Douglas looked at the people around him and found that they were either members of the Supreme Council or his own students—there was nothing to be secretive about—so he smiled and said, "Oh, a comprehensive plan? You've been thinking about this for quite some time, Lucian?"
He had blazed a trail from nothing to establish the Magic Parliament, and the theoretical system he had built himself influenced generation after generation of mages. Even popes, pontiffs, clergy, vampires, and other adversaries—whether in intelligence or wisdom, he was among the top three in the entire world. So even though he didn't know Lucian's "nature" as well as the Storm Lord did, he could roughly guess that Lucian's actions concealed his own objectives.
Lucian had already developed quite a thick skin by now, and he didn't mind that the two Grand Archanists had seen through some of his little schemes. With a faint smile, he said, "First, regarding the matter of satellite communication. Based on data from Your Excellency the Chairman's past papers, I've calculated that to establish a communication network covering the entire continent and oceans, there are two approaches. One is artificial planets in orbital planes that cover the northern lands and the Southern Ice Sea above the Endless Ocean—at least two would be needed. The other approach is synchronous orbit planets above the equator..."
Everyone present was an Archanist with deep research in the field of celestial bodies, so Lucian didn't go into great detail, merely outlining his general line of thinking.
"The best approach would be to combine both, and to ensure communication quality, the number should far exceed the minimum requirements. Of course, given that artificial planet materials are expensive and spatial jumps consume enormous energy, we can only proceed step by step with a long-term plan. I suggest naming it the 'Constellation Genesis Project'—a plan to use artificial planets orbiting the world to form different constellations."
"Meanwhile, we should establish a company that charges each mage using the communication planets a fee to offset the costs of crafting and 'launching' them. Specific communication-type alchemical items must either be purchased from the company or crafted by the user after paying a patent licensing fee."
Fernando was an authority in the field of electromagnetism. After listening, he frowned slightly and said, "This is no different in essence from Chairman Douglas's earlier concerns. When these artificial planets carry out continent-wide communication, they require complete or even higher-standard Electromagnetic Transmission spells to ensure signal clarity. This means the users would be limited to Fifth Circle and above mages, representing only a tiny fraction of the entire mage population. Very few lower and middle-tier mages have the financial means to use them."
"So the pricing can be set appropriately high, and some less critical communication planets can be opened up to wealthy nobles. They who need a luxurious lifestyle should quite like such products and have sufficient financial means to bear the cost." Lucian didn't reveal the subsequent "Magic Base Station" plan—better to wait until the communication satellites reached a certain scale before bringing it up.
Satellites in the sky might be hard to hit, but base stations on the ground were another matter entirely. He'd wait until the nobles grew fond of this convenient mode of communication—then they would voluntarily maintain the "Magic Base Stations."
Lucian continued, "As for the communication needs of lower and middle-tier mages, I've already simplified my teacher's Electromagnetic Transmission spell to create a new Second Circle spell called 'Electromagnetic Document Transmission.' Although it has limited range and can't conduct direct voice calls—it can only transmit documents like the transmission array inside a tower—it's sufficient for lower and middle-tier mages to communicate."
The Electromagnetic Document Transmission was essentially a wireless telegraph. Walkie-talkies with their very short range, while possessing a minor telepathic link, didn't hold much value and could only serve as substitutes in special environments, so Lucian hadn't yet spent time creating that particular spell.
"A Second Circle spell—most nobles with titles, territories, and estates can use it," Norman said with a light nod, clearly recognizing the potential for this spell and its alchemical items to become widespread.
"This was always intended to be one of the items for mass promotion." Unconsciously, Lucian had picked up Arthur's commercial manner of speaking. "Also, I drew inspiration from recent electrical wire installations. The reason my teacher's Electromagnetic Transmission spell has such high requirements is that it propagates electromagnetic waves directly through the air, which easily encounters all manner of complex environments and terrain. The only way to compensate for signal loss is to increase the transmission strength and upgrade the signal filtering and amplification magic circles."
"Using communication planets as relay stations is one alternative approach. Fixing the electromagnetic wave transmission channel is another. We can lay dedicated lines that channel electromagnetic waves, just like electrical wires, confining the waves within the lines. The lines can be routed to avoid complex terrain, and at junction points, we can equip signal filtering and relay formations."
"If we could run lines to every city, every estate, every house, this could become an alchemical product accessible to the common citizenry. The trouble is the enormous upfront investment and the ease with which the Church could sabotage it."
Douglas curled the fingers of his right hand: "To achieve your goal, just the laying of lines and wires alone is a long-term plan—one that would need at least a decade to show initial results within the Holm Kingdom, let alone Briana and the countries across the Storm Straits."
"But over such a long period, given our rate of development and the changing inclinations of the nobility, we should be able to completely suppress the Church's influence within the Holm Kingdom. In that case, perhaps after ten years, the picture you've outlined could be roughly realized in prosperous places like Lontas and Pfeffers County—the image of an ordinary person being able to communicate with distant friends through alchemical items."
Then he smiled warmly: "Your plan is very well-layered. The artificial communication planets target Fifth Circle and above mages, great nobles, and major merchants. The Electromagnetic Document Transmission targets lower and middle-tier mages, lesser nobles, and wealthy merchants. The wired communication plan targets magic apprentices, impoverished nobles, and ordinary citizens—covering virtually every social class."
"In fact, the final wired plan can be further divided into two tiers: one for direct voice communication through the lines, and one for document transmission like the Electromagnetic Document Transmission, which has lower requirements for the terminal magic circles. Moreover, we can initially just set up dedicated service centers in different districts of cities, so that those who need it can come to us. This way, we don't need to reach most households before starting the plan." Lucian spoke eloquently, as though he were planning the future magical world based on images of Earth in his mind.
It gave him a thrill—the pleasure of changing the world and seeing it develop under his control.
"Excellent. Once magic and alchemical products become widespread among the vast majority of common people, the Church's foundation of faith will face unprecedentedly serious challenges. Yes, we need to guard against a backlash." Douglas nodded with satisfaction.