Chapter 2311: Competition Preparation

Along with the registration notice came the holiday notice; from now until the Snow Melting Recruitment, everyone can focus on the Locomotive Design Competition.

Of course, those who do not wish to participate can also arrange their own study plans.

After the message finished broadcasting, the Tower of Time, Tower One, and even the entire Floating City fell into heated discussion; new Mages in twos and threes, as well as clusters of Apprentices, discussed while questioning the Tower Spirit and hurrying toward Hengchun Square.

"What do you guys think this thing the Tower Spirit called a 'steam locomotive' actually is?"

"How would I know? Maybe it's a vehicle similar to a carriage, using steam as power?"

"Eh? Now that you mention it, I recall something."

"What is it?"

"A while back, I ran into Boli at the Public Level. We chatted for a bit, and he seemed to mention the topic of steam engines or something, even saying it was some kind of remarkable invention."

"Steam engine?"

"That seems to be what the Tower Spirit said—a vehicle powered by a steam engine."

Just then, the elevator arrived, and the group rushed in, but just as the elevator doors were closing, a few more people squeezed in, also chatting about the Locomotive Design Competition—

"The Tower Spirit said the winner of this competition can obtain a new laboratory in the Floating City. If an Apprentice wins, could they actually get it too?"

"No way, right? Apprentices are still in the learning stage; what would they use a laboratory for! Besides, they aren't necessarily going to become Official Mages. If they keep getting held back a grade, would that laboratory just stay empty forever?"

"That's hard to say. An Apprentice who could win a new laboratory might also get a quota for the Inheritance Ritual! Then they'd easily surpass us!"

Once this was said, the two groups of new Mages chatting in the elevator fell silent, until the elevator doors opened again, and someone said weakly:

"Then does that mean we must participate in this Locomotive Design Competition?"

"Of course we have to participate! Forget the Floating City's new laboratory; is there any other prize you can pat your chest and say you don't care about! Participate! We must participate!"

"And we have to outperform those Apprentices, otherwise we teachers will have no face left!"

"Stop talking, hurry to Hengchun Square! If we go late, we might not even see the shadow of a steam locomotive, let alone touch or use one!"

Consequently, the group quickened their pace in unison; those with poorer physical constitutions even used Lightness Spells to assist their movement, just so they wouldn't fall too far behind the others.

The Tower of Time has two elevators, and each trip has limited capacity; those who left first might not be too anxious, but those who left later had all sorts of tricks, a scene of everyone showing their own unique skills.

Not to mention Tower One, where there were also quite a few people, though mostly Apprentices, with the only new Mages being teachers from the Academic Affairs Office.

As for the Floating City side, they didn't need to exit a Mage Tower, gaining a slight geographical advantage, but most Tower of Time members currently in the Floating City were Magic Technicians or members of laboratories who had taken on technician tasks.

Although they were curious about what on earth a steam locomotive was, they still had to attend to the tasks at hand; it wasn't as if they could just stop whenever they pleased.

All in all, by the time this group arrived at Hengchun Square, it was about the time the people from Tower One and the Tower of Time arrived as well.

At this moment, Boli, Pide, and Xiluo, who were waiting in the center of the square for others to come and consult, suddenly felt a wave of panic; people were everywhere, surging toward them like a tide.

Since joining the Tower of Time, Boli had never seen such a scene; if one were to compare it, only the scenes during various festivals and celebrations in the Territory could be likened to it.

"The Tower of Time actually has so many people!"

Xiluo also opened his mouth wide, unable to speak for a long time; before coming to Daxia Territory, he had visited many Mage Towers, the most familiar being the Mage Tower of the Younan Lord back home.

But that place, including servants, had barely a hundred people; as for other Mage Towers, they varied, but none were as exaggerated as what he saw before him.

Moreover, he had just asked Boli; those who could come to participate in the Locomotive Design Competition were at least Apprentices of the Tower of Time, and there was no shortage of Official Mages either.

At a glance, there were at least several thousand people!

Of course, in reality, there weren't several thousand; it only seemed like many people because it was chaotic and lacked order. Although Boli was a member of the Tower of Time and also a member of the Progress Society, he wasn't very clear on the specific number of people in the Tower of Time.

He estimated there were at least one or two thousand!

But then he thought, in a moment, these one or two thousand people would all be relying on the three of them to provide answers, and he no longer felt there was any advantage to teaming up with Xiluo.

With so many people asking questions, they would eventually be drained of all the knowledge they had, yet they wouldn't know the true thoughts of others; calculating it this way, they were the ones at a disadvantage!

"Xiluo, oh Xiluo, I hope you still have some new ideas up your sleeve!"

Thinking this, Boli's expression stiffened at a speed visible to the naked eye; the first batch of Tower of Time members to arrive had already surrounded them, and the steam car had been pushed to the outside.

Just then, the Tower Spirit's voice sounded again, and it wasn't a one-on-one notification to individuals like before, but directly echoed over the square—

"Everyone, arrange yourselves in an orderly fashion according to the markings on the ground; no loud noises!"

Appearing along with the voice were marking lines on the square floor; after broadcasting three times, the Tower Spirit lost its presence again, but the marking lines on the ground were real and solid, and they were flickering with bright light.

After entering the Tower of Time, the first thing the members learned was to obey order; now that the Tower Spirit had made arrangements, the crowd naturally wouldn't go against it.

Soon, a circular array with an empty center appeared in the square, along with two perpendicular paths passing through the center that divided the circular array into four sections to facilitate the locomotive demonstration.

As for the center, that was naturally where Boli and the others would explain and answer questions.

……

Just as all the Tower of Time members were in position at Hengchun Square to learn about the steam engine, Xia Duo was still working overtime within the Time Acceleration Zone.

As long as the parameters for each component were determined, and with an Alchemy Array, manufacturing a steam locomotive wasn't difficult, but it would ultimately require some time.

Having just had the Tower Spirit issue the notice, Xia Duo considered that it was somewhat unrealistic for Boli and the others to prepare the steam car for demonstration, so he took the initiative to take on this task.

To him, it was nothing more than programming the relevant parameters into the Alchemy Array and then waiting for some time; during this period, he could continue to think about issues related to the Creation Mythallar, so it wasn't a waste.

……

And on the other side, at the square.

Xiluo's first round of explanation had already ended, and Boli had even used Magic Images to demonstrate the structure of the steam locomotive in a decomposed form; just in this round, quite a few people left the square on the spot.

Seeing this scene, Boli and Pide didn't think much of it, but Xiluo was somewhat disappointed; although he knew that the steam engine he researched had very limited effects compared to Magic, and he also knew the steam car's structure was simple, he still found it hard to accept being slighted like this.