Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 448 The People Who Had Their Data Stolen
After a brief silence, a heated discussion broke out in the Yunze Cup group chat.

The ninth-ranked breeder is asking, what is a ladybug predator?
The seventh-ranked breeder from the Wizarding Land of the Rain Swamp in the Three Swamps asked how a wizard could hire a black wizard to steal other people's data in the Cloud Swamp Cup.
He clearly knew what a ladybug predator was.

Of the three swampy regions, the Thunder Swamp Lowlands are the most developed, followed by the Cloud Swamp Wetlands. The Rain Swamp, due to its overall swampy terrain and the presence of only some herbaceous magical plants and small magical creatures, has always been at a disadvantage in terms of natural resources, making it one of the slower-developing wizarding regions among the three swampy regions.

However, all three lands have a geologically significant natural large-scale magical energy source called "Cloud Lake".

The total area of ​​Cloud Lake is even equal to the combined area of ​​several Wizarding Lands, so the natural magical tides of the Three Swamps are several orders of magnitude higher than those of other regions, making the Three Swamps extremely prosperous.

Only beneath the Starfield Sea.

In addition, the wizard Alaric from the border between the Dark and Light immediately tagged Yennefer, the third-ranked wizard from the Spiral Basin. "Sixth Brother said the person who hired the dark wizard came from the Spiral Basin. Third Brother, aren't you going to say anything?"

Locke and Yennefer spoke in the group at the same time, forbidding him from using such outrageous titles again—"Sixth Brother" and "Third Brother".

Yennefer also posted a message in the group: 'I didn't hire them. Hires don't need to reveal their true origins.'

Wizard Alaric immediately sent a message: 'What you're saying seems reasonable on the surface, but you seem quite familiar with the process of hiring ladybug raiders.'

Locke glanced at the text message from Wizard Alaric and almost gave him a thumbs up. This guy was a natural at finding out things; he even had some questioning skills.

This saves me the trouble of testing the attitude of the contestant from the Spiral Basin towards me.

Yennefer sent a message: 'I've also heard of the Ladybug Raiders. Many people have had their research data stolen by them; they are their victims.'

'That's normal; the wizards of the Rainswamp obviously know that too.'

The wizard from the Rainswamp, ranked seventh, chimed in. "Indeed, the Ladybug Raiders are infamous, and many have been their victims. However, that organization has powerful figures behind it, so other similar organizations have been wiped out more than once, yet this one still exists."

"I've heard about this from my teachers. One of my seniors had obsessive-compulsive disorder in his early years; he needed perfect data and a complete chain of evidence for every experiment he did. One experiment that others could do in three years took him ten. Then, just three days after he finished, his data was stolen by ladybug raiders."

"My article was published by several people beforehand, and the ladybug raider sold his data to multiple individuals, which infuriated my senior so much that he almost committed suicide by jumping into Yunhu Lake. Later, my advisor persuaded him to come down from the lake and used his connections to give him a first-level grant. Only then did he stop his self-destructive behavior and was even forced to cure his obsessive-compulsive disorder."

Yennefer sent a message: 'You see, it's normal to know about ladybug raiders, right? There are similar victims on the breeding campus of Neher University, where I work.'

In short, Wizard Augustine, I truly knew nothing about this matter.

Locke sent a smiley face emoji in the small group chat, without saying anything.

Neher University?
Neher University is probably that white wizarding organization with a large number of dark wizards.

Locke later consulted materials in the library of the Six Towers, finding that the Spiral Basin and the Six Towers were two extremes.

The Six Towers region is characterized by a rich environment but flawed systems, leading to the overall decline of the Wizarding Lands. In contrast, the Spiral Basin suffers from an insufficient environment, yet its Wizarding Lands possess strong internal vitality, continuously absorbing resources and geniuses from external Wizarding Lands, gradually reaching its current state. Among them, there are even more than one second-circle wizard.

It is said that a third-circle wizard once roamed the deepest part of the Spiral Basin.

