Exploring Technology in a Wizard World

Canon Steward stared at the map.

On the map, the area of Sika Kingdom was covered with dense red dots, and there were some red dots in the Southern Free Federation as well. Among them, in the northwest of the Southern Free Federation, close to the Soma Alliance, a particularly large red dot was very eye-catching.

Thus, Canon watched for a long time, turned around, and looked at Joseph who had been waiting for a while. He asked, "Is there something, Joseph?"

Joseph did not get angry: he slightly nodded his head, not overly respectful but with an attitude that was neither servile nor overbearing. He responded, "Canon Steward, indeed there is something to report. I am planning to recommend two people to join the organization, related to the incident with the Undead Wizard in Jialan City."

"Oh?" Canon exclaimed, seemingly interested. However, his face showed no change in expression; he just said, "What exactly is the situation? Tell me in detail."

"Yes," Joseph immediately began.

...

After a while, Canon had listened to Joseph's words, blinked his eyes, and said, "So, you're saying, in order to find out information about the mysterious person behind the Undead Wizard, we can only let those two wizards from Jialan City join the Truth Society?"

"It's not the only method," Joseph said. "We also have some other means, such as tempting them, threatening them, even capturing and interrogating them.

However, inviting them to join the organization is the most trouble-free, simplest method. Moreover, the two individuals are indeed very good. Although I haven't really tested their strength, I believe they are not weaker than me; perhaps even stronger.

They also come from Jialan City, where we have not yet established a foothold. With these two individuals, we can improve this situation. Our organization currently needs rapid development, so their joining is quite necessary."

Canon, after hearing Joseph's words, did not respond for a long time. After a while, he said, "I basically agree with what you said. Their joining indeed has many benefits, and the Truth Society really needs more hands now. However, there is just one issue."

"What is the issue, Canon Steward?" Joseph asked.

"That is, can these two individuals be trusted? What is their background, what are their ulterior motives? After they join our organization, how much authority should we give them? Might they bring us unnecessary trouble?" Canon asked with a stern face.

"This—" Joseph was slightly taken aback, but did not panic, proceeding methodically, "Regarding this, I have considered it. If you, Steward, could agree to let them join, I naturally would conduct some investigations and necessary tests on them. Then, based on the results of the investigations and tests, we'll adjust how we treat them."

"Very well," Canon pondered for a moment before responding. "You contact them, and I will meet with them in three days. Then, investigate their backgrounds and test their true strength. If there aren't any major issues, let them first join the outer circle of our organization. If they truly perform excellently after a period, we will then consider whether to let them enter the core layer."

"Understood," Joseph said.

"That's good, go ahead with your tasks, I still have some matters to handle," Canon said.

"Yes." Joseph did not hesitate, nodded, and then exited the secret chamber and left.

Inside the secret chamber, Canon turned back, looked again at the map hanging on the wall, lost in his thoughts.

...

At twilight.

"Squeak squeak..."

Joseph was riding in a carriage, traveling from outside the city back to his mansion inside the city.

He did not notice that, as he passed through a street before reaching his mansion, a window of a two-story Stone Building opened a crack, a pair of eyes watched him pass by slowly closing the window tightly.

In the room, the observers were Richard and Bobbobovic Vici.

Having watched Joseph ride from outside the city and return, Richard withdrew his gaze, closed the window tightly, turned to Bobbobovic Vici, and said, "It seems that the plan is proceeding smoothly without any surprises. We can join the Truth Society in a few days. However, what kind of test we will face after joining, that remains unknown. We must be careful then."

"Are you so sure?" Bobbobovic asked doubtfully, "Just because someone left the city once, you draw this conclusion? Isn't that overly confident? Aren't you worried that there could be issues with the materials you sent out, leading to developments beyond your expectations?"

"I'm not worried," Richard replied softly. "As long as they study my materials, the results they get will definitely be within my expectations."

Bobbobovic frowned, "Then where exactly did your materials come from? The other party doesn't seem like someone easily fooled. Are you sure they can't trace the origins of the materials?"

"My materials? Part of them were given to me, and the rest I synthesized myself. For the materials given to me, I believe they will be traced to their origins. But for those I synthesized, no matter what methods the other party uses, it would be impossible for them to fully understand them in a short period of time. Thus, the easiest way to figure things out would be to invite both of us to join their organization."

"Why?" Bobbobovic was puzzled.

"It's simple." Richard explained, "The materials I synthesized are not ordinary; they are truly a new substance that doesn't exist in the current world."

"A new substance? What does it do?"

"Actually, it doesn't do much," Richard said. "I used some organic chemistry methods to create a precursor of a high polymer compound. Only under the right conditions and through polymerization reactions does it become a useful high polymer compound and find application in many fields.

Of course, that's not the point. The point is that as long as they believe the new substance is useful, that's good enough. Because they don't understand, they think anything is possible, and I can provide any explanation I want, which is exactly my aim."

Bobbobovic: "..." Suddenly, he didn't know what to say.

He tried hard to understand Richard's words. To sum up, Richard had used a bizarre method to create a raw material. This raw material could only become truly useful through another bizarre process; otherwise, it was useless—probably just to deceive the people of the Truth Society.

That seemed to be it, but he dared not say it aloud, fearing any slip might expose his lack of intelligence.

He now sincerely felt that collaborating with Richard had its pros and cons.

The advantage was that he really didn't have to do anything; just trusting Richard was enough, as Richard alone could handle all the problems. He suspected that there might be no problem in the world that Richard couldn't solve—if Richard chose to those.

But the corresponding disadvantage was that spending too much time with Richard severely damaged his confidence. Even if he tried hard to understand what Richard was saying, understanding only half of it, he would be utterly confused by the rest. Eventually, he had to gradually give up thinking and helping and become a dead weight just waiting to die.

Was this really okay?

He used to be the wizard known as "Blue Pigeon," a renowned figure!

But what could he do? It seemed he couldn't do anything, only to watch helplessly as he further became a burden.

Then...

"Hey, Richard!" Bobbobovic suddenly spoke out with some reluctance, "Isn't there anything recently that needs my involvement?"

"There is indeed something," Richard said.

"Oh, what is it?" Bobbobovic's eyes lit up, excitedly asking.

"Dinner time has arrived, go order some food," Richard said. "Keep it simple; nothing too complicated."

Bobbobovic: "…" His head slowly drooped down, and he walked out dejectedly.

Richard's voice floated over, reminding, "By the way, remember, all the food, especially the steaks, must be well done to avoid parasites or pathogens. And I don't want any fruit, whether cooked or raw."

"Got it—" Bobbobovic's voice trailed off as he walked out the door.

...