Chapter 153: Massive Energy Deficit, Abandoned Elemental Pool
After a careful search yielded no valuable items, Su Nan simply moved on to the next level.
The Third Level was divided into several large halls, primarily serving as various recreational and entertainment venues.
"Just a Recreation Area, huh?"
Such areas typically didn't offer much. After a quick inspection, Su Nan proceeded to the next level.
Starting from the Third Level, the subsequent levels included the Cultivation Area (featuring a Meditation Room and Spell Training Room), Workshop Area (which housed a Magic Item Workshop and Puppet Factory), Experiment Area, and Warehouse Area.
Among them, the Workshop Area contained hundreds of Clay Golems and Stone Golems.
However, they appeared to have been inactive for a long time, likely due to the energy shortage.
The Experiment Area was completely empty as well, lacking any valuable items such as experimental notes.
The same was true for the Warehouse Area.
Su Nan nodded inwardly and continued his exploration upwards.
Finally, upon reaching the Twelfth Level, the situation changed dramatically.
The Twelfth Level resembled an incredibly spacious laboratory filled with numerous workbenches. What set it apart was a specially designated area containing dozens of giant, transparent glass jars.
Each glass jar was filled with green or blue liquid, housing oddly shaped creatures. There were Sub-Dragon species alongside various other types of beings. Su Nan even spotted what appeared to be the limbs and heads of pureblood dragons.
Surprised, he opened one of the jars and carefully removed a dragon's head. However, after a thorough examination, he was greatly disappointed.
Perhaps due to improper long-term preservation, the essence within the dragon's head had been completely lost, leaving behind nothing more than a useless relic.
Reluctantly, Su Nan opened each glass jar to inspect its contents, yet the results were always the same.
"Of course, it has been thousands of years. Even if the preservation functions of these facilities are remarkably powerful, they couldn’t have kept these biological organs viable for so long."
Sighing, Su Nan collected his thoughts and moved on to the next level.
The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Levels mirrored the Twelfth Level, filled with numerous workbenches and glass jars.
Clearly, like the Twelfth Level, they served as modification areas.
The creatures and their organs in the glass jars had long since lost their effectiveness.
"It seems the builders of the Ecological Garden placed great importance on this aspect of biological modification," Su Nan murmured thoughtfully.
Earlier, while exploring the first district of the Ecological Garden, he had encountered many Sub-Dragon Species he had never seen before.
At the time, he had attributed this unfamiliarity to his own ignorance; after all, there were countless types of Sub-Dragon Species, making it impossible for anyone to know them all. It was normal to encounter some he didn't recognize, but now it felt different.
Those unknown Sub-Dragon Species were likely not naturally occurring but had been newly modified and cultivated within the Ecological Garden.
Having explored the first fourteen floors, only the final one remained.
A guess was already forming in his mind as Su Nan took a deep breath and stepped into the Teleportation Array.
After a brief moment of disorientation, he found himself on a broad platform.
The platform was made entirely of white stone, its surface intricately carved with dense patterns, exuding a profound beauty.
"White Marble!" Su Nan’s gaze sharpened.
White Marble was a fine-grained, pure white stone known for its hardness and suitability for construction and carving. Many wizards chose White Marble as the primary material when building their Wizard Towers.
Looking around the platform, he saw an expanse of starry sky, with countless stars twinkling and a dazzling galaxy stretching across it, evoking a feeling of insignificance.
After admiring the view for a moment, Su Nan shifted his gaze to the deepest part of the platform.
There lay a square pool, ten meters long and wide, crafted from pure white marble, its surface adorned with a layer of silver plating. Etched into the plating were densely packed patterns forming a super-large Energy Gathering Array.
"An Elemental Pool!"
Su Nan's eyes lit up, surprised to discover that the Ecological Garden even contained an Elemental Pool.
Although it didn't seem large—at most, it resembled a miniature Elemental Pool—it was still quite remarkable.
After all, an Elemental Pool was a standard feature in the Wizard Tower's power system.
"It seems that, in addition to the Ecological Garden's energy circulation system, the small amount of energy needed to maintain its operation is provided by this Elemental Pool."
The operating principle of the Elemental Pool was to open a channel to the Elemental Plane, drawing Elemental Energy from it to provide an endless and stable supply of energy.
"It's a high-level energy supply device, far more efficient than establishing a magical energy transfer pipeline on a Leyline Node.
Many large facilities utilize an Elemental Pool as their energy source, the most common being the Wizard Tower.
A single Elemental Pool in a small facility is sufficient to meet the basic energy needs of a Wizard Tower.
