253: Chapter 250 The Aftermath of the Disaster

The cave base was officially put into use. Zhang Mu controlled Kunpeng to carry the Director and the stacked metal boxes back to "The World," and then connected to the "Senior Brother Zhou" puppet.

As expected, the Special Investigation Bureau would soon exchange for the necessary supplies.

Sure enough, just ten minutes later, the three Academicians and Ye Ming walked into Qingfeng Hall, followed by several staff members carrying metal boxes.

The boxes were lifted onto the table and opened. Senior Brother Zhou scanned the neatly arranged metal blocks inside and, according to the previously provided price list, announced the total price for this batch of rhenium.

Naturally, no one thought the Mountain Gate would shortchange them. They gathered in a circle to discuss how to allocate the "stones" they had exchanged.

Their idea was to exchange a small amount of each item first, and then exchange in large quantities once they had obtained accurate data and suitability through experiments.

However, the "stones" exchanged for this batch of rhenium were limited, not enough to purchase a standard unit of every item on the list.

Then, the group began to argue over which items to prioritize.

floating stones were a must; they were related to the propulsion system of the new generation of spaceships and were the most important heart. Without them, all subsequent plans would be empty talk.

Next was the type of materials for the main body of the spaceship construction.

Current spaceships were made of multiple separable structures spliced together. Each part had different functions, and the requirements for material selection varied.

For instance, the pointed nose did not need to return to the ground; it only needed to withstand aerodynamic heating when passing through the atmosphere.

Therefore, selecting some heat-resistant metals was sufficient, without needing to consider the impact on the safety of the astronauts or supplies inside.

But now, everyone's new blueprint was a "spaceship" that could freely travel between outer space and the Blue Planet, so it naturally couldn't be designed like before.

After a heated discussion, they unanimously decided to select an associated mineral called "Flame Crystal" from the list as the primary material for the hull.

Analyzing the name literally, Flame Crystal seemed related to high temperatures, such as emitting heat itself.

However, that was not the case.

The reason Zhang Mu named it Flame Crystal was simply because it emitted a red glow after mana was injected into it, and the transparent nature of the crystal appeared blurred, as if many impurities had been mixed in.

The texture of this crystal was not only exceptionally hard but also extremely resilient, making it the best material for the hull.

Of course, Ye Ming and the three Academicians didn't know that Flame Crystal was a mineral Zhang Mu had carefully selected specifically for them to build the hull.

The group only felt it was suitable for their spaceship concept through the suggestive and inductive list descriptions that Zhang Mu had specially written.

Having resolved these two aspects, the final and most important one was the energy source for the floating stones.

Wanting to activate the floating stones and control the power levels freely was a very troublesome issue.

They muttered for a while but had no good ideas, so they planned to set it aside for now and put it on the agenda once research on the floating stones had progressed.

Zhang Mu, in the shadows, couldn't stand it. At the rate they were dawdling, when would they ever go to the moon to mine?

He was set to depart for the Lake Royal Capital in a few days and might have to deal with the unrest in various cities later; he had no time to waste on them.

So, he simply spoke the plan he had long considered through Senior Brother Zhou's mouth.

For the Blue Planet, which had never encountered a mana-based civilization, interpreting the power control of floating stones using a modern industrial system was not quite feasible.

To put it simply, mana was not oil; there were no mature technologies to convert and utilize it.

Treating the floating stone as an engine and mana as oil to apply modern power technology wouldn't work.

Therefore, Zhang Mu changed his approach and directly designed an integrated power control console for them that they could use immediately.

This thing had also been Geoffrey's primary work recently, besides the development of magic-conducting weapons.

Of course, he couldn't just take the thing out directly; that would be too obvious, as if saying, "I've already arranged everything for you, just follow my lead."

This would inevitably make people wary.

So Zhang Mu found a suitable excuse—certain disciples of the Mountain Gate who loved researching strange items had figured out some results for the application of floating stones, which they could exchange for.

As soon as Senior Brother Zhou finished speaking, they were overjoyed.

Although not having the Core technology of the spaceship in their own hands was an absolutely unbearable weakness for a major power, they hadn't intended to use the new spaceship as the main force of their aviation.

From the start, the Academicians had planned to use a small amount of cutting-edge Mountain Gate technology to enhance the speed and height of modern development.

In that case, whether the key technology was in their hands was no longer important.

The group quickly made a decision to exchange for Flame Crystals, floating stones, and some materials with excellent low-temperature resistance, high-temperature resistance, and radiation shielding for the personnel cabins.

