543: The Summons of Witch Yekaterina
After reading through the contracts, Team Leader Kelt sent a message to Locke: "Both contracts are fine. Whether it is the buyout contract or the revenue-sharing contract, they are both standard."
"You can sign them."
After obtaining the opinion of the local wizard from the Yunze Wetland, Locke finally dared to sign the revenue-sharing contract with Wizard Terrence.
The contracts were signed by both parties.
These contracts cost 30,000 magic stones each; they were created by a Contractor and monitored by the Eye of Truth.
Wizard Terrence smiled and said: "Then, happy cooperation. This is the address of one of our industrial parks in Alsace. If you need to, you can go there to complete the subsequent mass production work of the Hydra."
"After you finish, you just need to provide the Hydra seeds to us."
Terrence took out fifty magic crystal cards from his astral ring and handed them to Locke.
Of course, these seeds were magic plants that had been enchanted and lost their reproductive ability once they reached maturity.
After all, what he had signed with Alsace was not a permanent buyout.
Wizard Terrence stood up, and Locke bowed to him, then watched him leave the Witchs Kitchen.
He had essentially taken on another cross-disciplinary project and directly received fifty magic crystal cards.
As for how much money he would receive in revenue sharing each month over the next two years, that would depend on the operational performance of his subsequent projects.
Gregor watched Locke stand up and hurriedly made way for him. He had been completely confused by the conversation between Locke and Wizard Terrence just now.
After all, things like the Shop Alliance, the two types of transaction methods, and High-Ring Wizards were far too removed from a Wizard Apprentice.
The world of a Wizard Apprentice had not yet reached that level; his world was more focused on the matter of learning.
Locke put the fifty magic crystal cards into his astral ring.
With this, plus the 500,000 from the second-grade project fund, and counting his own 200,000 in savings, he now had 1.2 million magic stones in funds at his disposal.
He was wealthy again!
The main thing was that scientific research was simply too expensive. Such a massive amount of funds, once invested in research, would be burned up as easily as firewood.
It was only because he had a cheat code.
If it were a wizard without a cheat code, they would often find themselves burning through all their funds without having any results to show for it.
Locke said to Gregor: "Let's go back."
Gregor replied: "Very well, Teacher."
As they walked out of the Witchs Kitchen, Locke encountered Wizard Daniel at the Dragon Blood Assembly, and both were taken aback upon seeing each other.
When he was negotiating with Wizard Terrence, Wizard Daniel had just finished his defense. Beside Wizard Daniel was a wizard manager from the Shop Alliance.
Looking at the direction they were heading, it seemed they were also going to the Witchs Kitchen.
Wizard Daniel greeted Locke enthusiastically, saying: "Locke, this is Wizard David Franklin. He is the wizard manager of the [Hanover Weather Customization Studio Alliance]."
Wizard Franklin had not attended Locke's defense meeting earlier, so he did not recognize that Locke had also participated in the project completion report today, and thus only nodded politely to Locke.
He was a Second Ring Wizard, and since he had only come to establish cooperation with Wizard Daniel, he naturally had to maintain a certain air of superiority.
Locke said to Wizard Daniel: "It looks like you had a good harvest today. Did you also secure a cross-disciplinary project?"
Wizard Daniel nodded. "Also? That means you have already finished talking with a wizard manager from the Shop Alliance."
Locke smiled and said: "Yes, just finished talking. I directly received fifty magic crystal cards."
Wizard Franklin looked at Locke in surprise, immediately realizing that Locke had also participated in the project completion defense today; otherwise, he wouldn't have just finished negotiating a cross-disciplinary project cooperation with a wizard manager from the Shop Alliance.
Moreover, the other party should also be considered to have achieved some small success.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to negotiate a project worth fifty magic crystal cards. It was just unclear whether this was a buyout or revenue-sharing.
If it was a buyout, it could only be considered a standard level.
But if it was revenue-sharing, then those fifty magic crystal cards were just the initial licensing fee, and the contract that Locke had negotiated with that wizard manager was by no means a small one.
When Wizard Daniel heard about the fifty magic crystal cards, his eyes immediately lit up. "You've really hit the jackpot, Locke, to have gotten fifty magic crystal cards all at once. Wizard Franklin and I are still on our way to the Witchs Kitchen to discuss a project."
