Above the mage!

Chapter 538 Ethernet (Part 2)
After confirming Ibrahimovic's abilities, Gao De was satisfied.

While Eevee's offensive capabilities are weak, its unique Astral ability is a rare and precious treasure.

After all, there are always ways to supplement offensive methods, and he himself is already extremely outstanding in terms of offensive capabilities.

However, abilities like Astral Stealth and Astral Blink are things you might never encounter again in your lifetime if you miss out on Astral Beast.

Thinking of this, Gao De secretly rejoiced that he had decisively placed the Iocat eggs on the branches of the Yugathira tree.

While the Ice Fox was a good match for him, the Star Fox was even rarer and had greater potential.

Just then, a long and stirring cry rang out from high above.

Jue~~~
That was the unique cry of a falcon, sharp yet not piercing, with a distinctive penetrating power.

Gao De was already very familiar with this, and he immediately recognized the sound as coming from Sunafa's magical falcon, Azure Sky.

Sure enough, the next moment, a silver-white falcon appeared at the window.

Its claws gripped the window frame tightly, and it looked at Gao De with sharp but friendly eyes.

A neatly rolled-up piece of parchment was tied to Canglan's right paw.

The paper roll was tightly bound with thin hemp rope.

Gao De smiled and stood up, tossing a gem-like berry that Eevee hadn't finished eating to Cang Lan.

The latter caught it precisely in one bite, nodding its head slightly as if to express its gratitude.

Then it stood obediently on the windowsill, looking at Gao De, waiting for him to take down the parchment.

Gao De reached out and untied the hemp rope, unfolding the parchment.

The paper was covered with tiny, neatly written characters, clearly the work of Sunafa.

The content concerns Phoenix's political affairs, seeking Gaode's opinion, with the majority of the content related to the livestock office that Gaode is preparing to establish.

The letter mentioned that after several days of preparation, the framework of the Livestock Office has been basically completed.

Quentin accepted Sunifa's invitation and agreed to serve as the director of the Livestock Office.

Next, the responsibilities of the animal husbandry office need to be defined, staffing needs need to be allocated, and standards for personnel selection need to be established. Many of these details require Gaode to finalize the decisions.

After reading the contents of the parchment, Gao De paced back and forth in the room, deep in thought.

About half an hour later, he roughly sorted out his thoughts.

So, Gao De casually picked up a piece of parchment of the same size from the table and wrote a reply that was almost twice as long in the same way—this was his area of ​​expertise.

If he weren't worried that writing it too small would make it difficult for Sunefa to read, he could have doubled the number of words and shown off his skills.

After writing it down, Gao De carefully checked it to make sure nothing was missing before rolling up the parchment, tying it back with hemp rope, and attaching it to Cang Lan's right claw.

He gently patted Cang Lan's head: "You've worked hard."

As if it understood, Canglan let out another long cry of "Li~~~".

Its wings flapped slightly twice, then it leaped into the air, its silvery-white figure circling once in the sky, as if bidding farewell to Gaode.

Then it sped off towards Phoenix, quickly becoming a tiny dot of light and disappearing into the distant horizon.

Even in the extraordinary world, he still had to use a magic falcon to cosplay as a carrier pigeon and watch Cang Lan gradually disappear from his sight. Gao De couldn't help but complain to himself.

Although Cang Lan's flight speed was already very fast, far surpassing the carrier pigeons of his previous life, it was still too inefficient compared to communication software.

In my past life, with just a tap of my finger, a message could be instantly transmitted from one end of the earth to the other.

Nowadays, even for urgent matters, it can take one or two hours to receive a response.

This primitive communication method has always been a point of criticism for Gaode Maps.

Such low communication efficiency means that after the city of Vallar Bay is built, the two places will be hundreds of miles apart, and information transmission will be delayed, causing great inconvenience to management and development.

In the event of war or disaster, by the time news reaches Phoenix and instructions are relayed back to Vallar Bay, the best opportunity to respond may have already been missed.

However, there are spells that can achieve "long-distance instant communication".

That is, the third-circle energy manipulation spell [Short Message].

However, the spell is limited, just like its name suggests, and can only convey a very short message (no more than twenty-five words).

Not to mention the casting threshold; at least a third-level mage is required to cast it.

