Tianna raised the key question. "What about distance? How far apart can these things be at most?"
"Although we haven't tested it in practice yet, the answer I can give you is, all of Runeterra."
Luke said it calmly.
But his words landed like a boulder dropped into a quiet lake, sending shock rippling through everyone present.
All of Runeterra?
How big would that be?
Everyone instinctively tried to imagine it, only for their minds to come up blank.
Because no one had ever measured it in detail.
They only knew it was boundless, vast beyond measure.
Runeterra as a whole was divided into three great landmasses, Valoran, Ionia, and Shurima. Just those three continents were already enormous.
Beyond them were two endless seas, the Guardian's Sea and the Conqueror's Sea. Those two bodies of water were even larger than the three continents combined.
If these two small objects could communicate without obstruction across such an immense distance, then the shock the Secret Key brought to everyone doubled on the spot.
Just imagine it. In the past, information that took three days, five days, even half a month or a full month to deliver by letter could now arrive in less than two seconds.
The thought alone gave everyone goosebumps.
It was incredible!
After a brief second of silence, the surrounding crowd suddenly turned burning eyes toward Lux, making her delicate body tremble.
The way everyone looked at the Secret Key in her hand was as if they were staring at the hottest prize in the room.
She immediately guarded the Secret Key carefully, afraid someone might snatch it away.
Tianna suppressed the storm roaring in her heart and could not help confirming again, "Is what you said true?"
"When have I ever fooled everyone about something like this?"
Luke said, "Since that's the case, let me verify it for everyone. You should all have seen that aside from Lux, whom I just added, I have one other friend."
Everyone looked over. They had indeed noticed that detail earlier.
Luke tapped into it and edited a message before sending it over. "Are you ready?"
Before long, a reply came from the other side. "Ready, Your Highness."
Then Luke made another move that shocked everyone present.
He slowly raised the Secret Key, aimed the crystal on it at himself, and sent a video invitation.
"What are you doing?"
Someone could not help asking curiously.
"You will all know in a moment."
Luke smiled.
In the next second, the magical curved screen suddenly flickered, and the display changed.
The other side had accepted the video. The first thing to appear was a delicate face. It was Quinn. Beside her stood the tiny Poppy, only half of her head visible, not even her forehead showing.
But everyone did notice her.
Behind them stood another person, Cithria.
She wore a suit of silver-white knight's armor, her long black braid tied back, giving her a heroic bearing and a distinctly military air.
Farther behind them, a Silverwing Raptor could be seen lying beside a pool, slowly drinking clear water.
They seemed to be in a valley. Around them were tall mountains, trees, and flowing water.
"It lit up! It lit up!"
Poppy's excited voice suddenly rang out. She bounced up and down, her small round face popping into the frame from time to time.
Quinn and Cithria's eyes also lit up when they saw the video connect.
Even though they had learned about it in advance, seeing it in action still felt wonderfully strange.
At this moment, everyone present was amazed by the image reflected on the curved screen.
They were not stupid. Naturally, they guessed the reason at once.
Clearly, what appeared on the screen was the scene where Quinn and the others were located.
Luke asked, "Can you hear me?"
Quinn quickly responded, "Yes, Your Highness."
Hearing her voice come through, everyone's eyes widened.
This Secret Key could not only exchange written messages, it could also transmit images and even sound?
Luke asked, "Where are you right now?"
Quinn answered, "Because we were short on time, we are currently at the foot of Greenfang Mountain, about eighty kilometers from the capital."
When they heard eighty kilometers, everyone's hearts jolted. That was not a short distance.
Eighty kilometers, even by carriage on a flat road, would take at least five hours.
Roy narrowed his eyes and studied the scene before confirming, "That is indeed Greenfang Mountain. I stayed there for a while once. I recognize it."
Naturally, he was not the only one who recognized it.
At this moment, watching both sides communicate normally while separated by eighty kilometers, everyone felt something strangely wonderful.
It was as if they were witnessing the birth of something extraordinary.
After bouncing for a while, Poppy got tired. She thought of a good solution, taking a few steps back.
That way, the screen could capture her.
Seeing that half her body had finally appeared, Lux leaned over until she was almost pressed against Luke and greeted Poppy with a bright smile.
She had been wondering why Poppy and Quinn were not around. So they had gone far away.
At this moment, Fiora, Sona, and Kahina also gathered around one after another. Several people squeezed into the same screen, making it rather crowded.
But no one cared about that right now. If it had not been improper to compete with the younger ones for the frame, the others would have wanted to squeeze in too.
Although they knew the other side was not nearby, being able to meet and talk across a screen still felt deeply magical.
After they finished greeting one another, Luke smiled toward the camera. "Thank you for your hard work. You can come back now."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Quinn answered from the other side, then shut off the video.
Luke turned around and looked at all the curious eyes staring at him. He explained, "This magic crystal uses the principle of mirror projection. It can reflect whatever image it is aimed at. Through the Dream terminal, that image can then be transmitted onto the magical screen. As for the sound, it uses a kind of sound-transmission magic. Basically, as long as the Secret Key is active, all these functions operate at the same time."
Simply put, it was a magical version of a camera.
Everyone nodded as if they half understood. After all, they had only just come into contact with magic, and there was still a lot they did not understand.
But in any case, even if they did not fully understand it, it sounded impressive.
This tiny Secret Key actually carried so many layers of magic.
That was precisely why it displayed functions far beyond what they had expected.
Forget all of Runeterra. In this era, being able to communicate instantly across eighty kilometers was already terrifying.
Even more terrifying was that they suddenly felt Luke's claim that its range covered all of Runeterra might very well not be nonsense.
"Luke, how exactly did you do this?"
Jarvan IV widened his eyes and asked with curiosity.
