On the outskirts of Moscow, in the Sukhbaatar National High-Tech City, after nearly three years of construction, the most crucial part of the Science City: the Sukhbaatar National Laboratory, has been essentially completed.
The most important part of the National Laboratory, the "Void Particle" Research Institute, was the first to be completed and has been operational for over a year.
As the highest state secret laboratory, the Void Particle Research Institute boasts the most stringent security and confidentiality measures in Sukhbaatar.
Its research facilities are all built underground, with military barracks located on the surface.
Even for Murphy, the ultimate initiator of the project, entering the facility requires preparation of various procedures in advance.
Fortunately, having Bartemius Crouch Jr., now the director of the KGB's 15th Bureau, who, along with several military leaders, is responsible for the construction and defense of the Science City, makes Murphy's visit much smoother, avoiding many hassles.
"Mr. Murphy, look here," a female officer in Sukhbaatar military uniform standing next to Murphy handed him a tablet and opened a file, "This is the map of the research institute."
Umbrella had been in Sukhbaatar for over three years, assisting with the construction of the Science City, without holding back any technology. The tablet Murphy held was actually a mobile terminal being developed by Umbrella. Before entering the market, it received an order from the Science City, becoming part of the "advanced technology" within the city.
"Here at the front outpost is where everyone entering the research institute must go through for identity verification."
"Below is the vast research institute. The institute currently has thirty-four floors, each covering an area of three to four hundred hectares, and many advanced technologies have been used to expand the space. Meanwhile, the institute continues to expand downward, with an additional twenty specialized project laboratories expected to be added this year."
Murphy only glanced at the map to understand the structure of the research institute.
The Void Particle Research Institute was essentially built following the model of a magic research institute but on a scale hundreds of times larger.
Here, just a single Spell Research Institute occupies three levels of underground space, with tens of thousands of researchers, dozens of high-standard experimental sites, and various specialized labs.
Almost every spell Murphy knew of had a dedicated research group or lab.
Potion, magical creatures, magical plants, and so on were no less significant than the Spell Research Institute, each on a grand scale.
But the largest and the core institution of the entire institute was the Magical Energy Research Institute.
It is akin to the Spell Pathway group led by Holden in the magic research institutes, except it stripped away research topics like spells to focus solely on the essence of magic and uncover its fundamental laws.
It's somewhat akin to basic physics in Muggle science.
Murphy briefly reviewed the introductions of various research departments. Since the research here and in Britain's magical research institutes was interconnected, Murphy was immediately informed of major research breakthroughs, so he wasn't very interested in visiting projects similar to those in the magical research institutes. However, he was more interested in visiting some special projects.
"Is this Magical Fertilizer Research Institute the one researching mooncalf dung?" Murphy asked.
"Yes, Master, ahem, Lord Murphy," Bartemius replied diligently, "According to the plan, this is one of the key research projects. It's located on the twenty-sixth floor, between the Magical Plant Research Institute and the Magical Creature Research Institute."
"Let's take a look at this."
After establishing diplomatic relations with Great Britain, Sukhbaatar's shortages in food and daily necessities were greatly alleviated. However, the food issue concerns not just Sukhbaatar but, on a larger scale, is one of the ultimate questions that could decide human destiny and has been listed as a key project from the start.
The magic research institutes had not conducted related research, so Murphy was quite curious.
Arriving at the elevator, the guide said, "The Floo Network Research Group is working with the Ministry of Magic and Arkaim to study the construction of local Floo networks. However, they haven't found a suitable solution yet. For security reasons, the research institute can't set up Floo network fireplaces internally, so we have to take the elevator."
Murphy knew about this project. The operation of the Floo Network is based on a large magical facility within the Ministry of Magic, theoretically capable of covering an entire country, needing only to register fireplaces on the management end to enter through Floo powder.
For security reasons, if the research institute wanted to use the Floo network fireplaces, they had to ensure these fireplaces couldn't be detected by other Floo network management facilities.
This issue required researchers to delve deeper into the fundamental principles of the Floo Network.
As they entered the elevator, Murphy noticed something, "This elevator is enchanted?"
Through his magical vision, he could see a layer of magic flowing within the elevator box, and through the partition, dense magical runes were visible.
"Yes," the guide said, "This is the latest achievement of the Anti-Gravity Technology Development Group, one of several task forces formed by the Enchantment Research Institute and the Spell Research Institute, and a national key project."
"The main structure of this elevator's box is made of O'Halloran steel — or magic steel, to which a magical circuit has been added, enchanting the steel with Levitation charms. Besides the ordinary gravity traction method, the elevator can also ascend and descend by adjusting the efficiency of the Levitation charm."
"It can even apply a reverse Levitation charm to the people inside the elevator to increase gravity and cancel the weightlessness effect for rapid transport. However, their enchantment for the Deceleration charm isn't mature yet; using the rapid mode would conflict with the reverse Levitation charm, causing intermittent weightlessness and heaviness. We won't demonstrate that..."
The Magical Fertilizer Research Institute occupies an entire floor, not only because of the importance of its projects but also because they need a lot of space for experimental fields to test the fertilizer's effects.
A slightly overweight, balding old man is the director of the institute, Trofim Vavilov. Reportedly, he had once been persecuted, but was exonerated years before Murphy took control of the situation in Sukhbaatar.
Vavilov, unaware of Murphy's role in changing his fate, was very enthusiastic, constantly praising the current situation, the research conditions here, and the support provided by the state.
Perhaps this was a lingering effect of those difficult years. Murphy cut him off, directly asking, "Have you identified the growth-promoting component in mooncalf dung? Can it be produced industrially?"
Realizing his visitor wasn't there for idle talk, Vavilov thought for a moment and said, "In fact, we've identified the key growth-promoting component and even completed its industrial manufacturing process."
"However, industrial production poses difficulties."
"Oh?" Murphy was curious, "Why? Is there a technical bottleneck?"
"No, the technology isn't particularly challenging. But the industrial production of magical fertilizer requires a significant amount of magical energy. There are about thirteen or fourteen types of magical minerals that need to be synthesized in this process, ultimately forming a type of magical organic material."
"Our industrial process is not mature enough; the magical energy loss rate throughout the process is too high. Producing one
kilogram of magical fertilizer consumes 3-4 times more energy than producing magical steel. But with magical energy being so scarce, such high-energy projects are hard to get allocations for."
"Even the experimental materials in our lab are always somewhat lacking."
"You mean there's a shortage of magical energy?"
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