"Now we will move on to the second agenda item of this meeting—technological development in the divine realm."
Initially, all technology in Luo Luo's divine realm came from the Technology Core, which was based on the technological advancements of Earth, specifically the advancements made before Luo Luo's rebirth. The first cars used petroleum resources, and various technologies were adapted from Earth. This high starting point allowed for rapid technological development in the divine realm.
However, as time passed, the researchers in the technology laboratory developed a new, more efficient energy system known as energetic technology. This new technology, which is easy to charge and transport, gradually began to replace previous technological achievements.
Technological advancements such as the Energetic Messenger Heavy Tank, Energetic Armoured Vehicle, Energetic Transporter, and later models like the Energetic Train and Energetic Airplane became exemplary representations of this new series of technologies.
"Thus, the question arises: should we completely abandon our previous fossil fuel-based technological development policy? In other words, should we replace the existing low-energy technologies with the current energetic technologies?"
Wendy, the director of the Technology Development and Research Laboratory and a saint, disagreed with this notion.
"While energetic technology is something we have developed, I must fairly and thoroughly address its advantages and disadvantages."
"Energetic technology, despite its high energy levels, fast charging, and portability, is still not sufficient to entirely replace the operational methods of previous technologies. Take the blank energy-storing stones, for example. This item has no production in the divine realm and relies entirely on our God bringing them from the outside. This means its source is very unstable. In the event of an emergency, we will be unable to replenish enough blank energy-storing stones."
"Everyone often says that energy-storing stones can be charged repeatedly and that charging is rapid. However, based on the findings of our technology laboratory, the number of electric appliances or energy-requiring devices used by all the races in the divine realm is increasing exponentially. The growth rate of these devices far exceeds that of the blank energy-storing stones. While we can recharge the stones repeatedly, if each device requires its own energy-storing stone…"
"The consequence is that while we have the capacity to recharge, we may not have enough energy-storing stones to supply our needs. This is the crux of the problem: we lack raw material reserve and depend solely on external supply, which is an unhealthy approach to technological development. Therefore, I still do not recommend fully replacing the previous technological system with energetic technology."
Luo Luo began to applaud, "What Wendy said makes me very pleased. She hasn't forcibly promoted energetic technology just because she is its developer, but has clearly recognized this issue in the divine realm."
"And what I want to convey to everyone is that while the technological systems differ, their essence is the same. Until we grasp absolute control, we cannot afford to let down our guard or place our lifeblood in others' hands. Although blank energy-storing stones are plentiful and very cheap in the world of gods, I still share Wendy's viewpoint: in special circumstances, they could cost us our lives. Therefore, I hope that in the future, everyone will learn from Wendy's way of thinking. Every phenomenon has its duality; we cannot only see the beneficial side while neglecting the harmful aspects."
"Does anyone else have thoughts on this issue?"
At that moment, Lakto, the current vice president of the Academy of Technological Development and Research from the Dwarf Race, raised his hand high. Luo Luo noticed he had something to say and promptly called on him, "Do you have any suggestions or opinions?"
"Your Grace, I previously participated in research on the transmission equipment from the initial technological system, specifically the development of power transmission lines. This has given me some inspiration. Since I needed to study the metallurgical processes for the wire materials, I had the opportunity to understand the operational patterns of power plants, and I'm wondering if we can apply this model to energetic technology."
"Oh." Luo Luo was intrigued, "Please continue!"
Lakto was excited, "We could centralize the storage of energy-storing stones at a fixed location, placing the charging factory nearby so it can directly charge the energy-storing stones. Then we could construct related energy transmission equipment, something like power lines, to transport energy to households. It's important to note that the convenience provided by energetic technology is primarily beneficial for mobile items, such as cars and phones, while for larger devices like home appliances, this advantage is less significant because these appliances don't move around randomly—they usually stay in fixed positions. Therefore, we can adopt the transmission model from the previous technological system's power plants."
"By delivering energetic power to the citizens' homes and allowing them to connect various electrical devices, we can significantly reduce our consumption of energy-storing stones. For other items that must utilize energy-storing stones for convenience, we can still use pre-cut small energy-storing stones. This would separate the two components: immobile devices would use the energy we supplied, while mobile ones would continue with the existing methods. During Director Wendy's assessment of the application scenarios for energetic technology, I noticed this point and reported the idea to her. She also fully agreed."
"Through my extensive research and surveys, I've found that when using home appliances like refrigerators, televisions, and ovens, users don't concern themselves with whether these items are mobile. In fact, once citizens purchase these appliances, the vast majority have not moved them since—they remain in fixed locations. I have also contacted construction plans and learned about the related situation. Connecting the necessary lines to citizens' homes is entirely feasible if we replace the original power transmission lines. The charging equipment and factory are already in place."
"So now the crucial question is the transmission item. The previous technological era had high-voltage power transmission lines; have you found an equivalent 'high-voltage power transmission line' for transporting energetic power in your design?"
