Novels2Search

chapter 23

Before Karien's transmigration, in the modern world, all traditional computers—regardless of their processing speed or storage capacity—ultimately relied on the fundamental logic of binary operations.

The combination of 0 and 1 could create infinite possibilities.

Following this line of thought, Karien set aside all other magical arrays for the moment and focused on the combination of light and dark elements.

Though he understood the principle of binary, actually carrying out the computational process was not so easy.

How to input, control, compute, store, and output were all enormous challenges.

Each of these steps required massive experimentation.

Karien, following his idea, sketched out several simple linear magic arrays, but none of them were ideal.

Either they had no effect, or they were meaningless.

He had an idea, but how to implement it, where to start—he was still somewhat confused.

It wasn’t just confusion from the thought process, but the result of a full day and night of intense work.

Feeling exhausted, Karien had no choice but to jot down his ideas, then leaned back in his chair to take a break.

He didn’t know how long he had slept, but in a hazy half-dream, he suddenly remembered a game he had once played—Minecraft.

Apart from its high freedom and interesting gameplay, the game had one major feature: the Redstone system.

When the Redstone in his dream merged with the light and dark elements, Karien suddenly woke up.

His eyes flicked around, and then a wide grin spread across his face. He grabbed a recording pen and a primary material stone and began his new research.

In Minecraft, Redstone was powerful because it could mimic real-world circuits and perform logical operations, allowing players to create all sorts of Redstone-powered gadgets.

Among these, the Redstone comparator was undoubtedly the most important component.

Its existence enabled the Redstone system to implement logical gates like AND, OR, and NOT.

Karien could definitely replicate this system using light and dark elements to create his own elemental comparator!

Minecraft—forever a godsend!!!

With the Redstone system as a reference, Karien quickly found a way to turn his ideas into reality.

He began experimenting with the primary material stone, using the light and dark elements to simulate Redstone and sketch out circuits.

By combining the light and dark elements with other auxiliary elements, he created a magic array similar to the Redstone comparator.

After further trial and error, he constructed three magic arrays resembling chip circuits:

The "AND gate" array, the "OR gate" array, and the "NOT gate" array—collectively called the logic arrays.

These three arrays were no longer circular, but "convex" in shape, with two input terminals and one output terminal.

More importantly, these logic arrays didn’t require mental power to activate; they only needed the input of light and dark elements.

When the two elements passed through these arrays, the corresponding logical operations would output a definite signal.

Finally, Karien just needed to connect the logic arrays and elemental circuits to other magic arrays, solving the previous issue of magical interference.

In fact, he could even use these arrays for more intelligent operations, and creating a computer in the future was not entirely out of the question.

Of course, this would require more complex operations, which Karien was not yet capable of, but that could be worked on later.

For now, he could freely stack large numbers of first- and second-tier magic arrays together without worrying about interference.

And because the logic arrays acted as switches, he no longer needed the mosquito coil structure of elemental coins.

This meant that the cost of creating magical devices could be reduced by at least two-thirds!

Grabbing a primary material stone filled with dense elemental circuits, Karien pressed a rough button on it, connecting two light element circuits.

Soon, a small "Wind Repulsion" array activated on the stone, and a gust of wind blew Karien's hair into a complete mess.

But Karien smiled happily; the key to opening the door to new magical devices had finally been found!

Then, Karien collapsed onto the table and fell into a deep sleep.

After such a long period of research, he was completely exhausted.

When he awoke again, he realized that he had been working non-stop for two full days and nights.

Fortunately, he had already arranged tasks for the merchant caravans from the capital, the blacksmiths from the Black Iron Territory, and the students from Red Leaf Academy, so everything was in order.

After freshening up and grabbing some food, Karien rushed to the classroom and training grounds to help the students adjust their study plans and training goals.

He also gave Archi, who was in the capital, new instructions through "Divine Command," asking him to deliver several letters to key figures in the capital as part of a more comprehensive plan.

Of course, he didn’t forget to write to Simon at the Unmoving Post Office, instructing him to sell the last batch of medicinal herbs through the merchant caravans.

After completing a pile of miscellaneous tasks, Karien finally had time to teleport to the Black Iron Territory.

At that moment, the blacksmiths had already finished forging his second steel cannon.

Thanks to the experience from the first one, the second cannon was completed much faster.

Karien instructed the blacksmiths to continue working on the third cannon and used his new insights to etch the logic arrays, as well as the "Explosion" and "Reinforcement" arrays, onto the second cannon.

The goal was the same as before, but this time, after firing more than a dozen regular iron cannonballs, the magic arrays on the cannon remained stable—proving that the logic arrays worked!

This confirmed that the logic arrays could indeed be effective.

Inspired by this success, Karien immediately began thinking about creating more magical devices.

But when he checked his pockets, he realized he was out of money!

Doing research was really expensive!

Fortunately, the hardest part had been overcome.

Plus, Karien didn’t need to rush into developing new magical devices. Just improving the firearms, cannons, and combat gear K1 would be enough to keep him busy.

When he had made these items before, the cost had been astronomical, so now he could think about how to reduce the expenses.

For example, he didn’t need to use the rare Lan Iron for the entire device; he could just use it where it was needed for the magic arrays, while using regular iron for the structure.

This would significantly reduce costs.

Later on, his theoretical students could also help him etch the magic arrays.

"In other words, I can divide magical devices into two parts: chips and structures," Karien mused, rubbing his chin.

"The Red Leaf Academy laboratory could be transformed into a research and development center for creating magic array chips. As for the structures..."

As he spoke, Karien turned to look at the distant Iron Refining Town in Black Iron Territory.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Perhaps I can set up a factory here!"

