Elegy from Another World

Two weeks passed quietly amidst busyness and creation. Zoimem, the white dragon who had once guarded an empty shell for thousands of years, had completely integrated into the peculiar family of Utopia. Her learning ability was astonishing; she had not only mastered the Common Language and could communicate in a clear and fluent voice with a slight echo of dragon roars, but had even begun to dabble in some basic engineering knowledge.

Once, I asked her, half-jokingly, "Zoimem, with such a strong learning ability, why have you guarded those three eggs for thousands of years without ever thinking of picking them up to take a closer look, or even shaking them to listen for any sounds?"

A remarkably human smile, tinged with embarrassment and frustration, appeared on Zoimem's anthropomorphic female face. "That 'command'... or rather, 'instinct,' was like a thick fog, shrouding my mind. Whenever I wanted to do something beyond 'guarding,' especially something as risky as directly touching a dragon egg, that fog would thicken, automatically dispelling my thoughts and reinforcing my 'keep my distance, be wary of enemies' thought pattern. Looking back now, it was... ridiculously foolish." She shook her head, her long silver hair swaying slightly.

As we speculated, after learning that the dragon egg was an empty shell and that her guardian goal was utterly nonexistent, the invisible force within her that had been suppressing her from delving deeper into her origins collapsed like a castle without foundations, vanishing completely. She can now freely contemplate the past, present, and future. Although the trauma of the truth remains, at least she has gained intellectual freedom.

We conducted an extremely detailed analysis of the three empty eggshells, utilizing all the testing magic and equipment within Utopia, and even enlisting the help of newly joined technical experts. The results, however, were disappointing—the eggshells themselves were made of a unique material, containing a faint, attribute-less inert magic, but without any trace of curses, mental suggestion, or remote control magic. They were like a perfect "tool" for psychological suggestion, their power seemingly stemming entirely from the beliefs implanted in Zoim's own mind. The mastermind's methods were chillingly sophisticated. The investigation had reached a stalemate. I could only comfort Zoim and remind myself that uncovering the truth required more patience and a seizing opportunity.

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on things. As for you, just stay here and make this your new home."

"Okay, thank you, Liscia." Zoimem thanked her sincerely, her eyes now showing less of the initial sadness and more of the peace that belonged to a "resident".

In fact, today's Utopia is, to some extent, inseparable from Zoymem. She is not merely a resident, but a living, invaluable treasure trove of resources and a core of attraction.

After witnessing the stable supply of extremely high-quality white dragon materials, the "Grey Fox" caravan, led by Yisen, practically made the outskirts of Utopia their semi-permanent base. Dragon materials are worth far more than gold, especially rare white dragon materials, which are priceless treasures in the black market and high-end magic circles.

Yisen's intelligence network and business channels subsequently shifted heavily to this place. Even more surprisingly, his skilled but secretive artisans, magic tool makers, rune engravers, and other technical talents, who were originally scattered in various places, flocked here after learning that this place not only had a stable supply of materials but also a "research institute" (their name for our utopia) dedicated to developing novel magical devices.

This perfectly solved our urgent problem of lacking high-end technical talent! Tia, I, and the residents of Utopia who were interested in technological research and development warmly welcomed these new partners. We established a dedicated "Collaborative Workshop Area" on the outskirts of Utopia, where everyone collaborated and brainstormed. Utopia provided the ideas, some core materials, and unique biotechnological concepts, while the visiting artisans brought mature traditional techniques, rich materials science knowledge, and broad experience.

This collaboration produced an amazing chemical reaction, with all sorts of novel and practical devices being developed. Some tech enthusiasts, after experiencing Utopia's efficient knowledge-sharing model (with limited access to some non-core knowledge bases) and tranquil research environment, even voluntarily applied to join the symbiotic network and become official residents of Utopia, just to participate more deeply in research and development. Utopia's technology tree flourished at an unprecedented pace.

On this day, a milestone achievement was born. At the heart of the collaborative workshop, a central device composed of biological tissue, precision metal, and complex runes was successfully activated. With a joyful command transmitted via the network by Xiao Bei, the core of the device glowed with a soft light.

[Subsystem activation complete... Self-test passed... Connected to main network... Identity verification: Celebration, online.]

A clear, slightly mechanical voice, yet more emotionally charged than Xiao Pei's, echoed through the workshop. This signified the official launch of Xiao Pei's first and most important subsystem—"Selebreit" (meaning "celebration")!

The core function of this subsystem is to act as Xiaobei's "avatar" and "relay station" outside Utopia. It possesses strong autonomous processing capabilities, able to directly manage the outer workshop area, coordinate transactions with the Yisen caravan, monitor the surrounding environment, and efficiently process and transmit large amounts of information back to the main body. Most importantly, through Salebreit, Xiaobei can finally "see" the world outside Utopia with its own eyes, experiencing sunlight and rain, no longer merely imagining it through descriptions within the symbiotic network. For a consciousness yearning to understand the world beyond its "home," this is undoubtedly a true "celebration."

"Great, Salebrecht! Welcome to the outside world!" I said sincerely.

"Thank you, Lady Liscia. It feels... quite novel." Sellerbret's voice carried a hint of exploratory excitement.

Thanks to the unexpected opportunities brought by Zoymem, Utopia entered a new phase of rapid development characterized by internal and external collaboration. However, I also have a vague feeling that as our influence expands and precious resources flow out of the country, the eyes lurking in the shadows are becoming sharper.