Sword of Dawn

"The special ink formula has a very good effect," Padrik bowed slightly, "According to Master Kamel's suggestion, we mixed a small amount of special mixed crystal dust into the ink, and under strong sunlight, Or near the obelisk of magic energy, the banknotes can release a specific floating effect. In addition, we also got the banknotes of the Typhons, and their anti-counterfeiting methods are also worth referring to-their banknotes are specially treated Fabric, the base material has two magic threads incorporated into it, the threads are intricately woven to create a specific shaded pattern in the sun. Maybe we can combine the two technologies when minting coins.”

"No matter how clever the anti-counterfeiting measures are, there will always be people who will take the risk," Gao Wen nodded. "In addition to strict laws and punishments, it is also important to update anti-counterfeiting technology. We must try our best to ensure one thing: let most people The costs of counterfeiting far outweigh the benefits of their counterfeiting."

"As you said," Patrick said, "in fact, if a great magician concentrates on counterfeiting currency, he can completely create counterfeit currency that deceives everyone, but according to our calculations, most of this level The energy expended by magicians in the process of counterfeiting banknotes can allow them to reap more than three times the income in legitimate industries-so it is very unlikely for a sane Transcendent to do such a thankless thing. And if they Building a team and secretly purchasing equipment and materials for mass production will greatly increase the exposure risk of criminal behavior, which is also thankless. At this stage, our anti-counterfeiting ideas are basically based on this logic.”

Gao Wen hummed, and a smile suddenly appeared on his face: "One more thing... let's make our banknotes as beautiful as possible."

"Of course," Patrick also smiled, "Exquisite currency itself is a display of technical strength, although they can no longer represent real money... But at least, people can still feel happy when they get them. "

Patrick left.

Gao Wen turned his head and glanced at Amber who was standing behind him.

Unsurprisingly, the half-elf lady (at least she looks like a half-elf) is wandering in the sky, and her eyes have been stunned for an unknown amount of time.

But just as Gao Wen turned his gaze away, the goose woke up in a jerk and stared at Gao Wen: "Hey, are you finally finished?"

Her ability to turn off her brain at any time and stop fishing and return to work at any time is really unique.

I don't know how to practice it...

"Oh my god, I can't understand your brains more and more, especially yours." Amber was greatly relieved after confirming that Patrick had really left, and then BB loudly with her hips on her hips, "I really don't I know that there are so many secrets hidden in these 'banknotes'... That Patrick is a talent, it is rare to see someone who can discuss with you in this field..."

"Padrik is indeed a talent, the degree of excellence is far beyond my imagination. I just told him some concepts before, and he can understand and apply them to this level. I think there are probably few people who can do this. "Gao Wen glanced at Amber with a half-smile, "But you can actually see that there are 'so many ways'... This means that you understand a lot."

"I don't understand!!" Amber screamed almost jumping up, "Don't lie to me and add..."

"Don't be nervous, this part of the work is not yours." Gawain shook his head helplessly, "I just want to say that you have collected information on the Gaoling Kingdom and the Silver Empire in a timely manner, and keep paying attention to that direction— — because the Typhonians are looking in the same direction."

"Oh, don't worry, leave it to me," Amber patted her chest, showing a smug look, "Although there is no way to send the officers of the Military Intelligence Bureau so far away, intelligence collection is not just as simple as espionage, as long as If there is information exchange between the north and the south of the mainland, there will always be intelligence.”

Hearing Amber's confident answer, Gao Wen smiled slightly, and slowly looked out the window.

In the leaden sky, snowflakes are falling.

Chapter 0728 The Young Man from the North

Snowing.

Ke De stood behind the large floor-to-ceiling windows of the office with a pipe in his mouth, looking out of the window with ecstasy at the fluttering and falling snowflakes, as well as the slightly hazy factory buildings amidst the fluttering snowflakes.

In this northern country, the first snowfalls always come early, and early snow often visits early, even before winter officially sets in.