After a day of inspection, Karien spent 1,000 gold coins to purchase a large piece of land in a valley within the Black Iron Territory.

The location was ideal—nestled between mountains and near water, with relatively flat terrain.

Moreover, it had abundant coal and iron resources, making it easy to mine.

Even more importantly, there was a large number of blacksmiths in the nearby Iron Refining Town.

Building a factory here had many advantages.

The only downside was the poor transportation.

After all, the valley was surrounded by mountains, and although a river ran through it, the water was fast-flowing and filled with hidden rocks, making it impossible to navigate by boat.

In theory, transportation is a necessary condition for a factory.

Whether it’s bringing in raw materials or shipping out finished products, you need good transportation to support the flow.

But for Karien, this was not a problem.

His teleportation beads allowed raw materials to be directly transported from far away into the valley.

Once the products were finished, they could be teleported out.

There was no need to traverse mountains and valleys—everything could be done in one step.

The only cost involved was the elemental consumption during the teleportation process.

Compared to the costly and time-consuming logistics of using carts to transport goods across distances of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of kilometers, the teleportation costs were far lower.

Moreover, building the factory in the valley made it less likely to be discovered by outsiders, allowing Karien to focus on research and production without worry.

Most importantly, buying such a vast piece of land for only 1,000 gold coins was an absolute steal—almost like getting it for free.

The Black Iron Territory was full of mountains, and for the local lord, these lands were almost useless.

Except for the mines containing Lan Iron, the lord saw the other mountain ranges as barren lands.

When Karien approached the lord about purchasing the valley, the lord was more than happy to sell it.

After securing the land, Karien was ready to begin construction.

But to build a factory, he needed workers.

Of course, Karien didn’t rush to hire a large group of people all at once. He planned to take a gradual approach.

First, he suggested to the dozen or so blacksmiths who had helped him forge the cannons that they move to the valley to work.

The blacksmiths immediately voiced their discontent.

"What do you take us for?"

A short, stocky blacksmith with a full brown beard shouted at Karien, wielding a hammer:

"We've been living in Iron Mountain Town for generations! We’ve always had others come to us for forging—how can we just leave and work for someone else?"

Karien looked at the blacksmith with a bit of a headache and said:

"Blass, the valley is only ten kilometers from Iron Mountain Town."

"Even so, it’s still not going to happen!"

Blass puffed out his chest and blew at his brown beard with a scowl:

"Our forge stays here, just like it always has! It’s a family tradition! After forging for decades, how could we just leave?"

Karien was taken aback by Blass’s firm stance. He furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before cautiously suggesting:

"What if I raise the daily pay from 2 silver coins to 4 silver coins?"

Upon hearing this, Blass’s face lit up with a big grin, revealing a row of yellow teeth, and he eagerly said:

"Deal!"

He then turned around and shouted to the other blacksmiths outside the window:

"4 silver coins! Daily pay of 4 silver coins!"

The other blacksmiths immediately burst into excited shouts!

Karien stared blankly at Blass and asked:

"Didn’t you say that your forge stays where it is? You said it was a family tradition!"

Blass waved his hand dismissively, grinning: "Well, we can always build another forge out there, right?"

He added, "4 silver coins, remember—that’s your offer. No backing out!"

Well, looks like I’ve been played!

Karien slapped his forehead, surprised that he had miscalculated.

4 silver coins were four times the daily wage of a regular blacksmith.

Of course, this labor cost was still within Karien’s budget.

After all, the blacksmiths’ skills were excellent. When they helped Karien forge the cannons, they achieved exactly the results Karien had wanted.

"Alright, it’s settled then. You can start packing your things, and you’ll head over tomorrow."

"Great!"

Blass couldn’t stop smiling. He put down his hammer and said:

"I’ll go tell my wife."

After a moment’s thought, Karien added:

"You can bring your families as well."

Blass paused and asked:

"How long are we going to be there? What about food and lodging?"

"If things go well, you’ll stay long-term.

"We’ll cover food and lodging for you and your families.

"Plus, there are cooking and laundry tasks that your families can help with, and they’ll be paid separately."

Is this for real?

Blass’s grin widened even further as he wiped his hands on his pants and said:

"This is too much, I can’t believe it..."

"Of course, I’m offering you high wages because I need better tools. The tasks might be harder, so you’ll need to be ready."

"No problem!" Blass slapped his chest and said confidently:

"The craftsmanship from Iron Mountain Town is top-notch, you can trust us!"

...

Once the factory arrangements were made, Karien teleported to the capital to prepare for the construction of the valley factory.

After all, the land was still just an empty plot, and sourcing materials locally would take too much time.

So Karien planned to gather all the supplies in the capital, pack them into a massive wooden crate, and then teleport them to the valley.

Luckily, the teleportation beads worked based on area coverage.

No matter how much material was packed into the wooden crate, it could be teleported directly.

However, the larger the area, the more magical elements it consumed.

Just transporting the materials cost Karien several elemental coins.

At this rate, the transport was a loss for Karien.

But the time saved more than made up for the expense—after all, time is money, and Karien could still justify the cost.

The sooner the factory started, the quicker it would bring in returns.

Because Karien wasn’t just building the factory for magical devices.

He planned to mass-produce simple magical products for sale, creating an additional stream of income.

After all, Karien couldn’t rely on selling medicinal herbs for money forever.

The reason mid-tier herbs like White Leaf Orchid were expensive was because they were scarce.

But if Karien kept selling large quantities of White Leaf Orchid, the price would quickly drop, until it became unprofitable.

The high profits from selling herbs could only last for a short time, and once the market saturated, Karien would need to cut back on the sales.

So before the income from herbs began to decrease, Karien needed to find another profitable path.

Magical products seemed to be the best option for now.