636: The energy-locking structure of magic plants and Delving Deeper into Air Pineapple magic plants
Wizard Ciss looked at Locke and said, "There are wizards in the Rose Council who want to grow Desert Roses themselves. However, even if we are just growing them on the side for economic value, it would be beyond their capabilities to surpass Group 2 in terms of cost and supply in a short period of time."
"The largest water source for our Group 2 comes from a large-scale device developed by the Storm Tower. It requires regular maintenance from them, but the Rose Council somehow managed to get the Storm Tower wizards to stop maintaining our equipment, leaving Group 2 with no water to use!"
"In this desert, having no water becomes very dangerous!"
Locke asked Wizard Ciss, "So, do we have no water now? But I see many Wizard Apprentices watering magic plants in the Research Institute. Moreover, the drip irrigation system hasn't stopped."
Wizard Ciss said, "That is water we stored previously. We can still transport water from the outside, but the cost is extremely high, and the quantity is insufficient."
"The amount of water this Research Institute needs at every moment is staggering. Furthermore, the principle of the world for water from outside this world conflicts with this world's soil; it must pass through specialized large-scale conversion equipment before it can be used normally. The cost is very high."
"We can also extract the limited groundwater from this Plane. But that's like draining a pond to catch the fish; if handled poorly, it could lead to further destruction of the entire Plane's ecology."
"Don't think that this is the end for this Plane so far. It's not. Deep underground in this Plane, there are still large numbers of low-level plant communities that continuously produce magic tides, air elements, and wood elements for this world. If the ecology is further damaged and even these disappear, this world will turn into an even more terrifying purgatory."
"It's estimated that temperatures could rise from one hundred degrees Celsius to three hundred degrees Celsius. Once it reaches that point, this Plane will be completely scrapped."
"Therefore, we cannot extract too much groundwater."
Locke's mind worked quickly. "If that's the case, we could borrow some water from other Research Institutes in this world."
Wizard Ciss sighed. "I have indeed done so. But the price of collecting water this way is still very expensive; those fellows will never miss any opportunity to take money."
Witch Mason asked in confusion, "Lord Ciss, our Golden Crown Mountain has its own Weather Master Academy. Why can't we build that equipment ourselves?"
Wizard Ciss sighed. "Actually, it's under research. It's estimated that in about ten years, we'll be able to build it ourselves. In Yunze Wetland, the most advanced in meteorology is definitely the Storm Tower."
"Especially special weather systems that can still stably yield certain products in various extreme environments. That is the Storm Tower's specialty. Our Golden Crown Mountain hasn't delved too deeply into this field, at least not with as much investment as the Storm Tower."
Wizard Ciss said, "But you don't need to worry too much about these things. It just makes the cost of my water usage higher. Using groundwater, stored water, borrowing from other Research Institutes, or transporting water from the Main Material Plane are all temporary solutions."
"I'm also arranging for people to find ways to produce some water on our own without relying on the Storm Tower. It's not like there are no ways; look at that banyan tree on the 27th floor over there."
Locke looked toward the 27th floor. He saw crystals embedded in the ceiling of the 27th floor emitting faint sunlight, while a ring of rain clouds had condensed above that banyan tree. Rain was sparsely falling from the clouds onto the magic fields surrounding the tree.
Wizard Ciss said, "Banyan trees have the common function of accelerating the condensation of rain clouds. Therefore, I'm trying to have people transplant some banyan magic plants here to replenish the moisture in my base on a small scale."
"Water is something found everywhere in the Yunze Wetland. But in this world, it is ten thousand times more expensive than gold."
"Locke, I'm just telling you about the current difficulties our Research Institute is facing. You don't need to worry too much; if the sky falls, I'll be the one holding it up. Your group's research task is the same as the overall task of our Group 2: to study the drought-resistant plant factors of various plants and research their mechanisms of action."
Wizard Ciss led Locke and the others to the 30th floor underground. As they walked through the corridors of the Research Institute, many Wizard Apprentices they encountered along the way greeted them.
If they met a Official Wizard, both parties would nod to each other as a sign of politeness.
Wizard Ciss led them to his office and handed four sets of documents to the four of them. "In our Research Institute, we primarily study the drought-resistance mechanisms of various magic plants."
"As for economic value... that is an additional requirement I've set so that our Research Institute can have more research resources."