However, there is a problem in the Spiral Basin: white wizards and black wizards are mixed up. In fact, there are white wizards in the Spiral Basin who take off their white wizard robes and put on black wizard robes, or take off their black wizard robes and reveal the characteristics of white wizard robes underneath.

Many of the wizards there are members of both the White Wizarding Association and the Black Wizarding Alliance.

Unconventional approach and open recruitment of talent are unique characteristics of the Spiral Basin.

The center of the Spiral Basin is also connected to a very troublesome plane in the void—the Corruption Deep Sea Plane—with a plane gate containing a massive cluster of planes.

The Corrupted Deep Sea Plane is a special plane formed from the decay of a super-giant water elemental plane whose ecosystem has collapsed. It is filled with putrid water elements, so this plane is not of much use to the wizarding civilization, but it is like a pest.

The wizards of Spiral Basin have long needed to resist the Plague Water Elemental Emperor from the corrupt deep-sea plane.

Therefore, the area suffers from both resource scarcity and immense war pressure. Under such pressure, there is no distinction between black and white wizards in the Spiral Basin, and it is extremely tolerant of ideological disputes.

Locke glanced at the small group. He knew from the beginning that it would be difficult to get any results by asking questions in the group, so he was just testing the waters.

First, it indicates that the other party's attempt to steal one's data has failed.

Secondly, it serves as a warning to the other party.

Thirdly, we should also check if we can pinpoint the target. Currently, Yennefer in this Spiral Basin is indeed suspicious and needs to be closely monitored.

Meanwhile, Edgar David, the wizard from Sunshadow Peninsula, who was ranked first in the group, surprisingly sent a message. He immediately tagged the second-ranked member and said: 'I've also encountered ladybug raiders, but my lab is guarded by War Tree Treants. War Tree Treants possess War Domains, which can automatically lock onto hostile targets and use their hostility to create a War Domain.'

'So, I discovered the ladybug raider that infiltrated my lab to steal my core data, and I killed him on the spot.'

'Second place, is everything alright on your end?'

'Who on earth could be so devoid of values ​​as to hire ladybug raiders to steal data during the competition? But you underestimate the Cloudze Cup. In a competition like this, any wizard whose data you manage to steal is doomed to lose from the very beginning.'

The strong always get stronger; true strength fears no challenge!

From the first few words spoken by the first-place winner, Locke immediately sensed that the other party was a powerful and bloodthirsty person. Ladybug Raider must have also made a deal with him, but he chose to kill the black wizard with his own hands instead of making a deal that would benefit him.

It is clear that for him, satisfying his bloodlust, or rather, fulfilling his inner desires, is itself a form of benefit.

Moreover, the other party is a score-obsessed person...

Goodness, this wizard Edgar David immediately tagged the second place winner, seemingly not even considering the third place winner.

Faced with so much skepticism, Yennefer, who came in third place, sent a message in the group chat: 'I'm going to do my experiment.'

"To be honest, even if your projects were to be completed, they wouldn't be a fraction as good as my Mushroom King's. I have no reason to hire Ladybug Raiders." After that, Yennefer stopped replying to messages in the group chat.

Meanwhile, Alaric and the fourth wizard from the Razer Lowlands, Karel Knight, were engaged in a heated discussion, speculating about who had hired the ladybug raiders.

Wizard Karel Knight said, "Anyway, whoever hired them, the person who hired them, and the person whose data was stolen, must be incompetent."

"How could someone with real skills have their data stolen?"

Meanwhile, the second Diana Witch from Yunze Wetland finally appeared in the group chat today, for the first time ever. 'Hmm… I've been in my lab, 24/7, sleeping and eating there, and so have my students and my partners.'

'So I don't think the ladybug raider had a chance to steal my project data.'

"However, thank you all for your kind reminders. I have to get back to work; I haven't finished today's experiment yet. Sigh, all the wizards in my research group haven't slept for three months."

"Everyone, I have to go now. No more chit-chat."

Locke's expression turned strange.

The second place winner from Yunze Wetland seems to be a... workaholic, whose entire research team hasn't slept once in three months?

