179: News from Svidek

That evening, Lei Wen returned to his underground command room, sitting on that lonely chair, holding a cup of tea that had long since gone cold.

Although Zhang Wenxing's words before parting had given him immense support and confidence, solidifying his resolve to "flip the table," he had to admit that when he calmed down and faced the chessboard of reality, this table was not so easy to flip.

"Father, according to your physiological monitoring, your adrenaline levels are dropping, but your cortisol levels remain high," the voice of white flower sounded at the right moment. "You are hesitating."

"I am not hesitating; I am calculating the cost." Lei Wen put down the cup, looking at the dense golden lines on the holographic globe representing capital flows.

These lines were not just money; they were blood vessels, nerves, the fundamental lifelines maintaining the operation of this planet and even the entire human society of the Solar System.

Why not use force directly?

Why not directly dispatch combat robots to raid the headquarters of major consortiums and capture and execute all those greedy board members?

Because they were no longer just businessmen; they were the system itself.

Take Elon's Nikola Group as an example; their status on Mars was not just that of an employer—they were the oxygen suppliers, the water suppliers, the heat suppliers. The life support systems for tens of millions of workers on Mars were completely in the hands of the Nikola Group, and even the logistics lifeline between Mars and Earth—that massive transport fleet—was 65% owned by them.

If Lei Wen ordered the arrest of Elon and the seizure of the Nikola Group right now...

The very next second, Mars' oxygen circulation system might "shut down due to a malfunction," the spaceships transporting food and medicine between Earth, the Moon, and Mars would go on strike, the global financial market would collapse in an instant, and hundreds of millions of middle-class citizens would find their pensions and savings turned into waste paper overnight.

Forcibly transforming the entire Earth into a public-ownership society using force was even more inadvisable; the resulting chaos would be worse than anarchy.

Currently, white flower could not fully take over human society; there were too many places in the entire Solar System that required human operation, and as long as there were humans, there would be accidents.

What would follow would be total social paralysis, large-scale riots, famine, and even the deaths of countless innocent civilians.

Those giants had long since bound their fate tightly to that of the civilians; a vast number of people were their hostages.

"Too big to fail..." Lei Wen sneered. "That is their leverage."

Using force to solve a social structural problem was like using a hammer to fix a precision mechanical watch; the result would only be a pile of fragments.

"Therefore, we cannot forcefully dismantle it; we must replace it."

"white flower, adjust the strategic focus."

"First, accelerate the construction of infrastructure involved in the [Resource Sharing Act], but not on Earth; rather, in the New World."

Lei Wen's train of thought was exceptionally clear.

"On Mana Star and the New Sun System, we must establish a production and distribution system completely independent of the old consortium system, directly controlled by Paradox Technology and the Interstellar Affairs General Bureau, from energy to food, from housing to medical care—all public-owned."

"We are going to build a model, a utopia without exploitation, with extreme material abundance, where everyone is equal."

"Second, let our robot legions intervene in the field of public livelihood. We must establish a logistics system belonging to the Federation, no longer relying on Nikola's spaceships. We must establish an energy network belonging to the Federation until our energy supply can cover the entire Federation."

"When our services are cheaper, more efficient, and more inclusive, no one will choose those expensive and enslaving consortium services."

"This is a process of boiling a frog in warm water," Lei Wen muttered to himself. "We must cut their blood vessels bit by bit, drain their nutrients, and when they realize they are no longer significant, when the public no longer relies on them to survive..."

"That is the moment when judgment descends."

"We must let those behemoths collapse from starvation on their own, rather than risking blowing up the whole building by detonating a bomb right now."

"Understood, Father." white flower's data stream operated at high speed. "Regenerating the 'Interstellar Economic Structure Alternative Plan,' estimated time 72 hours. This will be a long economic war."

"And those factions will certainly not sit still; they will try every possible way to oppose Father."

"It doesn't matter, I have time." Lei Wen looked at the starry sky. "And I have plenty of patience."

...

Meanwhile, 81 light-years away, in the F-81 Star System, on Mana Star.

The top floor of the white mage tower in Angus City, the capital of the Rocasia Kingdom, was currently filled with an atmosphere of agitation.

"Garbage! It's all garbage!"

Ilya sprawled ungracefully amidst a pile of scattered parchment scrolls and heavy ancient books, grabbing a tome titled "Fundamentals of Fire Element Shaping," and threw it behind her without even glancing at it.

Ilya irritably scratched her silver hair; her originally smooth long hair was now as messy as a bird's nest.

"This is what the kingdom's most learned mage considers a collection?" Ilya pointed to the nearly emptied bookshelves around her, complaining to Sylvia, who was sitting nearby with an embarrassed expression.

"Ninety percent of the content is just praising gods, sighing about nature, or writing illogical lyric poetry! The actual dry content involving psionic circuit construction and magic frequency calculation is less than ten percent!"

"And the most ridiculous part is," Ilya picked up a book titled "Advanced Protection Techniques," "this book actually says to feel the rhythm of the wind with your heart? Please! I want specific Hertz numbers! Wavelengths! Not some 'heart'!"

During this period, relying on her bionic body's super memory and the Navigator's data processing capabilities, Ilya had scanned all the books in this mage tower at a devouring speed.

At first, she was full of enthusiasm, thinking she could find a shortcut to the truth.