Information exchange between two cities cannot be clearly conveyed in a mere twenty-five words.

While this can be somewhat mitigated by casting spells in succession, it is still quite inconvenient.

Putting aside the fact that a single message is split into ten or even dozens of separate transmissions, this kind of intermittent, halting communication is prone to information omissions and misunderstandings. It would be somewhat comical to end up "out of mana" while trying to convey a message.

Especially in times of war, all their precious magical power is used to send messages.
Furthermore, even in daily life, the sorcerer's "magical power" is of greater use, at least in the North.

Using them as communications soldiers is fine once or twice or for a short period of time, but doing it in the long run is a huge waste of resources.

Only powerful nations like the Plantagenet Dynasty and the Holy Empire could afford such extravagance.

Finally, a third-ring mage is considered a mid-level mage, and there aren't many of them in the Northern Territory.

However, the information exchange between the two cities was so frequent that it could not possibly meet the demand.

For example, right now, Sunaf can send a message to Gaode using the [Short Message] spell, but Gaode is only at the second level and cannot reply.

We still need to get his reply through Canglan.

Therefore, Sunafa simply chose to send messages through Canglan as well, to avoid wasting her magic power and ending up with "one-way communication".

"We must find a way to solve this problem," Gao De thought to himself.

Ibrahimovic seemed to sense Gord's troubles, looking at him with puzzled eyes and gently brushing his wrist with his large tail.

Gao De gently scratched Ibu's chin with his fingertips, but his thoughts drifted to faraway places.

The Golden Plantation Dynasty, however, has a way to solve this problem.

However, their methods cannot be replicated in the North at present:

Teleportation array!
The teleportation array can not only transmit massive amounts of information instantly, but also instantly transport people and supplies.

【Teleportation Array】is a rare spell of the fifth-circle spellcasting system. In addition to being able to connect to a teleportation array instantly, it can also create a permanent teleportation array by using the power of the spell.

However, in the North, there is neither the spell recipe for the Teleportation Array nor a fifth-circle mage capable of casting it.

—The highest-ranking mage in the entire North is Sunafar, a fourth-ring mage.

Instant messaging, oh instant messaging, if only the mage world had the internet too.

Gao De thought to himself.

Wait, what?!

In that instant, a flash of inspiration struck him like lightning, and he abruptly stood up straight. He finally realized what he had overlooked!
It's that ethereal spider we encountered in the spirit world!

The Ether Spider, regarded as a messenger of the spirit world, had previously offered to help God quickly transmit various messages through its spiritual fiber network in exchange for astral energy during their communication.

However, Gaode (the map service provider) considers this exchange impractical.

First, he has no need for information transmission in the spirit world; second, he cannot afford the energy required for that spirit world.

But who says that etheric spiders can only transmit information in the spirit world?

Collaborating with the Ether Spider doesn't necessarily require paying for spiritual energy!
Compared to spiritual energy, the etheric spider craves a large amount of fresh information, which can promote its growth and give it spiritual satisfaction.

The reason it demands spiritual energy from other spiritual beings is because that's all they have.

But he's different.
In an instant, Gao De connected all his thoughts in his mind.

The more I thought about it, the more feasible it seemed, and the more excited I became, my breathing became rapid.

His idea is very bold, but if it comes to fruition, it will bring about a revolutionary change to Phoenix.

Gao De remembered that the last time he used [Whispers of the Spirit Realm], the charge progress was already 55/60.

Now, another half month has passed, and the new uses of [Whispers of the Spirit Realm/Spying] have been prepared.

However, Gaode Maps was not in a hurry.

Because to realize his vision, he needed one more crucial element.

That item is still in Phoenix, but Cang Lan has already left and there's no time to call it back.

Gao De was excited and eager at this moment; he couldn't wait for Cang Lan to arrive in Phoenix before returning.

He immediately pushed open the door, found Elder Guyn, and asked him to send someone to Phoenix right away.

Seeing Gao De's anxious expression, Elder Gain quickly stood up to inquire. After listening to Gao De's needs, he did not hesitate at all and personally stepped forward.

He returned from Phoenix the next day.

“My king, here is what you requested.” Elder Gain carefully handed a small ice crystal box to God.

Gaode took it and opened it.

