Chapter 531: Data Chip, Whose Wool Are We Going to Pluck?

In this world, research indeed costs more than anything else.

——If there’s anything else that can compare, it’s probably war. Naturally, losing a war is a huge loss, but winning can yield at least ten times the interest. Research alone, who knows how it will break even...

Garrett walked down from the tower with a gloomy look, not heading home but first detouring to the trading area of the White Tower and asked:

“How much for a standard data chip?”

“One for 10 contribution points, 100 for a thousand contribution points.”

“Any discount for a bulk purchase?”

“I’m very sorry, sir.” The trader behind the counter offered a standardized smile:

“The price is the same for purchases up to ten thousand chips, with no discount.”

“Then—about old chips that have been recorded on, is there an erasure service? Or can they be recycled?”

Garrett asked with a last glimmer of hope. If it were possible to erase and rewrite for 1 contribution point, or even get a discount on recycling at half price, or less, his wallet could recover quite a bit. Alas...

“I’m very sorry, sir…”

Hope shattered. Garrett dragged his heavy feet out of the White Tower, looked around...

Damn, he came too hurriedly today, Apa didn’t come out to meet him! He had to summon the phantom steed himself to go back, and after returning, he’d also have to endure Apa’s jealousy and coquetry!

Garrett gloomily returned to his own mage tower. He climbed up to the 8th floor’s control center, took out a golden treasure box from his spatial bag, and placed it in front of the tower spirit:

“MOSS—this thing needs to be connected to the power pool, using the entire mage tower to power it, how do I connect it?”

The crystal ball immediately started flickering. Once, twice, three times, then the light brightened, projecting a screen:

“Master, please don’t worry, this isn’t difficult. Please follow the diagram to connect the magical device to the power interface.”

Mage tower’s three-dimensional image, a nine-story tower, energy core, magnification, interface...

It was quite like the instructional videos from online stores, slightly complicated just in case customers don’t understand, can’t install it, or install it incorrectly, which could lead to returns, negative reviews, and complaints.

“Ah... MOSS, I really wouldn’t know what to do without you...”

Garrett breathed a sigh of relief, comforting himself. He followed MOSS’s instructions, a command at a time, a motion at a time, and placed the golden treasure box on the power interface. Another try, and indeed, the spell’s cost was significantly reduced:

“It’s basically a first-circle spell now!” Garrett exclaimed joyfully:

“Even if it’s a high-level first-circle, it’s still just a first-circle! With such a spell, I could cast...” even if not a hundred times, definitely dozens!

Garrett beamed with joy. He lined up a row of test tubes, organized them according to blood type. Then, holding a test tube in one hand and pressing the golden treasure box with the other, he concentrated and cast a spell. Click, a thin chip was spat out.

Four blood types in one round, then four blood types in another round. Garrett cast five rounds of spells in one breath, sorting the 20 chips into categories, and loosened them in front of the tower spirit:

“MOSS, can you help analyze these data? These 20 pieces of data, 5 per category. Among all the data, there is one point that is the same in each category, but different among categories...” RåƝò𝔟ËṢ

“MOSS can analyze data.” The light projected from the crystal ball, line by line, typed out a response. Beneath the column supporting the crystal ball, a small box popped out:

Half a foot long, half a foot wide, an inch high, perfectly square. The pure black base was inlaid with fine silver threads, spiraling out from the inside out.

The silver threads were level with the base, Garrett casually touched it, smooth and crystalline, feeling no bumps or dips at all.

“Please place the data plate in the slot.”

MOSS blandly prompted. Garrett sweat heavily:

This is like copying CDs? Put in a blank one, take it out, record, take it out?

So, is that why chips have to be in a standardized format? To facilitate the tower spirit’s reading and calculation?

Insert one, take it out, insert another, take it out. By the fifth chip, Garrett finally got a bit impatient:

“MOSS, can you do this kind of inserting and retrieving yourself?”

It’s only 20 chips, but if it were a couple hundred or a couple thousand, how long would I have

to do such menial work?

“Please authorize, MOSS will instruct the invisible servants...”

Garrett: “......”

The tower spirit’s tone remained flat, no fluctuation heard. The hint of sarcasm in Garrett’s earlier use of “you” seemed to have completely escaped its notice.

Of course, even if it had noticed, given MOSS’s personality template and tone settings, it wouldn’t talk back to Garrett...

Either way, Garrett finally escaped the tedious menial work, freeing him to ponder more important issues, such as:

“Master, insufficient data, MOSS cannot compute.”

“How much data is needed to compute?”

“Insufficient data, MOSS cannot compute.”

“MOSS, can you erase and rewrite the data in this chip?”

“Master, MOSS cannot do that.”

“What would it take to be able to do it?”

“Insufficient data, MOSS cannot compute.”

Garrett sighed. It seems there’s no way to cut corners... He cast another round of spells, exhausting all his mental energy, then crawled to meditate. Speaking of which, it had been a long time since he meditated in his own mage tower... Ha... Ow...

Powered by the mage tower, the gentle and abundant magical elements surrounded him. Garrett felt as light as if he were soaking in a hot spring, incredibly comfortable.

Soon, he entered a dazed state. He no longer maintained a cross-legged posture, instead stretching out as much as he could, leaning back...

When he awoke, he felt refreshed, as if he had shed several pounds.

With the mage tower’s ample supply, the growth in mental power from one meditation session could be several times that of meditating outside. Garrett vaguely felt that he might soon reach a breakthrough.

But where is the ceiling?

Where is the opportunity to break through the ceiling?

Where is that point of effort, that opportunity to push upwards?

Based on past experience, Garrett vaguely felt that perhaps developing the blood-testing magic was the moment to advance. The problem is, developing blood-testing magic requires a lot of data and calculations, a lot of data and calculations require spending a fortune on chips...

Where does the money come from?

Where to pluck some wool, no, where to pull in some sponsorship?

Garrett shook his head, temporarily shaking off his worries. Looking at the time, it was again the hour to fulfill diplomatic duties. He rode the silver moon deer, speeding to the embassy, only to be immediately informed of a piece of news:

“By the way, that blood-testing magic, Marquis Tergu said he’s not doing it anymore.”

The marquis, after much consideration, felt that developing this magic was too low in cost-effectiveness. Especially considering Garrett’s attitude of testing anyone’s blood, he always felt that they couldn’t keep the secret within their tribe...

A year or two might be okay, three to five years might also work, but definitely not for decades! Just anyone from his tribe could learn it by making a round in the council!

Might as well exchange the entire tribe’s savings!

Garrett nodded slightly, not annoyed, not complaining. It’s best if the marquis doesn’t proceed, as he wanted to develop it himself anyway.

Finally, Madam Almeida had figured out the preliminary magic, and the development direction was also clear, just counting on this to advance!

“By the way, about the money from selling the blood magic, can it be converted into contribution points for me quickly? —If not, converting it into data chips works too!”

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