In the past... In fact, not too long ago, premature snow was often regarded as a bad start, and even associated with death.

The early cooling means that outdoor activities will be terminated early, and it will become difficult to store fuel. The common people will have to use limited food and fuel to fight a longer winter. Extending one day is often the world of life and death.

So people even have a special name for this kind of snow that comes in advance: white death.

But that's in the past, at least in most parts of the southern border. In Cod's eyes, the scenery of the first snowfall is gradually covering the impression of "White Death" in his mind-the scenery is not bad.

I just hope that the snow coverage will not be too large, especially the Holy Spirit Plain... After all, there are still many areas in this country that cannot withstand the power of the White Death.

Cord was biting his pipe, and a red light flashed in the pipe. The thick smoke slowly dispersed, and his thoughts drifted involuntarily along with the dispersed smoke.

The wind whipped snowflakes against large pieces of crystal glass, a crystal-clear material traditionally associated with being expensive, scarce, and rarely produced in such a large size - a technique for making cheap, large white crystals It has been monopolized by the Typhon Empire for a long time, the difficulties in transportation and the deliberate blockade of Typhon have resulted in the standard pane size of various buildings in the Anzu era never exceeding half a meter. Until a year ago, Sisi It was not until the alchemy factory in Er successfully cracked the technical secrets of the Typhon people to make cheap white crystals, and large-sized crystal glass gradually appeared on various buildings in the southern border.

With the emergence of large-size crystal glass and the new architectural style brought by Emperor Gawain Cecil, the new architectural element of "floor-to-ceiling windows" has gradually become popular this year.

As for how the technicians of the alchemy factory cracked the technology of the Typhon people in the absence of samples and materials...Kode, who is a businessman, has no idea about this.

The rare leisure time didn't last long. A rhythmic knock on the door interrupted Kodd's thoughts. He heard the voice of his eldest son Pal behind him: "Father, someone is looking for you."

The big businessman turned his head: "Are you a representative of Marlin Trading Company?"

In this snowy day, the other party came very early.

However, the young man at the door shook his head: "No, it's a young man from the north who calls himself Film. He said he has something very important to show you, and he said that you will be interested."

"A young man from the north?" Cord blinked unexpectedly. "It's not easy to travel long distances in this freezing weather. Maybe he came to the south on the 'Highlander' to try his luck..."

The big businessman muttered, feeling quite emotional.

It was no surprise to him that strangers came to visit him. As the owner of the increasingly famous Codd Family Information Company and as the leader of the Carroll Area Businessmen Association, he always had visitors, and some of them embraced him. Brave young men with dreams——The new order brought by His Majesty Gawain seems to have brought a kind of vitality to the whole land. In the vast sea of ​​people, young people are always the most courageous. All kinds of opportunities are being sought in the rapidly changing land, and there is no doubt that there is an opportunity here in Kord.

But most of the time, brave young people are just brave. They lack knowledge and experience, so that many of the wonderful ideas in their minds are actually useless. However, Kord will still receive these young people as much as possible—from From the perspective of businessmen's interests, Codd Family Business must create an image that accommodates innovation and attracts talents. Only in this way can it continue to attract talented people. The person who challenged him made Ke De always think of himself, his reckless first business trip when he was young, and his rekindled passion for challenge in the past two years.

It's just that I didn't expect a stranger from the north to visit... That young man must have inquired after he came here.

The partner who made an appointment to discuss has not yet arrived, so it doesn't hurt to meet that young man.

"Let him come in," Cord nodded, "tell him in advance, there are only twenty minutes."

"Yes, father."

The eldest son Parr exited the room, and a moment later, a young man with blond hair in a blue coat appeared in front of Cord.

Out of habit, Cord first took a look at the young man's clothes and temperament——

A more decent coat, made of woolen material, although it looks old, but clean and well-maintained; the smile is gentle and polite, with a seemingly habitual humility, without the slightest aura or aristocratic details.