However, constructing an Elemental Pool requires a significant amount of gems, special metals, and various rare materials, making the overall cost extremely high. There are also specific requirements for the craftsmanship of **Magical Item Manufacturing**.
Even for a formal wizard, not everyone can afford to build an Elemental Pool.
A thousand years ago, when the energy particle density on the Starlight Continent decreased, wizards once considered using the construction methods of the Elemental Pool to open a channel to the Elemental Plane and introduce Elemental Energy to increase the energy particle density, but this attempt ultimately failed.
With fewer channels, the Elemental Energy introduced from the Elemental Plane couldn't keep pace with the rate of energy loss.
Moreover, creating more channels would be like drilling countless holes in the Plane Barrier of the Starlight Continent, significantly reducing its isolation and protective functions. This would allow a large number of alien creatures to breach the Plane Barrier and invade the Starlight Continent, causing widespread disasters.
Many elemental gods even seized the opportunity to extend their influence into the Starlight Continent.
In the end, the wizards had no choice but to abandon this approach, as it proved more harmful than beneficial—a solution akin to drinking poison to quench thirst.
"It's a shame the Elemental Pool has been abandoned."
After examining it, Su Nan reached this conclusion.
It made sense; if the Elemental Pool were still operational, the Ecological Garden wouldn't be in such dire straits with energy shortages.
"If we can repair this Elemental Pool and reactivate it, the energy supply for the Ecological Garden will be assured."
A look of joy spread across Su Nan's face.
Though repairing the Elemental Pool would not be an easy task, it was certainly simpler than constructing one from scratch, and he felt confident in his understanding of the situation.
Snapping out of his elation, Su Nan turned his attention to the crystal ball beside the Elemental Pool.
The crystal ball was perfectly round, with a purplish-blue hue, approximately half a meter in radius. It floated about sixty to seventy centimeters above the ground, glowing faintly.
Based on his experience, he surmised that this crystal ball was most likely the control hub of the Ecological Garden.
Approaching the crystal ball, Su Nan paused for a moment, then took out a key and placed it on the surface of the crystal ball.
"Activation source detected. Management system officially activated."
"Scanning user status... Standards met. Proceeding with login."
"Login," Su Nan said without hesitation.
"Login complete."
"The administrator ranks are currently vacant, elevating the user's authority level to the highest."
"Welcome to Dragon Forest Ecological Park, Master. Butler Number 1 is at your service."
A butler, is it? Su Nan's eyes flickered slightly. When he heard the voice from the Dragon Bone Tower earlier, he suspected that the Ecological Garden might have an intelligent support life form similar to the Tower Spirit. Now, it seemed he had not been mistaken. However, this creation should be far inferior to the Tower Spirit, merely a bit more advanced than life forms like a Mithril Golem. If it were a true Tower Spirit, it would have been capable of efficiently managing the Ecological Garden without needing a controller's orders for a thousand years. It certainly would not have allowed the garden to fall into its current state.
"One, detect Ecological Garden's status," Su Nan commanded.
"Initiating self-detection!"
"Scanning in progress."
"Establishing three-dimensional model."
"Scan complete."
A soft light radiated from the Crystal Ball, as countless rays intertwined above to create a three-dimensional model, a miniaturized view of the Ecological Garden. A large amount of text appeared beside it.
【Ecological Garden: Long Lin】 【Level: Large (Damage Level: 69.34%)】 【Current Remaining Energy: 38.79%】 【Intelligent Support Life: Butler Number 1】 【Areas: District 1, Zone 2, Zone 3】 【Facilities (Dragon Bone Tower): Living Area, Warehouse Area, Experiment Area, Cultivation Area, Workshop Area, Modification Area Control Center, Elemental Pool (Micro)】 【Servants: Clay Golem x 182】 【Defensive Systems: Large Spatial Barrier (Damage Level: 3.48%)】 【Combat Systems: Golem Legion (Stone Golem x 145)】
"Only less than 39% energy left," Su Nan noted, examining the data. He clicked on the three areas sequentially.
