20: Chapter 0020 Inventions

The protection of intellectual property in the Crimson Soul Duchy stems from two aspects:

The Duchy's own 'National Law' states:

All wealth derived from crystallized wisdom shall be properly protected to encourage citizens to create enthusiastically.

The resulting 'Intellectual Property Protection Decree' stipulates that intellectual rights are divided into four Ranks: Practical Improvement, General Invention, Major Breakthrough, and Civilizational Innovation.

The degree of protection differs based on the Rank:

Practical Improvement protection lasts only 5 years, General Invention protection lasts 10-20 years, and the scope of protection is limited to the Duchy's territory.

Major Breakthrough protection lasts 20-50 years, and Civilizational Innovation protection is permanent, covering the entire Wizard World;

Furthermore, the right to price knowledge is proposed by the creator and approved by the Duchy. Inventions classified as Major Breakthrough or Civilizational Innovation require the Duchy to apply to the Wizard Council for ratification.

This is the protection of intellectual rights at the Duchy level. From the 'Decree,' it can also be seen that above the Duchy, the legendary Wizard Council protects knowledge related to Major Breakthroughs and Civilizational Innovations.

What constitutes a Major Breakthrough and Civilizational Innovation?

Anything that can influence the entire Wizard World is classified as a Major Breakthrough.

And that which allows the entire Wizard World's civilization to achieve a major leap forward is classified as Civilizational Innovation.

The Wizard Council maintains observers within the Duchies whose main duty is to supervise the Duchy's development according to the civilizational direction stipulated by the Wizard Council.

This includes the protection of intellectual rights, guarding against infiltration from the Spirit World, and so on. Contact information is publicized everywhere, and anyone can file a complaint regarding relevant matters, which the Council will investigate and handle.

Beyond this, they must not interfere with the development of any nation. The Wizard Council operates under its own set of independent rules, transcending the mundane world.

This is somewhat similar to the United Nations in his previous life, but the United Nations in his previous life tried to manage everything yet couldn't manage anything.

Whereas the Wizard Council in this world doesn't want to manage anything, yet based on its strength, it can manage everything—it is the absolute pillar of the world.

Such legislation is already very complete because Li Size's so-called inventions are very simple: they are the 'little electric donkey' and the 'three-wheeler' from his previous life.

This world already has bicycles, but the Wizards focus on higher technology, and no one bothers to research such minute branches of products.

If there weren't such comprehensive intellectual property protection, Li Size's inventions would likely be plagiarized in an instant!

The cost of a bicycle in this world is about 3-4 silver coins, and the selling price is about 5 silver coins, making them quite common among the middle class.

As for the little electric donkey and three-wheeler Li Size is producing, he has conducted market analysis showing that selling prices of 25 silver coins and 30 silver coins respectively would not be an issue.

This is because their performance and applicability far surpass bicycles, whereas the 'witch box' starts at gold coins for its price and has expensive maintenance fees. The products Li Size brought will fill the huge gap between bicycles and the 'witch box' as means of transportation.

The profit will certainly be very high. A protection period of 5-10 years is enough for him to earn the necessary funds for the Early Stage of Pay-to-Win development.

After understanding the Duchy's intellectual property protection, Li Size took out two sets of blueprints, compiled from his memories of his previous life combined with the structure of this world's bicycles, and handed them to Felina, naming them 'little sorcerer donkey' and 'three-wheeler'.

Felina first opened the blueprint for the 'little sorcerer donkey.' The entire blueprint was similar to a bicycle, except for an added iron box and some connecting parts. She asked doubtfully:

"Besides this iron box, it seems no different from a bicycle."

Li Size nodded:

"The concept is very simple, but the core lies in this iron box. Since I am not a Wizard Apprentice, I need you to help me complete the design for this item. I will explain the principle to you..."

In Li Size's vision, this iron box is analogous to an integrated battery and electric motor from his previous life, capable of storing a small amount of Wind Element.

Then, through the connecting parts, it controls the transmission of the Wind Element. After the Wind Element is transmitted through small holes into the fully enclosed 'wind motor' cabin...

The Wind Element pushes a series of completely isolated metal wind vanes, thereby driving the bearing to rotate, and the bearing then drives the bicycle tire to rotate.

Felina became extremely excited upon hearing this:

"Then it won't require the rider to pedal hard; it can move on its own! Isn't that similar to the witch box?"

Li Size continued to explain to Felina that the gap between this and the witch box is still very large. Its speed, weight, and structural complexity are far inferior to the witch box, and the applicable scenarios are quite different.

The witch box is suitable for regional transport over 50 or even 100km and requires relatively high traffic infrastructure; however, the 'little sorcerer donkey's' energy storage and structure are only suitable for intermediate transport distances of 10-30km, and its speed definitely cannot compare.

Of course, the energy storage can certainly be expanded and the speed increased, but that is temporarily not the product Li Size wants to develop at this stage; that is the next stage's higher-end market—the 'witchcraft motorcycle'.

Seeing that Felina understood, Li Size then asked:

"To add an iron box and connecting parts like this, what would the cost be?"

Felina pondered for a moment and slowly explained:

"The cost is not high. The main cost increase for the 'little sorcerer donkey' lies in the Wind Element energy storage cell.

Since your energy storage and transmission requirements are not high, calculations show that 0.003 - 0.005 Demonic Energy/hour and energy storage reaching 0.05 - 0.1 Demonic Energy would suffice.

Uh, that's roughly 10 silver coins, so the total cost for the little sorcerer donkey would be 15 silver coins."

Demonic Energy is one of the standard units of measurement promoted by the Wizard Council, defined as the energy released by completely burning 1 ton of charcoal. In Li Size's memory, it is roughly equivalent to 9000 kilowatt-hours of energy.

1 standard magic stone contains 100 Demonic Energy. The value of 1 magic stone converted to silver coins is 10,000 silver coins, and this is a naturally occurring energy crystal, making it even more expensive.

In reality, artificially created magical props that contain 1 Demonic Energy or more and require charging are priced around 50 silver coins on the market, such as the energy detector Gelia once lent him.

Felina's estimate of 10 silver coins is because of the unique customization in the Early Stage; if mass-produced, the cost could be reduced further.

Li Size estimated based on the economic scale model of Gray Mist Mountain Town from his memory: A town of 200,000 people has about 10,000 bicycles. Around 4,000-5,000 people would have a demand and purchasing power for the little sorcerer donkey or three-wheeler, resulting in a potential market of about 1,000 gold coins. This is just one town among the 300,000 towns in the Crimson Soul Duchy, with a profit margin as high as 40%.

Felina heard this, and her eyes seemed to sparkle with gold coins. By managing this business well, Li Size could become a top magnate in the Duchy!

She looked around and carefully put away the blueprints:

"Li, do you know how much wealth this represents? Aren't you afraid I'll keep it all for myself?"

Li Size chuckled and said:

"What's mine is my mentor's, so what's the difference? Besides, you can see I'm not even a Wizard Apprentice yet. I cannot design the core module of that 'little sorcerer donkey' alone, and the only Wizard Apprentice I can trust is you, my mentor."