Chapter 544: The New Laboratory

Inside the Level One Administrative Hall of Cecil, in Hetty’s office, aunt and niece sat locked in a wide-eyed stare-down. Kamail floated quietly beside them, as still and unassuming as a lightbulb.

“Aunt… this is the entire budget request,” Rebecca said, sensing Hetty’s mood was less than cheerful. Still, she stubbornly pushed the proposal and budget application form across the desk. “In theory… as long as the lab doesn’t blow up in the next two months, you won’t need to allocate additional funds for the first quarter.”

Hetty’s eye twitched slightly. “Do you realize you’ve had four explosions in six days? You’ve destroyed eight amplifiers and two engine test rigs in total.”

Rebecca shrank back a little. “But didn’t you say once… failure is the foundation of success? That a mage’s research path is always paved with the cost of failure?”

Hetty covered her face with her hand. “Didn’t I also say—‘A rational mage finds ways to minimize failure, while the overly stubborn ones usually end up broke’?”

Rebecca lifted her chin defiantly. “No, you never said that.”

“…” Hetty was momentarily speechless as she looked at the young Marchioness of Cecil before her. Then, under Rebecca’s pure and determined gaze, she sighed and sank back into her chair. “Alright, hand me that proposal again. Let me take another look.”

“Oh, okay!” Rebecca quickly passed over the documents, her face already breaking into a smile. “I knew you were the best, Auntie!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. I need to review your plan carefully first,” Hetty said, not even looking up as she took the papers. “Don’t forget, before I became Chief Administrator, I was a mage too—”

She studied Rebecca’s follow-up experimental plan closely and soon noticed two completely different approaches running in parallel, each with its own validation process. She couldn’t help but look up. “You’re testing both the centralized power system and the distributed power system at the same time? And also testing how weight reduction spells affect the balance of both chassis types?”

“Yes! Don’t worry, I’ve already arranged the personnel.”

“It’s not about manpower…” Hetty frowned. “Are you perhaps rushing things a bit?”

Rebecca was naturally a go-getter, and had always been a bit impulsive since childhood. Seeing her plan, Hetty worried she might be pushing too hard. But then she glanced at Kamail, who had come along. Rebecca’s mind might run hot, but Kamail had lost his brain nerves—surely he wouldn’t catch the fever too?

“…I am a bit impatient, but I have no choice,” Rebecca admitted openly. “Our ancestor has already signed a mining agreement with the Eastern Territories. It’s not easy to transport ore from the White Sand mines. We could ship it to Grant first, then load it onto boats down the Whitewater River to the internal industrial zone, but there’s still a long stretch of land transport. Even with magic-powered vehicles, it’s not enough to meet the mining plan.”

She paused, her expression resolute. “So I want to solve the train problem before the ore piles up too much at White Sand… Even if we can’t build the best one, at least it has to run.”

Hetty’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

So this girl had thought all this through…

No wonder their ancestor always warned her not to treat Rebecca like a child, saying that beneath her lively personality, her thoughts were anything but shallow.

“Your idea is good,” Hetty said softly, sighing. “Our ancestor would be pleased. Alright, I’ll approve the funding, but I also—”

“Wow!”

“Hold on with the excitement. I still have a few things to remind you,” Hetty shot a glance at the eager young woman who was practically bouncing in her seat. “You said it yourself: even if you can’t build the best, at least it has to run. But in my opinion, your expectations for the magic-powered train might be a bit too high. You just managed to build a magic vehicle, and now you want a train engine with a hundred times the traction power? That’s a huge leap. You have to understand, a magical device of that scale doesn’t just mean more power—it brings entirely new challenges. I suggest you set smaller goals for the magic train. Since you have tracks, even one magic vehicle pulling four or five carriages would already far surpass the current horse-drawn convoys, right?”

Rebecca’s face showed a hint of reluctance, but she had to admit her aunt had a point. Experience had proven that once a magic device reached a certain scale, the mechanical stress, mana load, and environmental demands weren’t just a matter of quantity.

Seeing Rebecca’s expression shift, Hetty shook her head with a wry smile and picked up her pen to sign.

The advance funds from the royal family… barely warmed up, and now they were about to become Rebecca’s experimental explosives.

The chief steward of Cecil sighed deeply, his hand trembling slightly as he approved the budget.

Just then, the magic network terminal beside the desk buzzed to life, its lights flickering. The sudden communication interrupted everyone’s actions.

Rebecca watched as her aunt set down the pen and opened the call. Soon, the image of their ancestor appeared on the screen.

The three in the room immediately stepped forward. “Ancestor.” “Forebear.” “Lord.”

