A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 248 The End of Böller

In Jiang Shuzhou's foreseeable long life, Burmer is merely a passerby. He may stop here to appreciate things, but he will never stay long. He is always on the road.

"professor."

It was Katniss; this young woman was the only student who could find Jiang Shuzhou on her own. As for the others?

Jiang Shuzhou felt that they might all be gone.

This is normal, after all, this world is not a friendly world to begin with.

Unless you travel to a safe and stable upper city, death could come at any time.

Not to mention that Jiang Shuzhou's move directly overturned the entire order of Börmer, and no matter where he is, he probably can't escape this war.

"How is the situation?"

Jiang Shuzhou doesn't have many trustworthy people. Although Jess works like a beast of burden during work hours and is indeed an excellent beast of burden, he disappears as soon as he gets off work and can't be found at all.

Katniss is the most reliable. She doesn't have any research topics to study, and there's no way to cultivate here, so she's available 24/7. She's a top-notch ox or horse.

"The war inflicted severe trauma on Böller, affecting 90% of the population. Böller lost nearly a quarter of its population, along with countless wounded."

"And that's not all; Burmer's production and business operations have also been severely disrupted, with the production of many goods coming to a standstill."

Jiang Shuzhou nodded, quite satisfied with Katniss's report.

The previous reports were all filled with a lot of data, but that's not the most crucial point. The most crucial point is that this data was contradictory and seemed impressive, but it was all fake.

This kind of thing might fool a leader who doesn't know much about it, but someone like Jiang Shuzhou, whose calculation ability is comparable to a computer, could see the problem at a glance.

Finally, after cutting off a large number of people, the data became more accurate.

"Alright, Katniss, remember this."

"First, the production of certain non-essential goods, such as weapons, luxury goods, and high-end consumer goods, will be completely halted, and the production lines will be repurposed."

"Secondly, we will immediately complete the inventory of all vacant houses and temporarily use them for medical purposes to treat patients who are easy to treat."

"Finally, it is of utmost importance to ensure that the families and descendants of the victims are properly cared for."

Katniss shuddered upon hearing this.

The first point is standard procedure, the second point is much more intriguing, and the third point is almost explicit.

"But, Professor, we..."

Katniss wanted to say something more.

"I know, but there's a shortage of supplies right now, especially medical supplies, so this is the only way. But you can try to find a way yourself."

"But let me give you one last piece of advice: if you want it all, you'll get nothing done, unless you possess exceptional talent, which I hope you do."

Jiang Shuzhou patted Katniss on the shoulder and left.

Anyway, this place will be handed over sooner or later, and Jiang Shuzhou doesn't mind Katniss doing it herself. As long as it can be kept stable, he'll let Katniss do whatever she wants, treating it as practice.

Now, he's going to the lab to do an experiment.

Management work is too tedious and boring; I feel it's better to do research.

Jiang Shuzhou had been away from the spacious and bright laboratory for a long time.

Even though this thing was extremely standard and ordinary, even quite rudimentary for someone like Jiang Shuzhou, Jiang Shuzhou's mood did improve as he entered the laboratory.

"I've decided. When I get back, I'll buy a copy of 'Making All Lab Equipment from Scratch: Practical Techniques Even Ogres Can Learn.'"

Jiang Shuzhou saw this book by chance. At the time, he didn't think much of it. After all, what's so special about something that doesn't have runes?

Only now do I realize that this was all the wisdom of our predecessors.

It's really tough not having a lab. I don't even need runes, I just want some equipment.

Jiang Shuzhou went into the lab this time to learn the ropes.

What was stolen, of course, was this so-called Gray Blood Curse Master.

This thing was clearly created by alchemists. In Jiang Shuzhou's previous research, this thing had the randomness of the Abyss, but without the terrifying pollution of the Abyss.

This kind of modification technology is exactly what Jiang Shuzhou is pursuing.

Although Jiang Shuzhou could access all the high-level knowledge within the alliance, it is well known that truly advanced knowledge is hidden away.

Take, for example, Jiang Shuzhou's pseudo-human manufacturing technology. This is definitely high-level knowledge. And that improved nutrient solution is something from hundreds of years ago, with 20% more energy content than the nutrient solutions currently on the market.

There are many other examples like this. After all, compared to the public disclosure of magical knowledge, alchemical knowledge is almost never made public due to the enormous interests involved.

In a sense, what alchemists are researching now may have been researched by ancient alchemists long ago, but they were used to keeping their skills hidden, and as a result, the technology was lost to history.

In other words, it was because the mage Roland had a great character that he directly made the method of building floating cities public; otherwise, Roland might be the only one with floating cities now.

There are two types of learning from others: one is pure copying, and the other is borrowing ideas.

Pure copying is absolutely impossible, since the Grayblood Curse is encrypted and very difficult to reverse engineer unless one's skill level is several levels higher.

Almost everyone has this kind of encryption and knows how to use it. Jiang Shuzhou also knows it. In fact, his encryption method is double encryption. His creation, the life template, is encrypted twice, making it even more difficult to crack.

This is also why Jiang Shuzhou doesn't buy other people's creations and cracks.

So far, he has only cracked it twice. One was the Abyss's life template, but that was because they were completely unprepared and gave it to him without hesitation.

The other is the Elf race, which is even more outrageous and cannot be solved. Not only do they need the Elf Mother Tree to produce them, but they also need to maintain a good relationship with the will of nature.

How could this be possible for Jiang Shuzhou?

However, Jiang Shuzhou still drew on his success and created the pseudo-humans, a new race with great development potential.

Now, he wants to learn from it again.

The way the Greyblood Curse spread has always been a mystery to the locals.

However, Jiang Shuzhou's research revealed that this thing is actually caused by contact infection.

Extremely fine matter floats in the air throughout the world. This matter is covered with runes that absorb elements, slowly split, and eventually cause infection.

The substance that carries these runes is black. Once it enters the human body, it slowly multiplies and infects, with the most obvious external symptom being that the blood turns gray.

It's a very skillful technique, but it also has many flaws.

After infection, the gray blood turns the infected into completely irrational monsters, which is clearly not what the creators intended.

After all, the Grey Beasts could indeed become rational through mutation, but for some reason, the Creator did not do so.

This curse relies entirely on the power of the elements, while the host is completely ignored and becomes merely a tool.

This is bad.

As Jiang Shuzhou became engrossed in his research, time passed little by little.

Finally, a month later.

Boom!

The earth is shaking and the mountains are shaking.

An army has arrived here.

Someone answered the call; reinforcements had arrived.