That question was also what everyone present most wanted to know right now.
"This involves a place called the Spirit Realm. Generally speaking, it can be considered the other side of the physical realm. Every function of the Secret Key is built upon the Spirit Realm. Through an administrator capable of linking the Spirit Realm and the physical realm, this effect was achieved."
Luke gave a rough explanation.
Nocturne was that administrator. Without it, no matter how good the ideas for these functions were, there would have been no chance to realize them.
It was a bridge between the Spirit Realm and the physical realm.
"I see."
Although Luke had only given a rough explanation, that did not stop some people from understanding.
Wenward said with sincere admiration, "I have to admire Your Highness's imagination. This Secret Key alone has already reached a level the Research Institute cannot hope to match."
Those were not flattering words. They came from genuine feeling.
"The Research Institute is taking a different path, but the final roads of the Mage Association and the Research Institute are ultimately similar in some ways. What I hope is that from now on, the Mage Association and the Research Institute can exchange ideas and communicate more often."
Luke was not just saying polite words either.
The Research Institute followed the path of technology, while the Mage Association studied magical creations.
Although the two had no connection on the surface, a connection could be made.
Technology plus magic. That was the path Luke had decided Demacia would take next.
"I understand." Wenward took it to heart and quietly decided he would visit Frey more often in the future.
"Back to the main point."
Luke looked at everyone and said, "This is the result I wanted to introduce to you all today. The Dream terminal is an extremely important creation for us. I hope it can receive everyone's full support."
Everyone present was one of their own, so there was no concern about trust.
And at this point, naturally, no one would refuse to support it.
Even after only a brief understanding, they had already seen far too many possibilities in this Secret Key.
At this moment, Tianna took the Secret Key from Lux's hand and examined it. Noticing something, she said, "The shell is made of petricite? Can it be mass-produced?"
"That is also one of the current problems."
Luke said, "Although the Secret Key's functions are powerful, it cannot be mass-produced yet."
Because the petricite used for the shell was also extremely important.
But where did petricite come from?
It came from a stone forest, where the trees looked withered, their entire forms like weathered fossils.
Long ago, a group of survivors had been pursued by cruel and evil mages. By chance, they came to this place and hid there.
When the mages chased them to this location, they discovered their magic no longer worked.
That gave the refugees a chance to fight back.
This was the later famous petricite forest of Demacia.
Those trees were not dead. They simply looked that way.
Their branches could be made into weapons, and the fossilized substance produced by those trees, when mixed with lime and solidified, became petricite.
The petricite forest was not small, but it was not especially large either.
Naturally, there was no need to explain how important petricite was to Demacia.
Since ancient times, Demacia had tried to make that petricite forest larger and increase the number of petricite trees.
But it seemed petricite trees could only grow in that particular region.
No matter what methods they tried, they had never been able to increase petricite production.
As long as the petricite trees existed, petricite would never run out. The problem was that the total output was only so much.
A single Secret Key did not require much petricite, but how many people were there in Demacia?
Ten, a hundred, a thousand, when those numbers added up, the petricite required would no longer be a small amount.
Mass production was Luke's ultimate goal, but by then, the material used might not necessarily be petricite.
He knew there might be a place that had a solution.
That place was also a city-state currently walking the path of technology and magic.
Pulling his thoughts back, Luke said, "Simply put, the technology can be mass-produced, but the materials are not abundant enough. For now, only we can use them."
Although he said that, everyone felt that being able to reach this point was already incredible.
No one had expected such an incredible thing to be born on an otherwise ordinary morning.
"Next, let's talk about the Secret Key's usage time. You should all be able to see that the Secret Key's power supply depends entirely on this magic crystal."
Luke continued, "Under normal use, meaning if it remains powered on for a long period, one magic crystal can supply about twelve hours of use. If the energy runs out, it must be recharged or the crystal must be replaced."
"Twelve hours?"
Everyone was secretly startled.
Not because that time was too short, but because it was too long.
Twelve hours was already a lot, and Luke was talking about keeping it powered on for a long period.
What if it was turned on only when needed, then shut off again afterward?
"Of course, this is also one direction for future improvements to the Secret Key. We will strive to make it capable of long-term standby."
By this point, Luke's introduction was basically nearing its end. He then said, "This time, a total of three hundred Secret Keys have been prepared. More will continue to be produced later. Whether it is petricite or magic crystals, both are essential materials. I hope everyone can lend whatever help you are capable of."
Those seated here were either people of high rank and authority or great nobles, so naturally, they had the ability to help.
By comparison, magic crystals were even more urgently needed than petricite right now.
After all, unlike petricite, they could not be reused indefinitely.
Most magic crystals were basically disposable. Once the magic power inside was used up, they became useless.
Only a small number of precious magic crystals could be used a few more times.
This was also one of the current problems. If possible, they would also need to find a more suitable substitute for magic crystals.
But a breakthrough could not be rushed. Reaching this stage was already more than good enough.
For now, they still had to take things slowly.
After all, this was only the very beginning. There would be many areas to improve in the future.
At noon, everyone left the Mage Association. Carriages departed in different directions.
The matter of the Secret Key was temporarily designated as confidential. Aside from those already informed, no one was allowed to spread it.
This was an order issued jointly by Jarvan III and Tianna.
For Tianna, the appearance of the Secret Key immediately made her think of the battlefield.
A communication tool capable of transmitting messages in an instant, if used properly, would be enough to change the direction of a war.
Because no matter when, the transmission of intelligence would always be the most important thing.
Take Quinn as an example. An outstanding ranger like her often had to rush to the front line to scout enemy intelligence.
Usually, it would still take a certain amount of time for that intelligence to be sent back.
But with the Secret Key, information transmission only took an instant.
Just thinking about that situation was terrifying.
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