Time gradually approached late February and early March.
During this period, Ron became completely busy.
The price-burning war between hotpot restaurants had reached its most intense stage. Mia even brought along Ron's chibi doll and headed north to the northern region, stationing herself there together with Lyle.
Ron also had to stay in occasional contact with Mia, constantly keeping track of the local situation and offering them strategies.
Perhaps it was just a feeling, but recently, the knockoff hotpot restaurants had once again increased their promotional efforts and discounts, giving Ron the sense that the other side was making their final push.
It was likely that the Northern Duke and the Grain and Medicine Merchants Alliance felt the hotpot business had become too costly lately and had begun pressuring the person in charge.
On Ron's side, however, supported by the flower shop's continuous and substantial income, everything remained under control. There were no financial worries whatsoever.
Setting aside the hotpot expansion plans, in the laboratory Ron had invested in at the Royal Capital Magic Academy, the first all-purpose healing potion had already entered its final testing phase.
Once the results met expectations, it could officially enter mass production.
Meanwhile, in the private experimental zone of the City of Chaos, the research area was nearing full completion.
Several independent laboratories had already been put into use.
When Ron arrived, Illya had just stepped out of the Single Water-Element Extraction Chamber, her face still carrying a look of disbelief.
"How's the experiment progressing?" Ron asked curiously.
Illya looked at him with a complicated expression, her tone hesitant and uncertain. "I don't even know whether this counts as going well or not."
The two walked into a nearby research room. Illya took out the experimental data and explained as she showed it to Ron:
"The research area now has six Single-Element Extraction Chambers, each capable of creating an environment containing only one type of element."
"After depleting the elemental energy in a Water-Element Potato, I placed it into each of the six chambers one by one and let it attempt to recover inside."
"And the final result is that no matter which chamber it's in, the Water-Element Potato can absorb elements that don't correspond to itself without any issue."
"And in the end, it still replenishes only water elements within itself."
Ron had already been mentally prepared for this, so he wasn't particularly surprised.
After all, it was a system product—no matter how outrageous it was, he wouldn't find it strange.
But for Illya, this was essentially black technology.
And the kind that completely shattered one's worldview.
The idea that elements cannot be mutually converted, and that magic power cannot be reversed into elements, was a fundamental theory universally accepted in the magical world.
Yet now, the former seemed to have been overturned by the Element Potato, and the latter was about to be challenged by Harper.
"After finishing experiments with the Water-Element Potato, I repeated the same tests with the other five types of Element Potatoes. The results were all the same."
"During this process, by comparing the amount of elements absorbed in the chambers with the amount of elements generated inside the potatoes, I also discovered some finer details."
Illya licked her lips and continued:
"The four elements that represent green magic convert between each other at a one-to-one ratio."
"For example, one unit of fire element converts into one unit of water element."
"But if one unit of light element or dark element is converted into water element, you get three units of water element."
"Conversely, to convert water element into light or dark element, you need three units of water to obtain one unit of light or dark."
"As for light and dark elements, they convert at a one-to-one ratio."
"In terms of conversion speed, absorbing its corresponding element is the fastest. Conversion among the four green magic elements comes next."
"Conversion between those four elements and light or dark elements is slower."
"And the slowest conversion is between light and dark elements."
After hearing Illya's explanation, Ron fell into deep thought.
He wasn't sure whether the Element Potato's function aligned with the fundamental laws of this world or if it was a phenomenon created by the system that transcended the rules of this world.
If it was the former, then as Illya continued her research, she might uncover the true nature of magic in this world.
But if it was the latter… well…
That would be awkward.
Because it would mean all of Illya's research had been in vain.
Of course, not entirely in vain—at least the various properties of the Element Potato had been thoroughly studied.
Now that it was confirmed to be capable of converting elements, regardless of whether it conformed to this world's rules, the Element Potato was undoubtedly a top-tier, game-changing item.
It could provide various elements like elemental stones, but unlike elemental stones that became useless once depleted, it could replenish itself by absorbing ambient elements after consumption.
Even if the surrounding environment lacked the corresponding element, it didn't matter—it could convert between different types of elements.
This was practically the perfect energy source!
However, even such a perfect item had its flaws.
"The Element Potato cannot remain 'fresh' for long."
"Since the batch you gave me, Your Highness Ron, they've already shown noticeable functional decline."