He should be a citizen with a middle-to-higher family background, well-educated, and may have served the nobles, or may be engaged in a job that requires frequent dealings with people of higher status than himself. Obviously, the financial resources can afford the ticket for the Highlander, the ticket for the middle class .

"Hello, I'm very glad to meet you, Mr. Curd," the young man smiled, with a hint of excitement on his face, "I'm from Barron, you can call me Film..."

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Film—please close the door," Kord nodded, pointing to the seats reserved for guests with his chin, "please feel free."

Film hurriedly closed the door, and then sat down on the high-backed chair covered with soft cushions. He heard the well-known big businessman asking: "Mr. Film, I am sorry for the north. I understand too well, Barron is..."

"Oh, it's a town near Saint-Sunil, and it's not that famous," Film said with a smile on his face. Since he was taught by his father since he was a child, and has seen many markets in the old capital, he knows how to keep smiling. However, he is still young, so his nervousness cannot be well concealed, and he speaks much faster than usual, "It is on the west side of the capital, and it was lucky that it was not affected by that war. ..."

"Mr. Film, let's talk about your purpose of looking for me first," Cord interrupted the other party, "It is not an easy journey from Saint-Sunil to here, why is it worth your time in this winter season?" Come so far from home?"

"Yes, sir, it's really far away. If it wasn't for the 'Highlander' being much faster than ordinary ships, I'm afraid I'm still on the Gorgon River now, and I may even have to trek halfway on the bank after all-after all It’s about to stop,” Film said, opening a small suitcase he carried with him, and solemnly placed the contents on the table in front of Cod, “I’m here to find you. You showed something... I asked some people in Rock City, and they all said that if you have novel ideas and things, you can go to the president of the Carroll Chamber of Commerce to try your luck. You are always willing to help young people, Generous and discerning, often buying their great ideas..."

Cord didn't pay too much attention to the compliment in the other party's words, but turned his attention to the small box, but the things in the box made him frown uncontrollably.

It's just a piece of crystal. The crystal in the picture shows that it should be an artificial crystal produced in the southern border. The grade does not seem to be high, but as a magic item, its price in the north should still be quite expensive—see how Careful Film is with this crystal. Just by looking at it, I know that this thing must be very precious to this young man from the north, and it is probably the most valuable possession in his possession.

After all, the north is not like the south, where magic-related items are still quite rare and valuable, although recently the new traffic line composed of mechanical ships and magic vehicles has begun to transfer magic items from the south and various cheap man-made crystals. It is transported to the north, but due to the limited quantity, this still cannot change the high price of magic items in the north in a short period of time.

But in any case, photo crystals are not a rare item for Kord... So, what is valuable should be the things recorded in it?

He raised his head and looked at the young man standing in front of him: "What's in it?"

"Yes, sir, please let me show you..." Film said as he took out a few metal plates with runes from the box—there were a few rune base plates, but they were not formal. The stencils and standard buckles may be imitations produced in the small factories in the north during the "Ansu Restructuring" period - Film put these things together, and then fiddled with them for a long time, and finally let them These non-standard magic devices were successfully operated, and then he put the image crystal produced in the southern border on the magic focus of this pile of things, "It's almost ready, it's almost ready, sir."

Codd wanted to say that he has an advanced magic net terminal here, which is a new model with a universal slot, which can directly play the content in the photo crystal, without such troubles, but in the end he still looked at the young man with curiosity and patience. It's all done.

He saw that the poor-quality crystal finally gradually lit up, and then a picture emerged above the crystal.

A man in brightly colored and exaggerated clothing stands in the projection, loudly praising someone off-screen.

A woman in a long skirt came in from outside the frame, arguing with the man.

After a funny dispute, the third person came to the center of the picture. He seemed to be trying to mediate the conflict, but he was attacked by both men and women...

Kod stared blankly at the screen in the projection, until the end of this short plot, until the screen began to be played repeatedly, he finally muttered to himself: "This... what..."

