CHAPTER 1161: SECTION 714: SAGE (2)_2

"You’re welcome, I want to go check out other places. You can find me if you need anything." This time, Malin genuinely prepared to leave because Elder Fang had already invited him, expressing a desire for him to visit the airship factory in New Hangzhou.

Sage Zhang said there was no problem, so Malin opened a teleportation portal and followed the coordinates given by Elder Fang.

Because they were official coordinates, as Malin emerged, there wasn’t a platoon of Legends watching, nor overly tense soldiers pulling triggers. Instead, an old soldier approached, compared Malin with a photo in his hand, and then grinned, using a Northern-accented Thainan language to greet him: "Excellency Malin, Elder Fang is in Hangar 17. Please, proceed."

Hangar 17 was not far away. As Malin approached, craftsmen were assembling airships—these components appeared standardized to Malin, but with no automated assembly system, they had to rely on the craftsmen assembling by hand.

Not noticing Malin’s arrival, Elder Fang was chastising a young man. What piqued Malin’s curiosity was that this young man seemed to be a relative of his as well.

Could it be that Elder Fang, like Sage Yu, was also a child abandoned in the past?

But that doesn’t seem right, Malin wondered—he remembered that Elder Fang had a granddaughter who was a domestic fairy, though she was probably a great-granddaughter or even later-generation, but she seemed to be his own offspring.

Just as he thought of this, Bixiu emerged from the airship’s cockpit and greeted Malin: "Excellency Malin, you’ve arrived without saying a word."

"Isn’t Elder Fang busy?" Malin laughed it off, watching as the young man was sent away by Elder Fang. The old man walked over to Malin with a wry smile, and after shaking hands, Malin didn’t put on airs and directly called him Elder Fang, bringing them closer.

"Are you reprimanding the younger generation again?" Malin helped him to sit on a nearby chair, asking seamlessly.

"Yes, the younger generation is often inconsiderate. Sometimes I wonder why, by a twist of fate, I was bestowed the title of Sage." Elder Fang sighed with some helplessness.

Through his story, Malin understood the situation of Elder Fang’s lineage—when the former Elder Fang was severely injured, only the current Elder Fang survived the entire defensive line. The former said if he died, his knowledge would likely disappear. Thus, he produced a potion, saying if the current Elder Fang was willing to sacrifice for this land, he should drink it and accept the recording of his knowledge...

"At that time, I already had a family, and thinking I owed it to my country, I drank the potion. Who would have thought this electronic brain potion would cause my body to deform. After receiving the knowledge recording, I struggled on the brink of death for half a month before I finally woke up, only for my body to have been abandoned, and my brain extracted to be made into a partially electronic prosthetic brain."

At this, the old man smiled helplessly: "So you see, because I am a Sage, my descendants have been overwhelmed by the glory."

Malin naturally offered comfort: "You see, this is the era choosing you, Elder Fang."

"You young man are truly articulate, thank you." After Elder Fang spoke, he motioned for Bixiu to bring out the blueprints: "The reason I sought you out today is that we have some doubts in the making of aerial bombs. I heard from Yiting that you have long been using aerial bombs to attack Chaos, so I wanted to gain some insight from you."

Of course, that was easy to discuss. Malin spoke freely, discussing with Elder Fang many issues about bombs, including the high-drag and low-drag models of aerial bombs, the shape and aerodynamics of the tail, and so on.

Towards the end, Malin realized that Elder Fang’s aerial bomb charge formula still needed some improvements. However, Thainan’s airship power system was superior even to the Academic Institute’s, so Malin chose to acquire the blueprints from Elder Fang and deliver them to the members of the Academic Institute.

"Excellency Malin is the most powerful caster I’ve ever met, and your teleportation portal can even reach the Western Human World directly. It’s just a pity your portal can only carry a small number of humans, or else I believe you would be the richest merchant in the world." Elder Fang marveled at Malin’s abilities as he watched him enter and exit in just a minute.

Malin could only smile wryly: "With all this power, don’t you know how much of it originates from that city?"

"But that’s still your power." Elder Fang smiled and praised.

The conversation ended on a cheerful note. Before leaving, Malin gifted Elder Fang a few fruits, while Elder Fang gave Malin a bucket of tea leaves.

Malin was so moved he nearly cried—it had been so long since he last saw Dragon Well tea, although it’s said that the current Dragon Well tea trees grow as tall as the World Tree (these tea trees have long mutated into spirits), but still, these are tea leaves.

Stowing away the bucket of tea leaves safely, as Malin left, he also confirmed the satellite factory’s action plan with Bixiu. Bixiu indicated that personnel were still being selected—having heard of Bixiu’s grand plan, the renowned figures in Thainan insisted on being part of the grand undertaking. As a result, the number exceeded expectations, and due to the enthusiastic generosity of the Legends, they were in the process of selecting personnel.

Malin almost choked on his own saliva.

Bidding farewell to Bixiu, Malin headed to the next stop.

Sage Zhao is a Panser... no wait, here in Thainan, this kind of Orc is called a Snow Leopard, a very standard scientific name. Malin didn’t know why they were called Snow Leopards here and Panser in the Westland; in retrospect, this term should have been a German name.

But no one knows the reason for such things that happened so many years ago.

So Snow Leopard it is; in any case, they’re all white with black spots and big tails.

But speaking of which, upon arriving at his weapons workshop, Malin saw Maya and Faye were both present—Maya accompanying Faye, and Faye came to see the Thainan firearms.

In her words, if it weren’t for Malin, the firearms in the hands of Westlanders would appear as mere fire sticks to the Thanan people.

Which is indeed the case, as at this moment, Faye was using Thainan’s automatic rifles—this girl was operating them with precision after enhancing her strength and physique through spell formations.

And Sage Zhao was holding Maya’s little leopard cub, who was recently named Valentine.

"Excellency Malin, your child is really adorable." Sage Zhao said, handing the little leopard to Malin.

Malin reached out to hold his child, "Speaking of which, I feel Thainan’s weapons workshop is more advanced than our Academic Institute. I’m not sure how I could assist you..."

To which Sage Zhao expressed there were many areas needing help, then produced a magazine and handed it over.

Malin took a look, good one, steel-made.

"Don’t you have engineering plastics?" Malin felt with Thainan’s capabilities, they should not be unable to make lightweight magazines.

"Tried it, but the cost was too high." Sage Zhao shook his head, giving an answer that left Malin in silence.

Alright then, since preparation is indeed needed, Malin handed his child over to Maya and began a discussion with him about a series of design issues, including reducing the weight of firearms.

Sage Zhao was more insightful than Malin had anticipated, soon making Malin feel that this big cat truly had a talent in firearms.

When discussing rifles and assault rifles, Sage Zhao was the only Great Craftsman present who believed that assault rifles would inevitably replace rifles.

Malin, of course, understood why other Thainan Great Craftsmen disagreed—it was simple, the logistics couldn’t keep up, and bolt-action rifles and assault rifles in terms of logistical pressure were not comparable.

"Excellency Malin, what is your view?" A Great Craftsman asked Malin.

Malin naturally agreed with Sage Zhao’s perspective.

For soldiers, isn’t ammunition cheap?