Chapter 594: Old Friends and Small Transformation Goals

After speaking with several Intermediate Mages who were nearing Advanced Rank and simultaneously held real power and connections, Xia Duo had a more accurate and realistic grasp of the transformation plan.

Therefore, when meeting with Leonard, Xia Duo acted more like a meeting between old friends; Leonard was not much older than him, and due to Xia Duo having spent several extra years in the Projection Plane—

—combined with the complex and varied information of modern life on Earth, Xia Duo was, at this moment, older than Leonard in both psychological and physiological age.

Furthermore, with the vast disparity in status and power between the two at this moment, Leonard's "vote" was easily secured under Xia Duo's deliberate show of closeness.

……

Time quickly reached the next morning, which was the time for the collective meeting Xia Duo had notified everyone about in advance.

On this day, the Apprentices on the Public Level suddenly discovered that the Mages, who were usually hard to see, had all appeared today, and they were all heading to the same place.

The news spread almost immediately.

On the other side, after Xia Duo had seen the Pegasus with several Mages from the Progress Society in the Arcane Garden, he could hear Apprentices whispering to each other from time to time on the way to the Public Level.

He knew that someone must have arrived early; it was truly rare. Mages might be on time or might be late, but arriving early was very uncommon. It seemed everyone was very concerned about this transformation of the Tower of Time!

Arriving at the large conference room, Xia Duo glanced over; the room was clearly stratified, with Primary Mages basically sitting around the Intermediate Mages, the only exception being the members of the Progress Society.

Currently, there were no Intermediate Mages in the Progress Society; most were New Mages who were the youngest and had the least seniority. Besides them, there were the more numerous Apprentices who had not yet become Official Mages, though they were not qualified to attend this meeting.

Even though the focus of this meeting's discussion was the Apprentices!

After entering, Xia Duo nodded and greeted the Mages he was familiar with one by one, then naturally walked to the main seat, stood the 【Savier Scepter】—which Niya had previously passed to him through Aiboke to prove his status as Agent—beside the seat, and only then sat down.

In an instant, he felt the voices in the conference room quiet down a bit. For this meeting, he had rarely put away his 【Pioneer Scepter】, just for this moment, to use the more symbolic and authoritative 【Savier Scepter】 to increase his "persuasiveness."

Xia Duo and those from the Progress Society were likely the last to arrive. He also saw Sanduer in the conference room; although they had not met many times, he still recognized him.

Especially last time, when Xia Duo became Niya's Agent, he had stood up to question it, which left a deep impression on Xia Duo.

This guy, in the end, did not dare to simply not show up.

……

Before long, the last Official Mage came over looking disheveled; it was Xiaolei. This guy usually liked to act independently, specialized in tinkering with strange and bizarre things, and would cause a spell accident from time to time.

Because of Aideliqi, there had been at least four or five incidents that Xia Duo knew of, and there were probably more he didn't know about. Today, he didn't know what he had messed up again, as there was strange facial hair appearing on his face.

Xia Duo was truly worried that he would play himself to death one day. He checked the time; it was still a little bit before the notified meeting time, so he could be considered to have arrived just in time.

*Cough*—

Xia Duo coughed lightly. The sound was not loud, but it was very clear in this relatively quiet conference room, instantly attracting everyone's attention, including those who were still whispering.

"Members of the Tower of Time! You all should have heard some rumors to some extent. Now I want to tell you—the news is true, the Tower of Time will begin its transformation!"

Speaking to this point, Xia Duo subconsciously paused, wanting to see the crowd's reaction. Some were enlightened, some were bewildered, but most were expressionless, just quietly looking at Xia Duo.

Even though he knew there wasn't a single High Mage among these people, Xia Duo still felt a trace of pressure. This was likely the so-called mass base; the more he valued it, the more pressure he felt.

If he were a completely self-centered person, he naturally wouldn't have any pressure and would just act according to his own will, but he would also have to bear all the consequences himself.

Xia Duo certainly needed to bear the consequences too, but he chose a collective decision-making process led by himself, considering everyone's reactions as much as possible. The so-called consequences would at most be a failed decision, and he would just try again next time.

There would be no backlash from a dictator against an individual, or rather, if there were, the system helped him share it.

Compared to one-man dictatorship, Xia Duo's approach might be inferior in efficiency, but in all other aspects—such as the soundness of decisions, the breadth of thinking, the potential for future development, etc. —it would be superior to one-man dictatorship.

Furthermore, collective decision-making led by him did not diminish his majesty.

Facing a group of expressionless Spellcasters, while Xia Duo felt pressure, he also felt responsibility. These silent gazes were clearly the worries about an uncertain future from Mages who were usually high and mighty in front of ordinary people.

The purpose of the transformation was to make the Tower of Time rapidly grow strong, catch up with other Mage Towers in Netheril, and prepare for the potential total war in the future.

Whether from a short-term or long-term perspective, the personal interests of these Mages seemed to be affected, but from another angle, they might become the founders of the future magical civilization.

What interest or glory could compare to this!

Xia Duo was full of confidence in this.

Inside the conference room, he continued:

"Everyone, the Inner Land has already stirred up a wave of transformation. If we fall behind, it will surely be even more difficult in the future. After joint discussions between myself, Tower Master Niya, Mage Aiboke, and several Intermediate Mages, it has been decided to transform the Tower of Time.

"The transformation will be temporarily divided into three stages, implemented step by step. Currently, only the first stage is about to be carried out. Please stay tuned. I will also earnestly listen to your suggestions and opinions; these suggestions and opinions will be taken into account during the future transformation process."

Scanning everyone present again, Xia Duo found that the Mages who were expressionless just a moment ago now had much softer expressions on their faces. After all, Xia Duo had given them respect.

But Xia Duo knew that verbal respect alone could not solve the problem; it still depended on the actual implementation of the transformation plan. If he could not satisfy them, the subsequent stages would largely be unable to proceed.

However, Xia Duo did not worry much. Once the plan started, it would not be up to them.

"Now I will announce several goals for the first stage of the Tower of Time's transformation—

"First, incorporate all Apprentices into the official sequence of the Tower of Time and establish a formal Apprentice Management Office;

"Second, adjust the Library permissions, reducing or waiving borrowing permissions and fees for some books regarding the nature of the Magic Net and spell Principles, including but not limited to Apprentices;

"Third, adjust Private Research Labs, improve existing material allocation rules, and establish a formal Audit Department;

"Fourth, organize formal exchange meetings within the Tower of Time and form regulations, including but not limited to Apprentices.

"The above four points are the small goals for the first stage of the Tower of Time's transformation. If you have any questions, you can ask me now. Within the scope of what I can answer, I will try my best to answer."

After finishing, Xia Duo calmly leaned back against the back of his chair, waiting for the first questioner to stand up.