Post-Apocalyptic Survival Modpack

Chapter 56: Development, Omen of Disaster
The Ideal Community is in its third year.

Wang Ji returned to his hometown.

The western advance was very rapid. Following the policy of encirclement from villages and towns to cities, they quickly pushed all the way to the edge of the empire, arriving at a place that was very familiar to both Wang Ji and Ryder.

"Sir, are you back?"

When Ryder returned to the small border town once again, he looked at his former subordinates and was speechless.

They were so angry they laughed.

"This lousy place hasn't changed its management after all these years!"

"What do you mean?"

His subordinates were somewhat confused. They looked at Ryder, then at the disciplined and imposing soldiers behind him, clad in magic steel armor, and seemed a little intimidated.

"fine."

Ryder shook his head, skillfully took the town administrator's seat, and said, "Give me a report on your work over the past few years."

"You won't start doing anything dirty just because I left, will you?"

The takeover of the town went smoothly, since Ryder himself was in charge of the town's administration.

Meanwhile, in Wang Ji's hometown, which is next to the town, today they finally ushered in a truly good day where they no longer had to live in fear.

As among the first to benefit from Wang Ji's abilities, the village's transformation went very smoothly, and the villagers quickly adapted to the changes.

Road paving, house renovation, industrial reform and upgrading, popularization of education, improvement of per capita quality... all kinds of plans are skillfully implemented.

The villagers' lives have improved, and the children have access to education, allowing them to broaden their knowledge and develop their wisdom.

Wang Ji's parents naturally enjoyed a better and happier life, and they chatted with Wang Ji, having a lot to say to each other.

The family enjoyed their time together.

This time, however, Wang Ji didn't say much about his situation or offer any further explanation.

The current situation cannot be explained in a short time; we can only let the parents gradually understand as the situation changes.

Wang Ji himself had even more to do.

That year, all the new technological breakthroughs in alchemy stemmed from the joint research of Wang Ji and Morin, two mid-level sorcerers.

Wang Ji mainly provides ideas, guides the direction, and adjusts the details.

Molin primarily focused on pioneering work, gathering knowledge to find implementation methods.

Following the previous resonance communicator, Wang Ji proposed the idea of ​​remotely transmitting images, and then began research and development work with Mo Lin.

Their first step was to meticulously inscribe high-purity magic crystals to construct magic circuits, enabling basic, orderly flow of magic to achieve data processing and the weaving of light.

This work is mainly done by two people by hand.

Yes, it's handmade.

With intermediate-level control, it's barely possible to achieve this.

The two transformed into human lithography machines, burning their brains and magic as they manually engraved the images while trying to develop corresponding tools to continuously advance the process.

This process requires a lot of magic power and also demands a high level of control. It can be said that it greatly trains the magic power bar, and the output level of the two people increases rapidly.

Ryder visited once during that time.

After two years of intermittent inspiration development, Ryder successfully unlocked his talent and became a beginner-level low-level sorcerer.

Like a blind man suddenly gaining sight, Ryder was extremely excited.

"Haha, I've finally been able to perceive the basic operating patterns of the elements within things on my own. Now I'm practically a professor at the Imperial University. Let me see what you're researching; maybe I can help..."

Ryder excitedly entered the alchemy lab.

Ryder walked out, looking dejected.

"I don't understand it at all, I don't understand it at all."

"I can't do anything."

Ian appeared at the right moment and patted him on the shoulder: "Alright, old man, don't worry so much. I don't understand their research either."

"What are you doing here, you illiterate... Wait, you're low-level too?"

Ryder opened his mouth wide.

Ian gave a crooked smile.

"I never went to school, but I've learned a lot. You know, the church used to be the place with the most concentrated knowledge in the world."

"I have fully mastered the basic principles of alchemy, and I have also been developing my inspiration. I understand all the principles involved."

“I had no objection when you called me illiterate a few years ago. After all, the Church’s qualifications are not recognized by the Empire, and I have indeed not studied for a long time. My knowledge has fallen far behind, and I don’t even know what alchemy is.”

"But now, what should you call me?"

"I have to go now!"

"Come back to me——"

...

hum-

As the crystal shimmered, a small three-dimensional light and shadow appeared.

"Magic Terminal".

Wang Ji was excited as he fiddled with the newly developed gadget.

It's finally happened.

At this very moment, the results of two years of research are at your fingertips.

Wang Ji manipulated the flow of magic within the terminal, causing the light and shadow to change.

On the other end, the light and shadow appearing on the terminal in Morin's hand also changed accordingly.

The light and shadow information of the two terminals were synchronized, and all of this depended on the magic matrix built by Wang Ji and Morin in the alchemy lab.

It can not only synchronize light and shadow information of small magic terminals, but also wirelessly transmit magic within its coverage area.

As long as you have the terminal, you can directly draw magic from the source mass library.

In fact, intermediate and higher-level magical arts can even abandon the terminal, and can completely rely on themselves to build the corresponding circuits, connect to the matrix to perform various operations.

But the prerequisite is that he must understand the principles and be able to comprehend the information in the matrix.

Otherwise, we still have to stick to using the terminal.

The underlying technology is incredibly complex. "What should we name this thing?"