"This isn't a requirement from the Lord of the Throne, but an extra requirement I've issued as the leader of Group 2. Otherwise, how could I support such a large base solely on the project fund subsidies from the White Wizard Association and the funds issued by the Lord of the Throne?"
Wizard Ciss said, "I just didn't expect the Desert Rose magic plants would eventually be coveted by the Rose Council themselves. Heh, those Floramancers of the Rose Council are far too desperate."
"We could have stably provided them with all kinds of Desert Roses for their magic bouquets. Yet they insisted on interfering."
"If we stop producing them, the value of Desert Roses will rise. In the end, it's the Rose Council's own Floramancers who will suffer."
"Desert Roses are a relatively common accent flower for magic bouquets!"
Locke said in a low voice, "But the suffering will be felt by all Floramancers, not just a specific individual."
Wizard Ciss snorted coldly. "Yes. Such people who benefit themselves at the expense of others do exist."
Wizard Ciss looked at Locke and said, "Therefore, I require the members of Group 2 to find drought-resistant economic crops that can replace the Desert Rose as soon as possible."
"And stop the research on Desert Roses. Of course, the previous stock of Desert Roses is too large, so it's difficult to pivot completely all at once."
Wizard Ciss said, "Locke, do you have any good ideas?"
The three wizards, including Witch Mason, immediately looked at Locke.
Locke hesitated for a moment. "Planting Air Pineapples?"
Witch Mason facepalmed.
Well, that was indeed what their group had been doing all along.
Wizard Ciss was stunned for a moment. "Air Pineapples? Er. I knew before that your research on pineapples was very deep. But this is a topic for Group 2, not Group 6. Air Pineapples... don't have much economic value."
"Although Air Pineapples are indeed magic plants native to arid regions."
"But the problem is, we in Group 2 need crops with high economic value."
Wizard Ciss smiled and said, "It's alright, I'm not in a hurry. Your group can think it over slowly. Perhaps there are better choices than Air Pineapples."
Wizard Ciss waved toward someone outside the office door. "Eros Ramsey, come over here for a moment."
"Everyone, Eros Ramsey is a veteran researcher in Group 2. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask him."
"In the public office on the 30th floor underground, you can choose four workstations for yourselves. Additionally, you can apply to me for magic fields later."
"Once you have selected your research targets."
"The Research Institute has complete research facilities, the Three Great Magic Mirrors, and even the queens chessboard."
Locke immediately looked up at Wizard Ciss.
For other One-Ring Wizards, they basically had no use for the queens chessboard, but his own need for it was immense.
Locke asked Wizard Ciss, "Teacher Ciss, how much does it cost to use the queens chessboard in our Group 2 once?"
Wizard Ciss said, "Five hundred thousand magic stones."
"However, you first need to pass the project proposal for a first-class project fund."
"I mean, you need to prove that you are working on a True Knowledge Institute project to use the queens chessboard. Besides that, we have structure comparison machines and other equipment of all sizes in our Research Institute."
Wizard Ciss patted Locke's shoulder. "You can take a week first to read through the materials."
"I have high hopes for you, Locke."
Wizard Ciss left, and Wizard Eros was a young wizard who looked at Locke with a mix of curiosity and admiration.
"Wizard Augustine, it's a pleasure to meet you. I was one of the spectators at that Spell Fighting Competition."
"I didn't expect we would have the chance to cooperate."
"If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me. I will help you quickly understand Group 2's research direction so that you can apply for your True Knowledge Institute first-class project fund as soon as possible."
He looked admiring. "I've only just completed a fourth-class project; the third-class is still nowhere in sight."
"I wonder if I can complete a third-class project fund before leaving the post."
Locke said casually, "Keep it up, Wizard Ramsey."
Then, the four of them left the office and headed to the public office.
Under the dim lighting of the public office, they sat at four connected workstations and began reading.
After reading for half an afternoon, Locke's expression became increasingly strange.
Because the more he read, the more he felt that he should indeed research Pineapple-type Magic Plants here.
First of all, the most valuable things in this Research Institute were water and soil.
But the problem was that Air Pineapples were basically grown without soil.
Moreover, the cultivation of Air Pineapples favored dryness over wetness; while it wasn't that they didn't need water, they at least didn't need much.