【District 1: Running status. Minimum energy required to maintain operation: 24.28%. Optimal energy: 35.12%.】
【Zone 2: Suspended state, minimum energy required for operation 53.66%, optimal energy 73.41%】 【Zone 3: Operating state, minimum energy required for operation 3.06%】 “Zone 2 requires at least over 50% of the energy!” Su Nan clicked his tongue inwardly; no wonder Zone 2 had been abandoned and left to decay. After all, it was an area for breeding the Dragon Clan, and the energy consumption was shockingly high. "It seems the first step is to restore energy above 81%." The combined minimum energy required for the three areas is over 81%. As long as the energy in the Ecological Garden is restored above this threshold, District 1 and the Dragon Bone Tower can be maintained while gradually restoring the ecological environment of Zone 2. Once the ecological environment of Zone 2 is restored, he can consider how to increase the number of Dragon Clan. "[Open] Energy Tank." Su Nan issued the command. With a click, the ground beside the Crystal Ball slowly opened, revealing a hollow stone pillar. Su Nan took out all the Magic Stones from his Space Ring and threw them into the stone pillar. After a moment, the data next to the three-dimensional model changed drastically, with the remaining energy increasing from 38.79% to 38.81%, an increase of 0.02%. "Two hundred and thirty-five Lower Level Magic Stones only raised the energy value by 0.02%!" Su Nan couldn't help but take a sharp breath. At this rate, to increase the energy to 81%, at least five hundred thousand Lower Level Magic Stones would need to be invested! The cost would amount to nearly nine hundred thousand Gold Coins! Even if he didn't spend a single Gold Coin from now on and saved every one, it would take four or five years to collect that amount. This was because he could manufacture Magic Stones at an extremely low cost. If any other wizard apprentices were in his position, they would never dream of restoring Zone 2's ecological environment using Magic Stones to increase energy. The energy consumption of the Ecological Garden was astonishing! “61% energy requires so many Magic Stones; I shudder to think how many would be needed to restore it to 100%. It seems this method won’t work. I still have to find a way to repair the Elemental Pool.” After pondering for a moment, Su Nan formulated a plan and issued a new order.
**“1. How much energy does it take to repair the Spatial Barrier?”**
The top priority was still to mend the gap in the Ecological Garden, lest the Sub-Dragon Species from District 1 escape again, attracting more Other: Wizard Apprentices or other intelligent lifeforms.
“It will consume 6.23% of energy.”
Su Nan quickly calculated that after repairing the Spatial Barrier, the remaining energy would still be sufficient to meet the minimum operational requirements for District 1 and Zone 3.
At worst, he could invest some additional Magic Stones later to boost the energy levels.
With that thought in mind, Su Nan immediately issued the repair command.
“Repair has begun. It is estimated to take 18 hours, 35 minutes, and 32 seconds.”
Watching the three-dimensional model slowly disappear, Su Nan let out a long sigh of relief, his heart swelling with joy.
Although he didn’t find any valuable treasures in the Dragon Bone Tower, Long Lin itself was already the greatest gain.
With Long Lin as his foundation, he could completely establish a more complete and secure base with enhanced functional facilities.
Moreover, the tens of thousands of Sub-Dragon Species and countless rare Magic Plants within Long Lin were also a significant fortune.
As long as the Elemental Pool was repaired, it would be akin to possessing an inexhaustible treasure trove of materials.
Before ascending to become a Wizard to build the Wizard Tower, Long Lin could fully serve as his base of operations, allowing him to develop and expand his power.
"Once the Elemental Pool is repaired, I can relocate Base Number 1 here."
Long Lin was a semi-dimensional space without a fixed location in the Material World. As long as Su Nan, the Controller, opened a channel in the Material World, he could enter Long Lin.
At the same time, outside the Dragon Bone Tower.
A traveler’s eyes kept sizing up the Dragon Bone Tower, revealing undisguised envy.
As an Other: Wizard Apprentice, he was well aware of the immense benefits of acquiring a Large Ecological Garden.
Whether for enhancing personal strength or developing power, the advantages were glaringly obvious.
However, he also understood that this Ecological Garden was not something he could covet.
Not only was he unable to defeat the Player, but even if he somehow obtained the Ecological Garden, he wouldn't have the resources to provide it with sufficient energy.
But the Player was different.
"It's said that Night Owl, the Player, has access to vast resources that far exceed those of an ordinary Level Three Wizard Apprentice. Perhaps he has a solution for the Ecological Garden's energy shortage."
"Looking on the bright side, if Su Nan truly manages to solve the Ecological Garden issue, then in the future, whenever we need Subdragon Blood, we can simply purchase it from him," Traveler mused inwardly.
Just then, the door of the Dragon Bone Tower suddenly rumbled open, and Su Nan stepped out.
Traveler hesitated for a moment, but ultimately his curiosity got the better of him, and he approached Su Nan, asking, "How did it go?"
"There were a lot of problems," Su Nan replied with a shrug. "However, the Ecological Garden's deficiency is already being addressed, and it won't be long before it's fully restored. What do you plan to do next?"
Traveler was momentarily taken aback.
What else could he do? The Ecological Garden was already Su Nan's territory; how could he shamelessly linger here?
To his surprise, Su Nan then extended an invitation. "Would you be interested in being a guest at my place?"
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