I Arrived At Wizard World While Cultivating Immortality Chapter 980: The Time of the War, and That’s Allowed?

“Put the materials, knowledge and plane origin you just recommended into a procurement application first. Following my current research plan, prioritize whatever can help me master more laws.”

Jie Ming made his decision quickly.

“As for booking personnel, I still need to think that over carefully. Once I’ve sorted out my next research direction, I’ll decide whom to invite.”

“Understood.”

Felix set about handling the matter at once.

Watching the procurement list gradually unfold, Jie Ming could not help but marvel.

The Star Ring Federation could not truly provide him unlimited support, of course, but judging from Felix’s attitude just now, the support the Level-One Cultivation Protocol brought in every respect really was extraordinary, and its definition of what counted as “research-related” was astonishingly broad.

One could say that as long as a protocol holder did not go too far, there was nothing wrong with treating it, in a certain sense, as unlimited support.

And for him, that was naturally a good thing!

Just then, Felix suddenly spoke. “In addition, there is one more recent directive that I need to explain to you.”

Jie Ming turned his head. “What directive?”

“Just now, the Third Seat issued a formal order to the four major artificial intelligences.” Felix explained calmly.

“Within one hundred years, Leap Power is to be spread across the entire territory of the wizard civilization, and every wizard is to complete the corresponding study of it.”

Jie Ming’s hands stopped moving at once. “Spread it now? And with only a hundred years to do it?”

He knew very well how attractive Leap Power was to wizards. Even without any deliberate promotion, any wizard who learned of this technology would probably study it at his own expense.

But the wizard civilization’s territory was far too vast, and wizards had their own notion of time. If the technology were truly left to spread on its own, reaching the whole of the wizard civilization would likely take close to a thousand years.

What was more, going to such lengths meant the Star Ring Federation had no intention of earning military merit on this technology, and might even take a loss on it.

An ordinary technology rollout plan was never like this. It meant that this was an emergency deployment by the Third Seat, made with a definite strategic aim.

Jie Ming’s expression turned grave. He realized at once what this order meant.

The Fourth Seat had already told him that the reason he had intervened in fate and brought forward the moment of Leap Power’s success was so that the technology could appear before the war began.

Now the Third Seat was demanding that the four major artificial intelligences complete its rollout across the entire territory within a hundred years.

Put those two pieces of information together, and the answer was already quite clear.

In a hundred years, the wizard civilization would very likely enter a stage of all-out war with those unknown enemies.

“So that’s it…” Jie Ming leaned slowly back against his chair.

He had always known the war was near, but he had never expected the time to be so pressing.

To a wizard, and especially a high-level wizard, a hundred years was hardly long.

Many research projects routinely took several hundred or even a thousand years to complete, and a single stretch of seclusion for a high-level wizard’s research might well run past that limit.

Yet now the wizard civilization was demanding that this technology be spread to every single wizard within a hundred years.

That meant the material civilization needed to turn Leap Power into actual combat power as fast as it possibly could.

And that urgency was exactly what showed the coming war would be anything but simple.

Jie Ming recalled what the Fourth Seat had said.

On fate’s original track, Leap Power would only have been completed after the war began.

By then the wizard civilization had already fallen into an exceedingly difficult position, and the technology’s appearance had become the key to turning the tide.

That was why the Fourth Seat had taken it upon himself to alter fate and let the technology be born ahead of time.

Jie Ming’s brow gradually furrowed.

The Fourth Seat had said those enemies were not especially strong, or at least that this was not a case of causing the wizard civilization trouble through sheer force alone.

But on the other hand, since they could set off such grave consequences, they had probably also tied up a considerable share of the wizard civilization’s attention.

The mere fact that they could tie up so much of the wizard civilization’s attention without being wiped out on the spot was already proof of the enemy’s level of strength.

That also meant the scale and ferocity of this war would far exceed expectations.

Or, more troublesome still… it meant there were other factors in this war that were hard to deal with.

But whatever the specific reason, anything that could force the Fourth Seat and the Third Seat to act this way was enough to show that this war was no simple matter.

Jie Ming had no intention of underestimating those unknown enemies just because the Fourth Seat had said they were “not especially strong.”

After all, with the strength that one possessed, the beings he would genuinely call strong could be counted on one hand.

And from a ninth-level wizard’s vantage, even if large numbers of high-level wizards died in front of him, he would probably not be greatly moved.

But for the wizards at lower levels, a war like this would be unusually brutal.

With the standing Jie Ming now held, he naturally did not need to worry about the war’s dangers for himself, but he also hoped to make sure that the people he cared about would survive it.

Mentor Clark, Teacher Kastilla and Senior Sister Viola were all powerful wizards, but facing the coming war, even they could not guarantee their own safety.

After all, in essence, even Mentor Clark, the strongest of them, was only a fairly strong seventh-level wizard.

At that thought, Jie Ming’s mood could not help but grow somewhat heavier.

Felix, meanwhile, noticed the change in his mood.

“You seem to be worried about certain wizards close to you.”

Jie Ming did not deny it. “Just thinking ahead a little. Once the war really begins, I’m afraid some things will no longer be ours to decide.”

Felix nodded, then shook its head.

“If you wish to ensure the safety of certain personnel as far as possible, you may provide me with a list in advance. Within the limits the rules allow, I can help arrange the timing of their war conscription, their task assignments and their deployment order, so that as far as possible they are not assigned to areas of excessive risk.”

Jie Ming’s eyelid gave a sudden twitch.

“Wait.” He stared at Felix, his expression odd. “What did you just say?”

“Within the limits the rules allow, I can help arrange the conscription timing, task assignments and deployment order of the personnel you value,” Felix repeated.

Jie Ming was silent for a long while before he could not help asking, “Is that… legal?”

Felix seemed not to understand the question, and its expression grew a little strange. “Of course.”

“No, what I mean is…” Jie Ming groped for the words. “Isn’t that a bit too brazen? Something like war conscription, shouldn’t it be arranged according to one uniform set of rules?”

“The rules must be observed, of course,” Felix answered.

“But you need to understand that the four major artificial intelligences are themselves the wizard civilization’s administrative system, interfacing directly with the nine ninth-level wizards. Maintaining the civilization’s operation, carrying out high-level decisions and coordinating the allocation of resources and personnel between different levels has always been our responsibility.”

“Many institutions have built-in, authorized room for adjustment. So long as the restrictions set at a higher level are not violated, the relevant rules may be optimized within the permitted scope.”

Jie Ming listened with the corner of his eye twitching.

Felix went on. “In other words, the wizard civilization’s administrative rules have always been maintained and enforced by us, according to the overall guidelines laid down by the ninth-level wizards. If you need certain matters adjusted within reasonable limits, you may submit an application, provided it meets the corresponding permission requirements.”

Jie Ming finally understood. What Felix was describing was not cheating on someone’s behalf in private, but using the scheduling authority the administrative system itself possessed to give him a certain degree of protection.

…That was even more outrageous!

Wasn’t that just writing whatever laws you wanted for yourself?!

“Come to think of it, is the Level-One Cultivation Protocol really this extreme?” Jie Ming could not help pinching the bridge of his nose as he thought it over. “Looking at it this way, this so-called Level-One Cultivation Protocol is practically the same as being handed a share of the Star Ring Federation’s administrator permissions.”

Looking at the small projection in front of him, for a moment Jie Ming had no idea how to assess it.

In the end he could only fall back on his disciple’s catchphrase, without quite meaning to. “Ho ho… Insane…”