While Link was astonished that the Kennedy siblings had brought back an entire container of AK-47s, big Kennedy was also secretly watching the look on Link's face.
Seeing that the coldness on Link's face, caused earlier by catching them drinking and having fun instead of working, was gradually fading, Big Kennedy finally let out a sigh of relief.
He leaned in, grinning, and nudged Link with his elbow as he said, "Boss, this prototype equipment doesn't have a name yet. What do you think about calling it Kdy-47?"
Hearing this, Link glanced at Kennedy, his expression a little speechless.
That name was clearly just Kennedy's initials and last letter, stitched together with the AK-47 designation.
'Using your own name to name things, was this some kind of shared hobby among "scientists"?'
After being stared at by Link with that strange look for quite a while, Kennedy's expression fell, and he said, "Alright, alright, then we won't use that name. We'll just call it Link-47!"
That was even worse...
This time he had directly used Link's name.
Link waved his hand in mild disgust and said, "These little issues are up to you to decide. Let me ask you, besides this, did you gain anything else from your research trip into Muggle society?"
If Link hadn't mentioned it, it would've been fine. But once he did, Big Kennedy became excited all over again.
He shook his hands repeatedly, gesturing for Link to "wait," then pulled several large boxes out from under the workbench.
"Boss, the progress the Muggles have made during this period is just incredible!" Big Kennedy said as he opened the boxes.
"If you hadn't given us this opportunity, I don't think I'd ever have made discoveries this amazing in my entire life!"
While Big Kennedy was sighing with emotion, Link had already leaned in closer.
But the things piled inside the boxes made Link freeze.
An MP3 player, a DND tabletop game set, a box of cigars that clearly wasn't cheap along with a full set of cigar care tools, a dozen metal kerosene lighters engraved with various patterns…
All kinds of things, some Link could name, some he couldn't, stuffed several suitcases to the brim.
"Ah! Right, boss! You absolutely have to try this one!"
Big Kennedy's sudden shout pulled Link's attention back again.
But when Link turned his head, what he saw in Kennedy's hands was, unmistakably, a toilet seat.
"This toilet seat is no ordinary thing!" Big Kennedy explained. "It can play music and spray warm water to clean you!"
"The only regret is that all Muggle electronic devices stop working within the Hogwarts area, so naturally this thing can't be used here either."
"But please believe me!"
"The experience it gives you is absolutely perfect!"
"And then there's this…"
Big Kennedy casually tossed the toilet seat he had just been praising to the skies into the trash-heap-like suitcase, then opened another smaller box.
But when he eagerly flipped it open, what was revealed inside was a box completely filled with women's intimate clothing…
"Ah!"
Little Kennedy once again let Link witness her lion's roar technique.
Her small face was completely red as she screamed, leapt up from the sofa, delivered a flying kick that sent Big Kennedy sprawling, then snatched the box back and shrank into a corner again.
This brief but ferocious display left even Link stunned.
After a long moment, Big Kennedy finally managed to struggle back to his feet.
He wanted to open another box, but was stopped by the cold look that had returned to Link's eyes.
Big Kennedy rubbed his hands together.
He actually knew this himself.
Using Link's research funds to buy such a pile of stuff was, in essence, just indulging his own personal desires.
As for research, calling it that was really a stretch.
But there was no helping it.
He pursed his lips and explained to Link, "Boss, it's not that we deliberately misused the funds. It's just that the current Muggle technologies really aren't as useful as you imagine."
Link's expression didn't change much. He simply said flatly, "Oh? How so?"
Big Kennedy pointed at the Link-47 that had been dismantled and placed on the workbench and said, "I know you want to say that this thing was invented by drawing inspiration from Muggle firearms, right?"
"But in fact, what really played the key role here wasn't Muggle technology at all, it was the two of us siblings."
"Think about it. Over the years, there's been no shortage of wizards interested in Muggle culture and technology."
"So why is it that only we managed to invent this set of equipment?"
"Of course, I'm not denying your point that 'Muggle technology has reference value.'"
"What I mean is that Muggle technology does indeed currently have reference value for us."
As he spoke, Big Kennedy pulled out a green circuit board from his coat. "For example, this thing. We studied the circuitry on it, and it can actually be completely replaced using Ancient Runes."
"Although the technical difficulty involved is not much lower than optimizing the magic circuits of the Link-47, if it really can be achieved, then circuits composed of Ancient Runes would surpass it countless times in performance, power consumption, and efficiency."
"The only problem is…"
"At present, everything these Muggle machines can do, we wizards can also do with magic."
"And in an even more convenient and efficient way."
"So this kind of technology isn't actually very practical, and Muggle technology as a whole doesn't provide us with as much help or reference value as you might think."
"If you look at it the other way around, wizarding alchemy actually offers enormous potential to improve Muggle technology."
"Let me give you an example."
Big Kennedy took out his wand and casually pointed at two chunks of metal ore sitting on the workbench.
Immediately, a burst of magical flames carrying terrifying heat wrapped around the two ores, lifting them into the air.
Under the stimulation of magic and the scorching heat, the ores continuously melted, refined, fused together, and finally cooled in Big Kennedy's hand into a silver-white metal ingot.
"This is mithril, one of the most basic materials in alchemy. Even though it's extremely valuable, in terms of refining difficulty, even a beginner alchemy apprentice could easily make it."
Big Kennedy kept tossing the mithril ingot in his hand as he said, "But even something like this mithril, with the Muggles' metallurgical technology still stuck at the surface-alloy level, even if you gave them another two hundred years, they might not be able to produce it."
"They can't even understand what deep-layer smelting is."
"Why is it that with the same two materials, what they get after smelting is just an ordinary alloy, but after passing through our hands it becomes an extraordinary metal like mithril?"