What comes into view is a delicate and crystal clear multifaceted crystal, with starlight flowing inside and radiating a soft glow.

Heart of the North!
These are the necessary items to realize his vision.

Having obtained what he needed, Gao De could no longer contain his excitement and went to the canopy of the Yoggathirra tree, placing his palm against the trunk of the Yoggathirra tree.

Half a month later, he activated [Whispers of the Spirit Realm] once again.

"Find the Ether Spider." Gaudí formulated his needs into precise instructions and conveyed them to Yggdrasil.

The spirit world is an extremely large plane, and trying to locate a specific target in such a vast plane is like finding a needle in a haystack.

However, the Ether Spider is an extremely special creature from the spirit world.

As a messenger from the spirit world, it unfolds its own network of spiritual vein fibers.

This vast network of spiritual vein fibers, covering large areas of the spirit world, is itself the most precise positioning aid.

Once you can touch any node of the fiber web, you can follow the threads to find its main body.

The moment the command was transmitted, the ring of soulfire patterns on the trunk of the Yugathira tree, representing the link to the spirit world, suddenly lit up.

The pale blue light patterns, like living vines, climbed up the tree trunk, intertwining with the silvery-white astral runes, and slowly enveloped Gao De's consciousness as they flickered.

It led Gaode into the spirit world, into this peculiar realm where good and evil are blurred.

Then, in the vast spirit world, Yogg-Sarah uttered an indescribable whisper.

It didn't take up too much time.

Just a few breaths later, a familiar and clear gaze suddenly focused on me.

An ethereal spider woven from spiritual silk appeared in Gaode's "sight," its eight rhomboid compound eyes on its head looking at Gaode with curiosity.

"You want to form a contract with me?"

The information spread.

The Ether Spider, with its extremely keen sense of information, received the search signal sent by Yogg-Sarah and immediately connected to it, confirming that God was looking for it.

In its understanding, Gaode's only purpose in finding it was to sign the previously unfulfilled "spiritual energy in exchange for information transmission" contract.

“That’s right, I do want to sign a contract with you, but the specific terms of the contract need to be changed because I can’t provide the spiritual energy you need,” Gao De replied.

"I only need spirit realm energy. I'm not interested in anything else," the Ether Spider replied mechanically, the light in its compound eyes dimming slightly.

Clearly, it showed little interest in Gaode's proposal to "adjust the contract".

Throughout its long life, many spirit beings have tried to trade with it in lieu of spirit energy, but in the end, those things proved to be worthless to it and could not arouse its interest.

Information and energy are ingrained in its instincts.

“No, you’ll definitely be interested in what I’m about to offer.” Gao De remained calm, his tone filled with unwavering confidence.

"Interesting and suspicious." The Ether Spider's consciousness paused for a rare moment, and the light from its eight compound eyes began to flicker irregularly.

Gaode didn't keep you in suspense, because the Ether Spider is different from humans. Although it has an extremely strong ability to process information and is a super multi-threaded creature that has never been seen before, its thoughts are exceptionally pure.

Just say what you need to say. If it's okay, it's okay; if it's not okay, it's not okay. It won't change because of anything else.

“What you really need is not spiritual energy, but a sufficient amount of fresh information. This is your nourishment and will promote your growth,” Gao De said slowly.

"Fresh information. Definitely nourishing."

Its spiritual fiber network does indeed require spiritual energy to weave, but spiritual energy is only used for weaving and maintaining the spiritual fiber network.

The reason why the Ether Spider expends so much effort to weave and maintain the vesicle fiber web is not because it enjoys weaving webs, but because it needs to use this web to capture a large amount of fresh information that it likes.

This is the essence.

Therefore, Gao De's statement is absolutely correct.

"I can provide you with a large amount of fresh, frequent information that you have never seen before in exchange for your help in delivering my message."

"What do you think of this cooperation agreement?" Gaode revealed his true intentions.

"Really? How can we cooperate?" A rare hint of emotion finally appeared in Ether Spider's mechanical voice.

Clearly, it was moved.

Gao De was overjoyed, knowing he had reached a crucial step. Whether the plan would ultimately succeed remained to be seen.
"It's not complicated. You just need to cooperate with me to try and establish a Northern Ethernet network."

(End of this chapter)