Thus, skipping the tedious process of receiving "stones," Senior Brother Zhou took the rhenium out of the metal boxes and stuffed the items they wanted inside.

Along the way, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck Ye Ming's mind, and he suggested exchanging one less non-urgent material and asked Senior Brother Zhou for some "stones" for research.

After all, it was a sought-after item essential for the people of the Mountain Gate; it would be a lie to say they weren't curious.

Conducting in-depth research on it might yield unexpected gains.

Unfortunately, Zhang Mu had long anticipated they would have such plans and blocked the path entirely—he wouldn't provide "stones" for the supplies they brought, but instead replaced them with wooden plaques marked with value.

It was equivalent to giving currency instead of the product.

With the Mountain Gate's endorsement, no one believed the credit of the "wooden plaques" would go bankrupt.

Ye Ming and the Academicians were somewhat disappointed and led the staff carrying the metal boxes back to the small courtyard.

Then the Director called out "Immortal Xu" and sent everyone else out of "The World," except for Lin Miao, Zhao Qi, and Yue Ruo.

Logically, they couldn't help with the design and development of the spaceship.

But the urgent matter now was to research the performance and detailed data of various ores and other strange items, and they were needed for this.

Thus, Yuzhang Mountain, which had been bustling for many days, suddenly became quiet.

Although not everyone had left, the remaining few were all busy with their own tasks.

Luo Xiling, already considering herself the "Eldest Senior Sister," was leading four handymen who were about to enter the sect in bitter practice of sword techniques on the peak of the back mountain—the completely fabricated sword techniques were useless for the body, yet they felt they were getting a bit stronger every day.

Zhang Mu even suspected he had truly fabricated an "immortal art" because of this, and he had suspiciously practiced it a few times in private.

After finding it completely useless, he stopped worrying about the few people who were acting mysterious and even a bit obsessed all day.

Zhao Qi, Yue Ruo, and Lin Miao would set out every morning to chop wood and return to the courtyard with their axes at dark.

Such intense physical labor inevitably led to exhaustion, and they would collapse into bed as soon as they returned to their rooms.

Since everyone was like this, the clamor on Yuzhang Mountain subsided.

Zhang Mu felt a bit out of place. After wandering around the main hall for a while and still feeling awkward, he simply activated the Shadow Technique, left "The World," and flew toward Ying Country.

The ocean seemed boundless. After flying for a while, he strangely noticed that he hadn't seen a single ship for half a day.

For over half a year, he had frequently crossed the ocean back and forth between China and Ying Country. On the way, let alone fishing boats, he would often encounter warships and aircraft carrier battle groups from various countries.

Yet today, for two hours, not a single ship hull was seen on the sea; it was as if they had disappeared.

There was no signal in the open ocean, and his phone couldn't connect to the internet. He accelerated to the coast of Ying Country before taking out his phone to go online and look for relevant information.

This matter had caused quite a stir and was spreading across all major social platforms; he quickly found a video.

After watching it, Zhang Mu was somewhat stunned, but then he felt it was only logical.

The battle of the extraordinaries on the east coast of Ying Country five days ago had drawn the attention of the whole world.

The Fallen Spirit's final "defeat" and flight into the sea were, of course, clearly known to humanity.

People living far from the coast were fine; after all, they rarely went to the ocean and didn't have a very deep impression of it.

They just had a vague concept—oh, the Mountain Rock Giant went into the sea, so the sea won't be safe from now on. Since they don't go to the seaside to play, they don't need to worry, right?

Although the Mountain Rock Giant disappeared from Ying Country's territorial waters, after the news spread through a large number of videos, everyone now knew that the place it first appeared was NH.

How far apart were the two countries?

An entire ocean.

If the Mountain Rock Giant could cross the ocean, couldn't it go from Ying Country to other sea areas?

One must know that currently, the only countries that publicly possessed extraordinaries were these two.

Other than them, other countries had no ability to resist.

In America's upper circles, rumors that an extraordinary had once appeared were circulating, and several top families hadn't come forward to deny it.

But with no extraordinary appearing for a long time, the rumors slowly became myths.

Those few families were quite happy to see this happen.

Extraordinary power represented longevity or even immortality; naturally, the fewer people who shared it, the better.

However, facing everyone's speculation, the heads of those families—the few who had seen Zhang Mu's fake identity—didn't know whether they should admit it.

If a denial displeased the extraordinary, the opportunity within their grasp might fly away.

As a result, most people in America, including many upper-class families, were unaware that their own country had an extraordinary.

Thus, panic shrouded them just the same.

