Struggle in the Steam Age

"Are you Mr. Gust who represented the Federation in the competition this year?" After bidding farewell to Safir and the others, Lawrence walked into St. Gutenberg Cathedral. After a simple inquiry, a young priest led him to the back of the prayer hall of the church, and he asked curiously as he walked.

"Every time the people who start from us look very distinctive. For example, my teacher received a white-haired person like you to participate in the bronze competition. He said that the person looked very old-fashioned, and even had many Scars, but surprisingly popular with girls—”

"The one you're talking about should be Mr. Geralt, the president of the Witcher's Association in Eagle Castle." Lawrence remembered a person when he heard him say it. Mr. Geralt, he admired Lawrence's courage and kindness very much, and even said that he could walk more in the future when he was free. "That gentleman is a legendary demon hunter. It's not just his fighting power, but also his pursuit of women—where are we going now?"

Lawrence, who was chatting and relaxing, asked suddenly, because he found that the priest leading the way was taking him to the basement, instead of going to the side door of the church to take a carriage as he had imagined before.

"Of course it's using the space conversion magic circle. The magic circle in our church is underground." Looking at Lawrence's surprised face, the young priest leading the way hurriedly explained. "This is not a common means of travel. Even if the priest of the scepter of our church is not in a hurry, he is only allowed to use this magic circle once a month for private purposes."

"Of course, I'm just talking about free quota. If you are willing to pay, as long as the magic circle is still idle, then church members and church friendly people can use it. I paid for a ride once during a family vacation." After finishing speaking , The young priest quoted a fee, which was basically about five times the fee for the soft berth on the train.

"Unfortunately, the place where the space transfer magic circle can go must have the same magic circle, and these stations are even less than the train station. So after I took the magic circle last time and rode a carriage for a day to go home, From now on, I will always take the direct train to visit relatives." The young priest shrugged.

Of course, Lawrence also knew that in addition to this point-to-point teleportation magic circle, there was also a teleportation magic circle that could freely transport people to most places on the planet. Of course, the number of such magic circles is even rarer, and the construction cost is sky-high, and the cost of starting one time is at least ten times that of this kind of magic circle. Only some big forces will have some for emergency use.

Just as Lawrence was thinking this, they appeared in front of a marble arch. After the priest who led the way inserted a bronze card in his hand along the small slit on the right, there was a sound of heavy objects moving from inside the door. Then, the seamless iron door in the arch slowly descended.

As the iron gate moved, what appeared in front of Lawrence were two small round tables with a height of one hand and a diameter of about five meters on the ground. magic circle. A stone pillar reaching the height of a person's chest stood behind the table, and a transparent crystal ball the size of a head was inlaid on it.

"Okay, just stand in the center of the magic circle on the left, and then look at mine." The young priest said, and when he pressed his hands on the crystal ball, Lawrence was also in the center of the magic circle Stand up.

"Let me see, yes, it's here." After fiddling with the crystal ball for a while, the young priest raised his head. "Now you can go, you just need to stand up. Many people will feel a little dizzy when they use this thing for the first time. This is a normal phenomenon, and you don't have to worry about it."

After speaking, the magic circle started. A bright and blinding white light filled Lawrence's field of vision, forcing him to close his eyes. In the next few seconds, he completely lost his vision, and could only hear some small but very messy sounds drifting past his ears.

But soon everything became quiet, and the light outside dimmed. Then a voice came from not far away: "The white-haired young man standing in the center of the magic circle, hurry up and leave the magic circle where he is now, and don't block the way of others."

"What?" Lawrence opened his eyes, only to find himself in a room similar to the basement of St. Gutenberg Cathedral. It's just that he is currently in the right one of the two magic circles, and the one operating the crystal ball is a middle-aged priestess.

"Yes, I'm coming down now." Lawrence said as he walked out of the magic circle and walked out of the open door. As soon as he went out, he saw a young priest with wheat-colored skin and an ugly face dozing against the wall. On the top is a sign with a circle of flowers glued around it, and on the top is the words "Welcome Mr. Lawrence August" written in golden powder.

After realizing that Lawrence had come out, the young priest looked at him first, and then said in a confirming tone as if he had discovered something. "Sir, are you Mr. August?"

"Yes, I am Lawrence August." Lawrence nodded lightly, then pointed to the sign held in the priest's hand and asked, "Excuse me, is this—"

"Ah, I'm here to greet you. You can call me Ivan." The priest looked at Lawrence with a kind of excitement that is unique to groupies. "In order to welcome you, I won this opportunity only after defeating five other opponents in the debate."

"That sounds tough enough," Lawrence replied. Each larger organization has many and mixed personnel, so internal competition and conflicts are naturally unavoidable. To resolve these contradictions prevent the organization from collapsing from within. Each group organization has a set of problem-solving processes within the organization.

The simplest of these is naturally negotiation. Organizations that tend to be just or neutral will choose to present facts and reason, and sometimes they will directly issue orders. Evil organizations are much more sophisticated in this regard, doing everything from intimidation to deception.

In some cases, problems can be solved through civilized communication. But in other situations, especially when everyone is competing for something, communication is not so effective. In this case, competition is inevitable.

Naturally, each organization has a different style, and the method of competition is also different. The most distinctive method of competition in the Church of Knowledge is that everyone gathers together to determine a certain direction and then asks and answers each other's questions. As time goes on, the questions everyone asks will become more difficult and more complex, so completing such a discussion is very exhausting for everyone involved.

"But it's very worthwhile for me." The priest seemed very excited. As a cleric of the Church of Knowledge, he naturally accepted this opportunity to exchange knowledge and didn't think it was a hard work. things. What's more, he is the winner of the competition. "By the way, can you sign it for me?"

Speaking of which, Ivan took out a tightly rolled magazine and a pen from his body. At this time, Lawrence realized that the magazine he was holding was the issue of the "Federal Medical Journal" that Lawrence published a paper on disinfection before.

"Okay." Looking at the first fan he knew, Lawrence happily pressed the magazine against the wall, and then picked up a pen. "Do you need to write any message."

"Just sign it." Priest Iwan said when Lawrence turned to the title page and began to sign, "You don't know how much sensation your article has caused here. The entire Sea of ​​Stars has a tropical rainforest climate, so This is a place where people are more likely to be infected once injured than other places. And the ideas you put forward can be said to have saved countless lives."

"This compliment is really too much—" Lawrence said humbly, and at the same time handed the signed magazine to the priest. "I'm just an ordinary person who made a small contribution by chance."