"For example, the speed of absorbing and converting elements has slowed, and the internal storage capacity has shrunk."
Illya continued, "Based on the current rate of degradation, about three months after harvest, its functionality will drop by half."
"After roughly six to nine months, its effectiveness will diminish to the point of being negligible—essentially 'rotting.'"
"Of course, this timeframe isn't exact and requires further experimentation to confirm, but it should be around that range."
"What is certain is that the Element Potato cannot maintain peak performance indefinitely."
"If we ignore its edibility and its ability to convert elements, it's essentially just a longer-lasting version of an elemental stone."
Ron tapped his fingers on the table, now having a general understanding of the Element Potato.
"Illya," Ron said after some thought, "if we don't dwell on why the Element Potato can convert elements…"
"Since it lasts longer than elemental stones, does that mean some previously impractical or cost-inefficient ideas might now be feasible?"
"For example, the magic-powered carriage I mentioned before."
"Or the water condenser you showed me recently."
"In the past, magical arrays couldn't be widely adopted because elemental stones were too expensive."
"But now that we have Element Potatoes, wouldn't that problem be solved?"
Because it was a system product, Ron wasn't sure whether the Element Potato was simply overpowered black tech or something that followed this world's rules.
So he didn't want to get stuck on theory—he wanted Illya to focus on practical applications.
But things weren't that simple.
Illya pondered for a moment, organizing her thoughts before speaking:
"Your Highness Ron, first, there's one issue."
"Even though your Element Potatoes last longer, if their production is limited, they'll still only be used by a small group of people and won't truly become widespread among ordinary citizens."
Ron nodded slowly. This wasn't a concern for him—thanks to the cultivation space, production was not an issue at all.
As long as he had time to accumulate more cultivation space, he could produce an endless supply of Element Potatoes.
He didn't interrupt Illya and gestured for her to continue.
"Even if you can solve that problem, it only addresses the power source of magic arrays."
"Besides that, the materials used to inscribe magical patterns are also a major cost."
Illya picked up a sheet of paper from the table, rolled it into a cylinder, and used it as an analogy:
"This paper tube is like the pathway formed by a material used to inscribe magical patterns."
"Once the pattern is formed, magic power can flow through it."
"Different materials create pathways of different sizes."
"And even with the same material, the effectiveness varies depending on the type of magic."
Seeing that it might still be too abstract, Illya gave another example:
"For instance, if I use lava ore powder to inscribe a magic array that casts Fireball."
"If the array is powered by a Fire-Element Potato, then fire elements flow through the pathways."
"For fire elements, the pathway formed by lava ore powder is this wide."
She expanded the paper tube to its widest size, then continued:
"But if water elements were to pass through the same pathway made of lava ore powder, the channel would be this narrow—or even nonexistent."
She compressed the paper tube into a very thin line, then flattened it completely.
"Materials capable of forming stable magical patterns are rare and come in many varieties."
"Most of the time, each material only works well for a small subset of magic arrays."
"If used for others, the effectiveness drops significantly."
After explaining all this, Illya took a deep breath and sighed softly:
"So, Your Highness Ron, solving the power source alone is far from enough."
"Although the Element Potato can push magic arrays forward significantly, there's still a long way to go before they can truly become widespread."
"At the very least, we need to find a material that, while not perfect, is abundant and highly versatile."
"Only then can magic arrays truly enter every household, instead of remaining niche tools that are somewhat impractical for most people."
It was clear Illya had deeply studied this field.
She had just poured out a long explanation—clearly her genuine thoughts.
After thinking for a long time, Ron realized that his ideas wouldn't be achieved overnight.
Reaching this point already owed much to the system.
So he decided not to force it.
At most, when he needed something, he could ask Illya to create useful tools like soundproof arrays.
As for everything else, he would let her proceed freely.
"I'm not an expert in experiments, so I won't interfere. Just follow your own plans," Ron said. "But you can also occasionally think about practical applications—switch things up a bit."
Illya nodded seriously. "Don't worry. That's my goal as well. I just believe that understanding the relationships between elements is more important at this stage."
Ron smiled helplessly and said nothing more.
After all, he couldn't exactly reveal the system.
And only he knew the true nature of the Element Potato.
Besides… what if Illya actually managed to discover something?