"You are truly impressive, Locke."
Locke said: "It's just the commercialization of my winning entry from the Yunze Cup."
Wizard Daniel said: "Oh, I see. Lord Franklin is interested in the idea I conceived during my defense: utilizing the fog of the natural world—the spirituality mechanism—to create Divination Spirit Mist. It involves using the changes in the fog to perform a certain degree of divination."
"This is something I obtained after doing a few months of basic research at Golden Crown Mountain. I must say, basic research is indeed very necessary; it has expanded my horizons, allowed me to see more, and raised my ceiling."
"It even allows me to do things that were impossible for the weather systems I designed in the past."
Wizard Daniel said: "My third-grade project fund application this time also passed, and I successfully obtained a second-grade project fund."
Wizard Franklin looked at Locke and Wizard Daniel; he always had the illusion that these two were close friends who were hyping each other up.
However, out of professional courtesy, and because he truly favored Daniel's idea and believed it might help him gain some credit with the Shop Alliance, Wizard Franklin suddenly spoke up: "Rest assured, the amount involved in the contract I am negotiating with you will only be more, not less, than 500,000 magic stones."
Wizard Daniel swallowed hard. "You Shop Alliance people are really rich."
After chatting with them for a few sentences, Locke left.
He looked in the direction Wizard Daniel had left; Wizard Daniel was still discussing with Wizard Franklin: "This new friend of mine is truly amazing."
"I have rarely seen a wizard whose research progress can be compared to mine."
"At the Fission Mausoleum Plain, my wizard colleagues could only keep up with my progress at the beginning, but often, within just a few months, I would pull away a huge gap from them, and from then on, they would develop a rift with me. In their eyes, I saw strangeness and active alienation."
Wizard Daniel said: "It seems I can really make a friend this time."
"Yunze Wetland, Golden Crown Mountain... truly a magical place. There are just too many super geniuses, or freaks, here."
Locke glanced at Wizard Daniel, feeling completely speechless.
Calling me a freak? I think you're the freak.
I have a cheat code, and I'm analyzing new magic plant mechanisms like an assembly line, doing it batch after batch. Yet, Wizard Daniel's research progress is almost the same as mine. This talent is truly terrifying.
This also caused the slight sense of relaxation that had just risen in Locke's mind to disappear completely.
At Golden Crown Mountain, there were simply too many super geniuses.
Geniuses from other regions, when placed here, could only degenerate into ordinary people.
They might even be at the bottom, facing elimination.
And if he wanted to obtain the final special grant, he needed to stand at the pinnacle of all the geniuses at the True Knowledge Institute of Golden Crown Mountain.
Therefore, he still needed to work hard. After going back, he would immediately generate more data to see if he could discover more unknown natural magic structure components.
He had to make discovering unknown natural magic structure components as systematic as an assembly line.
One had to know that the spots for special grant projects were only one or two per year, even when allocated to a top-tier academy's True Knowledge Institute like Golden Crown Mountain.
But thinking about it from another angle, if he couldn't even achieve the point of standing above all the geniuses at the Golden Crown Mountain True Knowledge Institute, then what was the point of talking about heading to the Star Domain Sea?
Walking down the street, Locke sighed: "It seems that at this level, I can at most say I have indeed opened up a large gap from the researchers at ordinary True Knowledge Institutes."
"But I have not yet opened up a gap from the researchers at the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge. Perhaps Daniel is an anomaly like me, but who knows if there will be more anomalies among the researchers within the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge."
"I still need to work harder and cannot be complacent because of the achievements I have made now."
Locke brought Gregor back to the laboratory and spent the entire day conducting experiments.
At midnight, Team Leader Kelt suddenly came to his workstation to find him, looking nervous and seemingly under immense pressure.
He stood in front of his workstation, glanced at Gregor who was working, and then said: "Locke, Throne Yekaterina is looking for us."
Upon hearing this, all the researchers working in the workstation area of Group Six became nervous one by one.
It was as if some huge, invisible pressure had descended upon them.
Locke looked at Team Leader Kelt strangely; he didn't know why, but every time Team Leader Kelt heard the name Witch Yekaterina, even if it was spoken by himself, he would become extremely nervous. His stress levels would be off the charts.
He didn't know how he got along with Witch Yekaterina, but so far, he felt that Witch Yekaterina was a pretty good High-Ring Wizard.