“Hetty—ah, Rebecca and Kamail are with you,” the figure on the screen, Gawain, quickly noticed the people in the office. “Perfect, no need to look for you elsewhere.”

Hetty asked curiously, “What’s going on?”

“Come to the Magic Technology Research Institute. Pittman, Jenny, and I are waiting for you here,” Gawain smiled. “We have something good to show you.”

The three exchanged glances, briefly stunned. Then Kamail suddenly spoke up, “I think I know what it is…”

Upon arriving at the Magic Technology Research Institute, Kamail’s guess was confirmed—

In a specially reserved large laboratory, several silver-white cockpit-shaped magic devices were neatly arranged on hexagonal platforms. Compared to the prototype, their structure was clearly more complete and compact, with an added shell that could close from both sides. Beneath each cockpit, the floor around the platform was embedded with flickering rune plates, and behind the cockpit extended neural cable conduits connecting the platform to its base. Aside from some monitoring rune terminals along the walls, the lab was sparsely decorated, making the silver cockpits in the center all the more mysterious and striking.

Just as Kamail had guessed: after the first “immersive neural cockpit” test succeeded, more units had been built.

Gawain was already waiting beside one of the cockpits. Technicians in white robes busied themselves near the wall-mounted monitoring devices. Pittman and Jenny inspected the neural cables and rune arrays around the cockpits. As soon as Kamail and the others entered, Pittman turned and greeted them. “Ah, you’re here—come check out these cool things!”

“These…” Kamail looked around, surprised. “They’re finished?”

“While you were busy figuring out how to blow up the engine group, I adjusted the neural cables on these cockpits,” Pittman said proudly. “Of course, Miss Jenny handled the rune arrays.”

Rebecca was already excitedly circling one of the cockpits several times, only stopping when Hetty gently cleared her throat. She looked at Gawain with wide eyes. “Ancestor, did you design the shape of these devices?”

Gawain smiled and ruffled Rebecca’s hair. “Not much of a redesign—just added side shields to the seats and gave them a shell that can close.”

Compared to the original prototype, the biggest change was this “closable shell.” Because non-implant neural cables don’t immerse the brain as deeply as implanted ones, users are easily disturbed and “awaken” during network connection. This was the biggest problem with immersive devices. Pittman, thinking like a druid, tried many technical methods to increase neural coupling and improve synchronization, but in the end, Gawain came up with a simpler, more straightforward solution: just add a cover.

With this “peripheral,” these things that once looked like mere chairs now truly resembled cockpits.

“That’s such a simple yet effective solution…” Hetty said with keen interest and admiration as she examined these strangely styled magical devices. She was curious how their ancestor had come up with such a straightforward idea. But soon, she noticed the shape of the cockpits—long containers, big enough for a person to lie inside, with a lid on top…

Hmmmm…

The chief steward of Cecil had a very reasonable and somewhat risqué thought.

Of course, the mature and composed Hetty only entertained the thought silently—she didn’t dare say it out loud.

But there was someone less reserved.

Rebecca immediately bounced over to Gawain. “Ancestor, you got the idea from the coffin you once lay in… wow!”

Gawain playfully tapped her back, but everyone present shared a knowing smile at the silly outburst.

“Ahem,” Gawain cleared his throat to bring the atmosphere back on track. “Enough jokes, let’s get down to business.”

Hetty looked at him curiously. “You called us here… to test these devices together?”

“Actually, the tests are already done,” Gawain said. “Offline tests, magic network connection, and connection to the Sleeper’s neural network—all completed. Today, we’ll do the official connection.”

He paused, then added, “I’ll be entering the network with you.”

Gawain’s plan was simple—now that the first batch of immersive neural cockpits had been built, he could finally implement a plan he had devised long ago: integrate his experimental staff into the network and conduct research in the existing “virtual laboratory.”

The virtual experimental environment had been built for some time, but since only he could access it, its usefulness was limited. Although he had used the virtual space to develop some blueprints, after meeting local technicians and witnessing the “wisdom of outsiders,” he realized one thing: as a traveler from another world, he was not the center of this world. At best, he was a regional hub, and in many areas, especially technology, he couldn’t compare to the professionals. Such a large virtual space would be wasted if only he occupied it. Bringing in the territory’s experts was essential.

Fortunately, that waste was about to end.

Still, he had to be cautious—these technicians were precious, especially the most trusted ones with access to secrets. He needed to protect them from accidents or from being wiped out by the Sleepers. The best way was to enter the network alongside them.

If any Sleeper got wise or too curious and discovered their intrusion, they could always unleash a devastating attack spanning millions of years—at least ensuring everyone could retreat safely.

(End of chapter)