148: Chapter 147 is a publicly available file.

Chapter 148: Declassified Archives

Upon hearing this, Byron could not help but click his tongue: "If that is the case, is there even any profit for those Stigmata Wizards who initiate the Great Expedition?"

Isolde heard Byron's question and gave him a puzzled look: "Why would you harbor such a foolish doubt?"

"If there were no profit for the Stigmata Wizards executing the Great Expedition, why would they participate in it so actively?"

Byron realized his mistake, a sheepish smile appearing on his face.

It was indeed true; if there were no profit in it, those Stigmata Wizards would not bother leading the Great Expedition at all.

Isolde said: "I know what you are wondering about regarding the figures above, although they do seem a bit exaggerated based on the data I just mentioned."

"But you must understand that the logistics used by those servants are mass-produced, just like me."

"That is exactly why such workshops exist, and it is precisely this that satisfies such a massive logistical supply."

"Because for those servants, materials like potions do not need to have their purity considered as they would for a Wizard. As long as they can be used, that is enough. They do not care about such details, and the presiding Stigmata Wizards will not truly treat them the same way as they would other Wizards."

"So, as long as they can recover from their injuries and restore their status, that is enough."

"As for death, do not forget that after conquering a world, the one thing we never lack is such servants. A Wizard whose own servant has died can easily capture a replacement of equal strength from the conquered world as compensation."

"And there is one more thing you must not forget: the Wizard Council extracts fifty percent of the resources from every conquered world to be used for the Great Expedition system."

Hearing this, Byron finally understood.

After explaining, Isolde did not continue to discuss this topic, regardless of whether Byron had truly grasped it or not.

Because even if he did not understand it now, he would once he had been through a conquest war.

After all, no matter how well something is explained in words, it is never as good as experiencing it firsthand.

Next, it was time to accomplish the true purpose of coming down here: to let Byron know exactly how valuable an outstanding research achievement is.

After leading Byron into her Laboratory, Isolde walked up to a crystal screen and began to operate it.

Once inside the Laboratory, Byron no longer had the time to pay attention to Isolde's actions.

At this moment, his gaze was firmly locked onto the various experimental equipment placed throughout Isolde's Laboratory; he could not even take it all in, and there were some instruments he did not even recognize!

That giant triangular crystal prism, fitted with multiple refractive lenses and fixed to the testing bench—if Byron was not mistaken—must be a Particle Decomposition Prism.

Its function was very simple: to break down the basic particles within matter, used for analyzing the microscopic structure of Ore, metals, physical bodies, Bloodline, and so on.

If only he had had something like this back then... Uh, it seems he still would not be able to use such precise equipment right now.

After staring at that prism for a while longer, Byron's gaze shifted slightly, and he was drawn to the next instrument.

It was a light purple stone platform, with a crystal membrane as thin as a cicada's wing suspended above it.

The function of this instrument was also very simple: it was used to project the Soul, making it convenient for Wizards to observe the Soul!

Do not let its simple function fool you; it was extremely important for Wizards.

Wizards focus on the improvement of the Soul, and this thing is used to observe the Soul; you can imagine for yourself how vital that is.

As his gaze wandered, Byron saw a crystal rod placed casually on the testing bench, with a rotatable multi-faceted crystal at the head of the wand.

Upon seeing this, Byron could no longer tear his gaze away.

He had seen this item in a book; although it was only used for stirring potions, its functions were extremely powerful.

It could precisely control time intervals and stirring direction, record stirring trajectories, ensure uniform reaction, and prevent local energy accumulation.

Besides that, there were Potion ingredient analyzers, stability testing apparatus, Potion effect simulators...

Every one of these instruments firmly held Byron's gaze, stirring his emotions.

If he could possess these instruments for his own experiments, he dared not imagine how blissful that would be.

"Alright, stop looking and come over here. Although those instruments are high-end, they are not something you can access right now. Sometimes, research is not just about high-end equipment solving every problem."

At some point, Isolde had finished her operations and was looking at Byron with a cold gaze.

Byron knew that there was nothing wrong with what Isolde said, but as long as one was a Wizard, especially a Wizard studying Potionology, who could refuse such a set of experimental equipment!

Even if one could not use them, just having them displayed in the Laboratory and looking at them would make one feel better.

However, Byron did not say this out loud and obediently walked over to Isolde's side.

At this moment, lines of text appeared on the crystal screen that Isolde had been operating, accompanied by images.

"▼ Epoch-making: Total Hub of Global Plane Coordinates. Principle: Integrate all known world coordinates of the Endless World, and control all cross-world teleportation channels that have been conquered."

"Purpose: Large-scale population migration, legion expeditions, and the construction of channels for rapid communication, reaction, and exchange across the Endless World."

"(Only one epoch-making research achievement is shown here; other common, excellent, outstanding, and superior research achievements are placed in the author's notes, so I will not waste word count here.)"

Looking at the various research achievements displayed on the crystal panel, Byron could not help but twitch his mouth.

Especially that epoch-making research achievement—was this something he was supposed to be seeing?

He would not be taken away once he finished reading it, would he?

Isolde then slowly said: "Compared to me dryly and laboriously describing it with words, which you might not even understand..."

"So, I decided to simply let you see what the research achievements of each Rank look like. This way, it will be easier for you to understand."

Byron nodded and asked in a low voice: "Mentor, can these things really be viewed so openly? Are there not any confidentiality clauses or anything like that?"

Seeing Byron's terrified expression, Isolde was somewhat speechless.

"If you were not allowed to know, would I show them to you so openly? You might not want to live, but I certainly do not want to die."

"Feel free to look. Even if these research achievements only have a brief introduction here, you would not need to be this afraid even if I showed you the complete description and content."

"Although these research materials look intimidating, they are research achievements from a long time ago. While some are still in use today, they have already been declassified and have become public archives. Only a portion of the core data and research materials have not been released."

"If you want to view them, you can browse them at any time; otherwise, I would not have brought them out for you to see."

"However, whether you can understand them after reading, or whether you can apply them to actual situations, that is another matter."

Speaking of which, Isolde seemed to recall a rumor she had heard in the past, and a smile appeared in her eyes.