Although, up to now, he had never truly met her face-to-face alone. Not even once.
But precisely because of this, it was very free within Yekaterina's group; after all, apart from the monthly group meeting with hundreds of people, you wouldn't have any dealings with your supervising mentor. This meant the maximum degree of freedom.
But for some reason, the wizards in Group Six, especially Wizard Kelt, acted as if they had PTSD just from hearing the name Witch Yekaterina.
Team Leader Kelt said to Locke: "Locke, tidy up, and come with me to see the Throne quickly."
He checked the watch in his hand. "We cannot be late. I'll give you five minutes to tidy up."
"On time, you must be prepared..."
Team Leader Kelt walked away, trembling.
Locke was completely bewildered. He turned to look at Witch Mason and Wizard Barrett: "Team Leader, is he that afraid of our supervising mentor?"
In the workstation area, Witch Mason shrugged and said: "That's a Third Ring Wizard, of course we're afraid too. However, we are afraid because that is our supervising mentor, that is a Third Ring Wizard, but we only feel awe. I don't know why, but Team Leader is especially afraid of Throne Yekaterina."
"Perhaps there is a reason we don't know. And... the mentor is a wizard who leaves you completely unable to know what she is thinking. Perhaps that is why the Team Leader is afraid of her."
Locke nodded.
In fact, a mentor's personality would largely determine the atmosphere within a research group.
For example, Wizard Daniel's mentor, Wizard Feodor, was said to be kind and generous, so the atmosphere within his research group was at least superficially harmonious, with members calling each other brothers.
But it was also said that because of this, the speed of producing results was a bit slower than other research groups.
And after Locke had stayed in Group Six for a period of time, he could also perceive that Group Six was a very realistic research group—free, pursuing efficiency, and only looking at results.
This also offered a glimpse into the personality of Witch Yekaterina.
Witch Mason said to Locke: "By the way, Locke, I also want to congratulate you on passing the project completion defense. You only took four months to complete a third-grade True Knowledge Institute project fund; that's really impressive."
"As expected of a researcher from the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge. I only now know the gap between us at the ordinary True Knowledge Institute and you at the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge."
"This is my second year at the True Knowledge Institute, and I've just finished a third-grade project fund and am still applying for a second-grade one. Who knew you would directly surpass me."
Wizard Barrett also looked at Locke with an admiring gaze. "My progress is about the same as Mason's."
He remembered that he had previously inquired about Locke's project progress, and his face flushed slightly. "As expected of a researcher from the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge. Your project progress is considered very fast within our ordinary True Knowledge Institute... And I heard that you completed the functional mechanism pathways for four pineapple-type magic plants all at once."
"Not only was the completion speed fast, but the quality was also very high. I used to have some dissatisfaction, thinking that you researchers from the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge weren't anything special, but now that I think about it, you are indeed more capable than us researchers at the ordinary True Knowledge Institute."
"Comparing them, everything becomes clear."
At the workstation, Wizard Panno was making a bitter face, saying: "I had thought that you, Locke, could at least accompany me for a while to find new research topics together. Who knew that I was the clown."
Wizard Barrett said to him: "I think you should first consider the point ranking at the end of this year. If you continue like this, you will be eliminated at the bottom."
"You are only in your second year at the True Knowledge Institute, and you still have three years left. Outside, there is a large group of First Ring Wizards who believe they can meet the graduation conditions within three years."
"Therefore, there are still many wizards outside eyeing your position."
Wizard Panno sighed helplessly.
Locke, from across the workstation, comforted him: "Good things take time, don't give up. Perhaps you can write a project application that passes before September."
"This way, you won't be eliminated due to low ranking."
Panno said: "For now, that's all I can do."
Locke gave a few instructions to Gregor, and then, right at the last minute, left the office area and found Team Leader Kelt, saying: "Team Leader, let's go."
Team Leader Kelt, while beside Locke, took the opportunity to say: "Locke, I really didn't expect you to be so capable. I had many misunderstandings about you before."
Locke nodded slightly.
Team Leader Kelt said: "But now the misunderstandings are cleared up. You alone are almost worth more than half of my Group Six."
"Your research efficiency is too high."
"I take back what I said to you before. I now believe that having you join our Group Six is simply too good; it is my luck."