Morin suddenly asked a question.

Wang Ji took a deep breath and said, "Let's call it 'Magic Network'."

In the third year since the establishment of the Ideal Community, the 'Magic Network' was born.

After that, Wang Ji wrote a special logic language for the magic network, magic matrix, terminals, etc., to assist in the functional development.

For example, add access control, lock the source database, and increase usage restrictions.

Add regular groups and administrator groups, and then further subdivide various permissions...

Another busy year has passed.

In the fourth year since the establishment of the Ideal Community, the basic functions of the 'Magic Network' have been largely completed and it is ready for deployment.

Meanwhile, the first batch of students graduated from the Ideal Alchemy University.

The Arcane Tower in River Bend and the Alchemy Lab in Riften each welcomed a group of interns with eyes full of curiosity.

The practical application of alchemy was an area that Ryder was more familiar with, but because Ryder's current affairs were more focused on governance and he was extremely busy, the task of leading the interns was handed over to Morin.

Morin thus became the first alchemy mentor.

The advantage is that the alchemy lab has become lively, with people doing even the smallest odd jobs. Once these interns become familiar with the machines and cutting-edge development, the research capabilities will be greatly enhanced, and we won't have to rely solely on Morin and Wang Ji for front-end research and development anymore.

The bad news is that since she started mentoring interns, Maureen has been driven to the point of fainting twice a day on average.

These Muggle brains!

He begged Wang Ji to replace him with someone else.

But Wang Ji had no choice.

"There are only the two of us who are capable of this job. I'm busy developing various new strategies and doing other things. You see, I can't do everything... right?"

"Just be patient a little longer. Once this batch of interns are familiar with the work here and become full-time researchers, the subsequent interns can be handed over to them for guidance."

"Ok."

Morin patiently continued to mentor the large group of interns from the Alchemy University.

And Wang Ji certainly wasn't idle either.

He began to examine the first batch of people who had been promoted to become magic users.

In the past two years, more and more people have met the criteria and, after evaluation, have undergone daily inspiration-stimulating training to unleash their talents.

To date, more than a hundred low-level magical arts users have emerged.

It is worth noting that the majority of these are students who have graduated from or are currently studying at alchemy universities.

Another small group consisted mostly of older citizens who were talented but whose potential was wasted by the empire's system, leaving them with no way to advance and thus their talents were squandered.

But that talent has finally been liberated again in today's ideal community.

Wang Ji gathered these people together and personally led a team to conduct research on magic.

His energy is limitless; he can work continuously day and night without needing to rest, and his activity time is twice that of an average person.

It is precisely because of this that Wang Ji's spell output level has now reached level eight through continuous training, catching up with and matching Morin's.

It's not far from the threshold of the advanced level 10.

However, even with unlimited energy, Wang Ji often had a headache.

There are countless matters concerning the territory, and many of them can only be handled by him; there's just not enough time to resolve them all.

Wang Ji has felt more than once that 24 hours in a day is still too short; that's the limit of time, not the limit of his work ethic.

But no matter how many things there are, they have to be done one by one.

"Let's start with regional trials of the magic network. These lower-level magic users will find it easier to understand..."

"And then there's the Hell Highway, which can be put into trial use in many northern regions first..."

...

While Wang Ji and Morin were suffering from headaches and frequent fainting spells, Ian and Ryder were also extremely busy lately—so busy that they often needed to drink some healing potions to repair their physical damage.

The expansion of the ideal community has been too rapid, and the lives of the people have changed too much, to the point that it seems somewhat abrupt.

Ian and Ryder have followed Wang Ji all the way and are able to adapt well to the community's ideals and lifestyle.

However, it should be noted that most residents were illiterate before the ideal community came to their aid, and many of their ideas were deeply ingrained and difficult to change in a short time due to the long-term devastation caused by the empire.

Even with universal cultural education, it takes a long time to see results, and the current timeframe is still too short.

It is very likely that a complete transformation will not be possible within a generation.

To date, the construction of many projects still relies on mandated daily labor rather than the ideal of voluntary participation.

The current stability of the ideal community is partly due to the fact that life is good enough and prosperity has satisfied most people, leaving them with little other ambition.

On the other hand, the presence of absolutely impartial and iron-willed law enforcers, coupled with real-time communication and transmission capabilities, greatly enhances administrative and control capabilities.

And... there is also a wise king who cannot be ignored, who is almost like a god. His presence is too strong, and what he has done is too bizarre. His many rules are like great power, which makes many people feel grateful while also fearful.

Many unsettling factors have been suppressed by more powerful means... In a sense, isn't this also a community of unique talents?

As one of the highest-ranking managers in internal affairs, Ian looked at his own hands and felt they were ugly and filthy, covered in blood.

These bloody events have never been brought to the forefront.

He and Ryder silently dealt with many heartbreaking or unspeakable things.

"Changing mindsets and implementing quality education are long and arduous tasks."

Thinking about recent events, Ian poured himself another bottle of instant healing potion to repair the damage from overwork.

"Fortunately, we still have a wise king."

He started to feel motivated again.

...

Time passes gradually.

The world is undergoing dramatic changes.

That year... a massive earthquake suddenly struck the world.

(End of this chapter)