Above The Sky
Chapter 542 - 542 511 An Unsolvable Technological Disaster 44

542: Chapter 511: An Unsolvable Technological Disaster (4/4) 542: Chapter 511: An Unsolvable Technological Disaster (4/4) “We are The Empire, and the ‘Black Tyrant’ and ‘Former Emperor’ you speak of are my grandfather and father…

Have we gone mad, to sully our own ancestors and parents?

Especially when he has brought us such a powerful empire?”

Shaking his head slightly, the prince laughed and then patted the experimental table in front of him, “My point is simple.

Ian, you’re not yet strong enough to engage in ‘simplified popularization’ that even the Fifth Energy Level can’t handle.

The limit has been reached because everyone can benefit, but if you delve deeper, the first to oppose you will be the monopoly group made up of the Platinum Iridium Workshop and all the other major Alchemy Workshops.”

“When that time comes, without financial and material support, how will you become stronger?

If you don’t become stronger, you’ll always be suppressed, unable to do what you want to do!”

“Give up this path.

When you reach the Fourth Energy Level and join Yisen Gard as the premier decision-makers of the Platinum Iridium Workshop, maybe then you’ll stand a slight chance at making some reforms.”

“But even so, stop researching ‘reuse’—remember my advice, Ian.

You’ve already done well; your new theory allows for increased production of alchemical potions.

The market price will inevitably drop a bit, and that’s progress—more people will be able to afford cheap potions.

But don’t make any more changes now…

it will only lead to chaos.”

At this moment, Michael’s eyes were shining: “Due to the tremendous increase in productive capacity, raw materials will become scarce, and the surplus goods will lack sufficient consumers…”

“Do you think the Empire’s economic crisis back then was due to a lack of goods?

No, there were too many!”

“Do you think it was due to insufficient technology?

No, there was too much!”

His voice grew louder: “Under my grandfather’s call, all the major Alchemy Workshops produced enthusiastically.

They even developed ‘Inscription Intelligence,’ where a single alchemist could produce on an assembly line the potions that previously required a hundred, a thousand alchemists—exactly as with your research direction, Ian.

Those potions were of mediocre quality, even called inferior, but were quite cheap, theoretically affordable for ‘ordinary people’.”

“But when so many things are produced and no one buys, no one uses—nobles don’t want to use these inferior products, ordinary people don’t need to.

Do you know how many Alchemy Workshops closed down at that time?

Do you know that the Platinum Iridium Workshop, this behemoth, was just an everywhere-seen, even profit-struggling small workshop at that time?!”

“What…

what?”

Ian’s eyes widened as he listened—he had thought he would hear something about Alchemy Workshops refusing to cooperate, but he had never imagined that what he would hear was about ‘Alchemy Workshops eagerly cooperating in development, and then closing down,’ a kind of absurd situation.

But what Michael was saying was beyond his expectations…

even surpassing his previous worst imaginings and speculations.

—Inscription Intelligence…

with production lines?

—Production capacity in such surplus?!

No wonder the mass education of that era failed, no wonder the educated of that time couldn’t find jobs…

It wasn’t due to technology being too low, but because it was too advanced?!

“So that’s how it is…”

Ian groaned inwardly: “It’s because of the collapse in this aspect…”

No wonder Master Gossay had such complex attitudes towards the Former Emperor; no wonder Michael was telling him not to research popular potions—his research on ‘reuse’ technology to reduce the cost of potions and its high integration rate with artificial intelligence was too significant.

Machines might not achieve the best in regard to Origin Quality, but in terms of material conservation and operational precision, they’re probably much better than humans.

By researching this, did he intend to create an era of the great bankruptcy again, where Alchemy Workshops produced too many potions, and no one bought them?

No wonder, no wonder…

no wonder Inega II had so few allies during that time, as if utterly unsupported.

Because he had indeed, disastrously let down those who supported him.

At this thought, the young man almost forgot to breathe.

And the prince’s words continued.

“It’s the unrestrained development of technology without restrictions that causes turmoil!

The Empire still controls the technology of Inscription Intelligence but dares not to use it recklessly.

Because once it’s used, what will those unemployed do?

What about those groups that retain the capacity to produce?

Do we really let intelligence replace everything?

Then the Empire, caught in turmoil, wouldn’t it just be a target surrounded by other nations, a goal for other powers?”

“Can you understand now?

Mere technology cannot solve the difficult problems The Empire will face—in fact, the better the technology, the bigger the problem, and the disaster we will face…

will be even more terrifying!”

Taking a deep breath, Ian remained silent, listening to issues that seemed entirely unlike those a “The Empire” or rather, a “normal civilization” would face.

Michael seemed to think that Ian knew the secrets of the alchemy fields, but in fact, he didn’t know them.

Ian fell into deep thought, and a crystal-clear concept emerged in his mind.

—Terra’s civilization is a remnant of a past epoch’s civilization…

It was never a normal civilization to begin with.

It’s a post-apocalyptic civilization with legacies, nourished by those legacies, yet also bound by them…

A relic of an interstellar civilization.

Watching the deep-in-thought young man, Michael slowly rose to his feet, knowing Ian completely understood what he was saying, “I must say, chatting with you is indeed very delightful; you always seem to grasp my meaning, no wonder everyone holds you in such high regard.”

“I understand,” Ian suddenly said, “You feel that The Former Emperor’s failure is because the ordinary people he tried to help simply couldn’t help him.”

Ian was beginning to comprehend Michael’s line of thought.

—Indeed, in Terra, ordinary people who are not Sublimators are powerless.

Even a hundred million, a thousand million, a billion, ten billion, a hundred billion of them couldn’t kill a Second Energy Level individual.

Simply put, a Second Energy Level can fly at subsonic speeds and has an unbelievably tough body.

Unless one uses the Alchemical Cannon and other high-technology weapons, an impractically expensive and countless amount of resources would have to be spent…

However, in reality, they are unable to operate them, and if a Second Energy Level also possesses an Armor Suit or Aether Armament, everything would be reversed again.

Even if they could operate them, the Third Energy Level truly transcends the ordinary; the existence of a Heart Light Body is unsolvable…

not to mention a Fourth Energy Level that could destroy a nation.

Add to that Inscription Intelligence…

Sublimators don’t even need ordinary people for ‘production’ anymore.

Whether it’s farming, Alchemical Potions, or even more industrial production, at most there would only need to be a handful of technicians to troubleshoot some mechanical issues; the rest, intelligence systems could likely handle.

Just like when I was an engineer myself—I didn’t truly have to work most of the time, as self-repairing engineering machines were enough to handle most low-end issues; my job was to deal with rarer, more difficult incidents or to resolve issues with the repair robots themselves.

So here comes the question.

What is the purpose of the existence of ordinary people?

Nobles and the Sublimator class encompass all ‘knowledge owners’; their brains are smarter than ordinary people, their thought processes quicker, and they can even visually observe the frequency of light waves and directly manipulate nanoscale structures with Origin Quality.

They themselves are a complete set of production equipment; they are a technology tree in and of themselves.

Ian was confident that at the Third Energy Level, he could produce a power engine from his previous life with bare hands, or the pre-epoch power furnace at Redwood Base.

Of course, this would be with the help of a Silver Chip, but a Fourth Energy Level powerhouse, given a blueprint, could probably also achieve that.

Given a blueprint, a Fifth Energy Level powerhouse could probably handcraft a spaceship.

Alone, they could replace a manufacturing system of tens of millions, or even more—terrifying indeed.

If we throw in a complete suite of artificial intelligence systems…

Alright.

Let’s circle back to the question.

When Sublimators can accomplish such implausible feats…

What should ordinary people do?