So Douglas smiled and asked, "a package plan? You've been thinking about this for a long time?"
Douglas worked all the way through and finally established the Congress of Magic. His theoretical system had influenced not only sorcerers generation after generation, but also even his enemies including the Church and the vampires. Whether speaking of intelligence or wisdom, he ranked top three in this world. Therefore, although he did not know Lucien as well as Fernando did, he could still find some clues to Lucien's real intention in this single sentence.
Cheeky as he was, Lucien did not mind that his true intention was detected by the two grand arcanists. He said with a smile, "firstly, as for satellite communication… I've read your article, Sir. If we want to build a communication domain that covers the entire continent and the oceans, we have two choices. Option A: The satellites' orbital planes need to be above the Northland and the South Ice-ocean, so we need at least two artificial planets. Option B: we put a synchronous...o...b..t satellite above the right ascension…"
The arcanists present were all experts in Astrology, so Lucien did not explain in details, but only presented the outline of his plan.
"… But the best way would be to combine the two options together. And to guarantee the quality of communication, the more satellites we have, the better it is. Of course, because of the high cost of producing an artificial planet and s.p.a.ce jumping, we have to do it step by step and turn it into a long-term plan. I propose that we name it Constellation Plan — The plan of making constellations around the world using artificial planets.
"… Also, we better set up a company for this and charge every sorcerer who needs to use the satellites to compensate for the costs. The company will sell special products for satellite communication. If anyone wants to make one on their own, they still have to buy a license for it."
As an authority in Electromagnetics, Fernando slightly frowned after he heard Lucien's speech. "The problem still hasn't been solved. To ensure the clarity of the signals, a higher standard of Electromagnetism Messaging will have to be adopted when the satellites cover the entire continent. Then again, only sorcerers above the fifth circle would be able to use it, which only accounts for a very small proportion of the entire sorcerer population, since few middle-rank or low-rank sorcerers could afford it."
"So we should charge a bit more, and open some unimportant satellites to the rich n.o.bles. Presumably, they should welcome the convenience and they can certainly afford it," said Lucien.
He had not mentioned the next steps yet: to build magic base stations. He would wait until there were enough satellites.
Planets up in the sky were hard to strike, but base stations on the ground were easy targets. Only when the n.o.bles started relying on the convenient communication method would they willingly defend the base stations.
Lucien continued. "As for the need of the low-rank and middle-rank sorcerers, I have come up with a new second-circle spell called Electromagnetic File Transfer by simplifying Mr. Fernando's Electromagnetism Messaging. Although it can only work in a limited range, and cannot support real-time calls, it can still serve the function of transferring doc.u.ments similar to the magic circles inside a tower. I think it should be enough for them right now."
This so-called Electromagnetic File Transfer was in fact radiotelegraphy. As for the invention of intercom, it was only of very limited value because of the existence of Secondary Telepathic Bond, so Lucien had not spent time to invent the spell.
"A second-circle spell… Then most n.o.bles with t.i.tles and manors should be able to use it." Norman nodded slightly.
"Yes, it is going to be one of our products for popularization," said Lucien in a businessman tone like that of Arthur. "Also, inspired by the power lines that have been installed recently, I've got a new idea. The high requirements of Electromagnetism Messaging are from the fact that this spell relies on electromagnetic waves transmitting in the air. During the process, the waves can encounter all kinds of environments and landforms, and they are thus weakened. To make up for this loss, we have to enhance the signals by using more complicated magic circles.
"… Using satellites as relay stations can be one solution. And there's also another one: To set up exclusive pathways for the transmission of electromagnetic waves just like the power lines. So the transmission will be limited within the wires, and we could avoid the complex environments when installing the lines. Where the wires join, we set up magic circles for selecting and forwarding signals.
"… If the wires can extend to every city, every manor, and every house, it will be a great benefit to the ordinary people. The only problems are that the popularization requires a huge amount of investment in the beginning, and the Church can easily destroy the wires."
His fingers showing numbers, Douglas said, "to make this come true in Holm, the first step of establis.h.i.+ng the wires itself would be a long-term plan… something that has to be measured in decades, not to mention other countries like Brianne and those across the strait.
"… But in the many decades to come, based on the current speed at which we are developing, we should be able to suppress the power of the Church within the Kingdom of Holm. In this case, maybe your plan can be partly carried out first in the prosperous places like Rentato and Paphos. An ordinary person can talk to her friend through an alchemical item."
Then Douglas smiled warmly. "There are multiple layers in your plan, Lucien. The artificial planets for communication cover sorcerers above the fifth circle, major n.o.bles, leading businessmen; Electromagnetic File Transfer targets at low- and middle-rank sorcerers, smaller n.o.bles, rich business people; and there is also the establishment of wires aiming at serving apprentices, dilapidated n.o.bles, and common citizens. You've taken all of them into consideration."