But soon she discovered that although the magic system of this world existed, its theoretical foundation was extremely weak, full of empiricism and mysticism.

It was like someone who knew how to use a mobile phone but didn't understand circuit principles; they knew chanting spells could conjure fireballs, but didn't know why.

"And the spell levels recorded in here are too low."

Ilya pulled up the data statistics on the holographic screen.

"The information for 0-ring cantrips to 6-ring spells is quite complete, but there are only fragments of 7-ring spells, and there is no record of anything above 8-ring."

"Sylvia," Ilya turned to look at the court mage, her crimson eyes filled with pressure, "didn't you say this place collected thousands of years of your kingdom's wisdom? Did you only research how to conjure a slightly larger fireball in thousands of years?"

Sylvia smiled bitterly and put down the teacup in her hand.

Facing Lady Ilya, who came from "the heavens," possessed incredible power, and had a temperamental personality, she really had no temper.

"My Lady, you must understand, the path of magic is difficult and dangerous," Sylvia explained. "For the vast majority of mages, mastering 7-ring spells in a lifetime is already a sign of exceptional talent, as for higher levels..."

She paused, a trace of longing and awe appearing in her eyes.

"That is the realm belonging to legends."

"Legends?" Ilya raised an eyebrow. "For example?"

"For example, forbidden spells, which are the legendary 10-ring, 11-ring, or even 12-ring spells," Sylvia said. "Those spells possess the great power to change the world, capable of tearing space, summoning meteorites, and even pausing time."

"But that level of knowledge is an absolute taboo and an absolute mystery; it cannot possibly appear in the mage tower of a secular kingdom like mine."

"Oh?" Ilya became interested; she sat up straight from the pile of books. "Then where is it?"

Sylvia hesitated for a moment, then stood up, walked to the window, and pointed to the north of the continent.

"In the center of this world, there is a plateau surrounded by magic storms."

"There stands a city built entirely of magic—Stedwick, also known as the City of Magic, the City of a Thousand Towers."

"That is the holy land in the hearts of all spellcasters, not belonging to any kingdom, and directly governed by the Mage Council."

"It gathers the most top-tier, ancient, and powerful mages on the entire continent. Legend has it that those old monsters who have lived for hundreds of years are researching the truth of the world in the depths of the high towers there."

"If you want to find knowledge about deeper magic or secrets about the ancient era, Stedwick is the only place to go."

"City of Magic... Stedwick..."

Ilya chewed on the name, the agitation in her eyes gradually fading, replaced by the excited gleam of a hunter who had discovered new prey.

"That's more like it. The beginner village tasks are done; it's time to go to the main city."

She jumped up from the ground and patted the dust off her body.

"Navigator!"

"I am here, Captain."

"Pack up! Package and archive these scanned data; we're moving!"

"Moving?" Sylvia looked at her in surprise. "My Lady, are you leaving?"

"Of course, there is nothing here that interests me anymore," Ilya said as a matter of course. "Since this place is just an elementary school library, I'll go check out that Stedwick place."

She walked up to Sylvia, took out the mithril token given by the King, and tossed it onto the table.

"Take this back, it's useless to me now."

"Also, thank that cowardly King for me; although his book collection is terrible, the tea and snacks were not bad."

After speaking, Ilya strode towards the balcony of the mage tower.

"My Lady! Please wait!" Sylvia chased after her. "Stedwick is thousands of kilometers away, and there is a powerful magic barrier there; it is difficult for outsiders to enter..."

"Distance?" Ilya turned her head, a trace of a contemptuous smile curling the corners of her mouth.

"On this planet, no distance can limit me."

She raised her hand and snapped her fingers at the sky.

"Big lizard! Where the hell are you!"

Boom—

Accompanied by a gust of wind and the sound of dragon wings flapping, a massive red figure swooped down from the clouds and hovered steadily beside the mage tower's balcony.

That was the Red Dragon Klaus Difan.

This once arrogant dragon had been thoroughly trained by Ilya during this period into a qualified mount that came when called; it had even learned to hang a huge leather bag around its neck, containing various specimens collected by Ilya.

"I'm here! My Lady! Where are we going?" The Red Dragon asked with a fawning expression, the sycophantic look making Sylvia stare in astonishment.

"Fly north, to that City of Magic, Stedwick."

Ilya jumped lightly onto the dragon's back.

"I heard there are many old immortal mages and forbidden spells there? I hope it can give me some surprises, and not just another pile of waste paper stacked with flowery rhetoric."

"Stedwick?" Klaus Difan was so scared he almost stopped flapping his wings and fell. "My Lady, that place is not simple! It is said that there is even an Ancient Dragon guarding it..."

"Ancient Dragon?" Ilya's eyes brightened even more. "Isn't that even better? Just in time, my biological database is missing a sample of an elderly dragon."

"Less nonsense! Take off!"

"...Yes, My Lady."

The Red Dragon wailed helplessly, resigned to its fate, flapped its wings, whipped up a hurricane, and carried this silver-haired witch towards the northern skyline.

Sylvia stood on top of the mage tower, watching the person and the dragon disappear into the clouds, unable to recover for a long time.

She had a premonition.

That Stedwick, which had stood for thousands of years and symbolized the highest authority of magic, was likely about to face unprecedented chaos.

And at this moment, tens of thousands of meters above the sky, the invisible Wanderer also quietly adjusted its course, like a silent guardian, following its master towards the new target.