"And that's not all."
"The reason mithril is called one of the most basic materials in alchemy is entirely because of its extremely strong compatibility, it can be re-smelted with other extraordinary metals to form all kinds of extraordinary alloys."
"To wizards, mithril itself doesn't actually have much value. What's truly valuable are the various alloys refined using mithril."
"And yet this mithril, which we treat as a basic material, has energy conductivity far beyond all metals in the Muggle world!"
"There are many similar examples. You should understand what this represents, right?"
After listening to Big Kennedy's explanation, Link nodded.
He was, of course, well aware of the importance of foundational materials to science.
Looking back at history, you can see that the development of materials runs through the development of society and human civilization as a dialectical thread.
Many modern technologies fail to achieve explosive growth, and the root cause actually lies in materials.
Take battery technology, for example.
Computers, phones, electric vehicles, headphones, drones…
The technological capability of these industries has long since developed into the next dimension, even to the point of opening up a new era.
But bottlenecks in foundational materials limit battery capacity, size, and cost, which in turn restricts the development of all these industries.
If Muggles were able to obtain wizarding metallurgical techniques, foundational materials science would inevitably see an explosive leap forward.
And on the basis of that progress, countless brand-new possibilities would emerge.
Silently shaking his head, Link encouraged the Kennedy siblings, telling them to put more effort into researching Ancient Rune–based magic circuits and imitating Muggle circuitry, and to continue their investigations into Muggle society, before directly leaving the workshop laboratory.
Emily was standing quietly in the corridor, waiting for him.
As if she had already known he would appear there.
"Seen the Kennedy siblings' new invention?" Emily said naturally, hooking her arm around Link's.
Hearing this, Link raised an eyebrow and said, "Hm? How did you know they had a new invention?"
"Because they actually finished that invention during the Christmas holiday," Emily replied.
"It's precisely because their efficiency was high enough that John allowed them to relax for a few days."
After saying that, Emily glanced at Link and added, "They didn't tell you they'd already been given time off, did they?"
Link gave a wry smile and shook his head.
"They didn't say that."
"They also didn't mention that John had already approved their leave."
"So…"
"So you instinctively assumed they had just finished their work and were then given a few days off?" Emily said.
Before Link could answer, she covered her mouth and laughed.
Seeing this, Link didn't mind at all. Arm in arm with Emily, he headed toward the Great Hall.
It wasn't until they were halfway there that Emily gradually calmed down. She leaned weakly against Link and said with some confusion, "There's something I've never really understood. Why do you place so much importance on Muggle technology?"
"Right now, Muggle technological products don't actually have much use for us."
"Even if you're wary of the Muggles' so-called nuclear weapons and their ever-expanding military power, with magic on our side, there's really no need to fear them that much."
"Ah, you're right," Link said calmly. "At least for now, that's true."
Emily immediately grasped the implication in his words and said thoughtfully, "So you're saying the future will be different?"
Link didn't answer. The corners of his mouth simply lifted slowly, forming a mysterious smile.
No one in this world understood the direction and bright prospects of Muggle technological development over the next few decades better than Link.
Just the computer alone was something Link felt was worth fighting for.
And this struggle wasn't about plundering money or other resources from Muggle society.
Those things didn't really hold much meaning for wizards. After all, although there was the Statute of Secrecy on the surface, centuries of coexistence had already entangled wizards and Muggles to an extreme degree. Most resources in the Muggle world were already effectively available to wizards whenever they wanted them.
What Link wanted was technology, magic-modified technology.
For thousands of years, wizards had actually been involved in Muggle development.
Most of them brought Muggles nothing but endless slaughter and suffering.
Some did pass advanced technologies, even the sparks of civilization, to the Muggles.
But regardless of their attitude toward Muggles, deep down they all looked down on them.
Because they saw themselves as gods.
Weakness and ignorance are not obstacles to survival. Arrogance is.
It was precisely this arrogance that made wizarding development so slow, and gave Muggle society the chance to catch up.
Cultures need to communicate with each other.
Limited, short-term isolation can indeed develop livelihoods and strengthen national power.
But centuries of stubborn self-seclusion will only strangle a people's hope and creativity.
Wizards are a classic example.
Just think about it.
A magic-modified computer used to develop new spells through digital modeling, how terrifyingly efficient would that be?
What would extraordinary herbology look like if it absorbed the entirety of agricultural grafting and genetic modification techniques?
How many brand-new potions could potion masters create by integrating chemical systems?
Once astrology and numerology gained support from Muggle astronomy, celestial science, and big data, what would they evolve into?
What kind of changes would a magic-based, modified internet bring to spellcasting and wizarding society?
And then there's aerospace.
Wizards, with thousands of years of alchemical knowledge and magic, have an incomparable advantage over Muggles in foundational materials and mechanical physics.
What would the magic-powered spacecraft they build look like?
They should be able to enter the interstellar age earlier than the Muggles, right?
And what kind of bright future would a magical civilization with interplanetary, even interstellar, travel capabilities have in the endless universe?
Just thinking about it made Link's blood boil.
Although he might never live to see the grand scene of humanity rushing toward the sea of stars, that didn't stop Link from laying down a solid foundation for future generations.
The only pity was that these things could only be done, not spoken of to others.
There were simply too many strange aspects that couldn't be explained.
Many of them, he couldn't explain at all.
More importantly, deep down, Link had an ominous feeling that if he were to voice all these ideas, some great danger would descend.
This feeling was like a thought-brand, stamped deep into the core of Link's consciousness.
It controlled his actions, yet made him completely unaware of the process.
With these thoughts in mind, Link smiled and kissed Emily on the forehead.
Then, under Emily's puzzled gaze, he burst out laughing and walked toward the Great Hall.