"In fact, the plan for setting up wires can still be further divided into two parts: one is to enable users to talk through wires directly, and the other is like using Electromagnetic File Transfer. The latter has an even lower requirement for the terminal magic circle. Also, we can first open up service branches in some smaller cities for now. When people are in need, they come to us to use the products. In this way, we won't need to wait until the wires are popularized to most of the families to begin our plan." Lucien pictured the image according to the images of earth in his mind.
The feeling that he was able to change this world gave him a thrilling feeling.
"Good. When most commoners start to benefit from magic, their belief in the Church will be shaken as never before. We need to be prepared for counterattacks from the Church." Douglas nodded in satisfaction.
Obviously, the president and Lucien's teacher were also aware of the fact that the popularization of magic items would greatly challenge the foundation of the Church. Lucien realized once again that he was definitely not the only smart guy in this world, so he hurriedly put forward another plan.
"I've been working on producing a new, affordable alchemical item. It can receive electromagnetic signals within a certain range and turn it into voice. Although it cannot accommodate point-to-point communications, it can still change ordinary people's life!"
What Lucien was saying was a magic version of the Crystal Radio that belongs to level-one alchemical items. Through ma.s.s production, the technique requirement could be lowered to the apprentice level. A common citizen could afford it with several years of saving.
"Life-changing?" Fernando directly got to the point, even though Lucien was not being very specific.
Lucien put on a mischievous smile. "We can form a radio program and send message to the countries across Storm Strait at a specific frequency. We can play symphonies, pianos pieces, operas, stories, and legends. We can even introduce some basic knowledge of arcana and magic to people, as well as the dark history facts of the Church…"
Hearing Lucien's words, Luciana slightly opened her mouth and exclaimed in a great shock, "It's tearing down the foundation of the Church. They will go crazy!"
"Therefore we gotta be careful with the time and the frequency band. The programs should also be interesting so that once people start liking the programs, they will keep them as a secret and gradually be converted. Of course, at first, we have to protect our listeners by choosing the areas where we are able to exert our power. We have to make sure that they won't be put on the gallows even if anyone inform against them." Lucien answered seriously.
Douglas released a sigh. "Very good. You shall name the program then."
All of them present were aware of the value of the plan.
"Um… Let's name it Arcana Voice." Lucien would not tell anyone that he had decided the name a long time ago.
"Let's set up a company for turning all the alchemical items and communication plans that you just mentioned into real. The shares are divided according to our own contribution and investment. As the initiator and the inventor of the alchemical items, Lucien, you will get 25 percent." Fernando made the final decision. It looked like a fair decision, but in fact, favored Lucien a lot.
Fernando was the one who created Electromagnetism Messaging. Douglas, Fernando, and the Prophet would be responsible for launching the satellites. Luciana and Norman would be the ones to carry out the specific plans and make investments. All of them, including the sorcerers that were going to join them in the future, only owned 75 percent of the company.
Douglas agreed as he was grateful to Lucien who suggested the artificial planet project. He smiled and asked, "what about the name for the company?"
"Allyn Telephone and Telegram Company…" Lucien responded subconsciously, then he hurriedly explained. "… It means using electromagnetic waves to communicate and transmit messages."
After drawing the basic plan, Douglas looked at Lucien. "So for the applications of artificial planets, you got any other suggestions?"
He was sure that this young man's ambition was far more than this.
"First of all, we shall conduct more in-depth studies in the ionosphere to look for a better plan for transmitting electromagnetic waves. Secondly, we have to put more defensive magic circles to protect the planets, including Invisibility and Orbital Transfer," replied Lucien without hesitation. "Thirdly, since the planets are high above, most attacks from them will be weakened greatly before they reach the ground, so we have to come up with super-range attack magic spells with much more concentrated energy… hopefully the spells will be lower than legendary level."
Or the cost for producing a legendary-level artificial planet would be too high.
"Fourthly, we can use artificial planets to monitor our targets on the ground…"
Lucien indeed had a complete package plan. Many of his suggestions made the grand arcanists present feel deeply refres.h.i.+ng.
"You have too many suggestions. We have to go back and digest them first. We'll set up Allyn Telephone and Telegram Company first; forming Arcana Voice will be our current priority." Douglas was affected by G.o.d's Arrival, and he sounded a bit tired after the initial spirit-lifting buffering expired.
However, standing beside Douglas, Artil was rather excited. "I'm going to write papers and challenge all the arcanists who ever doubted your theories and experiments on the velocity of light, Sir!"
