Chương 76: Evelyn and Magical Digital Rights Management

Evelyn's metallurgy lab sat deep beneath Factory Building 1. The air was thick with the smell of molten metal, ozone, and pine essential oil. On a steel-plated workbench, a beam of blue arcane light converged into a point a tenth the width of a hair, projecting straight down onto a sheet of parchment. With each pull of Evelyn's control lever, the beam swept across the page in swift strokes, etching thousands of microscopic magical circuit lines into the paper's fibers, forming a glowing, spiderweb-like network.

Click. Evelyn shut off the projector, pulled off her protective goggles, and held the sheet of parchment up in front of Lucian.

"Hardware's done. This is the world's first anti-copy printing paper prototype." Lucian took the sheet, running a finger lightly across its surface. He didn't draw a blade or recite an incantation — just activated Read the Fine Print Lv. 1 to examine the layered circuit structure underneath. The publishing industry's biggest problem right now was pirating mages.

They used a low-tier forbidden art called Mirror Reflection Magic — just place a legitimate book against a magical mirror, channel energy into it, and the mirror would automatically duplicate hundreds of identical copies overnight, with zero printing labor.

"How'd you set the trap mechanism?" Lucian asked. Evelyn took a sip of cold, stale black coffee, pointing at page fifty of the sample book.

"I embedded an arcane Logic Bomb into line twelve of this page. When a mirror-reflection duplication stream passes over it, the microcircuit shorts out locally, triggering a small pressure explosion that shreds the entire page in a tenth of a second — and sprays permanent, indelible black ink straight into the caster's face." Lucian narrowed his eyes at the circuit diagram.

"Great idea. Can you add a shot of scent-gland extract from a Tartarus musk ferret? Make it stick to their skin for about three months. Makes it a lot easier for my scouts to identify suspects out on the street." Evelyn froze, coffee cup halfway to her mouth, staring at the ten-year-old's completely composed face.

"Buddy... you are, hands down, the most ruthless businessman I've met across two lifetimes."

"This is called optimizing criminal investigation costs," Lucian answered casually. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. He set his right hand on the stack of parchment, focusing his ninety-five-billion-point Spell Control into microscopic precision.

A razor-fine strand of mana flowed from his fingertip into the etched sheet, compressing Evelyn's arcane microcircuits down into the paper's molecular layer, transforming the printed circuit into a self-sustaining, self-powered network. Ting! A Unified System v2. 0 notification appeared. [COMBINED EARTH SEMICONDUCTOR KNOWLEDGE + 95. 2 BILLION SPELL CONTROL!] [EXCLUSIVE ITEM CREATED:] → 'RANK A ANTI-PIRACY PARCHMENT'! [Economic effects:] Mirror Reflection duplication of verified copies: blocked.

Projected legitimate publishing revenue impact: +20–35% under current market assumptions.

'Merchant' Class earns secondary title: [Copyright Tycoon]. In the corner of the lab, two senior metallurgy masters of House Wright stood watching. They saw the paper-thin sheet radiating flawless, three-dimensional magical patterns and stared, eyes wide. Both old men dropped to their knees on the tile floor at once, hands clasped, trembling.

"An Ancient Automation Matrix... a molecular-level compressed circuit structure that only exists in pre-war legend! Lady Wright and Young Master Vance truly are the reincarnations of two Gods of Technology descended to earth!"

"Bring in the test subject," Lucian said, turning to the two guards. A spy from a pirate press, captured the night before, was dragged into the room. He was forced to sit at the stone table, in front of the self-destructing sample book.

"Try copying this," Lucian said. The spy gritted his teeth, thinking this was his chance to earn leniency. He muttered the familiar incantation under his breath.

"Mirror Split Reflection! Duplicate all!" A beam of silvery magical light shot from his hand at the page. BEEP BEEP BEEP! A piercing alarm sound erupted from the book's spine. BOOM! A pressure explosion of mana went off. The book burst into fragments, spraying a thick, dark purple ink reeking of ferret musk straight across the spy's face and hair.

The spy let out a horrified scream, falling backward onto the floor, hands clutching his purple, foul-smelling face, sending the two guards beside him diving back five meters, pinching their noses. Evelyn looked at the aftermath and raised her right hand. Lucian slapped his palm against hers in a proper Earth-office high-five.

"Project delivered ahead of schedule. No overtime this weekend."

"Excellent," Evelyn said, pulling off her gloves and tossing them onto the table.

"The Floor 1 printing line starts running this paper tonight. Every pirate press that depends on Mirror Reflection is about to have a much worse week." Lucian wiped a smudge of ink off his wrist with a handkerchief and walked out of the lab. Outside the villa gate, the black iron-clad carriage of the Inquisitorial Court still sat waiting under the midday sun. The four Inquisitors in flaming-sword-embroidered robes leaned against the carriage, arms crossed, glancing impatiently at an hourglass.

Seeing Lucian emerge, the lead Inquisitor opened the carriage door and spoke, voice cold.

"Young Master Vance. Your preparation time is up. Please board — you're expected at the Sacred Court for questioning." Lucian climbed into the carriage, sitting down on the leather seat across from the four Inquisitors, straightening his uniform collar.

"Let's go. Drive carefully — if you jostle it enough to break my belongings, you're paying for it." The iron-clad carriage door slammed shut, its four magical wheels rolling down the stone-paved road, heading straight for the magnificent Golden Gate of the capital's Holy Church.