"The Lady of Butterfly Manor, ah, that is a play that has been very popular in the capital...I mean the old capital, even in the old capital in recent years," Film said quickly, with high spirits , all the tension seems to have dissipated, "Of course, of course it's only a short section, and I made some adjustments... because after all, the crystal is not a stage... Ah, sir, I should actually make a longer section, and there is a section behind it Very exciting fights and debates, but there is no way, the capital... the magic net terminal at the old capital is only allowed to be used for less than 10 minutes at a time, and it took me a lot of effort to ask the management staff to help, Help me record the picture with the photo crystal... and I dare not let my father know about this..."

Kord felt his mind was running fast, and he just subconsciously asked in the midst of his thoughts: "Your father?"

"Yes, his name is Barna, he is a well-known playwright in Saint-Sunil and surrounding areas, and he has his own theater troupe... But no one here knows it..." Film's tone was proud, It was a little embarrassing, "We often perform for the nobles, but now...you should know that the nobles don't seem to have the energy to come to our performances, and there are not so many nobles in Saint-Sunil...Father, if I'm afraid I wouldn't be very happy knowing that I made his proudest script like this and took his actors to 'perform' in the square..."

"Child," Cod suddenly interrupted Film's rambling narration, his eyes were burning, staring at the young man's eyes, "how did you come up with this idea? I mean record the drama on the crystal... ..."

"I went to see the coronation ceremony of His Majesty the Emperor," Film laughed, a little shyly, "but I was standing far away at the time, and I could only see a huge image suddenly rising from the square——then someone told Me, that is the magic net terminal from the southern border. Unlike the illusions created by mages, there seem to be many magic net terminals in the southern border, and they are placed in the streets..."

Speaking of this, the blond young man paused slightly in embarrassment before continuing: "Sir, our troupe is in a bad situation—everyone is in a bad situation. The theater in Saint-Sunil has been closed halfway." gone."

The war in the north has changed the lives of many people.

That's why there is the "Highlander", and there are all kinds of human beings that Film saw on the ship.

The stubborn father was still waiting for the nobles to return to the theater, but the brave young man ran out, wanting to see the world far away, to see the place where those incredible magic devices were born.

Perhaps those nobles would visit those gorgeous and elegant theaters again after they recover, but Kord looked at the crystal that was still playing the screen repeatedly, and he knew—something was about to be changed.

He even trembled a little.

He wasn't the only one who could think of installing heat runes on iron plates and ice picks in food preservation boxes.

How much can this thing be worth?

Chapter 0729 Merchant

The image projected from the crystal began to repeat for the third time. Since there was no high-quality magic net terminal to amplify and filter the image, the original image directly projected by the crystal appeared blurred and slightly distorted, but Cod looked like this Things, but the mood is difficult to calm down.

Not everyone can quickly think of its usefulness after seeing a brand new thing - the difficulty of creating a new field is often no less than that of opening up a new land, which requires not only intelligence and knowledge, but also many times More talent and a little bit of luck are needed, as well as the courage to break the rules.

According to archaeologists, hominids hunted with stones and sticks, but it may have taken tens of thousands of years for them to think of tying stones to sticks.

The eldest son Pal's voice came from the door, waking Cord out of his thoughts: "Father, the representative of Marlin Trading Company will be here soon—and we've been here for more than 10 minutes."

"You go to the reception," Cod said without raising his head, "I still have things to do here."

"But Father, what they're going to talk about is..."

"You go to reception," Cord repeated, "you know how to deal with it, so go."

"Yes, father."

Pal left, while Film looked nervously at the big businessman in front of him: "Mr. Cod, did I delay you..."

"Don't worry, business is always busy, but you can't miss creative ideas," Kord smiled, looked at the blond young man in front of him again, and asked seriously, "Son, what about your creative ideas?" Have you thought about how to deal with such things that come out?"