The environment in this Research Institute was perfectly suited for cultivating this type of magic plant.
Most importantly, Air Pineapples originally had almost no economic value, but the issue was that his Pineapple Wizard Shoe happened to need three types of Air Pineapple magic plants as raw materials.
That changed everything.
'Producing my wizard shoe Air Pineapples here can also lower my production costs,' Locke thought. 'Renting one mu of magic field in Golden Crown Mountain is far too expensive. But it's different here; the land cost is much lower compared to Golden Crown Mountain.'
'Furthermore, this way I can kill two birds with one stone.'
'The fund project and the commercial project overlap...'
'It saves me a lot of time. A person's energy is limited; if I try to do everything, it will squeeze out the time I have for other things, like the time I spend conceiving Great Magic!'
'Therefore, continuing to research Air Pineapple magic plants is definitely the best strategy.'
'Even though this makes me seem like an Air Pineapple fanatic.'
Locke thought: 'The watering principle for Air Pineapples is small amounts but frequent; spraying 2-3 times a week is enough, so water consumption isn't high.'
'Of course, to pass a first-class project fund application just with this, I'll need to put in some extra thought elsewhere.'
Unlike Group 6 where he was on familiar ground, here in Group 2, what seemed to be valued more was the research into drought-resistance mechanisms.
So, he needed to change his research policy and focus on the drought-resistance mechanisms of Air Pineapple magic plants.
This required understanding Group 2's current research methods; otherwise, it would be difficult to pass the first-class project fund application on the first try.
After all, the difficulty of a first-class fund was not low.
And Group 2's research was a field where he previously had no foundation.
After reading the materials, Locke found that there were still commonalities between Group 6's research and Group 2's. For example, researching mechanisms to increase fertility and researching drought-resistance mechanisms were both treasure troves for discovering new natural magic structural components.
In addition, researching the drought-resistance mechanisms of magic plants made it easier to discover new energy-locking structures in magic plant organs, certain new magic plant mechanisms, microscopic organs, and so on...
Because the drought-resistance mechanism was a stress response mechanism, magic plants in this environment might instantaneously produce brief structural changes or changes in the secretion speed of internal natural magic structural components.
Therefore, what could be discovered was actually quite different from the research in Group 6.
Every year, Group 2 had previously discovered new reaction mechanisms of magic plants to drought, as well as isomers of the same natural magic structural components.
Of course, the most important discovery was still the new energy-locking structures of magic plant organs.
The energy-locking structure was a typical feature of magic plants responding to drought. Its existence was very brief and required a specific environment, making it difficult to discover.
The difficulty and significance of its discovery were both above discovering a new natural magic structural component or an isomer of such a component.
Even for Group 2, in a five-year cycle, they could only discover a new energy-locking structure for one magic plant.
An energy-locking structure was an attempt by a magic plant to achieve high energy utilization.
It had many applications in various aspects.
The discovery of a new energy-locking structure could create many Spell Models and even lead to the birth of a spell series.
Many new energy-locking structures only appeared briefly in certain individual magic plants.
After all, even without an energy-locking structure, magic plants could cope with drought by relying on certain specific natural magic structural components and internal changes.
Many excellent energy-locking structures very likely disappeared within the accidental mutation of a single magic plant individual.
Therefore, in the study of drought-resistant plants, if a wizard could discover a new energy-locking structure, it would definitely require immense luck, and it would also be the best proof of their talent.
Of course, researching drought-resistance mechanisms mostly just resulted in discovering specific plant factors related to drought resistance, some common natural magic structural components, common energy-locking structures, and macroscopic and microscopic organ changes in magic plants.
It was very difficult even to discover new isomers of natural magic structural components.
After some hesitation, Locke looked up at Witch Mason and the other two. "Everyone, how about we continue researching pineapples in Group 2?"
Witch Freya made an exaggerated expression. "Still pineapples? Then what would be the difference between moving from Group 6 to Group 2?"
Wizard Barrett said matter-of-factly, "Researching drought-resistance mechanisms and researching fertility mechanisms are two different directions; the things discovered will also be different."
Witch Mason smiled and said, "I agree. This way our group is much more familiar with the subject, reducing the time and energy needed to adapt. Moreover, Group Leader, you can take this opportunity to make some progress with your Pineapple Wizard Shoe."