and then go straight to sleep.

I'll do other things tomorrow.

The next day, Bai Mu rubbed Leone's hands and got up as she yawned.

"You just got back and you're up this early..."

"Once I wake up, I can't fall back asleep." Bai Mu didn't want to get up so early, but without the internet, there was nothing else for Bai Mu to do at night except have sex with people.

He's already keen to develop the internet extensively, so why don't we... give it a try?
Half an hour later, Bai Mu finished washing up and getting dressed. There was a note on the living room table.

Bai Mu picked it up and looked at it. It was left by Chelsea. She had sorted out and organized the holy water and other props made by the little nun.

After ticking a box on the note, Bai Mu went to find Lily.

"Good morning!" Lily greeted Bai Mu with a smile. "Good morning," Bai Mu replied, finding a place to sit down and starting a conversation with Lily: "Could we try starting an internet services company? The kind that specializes in providing internet services?"

“This might not work out.” Lily shook her head. “Even if you have the Maple Crown Medal, you can’t do this yourself. You’ll have to cooperate directly with the country.”

"...This is so troublesome." Bai Mu just wants to create a network that everyone can use. Putting aside everything else, at least after entering the era of the internet, some things will be much simpler to do.

Moreover, this world has a foundation; even though most of its technology is in the second industrial stage, the influence of the alternate dreams makes it more possible.

With a sufficient foundation, the internet shouldn't take too long to develop, right?
"And do you think that no country has developed this technology?"

"Then why don't you hurry up and put it into civilian use?"

“The conditions aren’t right, and productivity can’t keep up,” Lily stated, stating an undeniable fact.

The world is not lacking in resources, but in terms of productivity, if it were truly strong enough, it wouldn't be like it is now during the Second Industrial Revolution.

So sophisticated electronic equipment... can't be produced here right now...?

The strange dream has been around for so long, I don't believe the White Curtain can't produce it. If a developed country really wants to make that kind of thing, it can definitely make it quickly.

Things from strange dreams are just difficult to bring out, not impossible to bring out.

Looking at Bai Mu's expression, Lily smiled and said, "You think it wouldn't be difficult for a country to quickly approach the 'modernization' of Yi Meng, right?"

"It's not that difficult, is it? We have plenty of resources."

"But there are also many external obstacles. Do you know about cutting-edge technologies?"

The white curtain nodded.

"However, in a normal technological system, there should be no involvement of cutting-edge technology. In reality, there is indeed a foundation for it, but the overall development time is not that long."

To the best of my knowledge, projects that have completely replicated the Dreamlike Technology System in reality are less than twenty years old.

"So short?" Bai Mu couldn't hold back her excitement.

“It’s complete,” Lily reminded the white curtain.

A complete technological system is different from simply finding a collection of finished products; the former represents comprehensive progress after development.

The latter is not based on the entire technological system, but focuses on the utilization of certain technologies. Without the support of a complete technological system, those technologies are like black technology.

It works well in one aspect, but its overall performance is weak.

The reality is that by relying solely on certain technologies from the dream world, the development of a comprehensive technological system has been neglected.

The result could be that after they build a spaceship and go to explore other planets, the astronauts might land and be using cold weapons...

"Besides, there are some things that ordinary people can't access. I remember Nightow Mining invited you back then, right?"

The white curtain nodded.

"Actually, if you join Nightow Mining, you can also enjoy technology that is ahead of most regions, and aren't you enjoying the convenience of technology yourself?"

“But I want a broader foundation.” Bai Mu shook his head. His cell phone, laptop, and other items were things that ordinary people couldn’t access.

However, since it's only for personal use and lacks a sufficiently large user base, the single-player experience is just so-so.

“Then you’ll have to wait at least ten years.” Lily shook her head.

Bai Mu couldn't help but click his tongue: "To be honest, because of the existence of the Otherworld, the whole world should have started various arms races and rapid development long ago, but it's too stable here."

"Initially, not many people knew much about the Dream, and the Dream brought not only technology, but also dream creatures and supernatural powers such as magic. Then it was a matter of choice."

Lily gave other reasons.

The rapid pace of technological development is not beneficial to dream creatures, as their influence on reality has lasted for too long.

Isn't the development of technology good? Yes, but isn't the development of magical power good too? That's fine too!

So here's the question: since there are so many different dreams, some of which have great prospects for magical development, and others of which have great prospects for technological development.

With so many promising examples, which should we choose? Magic over technology? What if others become even more technologically advanced? Would that reshape the world order?
The major countries, wanting to consolidate their position, have chosen to have everything they can access, but doing so means that everything will be slow.

As for being surpassed in certain aspects, that's unlikely; the leaders of various countries aren't stupid.

They knew that having everything meant everything would be slow, but that didn't stop them from developing some cutting-edge technology to keep things in check.

Those things can guarantee that the world order will not change too much, but as for it to never change at all, that's unrealistic.

Luck is unpredictable; if a country were to stumble upon something from a strange dream that could change the world order, the global landscape might shift.

The development competition brought about by the alternate dream is not a fair race, but a race with random items.

"There are several types of networks, including technological networks, magical networks, and spiritual energy networks. Countries that understand the importance of these networks will not place them in the hands of individuals."

"Honestly, I don't think you're a former employee of the Bureau anymore," Bai Mu said sincerely.

This woman knows too much!
Lily laughed and said, "I know these are people who have hit a wall in this area—it's been such a failure!"

(End of this chapter)