Chapter 2900: Feasibility Consultation, Security Concerns

————It's a bit late, still about an hour to go~~

————

The meeting was scheduled in a formal conference room next to the Covenant Hall at the Northland Alliance Headquarters. As Xia Duo walked there, he contacted Ambassador Tili'ao to ask about the general content of this meeting.

Tili'ao only mentioned the Spirit Thought Network, and Xia Duo understood immediately, but his thoughts on having a standing high-spec Mage team remained undiminished; he just didn't know if there would be a suitable opportunity to bring it up later.

From the lounge to the meeting location, everything was within the Alliance Headquarters. Xia Duo soon saw the familiar Covenant Hall; this was where the Alliance Assembly was held and was not used in daily life.

Xia Duo had been to the Covenant Hall several times before, but he had never been to the conference room next to it. Returning this time could be considered filling in a domain he had not touched upon in the past.

It was foreseeable that he would become increasingly familiar with this area of the Alliance Headquarters in the future.

……

Opening the door, in the center of the square conference room was a conference table with a diameter of about three to four meters. Looking from the outside, the table had no legs, as if it were suspended in mid-air.

Seeing this scene, Xia Duo immediately thought of the two conference rooms in the Time-Related Magic Research Laboratory that had this style of table. If nothing went wrong, they should all have been donated to the Northland Alliance by Illefarn.

After a simple greeting, Xia Duo sat in his seat. Although the conference table was circular, the five representatives and Elder Dewen were not sitting very far apart, and because the table was not large, it looked as if they were sitting directly across from Xia Duo.

That was actually relatively confidential content, but considering the help that establishing a Public Computing Resource Pool would be to him, Xia Duo did not mind revealing more.

"Consultant Xia Duo's research seems somewhat like the Psionic Technique of the South. I wonder—"

Just hearing Xia Duo mention Psionic Magic, several representatives' eyes flickered, as if they had grasped the key point. Xia Duo could understand their thoughts; it was nothing more than wanting to obtain a source of the Spirit Thought Network distinct from his.

"As for the use of computing power, because it uses the computing power resources of the virtual thought model constructed by the entire Spirit Thought Network, it cannot be simply charged in tiers based on the user. My suggestion is to charge by duration."

"The virtual thought model of the Spirit Thought Network is an application of this aspect!"

Evereska also had a Psionic School. Xia Duo just mentioned it casually and did not intend to go crazy dissing Psionic Magic there. In fact, he had no prejudice against Psionic Magic itself.

"Moreover, the more people connected, the higher their own Wisdom, and the higher the proportion of shared subconscious, the more powerful this virtual thought model will eventually become. So, you don't need to worry about the problem of having too many people connected."

……

"Representatives, and Elder Dewen, good afternoon."

"Of course, the physical brain also provides a partial carrier function, but that is not the key. Let's not go deep into that; let's continue talking about thought."

"Since we know that the thought of intelligent beings is composed of 【Meta-Thinking】, then if we artificially combine specific Meta-Thinking, can we create some kind of intelligence that approximates an intelligent being?"

"It's my turn."

Several representatives were Mages by background. After hearing Xia Duo's explanation, it was as if a door to a new world had been opened. At this time, Elder Dewen of Evereska interjected:

"In my view, thought is the foundation of conscious activity or even existence. Decomposing consciousness is just individual thought activities that possess specific patterns. I call these thought activities 【Meta-Thinking】."

"In essence, the connected individuals contribute or share a portion of their subconscious, and then this portion of the subconscious forms a more transcendent virtual thought model. Theoretically, there is no upper limit to the number of connected individuals!"

"Consultant Xia Duo, we invited you here this time mainly to conduct some consultation regarding issues related to the Spirit Thought Network. This concerns whether the Alliance will ultimately establish a Public Computing Resource Pool. If it is convenient, please answer as much as you can."

Saiputalisi coughed lightly, then looked at Xia Duo and asked: "Establishing a Public Computing Resource Pool may not be difficult, but whether it can be maintained for a long time is still an unknown. May I ask Consultant Xia Duo, do you have any good suggestions?"

"Doing so can also, to a certain extent, attract higher-level Spellcasters to invest in it. The specific fees and rewards can be determined according to the connection status of the Spirit Thought Network. As long as it is set up properly, it can be self-sustaining without long-term investment from the Alliance, and it can even become a long-term income point for the Alliance."

"No problem. Whatever the representatives want to know, please feel free to ask. As long as I can answer, I will definitely not hide anything."

"Of course it is!"

"The answer is yes, but the relevant research is very limited. The knowledge I currently possess does not allow me to construct intelligence out of thin air, but strengthening some ways of thinking is not difficult."

"Good, then let's start today's consultation with me!"

"Yes, I did gain some inspiration from Psionic Magic, but this is not a Psionic Technique; it is pure Arcane Magic. In addition, I believe the path of Psionic Mages has gone astray, being overly obsessed with self-consciousness while ignoring the foundation of reality."

"In the final analysis, it is still a matter of money."

The conference room fell into silence again. Several representatives pondered for a long time. Saiputalisi from Illefarn tapped the table with his knuckles, his voice attracting the gazes of all the other representatives.

"Although the computing power that different connected individuals can provide per unit of time is different and difficult to quantify, it is basically directly proportional to their magical attainments and the proportion of shared subconscious. Just provide rewards accordingly."

"Consultant Xia Duo, good afternoon."

Although it contains too many idealistic components, it is, after all, an objective fact. There is no need to deny it.

Or rather, they want to try for themselves to master all the technologies related to the Spirit Thought Network by studying Psionic Magic.

"That question—" Xia Duo thought for a moment and answered in more common language, "involves the essence of the Spirit Thought Network. It is not a resonance interconnection in the ordinary sense."

Xia Duo had long considered this question; now he was just stating his existing thoughts: "Those who provide computing power can receive rewards, while those who use computing power need to pay."

Tili'ao glanced at the other representatives and asked the first question of the day: "Consultant Xia Duo previously provided the Mind Link spell to the Alliance. The Alliance has confirmed through actual experiments that it can form a Spirit Thought Network, but past experimental scales have been very small, at most around a hundred people. If a Public Computing Resource Pool is to be established, the number of Spirit Thought Network connections might directly reach tens of thousands. So, can this spell still be applicable? If it is not applicable, are there any improvement plans?"

Anyway, a start had already been made. It would not be difficult for the Northland Alliance to conduct in-depth research; it was nothing more than a matter of time.

"Before explaining the virtual thought model, I must first introduce the thinking mode of intelligent beings. It is not the soul as usually thought, but consciousness. The soul is only the carrier of consciousness and cannot be equated with consciousness."

The first to speak was Tili'ao. Xia Duo's previous suggestion to the Northland Alliance to establish a Public Computing Resource Pool was made to him, and it was Tili'ao who later proposed discussing it with the representatives at the Alliance meeting.

After Xia Duo finished speaking, the conference room was silent for a few seconds, and then the Comanthar representative Youfunisi asked: "Can you briefly explain the concept of the virtual thought model?"

Now that Tili'ao took the lead in speaking, it could dispel some of Xia Duo's concerns to some extent, and also gave a slightly clearer hint: as long as this meeting went smoothly, it was highly likely that the Alliance would pass the resolution to establish the Public Computing Resource Pool.