Chapter 791 — Faintly Emerging

In the fountain garden square before the main gate, a crisp, tinkling sound rang out from time to time as Rebecca, flushed with excitement, rode her "new toy" round and round the flowerbeds in circles, while the helpless attendants could only stand at a distance or trail along as best they could, ready at any moment to pick up the princess from where she had fallen.

Compared with the beginning, though, Rebecca was plainly much more skilled now—at the very least, she no longer plunged headlong into the flowerbeds.

Behind the floor-to-ceiling window of the study, Gao Yang silently withdrew his gaze from the square.

"Two-wheeled vehicles, eh... the Typhonians really have cobbled together something interesting," Amber's voice came from behind him. "A scholar-adviser in the administration hall ran an assessment. This seemingly simple conveyance has enormous potential value—it's nimble, convenient, and cheap to produce. Any ordinary person with sound limbs can master it after a short period of learning, and so long as the roads are reasonably flat, it can be used. The threshold for popularizing it is even lower than that of arcane devices... it's a fine thing."

Gao Cen Shiche did not speak.

What was going through his mind was something no outsider could know.

Though its form did not look entirely identical to the "bicycle" in his memory, the principle and general structure of the thing differed little from what he was familiar with—only... he had not yet had the chance to spread it throughout Cecil before the Typhonians had already gone ahead of him.

Seeing that Gao Cen Shiche did not open his mouth, Amber could not help saying, "What? Feeling uneasy that the Typhonians are ahead in 'technological innovation'?"

"Of course not," Gao Yang shook his head. "Honestly, even in the Ansu era the Typhonians were always ahead in the realm of technology; we only pulled ahead for a few years on the strength of arcane technology. And judging by the actual circumstances, it was inevitable that the Typhonians would produce this nimble, convenient conveyance before us..."

"Oh? How do you figure that?"

"They began their road renovation and leveling projects earlier than we did. While Ansu was still busy with civil strife, Typhon already had broad, smooth new-style roads between its towns and villages. Even if we work at full capacity now, we can only guarantee that the roads between the major cities and principal towns meet the new standard," Gao Yang turned his head. "In the end, a new thing is not born at the clap of a hand. Without the support of circumstances, no new thing suited to those circumstances will appear.

"What concerns me more than all this is when the prototype of this 'two-wheeler' first appeared. Its current degree of completion is quite high, so it can't be something that suddenly cropped up just recently, can it..."

Amber blinked and swiftly recalled the relevant records. "...There was indeed an earlier 'prototype.' Over a decade ago, Typhonian craftsmen built a wooden pedal-powered cart, but few paid it any attention at the time—it was merely regarded as some novel toy. Later, craftsmen made several improvements to it, yet still not many took notice. It was not until half a year ago, when the number of factories in the Aldnan region surged, that everything changed: great numbers of workers needed to travel to the factories for work, and many people connected with the factories needed to move about constantly. More factories, more workers, and workers' residential districts ever farther from the city center—and then the 'two-wheeler,' which few had ever cared about, was noticed by a few sharp-eyed merchants.

"According to materials sent by the 'Trajectory' intelligence line, this conveyance is currently spreading rapidly among Aldnan's middle-class citizens—mainly steady-income skilled workers, foremen, small and mid-sized lawyers, and respectable business people. As for the grassroots workers, they cannot yet afford the price of a two-wheeler. But several Typhonian nobles have launched a 'Two-Wheeler Welfare Plan,' calling on factories to fund the purchase of cheaper versions of the two-wheeler and lend them to workers; once a worker has worked in a factory for a certain number of years, he may 'freely' own the vehicle. The plan has met with a broad response and should soon be realized—factory owners and workers alike welcome it, each feeling they have gained a great advantage."

"...Factory owners always recover their costs from the workers, and the workers feel their travel burden lightened. In the end, capital always spurs the ingenuity of capitalists," Gao Yang thought for a moment, then said with a light laugh. "But be that as it may, the thing itself is genuinely good, and we can use it too... Road conditions across most of the Southern Region have already improved greatly; this two-wheeler can serve a purpose, and its technical difficulty is not high—the factories over there can start copying it."

At this point he stopped and sank into brief thought.

Arcane machinery and factory production—their impact on a society is not singular or one-sided. Industrialization is a chain reaction: once its source begins to turn, every link in society connected to it inevitably begins to change.

Factories need ordinary people as workers, and the role of ordinary people in the functioning of society is magnified. Then, whether Typhon's upper classes are willing or not, they will bring ordinary people into their field of vision—even if only as cogs and purses.

The two-wheeler built specifically for ordinary people is only a beginning—it represents not merely a few clever Typhonian merchants discovering a new business opportunity, but a change in the thinking of some portion of Typhon's upper strata who command knowledge and the means of production.

And once such a change occurs, their capacity to make use of arcane technology will inevitably rise swiftly. To Gao Yang, this is pressure—and yet it is also what he hopes to see.

Once again he fell into that conflicted state of both apprehension and anticipation.

Amber looked at Gao Yang curiously. "What are you thinking about?"

"The Typhonians... their way of thinking has grown more flexible," Gao Yang said slowly, with a touch of emotion. "But that's a good thing too, in a way."

"...I'm not entirely sure how many complicated things you've turned over in those few seconds, but I remember you saying that others developing isn't a bad thing—we need only ensure we always develop faster than anyone else," Amber recited primly, plucking a line on the spot from her recorded "Sacred Wise Sayings of Gao Yang Cecil," then switched topics. "Since we're on the subject of Typhon... by my reckoning, that Princess Matilda should be arriving soon."

"Matilda Augustus..." Gao Yang pressed a finger to his chin, musing. "According to intelligence from Ma Qi and Philip, that princess pays very close attention to arcane technology. Though I can't rule out that this is a deliberate pose on her part, she does genuinely understand a fair amount of rather specialized arcane knowledge."

Amber glanced at Gao Cen. "Are you worried she'll see something in Cecil's arcane technology and thereby compromise the concealment of 'Number Twenty-Five'?"

"That's not it. 'Number Twenty-Five' has always been cautious—the technology he releases is all modified variants, and he has prepared very complete 'research and development evidence' besides; there's nothing to arouse suspicion there," Gao Yang shook his head. "I'm merely curious whether that Typhonian princess's interest in arcane technology is simply a way of displaying some attitude of the Typhon royal house... or whether it truly is her personal preference. If it's the latter... I'd be glad to cultivate good relations with her, and then, through her hands, deliver certain 'gifts' meant for Typhon in a more natural and more reasonable manner..."