"Your Grace, this is precisely what I want to address. After generating this idea and garnering support from Director Wendy, I gathered several companions from our race to tackle this topic together, and we have recently achieved significant results. We, the Dwarves, invented a new type of alloy called Magic Copper Alloy, which is primarily composed of magical stone powder mixed with pure copper. According to our current experimental data, we have successfully reduced the loss rate of energy to 40%."
"This 40% loss primarily occurs during the input of energetic power into the Magic Copper and when outputting it to the user units, each accounting for 20%. There is virtually no loss during transmission. In our multiple experiments, the loss in the transportation process was only 0.000096, which is almost negligible."
"A 40% loss rate is somewhat high, you know. The existing methods only lose 2% of energy when charging energy-storing stones. While charging devices are relatively inexpensive in the divine realm, such a high loss rate could accumulate into a significant amount over time."
"Your Grace, you can rest assured; we are confident we can continue to reduce the loss rate. Through our repeated experiments, we have found that adding various metals into the Magic Copper can effectively reduce energy loss. My team members are still conducting experiments on the optimal ratios to hopefully refine the ideal Magic Copper."
"Let's set this issue aside for now. You mentioned that Magic Copper is made by mixing magical stone powder with pure copper. Do we have a lot of magical stone resources in the divine realm? I hope it isn't controlled by outsiders like energy-storing stones."
"Your Grace, during our exploration of the newly added divine realm, we detected an astonishing quantity of magical stones in the second peak of the War Mountains, sufficient for use in the divine realm for thousands of years. The proportion of magical stone powder mixed in the Magic Copper is very low; we only need one ton of magical stones to mix with one thousand tons of pure copper. This is a fairly stable smelting method we have developed."
"Actually, the crucial point is not the ratio of the two but evenly mixing them together. Even when both are in powder form, their uniformity varies after mixing. To solve this issue, we conducted a large number of experiments and repeated validations and, after a serendipitous opportunity, obtained almost perfect initial Magic Copper. This material is extremely stable. The losses at the input and output ends do not concern it; the only loss occurs during the material conversion process due to inadequate binding of the energetic power."
Luo Luo was astonished. He had initially thought that Sanders' ideas were advanced enough, but now he encountered Lakto, who had even stronger practical abilities. Truly, the goddess of fortune was looking out for him!
What could he do? He of course had to agree with him: "Lakto, continue conducting related experiments and strive to overcome more advanced technologies. I believe your technology has a bright future. Do any of you have any objections?"
None. Even Wendy shook her head. Although she had previously pointed out many shortcomings of energetic technology, she personally developed it and hoped more than anyone for its widespread adoption in the divine realm. While she had known about the Dwarves' plan, she hadn't realized their research had progressed so quickly and yielded such astonishing results. She felt genuinely happy for the Dwarves; scholars are straightforward like this—they only admire those smarter than themselves, which is somewhat similar to the mindset of warriors.
"That's good. Now that we have a specific direction regarding the development of civilian technology, you can fill in the necessary details yourselves. Next, we will discuss the application and development of military technology."
"Next, I would like to invite Harris, the director of the Weapons Research Laboratory in the War Bureau, and Zhuang Deyuan, the dean of the Strategic Weapons Development Institute, to introduce the relevant content and future planning."
Tie Yi temporarily took over the role of announcer.
After a brief preparation, Harris spoke first.
"Our Weapons Research Laboratory is part of the War Bureau. Therefore, we focus our research on future warfare models and battlefield ecology. Previously, we collaborated with the Technology Laboratory to develop a series of technological upgrades like the Energetic Messenger Heavy Tank and Energetic Armoured Vehicle, which greatly benefited from Director Wendy's research on energetic technology."
"Now that the divine political system has been established, we will hand over many branch and small equipment developments to the Strategic Weapons Development Institute led by Dean Zhuang Deyuan, and we will focus more of our efforts on developing large equipment and armaments that can affect battlefield capabilities in future wars."
"Earlier, we created an upgraded version of the Energetic Cannon, thanks to the teamwork of Vice Dean Zhuang Deyuan's team on upgrading energetic technology. This can be seen as an important branch of energetic technology, which Dean Zhuang will elaborate on later."
"Our Weapons Equipment Research Laboratory primarily focuses on developing spaceships. According to previous divine revelations from our God, our future enemies will be those able to survive and fight in space environments. In addition to improving individual combat strength, we also need equipment better suited for the cosmic battlefield. Thus, the spaceship program has been born."
"Of course, many departments are involved in this program, including some from the Technology Research and Development Institute, which is mainly responsible for civilian versions of spaceships. Our focus is on developing military armed spaceships, which can also be referred to as warships."
"In developing these warships, we have encountered many problems. The most significant is that, through extensive research, we discovered that energetic technology does not apply to spaceship propulsion systems. I am referring mainly to the power systems. Given the future technological outlook and estimations of the space battlefield, our warships and spaceships must possess the ability for warp flight or space jumping, which involves the highest achievements in both the technological and magical fields. Even when integrating both, there are still problems to solve."