Ying Country went without saying; they had just repelled the Mountain Rock Giant a few days ago, and it didn't seem too difficult.

Meanwhile, China on the other side of the ocean was even more at ease. The video of Immortal Xu repelling the calamity with a single sword strike was still ranked first on the homepage recommendations of all major network platforms.

Later, arriving at the Queen's palace, he first extracted the memory images of the Minister of Logistics.

The Queen's supplies were ready, and she was gathering relevant professionals to plan the resource exchange, which would likely take a few more days.

With things progressing steadily, there was no rush. He deactivated the Shadow Technique and met with the Queen.

After a few words of small talk, the Queen knew that the Headmaster never wandered aimlessly, so she asked about his purpose.

Zhang Mu took the opportunity to mention the troubles caused by the calamity.

With this mention, the Queen knew he wanted to handle the matter, so she said, "Perhaps the Headmaster is unaware of your own prestige. You only need to appear before them and state that there is no need to worry about the Mountain Rock Giant."

Theoretically, that was correct, but he didn't have the time to run from place to place, so he simply entrusted the matter to the Queen.

The Queen was stunned for a moment and explained with difficulty that her own reputation was not enough to reassure everyone.

Not enough? Isn't it just that others don't submit to you? That's simple.

Zhang Mu cheerfully handed his pointer wand to her: "This should be enough."

The great battle from days ago was broadcast live throughout. The reporters in the helicopters had more than once captured close-ups of the wand in his hand.

Its appearance was not only familiar to the audience in front of their televisions, but major manufacturers had also started production lines overnight to create and sell scale models.

Over the five days, it had already reached the point where everyone had one.

Even those who hadn't bought one knew what the wand in Dumbledore's hand looked like.

The significance of the Queen appearing before reporters holding it was self-evident.

"Headmaster..." She restrained herself with all her might, but her breathing was still heavy. "Giving it to me... is it alright?" "

"A powerful wizard does not need a wand to reflect his greatness. To me, it is just an ordinary wand."

"Then..." The Queen extended both hands, solemnly catching it with her palms. "I can sense the great power hidden within it. I will certainly not fail your expectations; I will make it serve its proper purpose."

Zhang Mu almost couldn't help scratching his head. His wand, in terms of workmanship, material, and function, was basically no different from Toby's and the others'.

Except that to show his transcendence, there were a few meaningless lines and patterns on the shaft.

Where did you sense its great power from? Why don't I know about it myself?

Baffling.

Shaking his head inwardly, Zhang Mu stood up and said, "I came here basically for this.

Oh, right, I've received some news that the Mountain Gate's assistance has already been underway for some time."

"Mountain Gate assistance?"

The Queen was stroking the wand as if it were her lover, thinking in her heart about pushing the constitution to establish it as the royal scepter. Hearing the Headmaster's words, she immediately woke up from her dreams of a beautiful future.

"Yes.

I found an old friend to ask around, and the Mountain Gate's approach is consistent with Hogwarts'.

To avoid the development of the new world's civilization being influenced by human factors, they decided not to interfere excessively and only provide material help."

"Then..." The Queen's right hand holding the wand tightened, her knuckles turning white. "Which step have they reached?"

"As for that, we have no news, only that it has been going on for nearly a month."

"So." Zhang Mu's figure gradually became ethereal. "Lady, you should hurry."

The figure vanished from the spot, and the Queen stared blankly at the air, silent for a moment before reacting.

Holding the staff, she frowned as she pondered the Mountain Gate's series of actions.

Without a doubt, the purpose of everything the Mountain Gate did should be the same as Hogwarts', intended to cultivate modern technology and increase the speed of development.

The methods chosen by both sides were as if they had agreed upon.

Both avoided direct intervention, only providing certain material and technical support to prevent them from developing a dependency.

The Queen couldn't help but wonder; based on the performance in the battle on the east coast a few days ago, it would be a very easy task for the Mountain Gate and Hogwarts to destroy the countries of the Blue Planet.

Furthermore, one must know that the Headmaster still had Directors above him, and according to the Queen's understanding, that white-robed immortal's status and strength within the Mountain Gate were not ranked first either.

Higher up, there were positions like "Elder" and "Sect Leader."

These were all new terms the Queen had learned in the past few days by cramming cultivation novels.

After pondering for a while longer to no avail, the Queen shook her head and set the matter aside for now, calling for Lee and instructing him to hold a press conference immediately.

Lee was as taciturn as usual; after bowing, he turned to carry out the task.

The room fell silent.

The Queen raised the staff in her hand, her eyes filled with infatuation.