This is absolutely outrageous.

Ladybug raiders certainly can't interfere with such research groups.

There was absolutely no chance of sneaking in.

'I thought the second-ranked witch was Voldemort because she hadn't spoken before, but now it seems she's been busy with experiments.' Locke pondered, 'The first-ranked witch, David, disdains to communicate with us. His only rival is probably the second-ranked witch, Diana of Cloud Marsh Wetlands.'

"The third witch, Yennefer, it's uncertain whether she's a dark or white witch, but she's suspected to be related to this large-scale data theft incident involving hired ladybug raiders."

"The fourth place is from the Razer Lowlands, the fifth place is the inquisitive wizard Alaric, the sixth place is me, the seventh place is a wizard from the Rainswamp, and the eighth, ninth, and tenth places have all spoken in the group."

"Well, the competition in this Yunze Cup is indeed fierce." Locke pondered for a moment and decided to return to his special-grade laboratory in the White Dragon Tower to quickly put the inspiration he had gained from the battle with the black wizard into practice.

But at that moment, the gray mist stone slab suddenly trembled.

Just moments before, Karel Knight, the wizard from Razer Lowlands, who had been mocking in the group chat, saying that anyone whose data was stolen must be incompetent, was now repeatedly tagging everyone in the group chat.

"Where are the files and documents I kept in my lab? Why are they gone?"

“Listen to me, you who hired the dark wizard! That data was produced using my university funds and First Ring Foundation funds. It belongs to the White Wizard Association of Razer Lowlands!”

Karel Knight, the wizard, went mad, elevating the status of his data: "You used dark magic to steal assets from the White Wizarding Association, which is a serious violation of the law. I'm reporting you, and I'm going to send you to the dark wizard prison."

"Give me back my information right now!"

The fifth person, the wizard Alaric from the border between darkness and light, probably saw how miserable he was and comforted him, saying, "Don't be too angry."

"We need to cut our losses in time. Fortunately, it's only been a month since the competition started. Even if the data is stolen, how much can they steal? You can make minor adjustments and changes, and it will be usable again."

Wizard Karel Knight angrily typed, "Entries for the Yunze Cup require originality. If he uses my information to publish articles, my work will lack originality, and I'll lose before the competition even starts."

"Making minor adjustments now is easier said than done! Just getting the accounts reimbursed, rewriting the project plan, and preparing the financial statements would take an immense amount of time. Using such underhanded tactics to cheat people is utterly unethical."

"There must be a dark wizard among us. The point of the competition is for all participants to bring their best to win, not just to win. The process of participating is itself a learning process, but those dark wizards will never understand that."

Alaric posted a somewhat honest message in the group chat: 'But didn't you say that those whose data gets stolen are incompetent?'

'Try to accept reality a little; after all, it's a case of being less skilled than others.'

Wizard Karel Knight directly tagged Alaric. 'I think you're the one who hired those dark wizards.'

Wizard Alaric was immediately enraged. 'Don't bite people randomly! I am a nobleman of the Golden Dynasty, enjoying immense honor and privileges in the borderlands of light and shadow. How could I possibly do such a thing! I was just trying to comfort you; didn't you see I was the only one in the group who responded to you?'

Then, the two started arguing.

Upon seeing this, Locke immediately shut down the Gray Mist Slab.

I'm not interested in watching others argue.

I was just looking at the messages in the small group to get a general idea of ​​my competitors' personalities.

However, these were all incidental matters.

Locke turned and left White Dragon Street, reporting the matter to the Plutarch family and asking them to handle the aftermath.

Locke, on the other hand, returned to his top-tier laboratory.

At the White Dragon Tower, 20km away, the witch Barbara hurriedly told Locke that she had indeed found some discrepancies in the bills, but had already gone to the finance office to readjust them and returned the excess money.

Locke nodded slightly. "I understand. I've resolved this matter. Using this method will save us a lot of trouble in the future."

"By the way, I need to conduct the experiment immediately. I have a new idea. Can you call Montgomery over for me?"

(End of this chapter)