"Energetic technology, researched by Director Wendy, possesses very powerful characteristics. It is exceptionally stable in terms of energy transmission and has tremendous potential. This is its advantage, but if we apply this characteristic to the propulsion system of spaceships, it becomes a disadvantage."
"The propulsion systems of warships require highly explosive energy sources. Obviously, energetic technology cannot fulfil this requirement, and vice dean Zhuang Deyuan's research on energetic explosion technology only slightly altered the nature of the energy. It triggers the explosive potential of energetic technology, meaning that it activates the instantaneous explosiveness of energetic power. However, this does not meet the propulsion demands of our warships, so we must abandon this advanced technology."
"While researching the technological materials bestowed by our God, we discovered an energy technology that aligns very well with the propulsion systems of warships: nuclear fusion energy technology. Of course, this energy technology is far behind energetic technology; it requires extensive equipment and has excellent sustained explosiveness, making it a natural fit for spaceships."
"After further investigation, we believe this technology still has room for improvement, so we are attempting to optimize its structure and upgrade its material technology. We have more advanced material technology to enhance its overall performance. Additionally, we have proposed incorporating spatial or energetic technology into it to create more advanced application scenarios."
The blank energy-storing stone charging equipment from energetic technology is sourced from clean energies like wind power, geothermal energy, and hydropower. Previous thermal power generation methods, which caused significant pollution, have long been abandoned.
"This summarizes our department's current research achievements and future research directions."
After Harris finished explaining, Zhuang Deyuan took over to speak.
"After the establishment of the divine political system, we took over the development of various models of rifles, light weapons, and small vehicles from the Technology Laboratory. Based on the Flame No. 1 Infantry Cannon, we designed a heavier artillery piece with greater firepower. However, firstly, such weaponry significantly increases in weight, which is not beneficial for battlefield usage. Secondly, after testing its damage, we found it did not meet our expectations, causing our research efforts to face a standstill."
"However, a fortuitous opportunity arose when a team member had a brilliant idea to conduct destructive testing on charged energy-storing stones. This resulted in a massive explosion, with damage reaching more than ten times that of the No. 1 cannon. We then followed this line of thinking to continue improving or enhance a branch of energetic technology, successfully developing an energetic explosive technology, which we refer to as Energetic Diffusion Technology."
"As Minister Hades previously mentioned, this technology enables instantaneous explosive power; upon successful launch, it delivers massive damage the moment it lands or upon contact with the target. However, this comes at a substantial energy cost from the energy-storing stone. According to our tests, a standard energy-storing stone can only launch two attacks of this kind, and it also raises the material requirements correspondingly. The secondary Chaos Alloy can barely manage to withstand this; after firing over twenty shots, it becomes unusable. Hence, while we have these technologies, we still need cooperation from some departments, especially assistance from the Dwarves, who are skilled in metallurgy, to develop more durable and sturdy metals."
"This is the current state of our Equipment Development Institute."
Luo Luo delivered his final comments, "Your plans are very well thought out, and I am pleased. I have nothing to critique; simply continue progressing at your pace."
"In addition to weapon and equipment development, I want to emphasize an important aspect of technological advancement: the cultivation of future youth. This requires cooperation between the education department and various colleges. I've heard you have related guidelines; please use this conference to explain them to everyone."
The Minister of Education spoke up: "Before the political system was confirmed, we planned to establish a Divine Capital University. However, due to various factors from the previous forced divine war and the establishment of the political system, this plan has been delayed until now. Subsequently, we conducted more detailed research and planning for this initiative. We initially decided to utilize the strengths of the various colleges within the Technology Development and Research Institute to build a university more focused on academic specialties. We then plan to establish corresponding comprehensive universities in the main cities of various races and in the Divine Capital. Both types of universities will be equal in status but will focus on different areas."
"The main issue now is that we still have too few scholars in related fields. Although the recently joined Goblin scholars have strong learning capabilities, they are still relatively new and can only serve as part-time assistant teachers. The main teaching staff is extremely scarce. The members of the technology research office have been granted the divine positions of scientists by our God, significantly enhancing their research and knowledge levels. However, with only a few individuals available, they face the challenge of juggling both research and teaching, leaving them with insufficient time."
Luo Luo pondered for a moment and realized this was a tricky issue, as he couldn't directly implant knowledge into their minds. Doing so would only allow them to see the knowledge without truly understanding it.
"Then you should pause the construction of other comprehensive universities and focus on establishing specialized universities and the Divine Capital University for now. Once we have sufficient talent, we can proceed with other comprehensive universities. Additionally, I suggest adding a teacher training academy among the previously mentioned specialized colleges to specifically nurture our divine realm's teaching staff."
The Minister of Education readily accepted the directive, feeling this was the best outcome.
"Well, with no further questions, this meeting is now adjourned. I wish us all success in completing our first hundred-year plan."