Film subconsciously pressed the hem of his coat and straightened his tie, as if trying to make himself as decent as possible: "Sir, I'm actually...not sure. I just came up with an idea. I didn't create the crystal." Yes, I didn't create these runes, I just thought of recording the drama in the crystal and putting it on the magic net terminal... But I don't have my own theater troupe, and I don't know how to buy the magic net terminal or Sell ​​those taped plays.

"Mr. Cod, I don't know how to calculate money for an idea, so I want to come to the south, because the magic net terminal is from here, I heard that there are many new things here, and there are people who are good at using new things, Maybe here, someone can point me in the right direction."

Cord stared at Film seriously: "...I want to make sure first, have you told anyone about your 'idea'?"

Film said honestly: "No... Ah, I only mentioned it to one of my traveling companions. He is an upright and knowledgeable person. It was he who advised me not to dig around and let me go to government affairs first. I inquired about the information at the new immigrant counseling office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

"...he gave you good advice, but anyway, boy, your 'idea' needs to be realized soon."

Hearing Kodd's words, Film slowly took a breath, and finally said: "Sir, two thousand gold coins, I mean...an ansu shield gold coin, or an oval gold coin."

Ke De was stunned for a moment, as if he couldn't believe the price he heard, but Film thought that the price he paid was too high, and immediately continued: "Sir, two thousand gold coins, this idea belongs to you, It's entirely yours. Of course, if you think it's not worth it, you can drop it some more..."

Cord gave Film a complicated look.

Simple child... When you take out the crystal and let people see the image recorded on it, your creativity is already at risk.

Perhaps most geniuses with unique vision will appear too simple in the field of sophistication?

Film still looked at Cord nervously. In fact, he was not quite able to distinguish the relationship and characteristics of nobles, businessmen, citizens, government affairs halls, etc. under the new order of the southern border. A member of the new nobles, Film and his family have served the nobles for many years. He is only nervous and uneasy in front of such a big man as Ke De.

As for the two thousand gold coins... this is enough to get his father's troupe out of the crisis, and he can even use the funds to form his own troupe in the southern border. To him, this is his strange land in the south The starting point of the struggle.

Cord looked back and sighed slightly in his heart.

Two thousand gold coins... This young man from the north can't imagine how much money is flowing between those new companies in the south every day, nor can he imagine how the new things he created have in the magic industry system. future.

The big businessman subconsciously clenched his fists, staring at the crystal and rune devices on the table.

Only two thousand gold coins, only two thousand gold coins! !

Even, he didn't have to pay a dime - because this is not some complicated technical creation, it's just an idea, an idea that is easy to realize for a big businessman like him! !

His fist slowly loosened, and then slowly clenched again.

The atmosphere of silence made Film feel uneasy.

In silence, Kord stared at the crude and outdated old-style rune substrates, at the man-made crystal that might be an obsolete product from the southern factory.

He remembered the first heating table he and his friends had built.

Reminds me of the machine tool that was scavenged from the waste warehouse.

I thought of the frustration and bewilderment when I led the workers to buy a batch of cheap rune baseplates from Kant's factory, but when I pulled them back, I found that all the baseplates could not be used because of the wrong standard.

He remembered that he had stood at the gate of the technical college all day, just to invite a magician to take a look at his factory.

In a trance, he seemed to hear a clear and pleasant voice saying to himself - Mr. Codd, this city is full of gold.

Cord clenched his fists and tapped the table lightly, as if on his own heart.

Film was taken aback by the other party's movement. He just wanted to ask, but saw the big businessman in front of him shook his head slightly: "Son, I don't plan to buy it."

Film immediately said: "Sir, you can think about it again..."

"Son, I haven't finished yet," Kord waved his hand, and at the same time pulled out two blank letterheads from a certain drawer of the desk, took a dip pen and began to write quickly, and continued while writing, "I won't buy it because it's worth more—I'll write you two letters, which should be of great help to you..."