Chapter 423: New Signs of Communication

When everything returned to calm, the night had grown deep. Xia Duo sat inside his tent, his thoughts flying far away. His territory residents had him, their lord, to arrange for family reunions, but what about himself? His family on Earth was still somewhere unknown, and his wife in this world was also a great distance away.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo could not help but reveal a bitter smile. No matter how strong a person is, there is always a soft spot in their heart. Having already fulfilled his physiological and safety needs, he was exactly at the point where he needed emotion and a sense of belonging. The reason he worked so hard to create a familiar environment here was precisely for this.

And today, he felt an unprecedented sense of loneliness. Different from the helplessness when he first transmigrated, this was a loneliness detached from his era and detached from time and space, as if he had never belonged here from the very beginning.

Usually, he might be able to use busyness to cover it up, but today, seeing that full moon overhead, it was as if he truly saw the figures of his family on the moon, and his emotions erupted all at once.

Counting the time in the Projection Plane, Xia Duo had been transmigrated for a full six years now, but the imprint of civilization engraved in his bones remained as clear as ever. He knew he could not go back, and from now on, whether he was alone or with countless others, he had to pass on the imprint of civilization.

Suddenly, Xia Duo seemed to feel a sacred sense of mission again. Of course, it could also be a method he used to regulate his emotions, but regardless, he felt it was not bad.

After a moment of reflection, the rationality in Xia Duo gradually regained the upper hand. He returned to being the calm and composed Mage Xia Duo of his daily life, though before going to sleep, he still sent a gesture of care to the only family he had in this world.

……

Seventon, Giles Tower.

Niya had just left the Spell Laboratory. Having been far away in Savile Territory since childhood, she had fallen behind on many foundations. During this period, she had been following her teacher's instructions to make up for her foundations at Giles Tower and to accept the latest Magic Theory.

Returning to her residence, she suddenly received a message sent from the Tower of Time. The note was from Xia Duo, but the content was only one sentence, "Niya, Happy Moon Festival!"

Moon Festival? Niya's eyes went blank, but she quickly reacted; it was already the end of November, and she had unknowingly stayed at Giles Tower for over a month.

With no time to lament the passage of time, for such a relatively novel and unique greeting from Xia Duo, Niya quickly gave a reply—

"Xia Duo, Happy Moon Festival!"

On the other side, receiving the reply, Xia Duo could not help but smile knowingly and dispelled the 【Light】 inside the tent.

……

Of course, before going to sleep, he still had to try to imitate Elf Meditation.

At the same time, he also thought of another problem regarding communication. Take Niya, for example; even though she had become an Arcanist, she still could not send him a message directly from Seventon and had to go through the Mage Tower for relay.

This situation was very much like sending telegrams on Earth; real-time communication was impossible, except that magical communication could transmit text, sound, and even images.

This was still just the distance on the Main Plane. If it were in an Other Plane, how would one maintain communication? Since he knew about the Plane Exploration Array, then undoubtedly plane expansion must also be underway. So, how did those Mage Towers maintain communication with the exploring Mages in the Sub-planes?

Previously, he heard Aiboke say that he had seen news in the Arcane Union's monthly publication about Lord Duolaisen of Hawk Territory inventing a brand-new communication spell.

It was said that the application range of this new type of communication spell was extremely wide, and it was said that the Arcane Union was currently negotiating with him regarding the introduction of this new spell. Who knew what kind of new spell this was! However, Xia Duo also had his own ideas about magical communication, but for now, this idea was still relatively vague. He only faintly felt it could be done this way, but the specific details remained to be researched.

The problem of communication flashed through his mind and was gone. Soon, Xia Duo could not withstand the "hypnotic" effect of Meditation and fell into a deep sleep.

……

The next day was another day full of energy.

The first thing Xia Duo did after waking from his deep sleep was still to try hard to recall the process of Meditation and then record it. Afterward, he could not wait to ask the Tower Spirit if it had searched for a Projection Plane.

This had almost become his daily routine during this period, especially after mid-November. The further it went, the more frequent Xia Duo's inquiries became; he couldn't even eat if he didn't ask three or four times a day.

But in fact, he knew very clearly that if a Projection Plane were truly found, the Tower Spirit would definitely notify him, but he just couldn't help but worry anxiously in his heart.

And after yesterday, today was already December. The entire month of November had no "goods," which directly negated his previous judgment of "one Projection Plane per month."

"Still need an Astral Mage!"

Thinking this, Xia Duo asked about Dewan's recent situation. Upon learning that he had already begun Astral Mage Perception training, Xia Duo could not help but look forward to it; he wondered when he would be able to achieve success! After gnawing on two mooncakes and reading for a while, estimating that the territory residents had already started work, Xia Duo finally came to the Canteen. Of course, he was not here to eat.

In fact, up until now, all his rations were prepared in the Tower of Time. People who possess both a Personal Space and a Dimensional Bag are just that willful.

Of course, the real reason was that the cooking skills of Kuke, the chef hired by the territory, were truly too poor. Perhaps in the eyes of the locals, it was passable, but in Xia Duo's eyes, it was lacking.

During this period, he had not made many attempts at the territory's diet, merely having the idle children boil water and popularizing boiled water.

However, as the food in the Dimensional Bag became less and less, while resupplying at the Tower of Time was certainly possible, the territory had to develop eventually.

Through the attempt with the Moon Festival mooncakes, Xia Duo discovered that Kuke's acceptance of new food was actually quite good, so he wanted to try some more experiments.

Savile Territory had no rice, but there was no shortage of various wheats. Today, he wanted to make steamed buns with white flour.

……

Semi-open-air kitchen.

Xia Duo saw Kuke, who was busy with lunch, along with three resident helpers. The three meals for the residents were quite simple: roasted bread and wild vegetable broth, just these two items.

But to prepare food for hundreds of people, these four people still had to work from morning until night. However, occasionally those children would also help out here, which could be considered a small comfort.

But if they wanted to change the variety of food, they might need to increase the manpower. Of course, this was also in preparation for the future increase in the territory's population.

"Kuke!"

"Ah! Lord!" Kuke hurriedly wiped his hands on his apron and trotted over, "My Lord, what are your orders?"

The others also turned around one after another to bow, calling out "Lord," and then continued their work.

Xia Duo ignored the few resident helpers. He looked at the somewhat nervous Kuke and said with a smile, "Chef Kuke, I came today to try making a new type of food. Come with me!"

As he spoke, he walked to the side of the counter. Just looking at the pitch-black counter that still had traces of meat residue, Xia Duo frowned. With a movement of his consciousness, his bloodline responded, and a constantly churning water ball appeared out of thin air.

Afterward, it quickly spread out, sticking to the counter and vibrating at a high frequency. Before long, the water ball became murky. Xia Duo threw the water ball into the drainage ditch for help and summoned another water ball to clean the counter again.

This was repeated many times, until even the wood grain on the counter was completely revealed, and it even emitted the faint original scent of the wood. Only then did he stop.

"From now on, this place must be cleaned frequently to keep it clean!" Xia Duo turned and instructed Kuke.

"Yes, My Lord!"

Seeming to hear the insincerity in Kuke's tone, Xia Duo added, "I will add a few more helpers for you."

"Yes."

This time it was much more normal.

"Watch carefully how I do it!"

Unlike making mooncakes, which only required verbal instructions—cakes were also very common in Savile Town, though ones that were neatly rounded and filled were almost non-existent—the Principles were fine.

But for making steamed buns, there was no precedent here. Xia Duo prepared to guide them personally, and he also hadn't made such food for a long time, so he was still very much looking forward to it.

(End of chapter)