Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon

Chaoyang put down the report and walked to the office window.

It was around seven in the evening by now, and nightfall was gradually taking over the remnants of the setting sun, but the city before him still shone with dazzling light. A multitude of sensor-activated street lamps had replaced the old kerosene lamps, and many households had also purchased stable light fixtures that didn’t rely on any fuel, allowing them to do whatever they wanted all through the night. As a port city, the cost of tallow candles had always been low, and the nightlife had long been integrated into the concept of living in Magnificent Castle. Now, with even more stable and bright illumination, it already had a touch of a city that never sleeps.

If it were the newly arrived Chaoyang, upon seeing this urban nightscape, he would have certainly thought that electricity had already been fully developed here.

In fact, these lamps were replicas from the relics found in City of Defense.

They required no fuel addition, had no fire hazards, and were only effective in regions promoted by the Paradise Sect, and now people had given them a very fitting name: the Paradise Lamp.

On the contrary, their official commercial name "Sourceless Lamp" was known by few.

Chaoyang also felt quite sentimental about this.

At first, he wanted to find something that could replace electric lamps, providing stable light at night to extend the working hours and recreation for people, indirectly enhancing productivity and promoting consumption. The lighting devices from the City of Defense were obviously ideal, and since he no longer needed to pay wishing power for maintaining the replicas, a variety of Sourceless Lamps became the first choice.

Chaoyang had foreseen the significant changes these lamps would bring to the city, but what he never anticipated was that now, this gentle and stable light had become one of the symbols of Paradise outwardly.

Just like the new products from Gao Feng Company, the machine butlers.

"What about the machine butler? Have you made any progress in your research?"

"That’s even more unbelievable," Xue Quan shook his head helplessly. "Honestly... unless one comes here in person, they might not believe that nearly intelligent robots could be made powered by steam. If these robots could operate back on Earth, perhaps we could think of something. Too bad, once the samples are transferred there, they turn into a heap of iron scrap, even with our own computer control system, they can’t move freely."

Another thing that Chaoyang didn’t expect was that the Longjiu Family had actually started a "peaceful" competition with the Paradise Sect. If the Paradise Lamp was Paradise Sect’s trademark, then the symbol representing the Longjiu Family was a product that could be called inconceivable: the Gao Feng Butler.

Now people also call it the Universal Machine Servant.

In Chaoyang’s view, this product was essentially a kind of robot.

It could be bipedal humanoid, wheeled machinery, or simply a mechanical arm. But regardless of the form it took, their common features were essentially the same: powered by Steam Construct as the core, able to understand simple syntactic commands, could self-refuel with water, simple self-maintenance, and even self-repair.

As soon as this invention was released, it immediately caused a sensation across the entire continent.

Even the limelight of Paradise Sect having reclaimed City of Defense was overshadowed.

To promote their own products, Gao Feng Industrial Company not only priced the base model of the butler similar to the Steam Construct, but they also provided purchase loans, allowing households with a bit more means to enjoy this revolutionary product.

Revolutionary, indeed.

Even Chaoyang had to admit to that.

In the past, people could only make Fourth Order Constructs, which are constructs without consciousness, but if you consider the Wanji Servant that understands human language as a type of construct, then it had indeed approached the threshold of Second Order Constructs. To raise the level of artificial constructs by two orders with his own power, if not epoch-making, what else could it be?

In fact, he purchased two of the highest-grade Wanji Servants as soon as possible, which were the most anthropomorphic type with two legs and two arms. One was handed over to the defense control center for research, and the other was placed inside the Holy Hall to test whether it was really as advertised by the Longjiu Family.

The abilities it demonstrated shocked all the researchers.

Professor Wang Shengli described it as having the learning capability of a three or four-year-old child while lacking the capricious personality of a child. Its walking speed was one-third that of a normal person, and all its movements were like slow motion, but as a robot, slow speed wasn’t really a shortcoming. For communication, it relied on a removable character disk attached to its back, which had not a single wire. In other words, it could understand the text typed by people through the vibrations of these characters.

As for its driving method, it combined the simple steam power with hydraulic assistance, which was very novel and also quite counterintuitive. A classical mechanical device without even electronic components was able to stably control hydraulic power output; a complex finished product without a main control computer could self-diagnose and prevent faults before they occur! It could be said that it was filled with unfathomed mysteries from head to toe.

Of course... buying a PLUS-type Gao Feng Butler to clean, boil water, and chop wood was a pastime for the wealthy, but its real use was in factories, especially for tasks requiring heavy labor or high precision that human workers couldn’t handle.

According to statistics from The Divine Country, a large number of Gao Feng Butlers had entered Paradise’s factories, mining areas, and shops in just six months, with the greatest number being the mechanical arm type for production. Previously, the same amount of money could only buy a Steam Construct, but now it could buy production equipment with an attached construct, and its popularity was self-evident.

"This world is really interesting, isn’t it?" Chaoyang said with a smile as he looked back.

Even without developing electrical energy, the Paradise Sect and the Mechanical Sect had each crossed this threshold via completely different paths. The Paradise Lamp was just the most basic product, and as the defense control center continued to develop, other wireless energy complex devices would also emerge. The Gao Feng Butler was the same; whether it was the anthropomorphization of machines or the fully automated assembly line composed of mechanical arms, the future was exceedingly bright.

"I’m not averse to technology..." Xue Quan answered cautiously, "But as for the technology whose principles are still unknown, I only feel a bit afraid."

For some reason, Chaoyang suddenly thought of Unfathomed.

It was the fear that spurred them to research new technologies even more.

"By the way, I heard some news from a merchant today," Xue Quan said again, "The route from Thistlefort to the mountains has been cut off."

"How was it cut off?"

"It seems that they unilaterally cut off contact. The only forest path is no longer open to traffic, and they haven’t announced when it will be reopened."

Chaoyang touched his chin in confusion; ever since the City of Defense was reclaimed, there had been few visits from that side. Perhaps it had something to do with the non-aggression treaty signed between the Paradise Sect and the Longjiu Family, yet the trade between the two sides continued intermittently. After all, the average temperature in the mountains was lower, and Thistlefort’s fur products and smokeless charcoal have always been in high demand. The only limitation was the lack of a railway between the two places, which had always kept the trade volume low.

Such a direct road closure was unprecedented.

"Has something happened in Zhaixing City?"

Only Zhaixing City, out of the entire mountainous region, had the status to do so.

"Possibly. But if it’s not because something has happened in Zhaixing City, then they are perhaps trying to divert the problem elsewhere," Xue Quan replied.