Getting a Technology System in Modern Day

With the mana stones exchanged, only the meeting remained. The endurance of those present allowed discussions to continue for over sixteen hours, wrapping things up sooner than expected. This early finish meant the individual meetings about increasing their mana stone quotas could start and wrap up ahead of schedule.

During the individual meetings between the empire and the representatives, those who had shared their knowledge in encrypted form eventually handed over the decryption keys. The realization that their mana stone quotas would rise by at least 200%—and potentially soar to 500% based on the materials they proposed for exchange—made the decision inevitable. It was an offer they couldn’t afford to turn down. Some had initially planned to hold out and assess the potential increase before making a decision, but the sheer scale of the opportunity left no room for second thoughts. Fearing the empire might reconsider its offer, they immediately agreed to hand over the decryption keys without delay.

Although their primary reason for being here was fulfilled, the Conclave civilizations' representatives didn’t leave immediately. They had requested access to the exchange forum, which was already operational, even though its physical counterpart in the real world was still under construction. Now, they were in the midst of a shopping spree, using their remaining materials to buy everything they could.

The empire didn’t interfere, as the representatives only had access to the business portal, where all listed items had already been approved before being made available.

Meanwhile, Hephaestus Industries immediately began production on all the purchased materials, regardless of their original manufacturers on Earth. The empire needed to ensure that everything sold to outsiders passed through a strict filtering process, preventing potential issues if any previously unknown factors were discovered.

In return, all of the original owners of the purchased products were given the original profit of their product as if it was bought from them. However, if their product was sold for a price significantly higher than its original value, the compensation shifted to a revenue-sharing model. The original price served as the benchmark, and the profit percentage was used to determine how much they would earn from the increased sale. This approach was designed to avoid incentivizing the formation of a black market should the company attempt to use this as a means of earning more money.

At the same time, Hephaestus Industries' share was capped at twice the actual production cost of the product. All remaining revenue was collected as taxes and sent to the imperial coffers, ensuring there were no accusations that the emperor was exploiting others’ products for personal gain. Not that it mattered much—at this point, the emperor was already the wealthiest person in history, with more money than he could ever spend, even if he tried.

{Sir, we’ve finally received the decryption keys for all but one of the encrypted knowledge files,} Nova informed Aron the moment she had the keys in hand.

“Which one didn’t fall for the offer?” Aron asked, genuinely surprised. He hadn’t expected anyone to resist the temptation of at least doubling their quota.

His brows lifted in surprise at the response. The Trinarians’ knowledge was one of the technologies he’d been most eager to acquire, and now he found himself puzzling over why they alone had held out. But he didn’t dwell on it for long.

“Decrypt all the files we have the keys for,” he said decisively. “Then redirect all the computing power we were using for decryption attempts toward cracking the Trinarians’ knowledge. If, after a month of focused effort, we still can’t break it, I’ll use SP to buy the decryption tech for it.”

“Understood,” Nova replied, wasting no time as she set to work.

Aron, on the other hand, went back to what he had been doing, though his demeanor had shifted ever so slightly. A quiet excitement seemed to radiate from him now. He could hardly wait to finally lay his hands on the newly decrypted tech and knowledge. He knew it would be the key to fleshing out his own technology and advancing his plans.

..

“Wouldn’t the increase in quota let them stockpile mana stones or even drive their value down further?” Eragon found himself asking Lanesra as they traveled back to Earth.

Though they had been the ones to implement the increase in the representatives’ quotas, they were merely carrying out the emperor’s orders. While they could have asked for the reasoning behind the decision, Lanesra hadn’t yet had the chance to meet with the emperor to seek clarification. The order had come just weeks before the trade was set to take place, leaving no time to request a meeting or fully understand the strategy behind it.

But despite not having all the answers, she had a theory. “I think the emperor is trying to deepen their reliance on mana stones to the point where they’ll have no choice but to depend entirely on us,” Lanesra said.

“Aren’t we already doing that by selling mana stones cheaply while pretending we don’t know their true value?” Eragon asked, wondering if pushing further was unnecessary—or even redundant—to their existing strategy.

“The pricing might just be one piece of a much larger plan,” Lanesra explained. “The initial quota was set at about one and a half times each civilization’s usual mana expenditure. While the price itself was far cheaper than what they were used to paying, the amount of mana stones traded still left them with the option to fall back on their previous sources without any major disruption to their day-to-day operations—other than having to spend more money—if something happened to cut off their access to Earth’s mana stones. If that were the only factor, our price leverage would only go so far.”

But by tripling their quota, we trigger the Jevons paradox—where increasing efficiency or lowering the cost of a resource leads to even greater consumption. Mana, which was once used sparingly due to its high cost and limited supply, will now be used more widely. New applications for mana will emerge, driving up demand even further. This cycle will repeat until they reach a point where they can’t function effectively without it.

Take wormhole technology, for example. Before, they reserved it for emergencies or wartime. But now, with mana stones more accessible and affordable, they could start using them for trade, moving critical materials that once took years to transport. Similar shifts will happen across the board, tying them even more tightly to mana—and to us.”

Her explanation sent Eragon into a nodding spree, his expression one of dawning understanding. It wasn’t just clarity he felt, though—his awe for the emperor grew, along with a newfound appreciation for the meticulousness of the man’s planning.

Noticing the contemplative look on Eragon’s face, Lanesra added, “At least, that’s what I think the reasoning behind the emperor’s orders might be. It’s all speculation at this point. We’ll know the truth once we ask him directly during our upcoming meeting.” She wanted to make sure Eragon understood that her thoughts were just that—thoughts—and not the official stance of the empire or the emperor, which could turn out to be entirely different. ṙÄ𐌽ố𐌱ȧ

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