Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon

Chapter 46: Chapter 45: Panlogical Machine Chapter 46: Chapter 45: Panlogical Machine Fortunately, the other party did mention the term “borrowing books” at the beginning. Chaoyang coughed twice and cautiously replied, “I’d like to borrow a few books.”

“The deposit is one hundred Serir, refundable in full or paid in part accordingly.”

So expensive! Hearing the elder’s reply, he couldn’t help but be startled. Judy had spared no expense in trying to find Dane’s whereabouts, yet the total reward she could offer was only five hundred silver coins.

Given this price, how many residents could afford to borrow books?

“Must I pay first? What if you don’t have the books I want?” Chaoyang questioned.

“If you can’t borrow it here, then you can’t borrow it anywhere in the world,” the elder said with a warm smile.

Such confidence?

Chaoyang doubted what he had heard, considering his superficial understanding of Magnificent Castle, which didn’t seem like some significant city—The continent was divided into old and new, and the Old Continent was the core of this world. Based on his past experience, libraries are a more advanced infrastructure that appears only after basic needs are met, hence wealthier core cities are likelier to have large libraries.

This immediately piqued his curiosity.

“Here is a hundred.” Chaoyang counted out the equivalent silver coins and placed them on the counter.

The elder smiled even more kindly, took the money, and brought out a sect key, “Then please follow me.”

Chaoyang followed him through a long corridor to a hall, where, instead of bookshelves and books, the walls were lined with rows of neatly arranged doors.

The doors were marked with numbers akin to room numbers.

Hey, this is more like a hotel!

The elder stopped in front of room 1024, inserted the key into the lock hole, “Here we are.”

Chaoyang, somewhat puzzled, walked into the room which was less than ten square meters, containing only a desk and two chairs. The window across the room was a flat glass pane that seemed unopenable, but it radiated a soft light source, its origin unknown.

Naturally, there wasn’t a single book in the room either.

But his attention was entirely captured by something else—a huge machine that nearly occupied half of the room’s space. The machine’s main body resembled a series of vertebrae hanging down from the ceiling, looking very much like a giraffe. And in place of the giraffe’s head was an extremely complex metallic octahedron. Through the oil-smudged shell, he could vaguely see countless interlocking gears slowly rotating inside.

“It seems you are visiting Glaik Academy for the first time,” the elder noted Chaoyang’s astonishment and considerately offered, “Would you like me to explain how to use the Panlogical Machine?”

Chaoyang nodded involuntarily, “Please… tell me.”

“You can speak directly to it about what books you need to borrow. If the Academy has it, the conveyor belt on your left will start moving, and if not, it will then query the main body. At this point there are two possibilities: If the main body has it, the typewriter on your right will start working, and you’ll need to wait for the book to be printed. If neither has it, it will give a negative response, which is a left and right sway.”

Voice response? Chaoyang was genuinely shocked this time!

“However, you should be aware that the charges vary depending on the outcome,” the elder continued, “If the Academy has the book, we only charge ten silver for wear and tear. If the Academy doesn’t have it, inquiring the main body will incur a fee of sixty silver, and printing will cost an additional forty silver for labor and materials.”

Good grief… that actually sounds quite reasonable.

“Sir, do you have any other questions?”

Yes, and many at that! But considering that asking too much might arouse suspicion, Chaoyang chose to ask only about the aspect he cared most about, “This Pan…”

“Panlogical Machine.”

“This Panlogical Machine… what is its main body?”

“Of course, it is also a Panlogical Machine,” the elder said with a smile, “What you see before you is just part of the Panlogical Machine, just like Glaik Academy—any city that houses an Academy has a Panlogical Machine. If you wish to learn more, you might as well ask it directly.”

Right, he had almost forgotten this was a library. If the Panlogical Machine was indeed so widespread, he should be able to directly look up related books.

“If you require any other services, you may ring the bell on the table, and someone will attend to you shortly. Now, please enjoy your reading.” The elder gracefully bowed to him, then turned and left the room.

It was time to verify.

Chaoyang said to the machine’s head in an even tone, “I would like to borrow the Magnificent Castle travel guide.”

The machine started to move.

Its spine began to rhythmically extend and contract, and Chaoyang could even hear the deep trembling of joints interlocking and the hissing sound of steam being expelled from the pipes.

This thing can actually respond to its own voice!

And it’s a steam-powered machine!

How on earth is this theoretically possible?

Soon, the Panlogical Machine swayed left and right a couple of times, which according to the receptionist, was the response for not finding the corresponding book.

How could this be… Chaoyang was somewhat surprised. Could it be that tourism had not yet taken off in this world? Or should he consider a different approach to inquire?

“I want a book that introduces the Magnificent Castle.”

This time, the belt on the left started to move quickly.

In no time, a yellowed book dropped from the delivery slot. Chaoyang picked it up to see that it was titled “The History of Radiant Fortress.”

“This is… too incredible…”

He couldn’t help muttering to himself.

To know that this was a fuzzy search! The Panlogical Machine not only understood his question through his voice but also selected such a book according to his semantics and needs! Even if Chaoyang’s understanding of artificial intelligence was very superficial, he couldn’t help but feel utterly astonished at the technology embodied here!

Of course, because the Panlogical Machine couldn’t display a list or reply to the borrower with language, there was a significant deficiency in the efficiency of searching for books. However, compared to its wondrous aspects, these flaws seemed trivial.

“I would like to borrow a book that introduces the Panlogical Machine, promotional materials will do as well,” Chaoyang spoke again.

This time, the vibration of the machine lasted a bit longer than before.

After about two minutes, the typewriter on the right suddenly activated and began to produce a book.

This also made Chaoyang realize that none of the previous customers had ever asked this question.

Damn, are they not at all curious about the Panlogical Machine?

The question he had posed wouldn’t raise any suspicion from the receptionist, would it…?

Fortunately, he had used a new appearance for this outing, ensuring that no one could associate it with a detective. Weighing the pros and cons, Chaoyang decided to just wait for the book to finish printing.

After all, he wanted to know too much about how the Panlogical Machine was made.

This time, the printing took almost half an hour.

When the brand new “Chronicles of Glayk Academy” (5th Edition) was held in his hands, Chaoyang felt a sense of gravity rising within him.

He flipped to the first page, and a familiar phrase caught his eye.

“If you have any questions, you can find the answers at the Glayk Academy.”

“It’s the center of the world.”

Chaoyang was suddenly choked with saliva and couldn’t stop coughing.

Well, it turns out what Judy said was just the Academy’s slogan!