Miss President wants to talk to you

Wilkes.

We'll be at your doorstep very soon!

Chapter 114: Ether Energy and Magic Industry

That same day, the three boarded a train heading south.

They booked the entire compartment, and other passengers were not allowed to get close at all.

Inside the private compartment, the secretary's screams never stopped from the moment the train departed.

Edgar and he went over all the details to ensure that they wouldn't give themselves away when they met Wilkes next.

Then, she asked the question she cared about most.

Where are Wilkes's secret files kept?

The secretary's answer was very direct.

"I do not know."

Edgar didn't believe this answer at all.

She even wondered if her secretary had gotten used to her interrogations and whether she should step up her efforts.

"I really don't know!"

Seeing that Edgar seemed to be up to something new, the secretary burst into tears and knelt down to beg for mercy.

"The location of the secret files is absolutely confidential; only Wilkes knows it."

"Even if it were me, he would never reveal a word about it."

"The only place I know where some of the evidence is kept is in his study!"

The secretary repeatedly swore that she was not lying.

At this moment, Eleanor, who had been sitting on the side watching the show, suddenly asked a question.

"You mean, Wilkes's secret files have been seen by no one but him?"

"That's right!"

The secretary nodded repeatedly, "He only takes out a file separately when he needs to access someone's secrets."

Eleanor thought of something.

"Then where's the evidence?"

He asked, "If Wilkes wants to blackmail someone with secrets, shouldn't he at least provide evidence?"

"Preserving that evidence would require a huge amount of space."

"You really didn't notice anything at all?"

As Eleanor finished speaking, the secretary sighed.

"You're overestimating Wilkes."

He said, "In fact, the secrets Wilkes knew were basically obtained through wiretapping."

"He does have a lot of recordings, but they can't be used as evidence."

"After all, everyone knows how to fake a recording."

Eleanor understood.

It turned out to be the case.

Wilkes did know many secrets, but he only had concrete evidence for some of them.

That's why he has always kept a low profile.

Only by keeping a low profile can one maintain the image of having many trump cards up their sleeve.

If he hadn't made up his mind this time and been prepared to take a gamble, Wilkes would have continued to keep a low profile.

"Only Wilkes knows where those files are located..."

Thinking about this, Eleanor suddenly had a very outrageous guess.

Wilkes's secret files, will not

In his mind, perhaps?

Eleanor's inspiration came from a TV series from his previous life, "Sherlock".

There is also an extortionist in the story who knows the secrets of countless important figures.

These secret locations do not exist anywhere in reality.

Instead, it resides within the memory palace of his own mind.

The so-called memory palace is an ancient and ingenious memory technique.

By constructing a space in the mind, the information of the memory is visualized and placed within it.

This enables accurate memorization of massive amounts of information.

Is Wilkes that kind of person too?

But he doesn't seem like a genius at all.

Forget it, I won't think about it anymore.

In any case, it won't be long before Wilkes himself hands over the secret files.

The train continued its journey.

Edgar also extracted the information he needed and stuffed the secretary back into the [Portable Kidnapping Box].

At this time.

Eleanor took out a blue crystal and put it into the back of her collar.

Truman watched this scene with curiosity.

Eleanor noticed her gaze, smiled, and explained.

"This is ether."

He said, "All magical industries need ether as their driving energy source, otherwise they are just a pile of junk."

"This is probably the first time you've seen this kind of solid ether, right?"

Truman nodded.

During the last world war, the magic industry was still in its infancy.

To drive the energy, one must draw upon the spellcaster's own magic.

It was only about ten years ago that humans were able to use the etheric energy that exists in nature as an energy source.

Depending on its purity, ether can exist in different states.

The rarest state is gas, which diffuses throughout the air and is everywhere.

Secondly, it exists in liquid form, underground.

The region currently identified as having the richest and easiest-to-extract ether reserves is located in the Middle East.

As for the purer solid ether ore.

Because of its extremely limited quantity, its collectible value is actually higher than its industrial value.

Currently, one ounce of ether is roughly equivalent to one hundred ounces of gold.

"The magical protective suit I'm wearing right now can only be powered by ether.

Eleanor looked at his clothes and felt a pang of regret.

"Once it starts, it's burning money every moment. I've already burned two hundred yuan since I got on board."

This is all Eleanor's hard-earned money!

His monthly salary is only four thousand yuan.

Even including miscellaneous items, it's still less than 100,000.

Hearing this, Edgar didn't care about the money, but he was also very disappointed.

"So this garment can't be mass-produced?"

Even if it's mass-produced, we still can't afford to use it.

Elino said, "The military's current idea is to form an elite force, all equipped with this protective suit."

"The number of people remains at around two hundred."

Even so, Congress was unwilling to approve the money, saying that the federal government did not need so much military spending.

Fine.

Edgar was initially very interested in the outfit and was thinking of requesting that the Bureau of Investigation also be provided with one.

It seems there's no other way now.

I can only use it myself now.

"Mr. Eleanor, how much does this protective suit cost?"

She asked, "I want to buy one myself."

"It's unavailable."

Eleanor shook her head. "Even with my authority, I can't actually buy this outfit; I only have the right to use it for 24 hours a day."

After he finished speaking, he changed the subject.

They didn't continue the conversation.