In a special-grade laboratory in a colonial plane.

Witch Yekaterina toyed with the magic mirror in her hand.

All the mirrors in her castle were actually connected to this magic mirror, not just mirrors, but all reflective surfaces within the castle.

Through this magic mirror, Witch Yekaterina discovered that Locke had discovered the truth about ritual magic, and the corners of her mouth curved up. "Not bad. I originally wondered why, with that little guy's perception, he hadn't discovered ritual magic's true purpose yet."

"However, it's not too late now. And it's just right."

Golden dragon Fafnir complained, "Using a magic mirror to monitor others really doesn't suit your status. You still like observing the movements of everyone around you so much."

"However, you could actually just tell that little dragon these things directly. Why be so roundabout?"

Witch Yekaterina said, "Some things, discovering them yourself versus being told by others, are two different concepts."

"You're a dragon, not a wizard like us, so you don't know that for us wizards, discovering things ourselves is critically important. If I told him, it would be equivalent to removing one step from the stairs that could originally help him climb upward. For him, it would only have disadvantages, no advantages."

"He's a wizard, a researcher at an advanced Origin Academy. Then he must possess the discernment to discover the hidden truth behind all things. Only this way will he have a chance to walk further."

Golden dragon Fafnir suddenly looked at Witch Yekaterina, only now realizing. "You're cultivating him?"

Witch Yekaterina's lips curved. "I'd rather have him stuck on this checkpoint for ten years than directly tell him the answer. Fortunately, so far, he hasn't disappointed me. At least up to now, his performance still meets all my expectations of him."

Golden dragon Fafnir looked at Witch Yekaterina, "Witch Yekaterina, I've always believed that the more a person lacks something, the more they like to emphasize that thing. You always say you like giving people freedom, but have you really given your subordinate researchers freedom?"

"This question really makes me curious."

Before Witch Yekaterina could speak, golden dragon Fafnir concealed his form. "Hehehe, don't misunderstand. I have no intention of discussing this deeply with you. That would be too troublesome. As you know, I really fear trouble. Just consider it creating some small fun in my immortal life. My view of that little dragon has severely diverged from yours."

"Let's wait and see."

"See what degree this wizard from the outside can ultimately achieve."

Golden dragon Fafnir let out a light laugh, then disappeared from the special-grade laboratory.

...

In the breeder public laboratory, when Locke arrived at his workstation and saw the attendance sheet Gregor had sent him, his face darkened.

Good heavens, 10 points deducted per day. Seven days meant 70 points deducted.

Actually, he only needed to come to the laboratory to sign in, but the problem was that because he had fallen into Emerald Sleep, he couldn't even do this much. He happened to run straight into the muzzle of the point elimination system that Witch Yekaterina had designed.

'Teacher, you've done me wrong.' Locke signed his name on the attendance sheet, speechless.

Forget it. As long as his research went well, a mere 70 deducted points didn't matter.

Points only had one meaning: not getting eliminated.

There was also possibly some special effect regarding the Jade Peach.

Wizard Kelt walked over with a female first-class wizard apprentice, rubbing his hands together, saying to Locke, "Locke, regarding attendance, I really can't help you, because this is a rule established by the Throne."

"All wizards in our six teams must follow it. No one can not follow it."

"So I really can't help you with anything."

Wizard Kelt asked tentatively, "I don't know why the Throne didn't request leave for you. Although I know you spent this week at the Throne's place, because she didn't request leave for you, points can only be deducted according to the rules."

Locke pressed his lips together and nodded. "Mm, alright, Wizard Kelt."

Wizard Kelt handed Locke a box. "For you. This is your reward for passing the Tier 3 funding, a Jade Peach."

"Also, this first-class wizard apprentice female student is a newly assigned student."

Locke looked at this first-class wizard apprentice female student and discovered her magical pressure was even higher than when Gregor first came here—it was 750.

Dora Williams wore a gray wizard robe, had blonde hair in a ponytail, and appeared very clever and sharp.

She immediately bowed to Locke. "Teacher, hello. I'm Dora Williams, your student."

Wizard Kelt said to Locke, "According to academy rules, more first-class wizard apprentices will be assigned to you subsequently. They'll be both your students and your laboratory assistants."

Undoubtedly, because Locke had performed very well with the Tier 3 funding last time, this raised his status in the hearts of Golden Crown Mountain's upper echelon.

Therefore, the quality of the first-class wizard apprentice Golden Crown Mountain sent him this time was even better than last time.

This was good too.

This way, formal wizards were more likely to emerge from among his students.

He wouldn't need to be as stifled as Wizard Newt, stuck by his students on his graduation conditions.

Wizard Kelt said, "Besides this, I've already ordered Witch Mason, Wizard Barrett, and Witch Freya, these three wizards, to all serve as your assistants."

"Our Group Six originally had eleven wizards. Because the original two were dismissed, now only nine remain. Of these, I'm allocating three wizards to help you research bromeliad magical plant mechanism pathways together."

"The remaining six... no, five wizards will do our Group Six's research from the past twenty years—researching madder-type magical plant mechanism pathways."

Wizard Kelt raised his hand and patted Locke's shoulder, saying, "You're now my right-hand man."

"Right now our Group Six has suffered a heavy blow. Three wizards can't be used anymore. The newcomers still need certain training, so we can only rely on you all to work harder."

Wizard Kelt's attitude toward Locke differed from before. Because Locke this time was doing research on 23 types of air bromeliads at once, almost equivalent to half of their Group Six's workload over the past twenty years, Wizard Kelt now valued Locke highly. He even directly had Group Six's original three formal wizards put down their own work and go cooperate with Locke.

Forming a small team within the team with Locke.

Undoubtedly, he placed great expectations on this adjustment, viewing it as hope for turning things around within half a year.

After Wizard Kelt left, he walked toward another area where two unfamiliar researchers stood.

It seemed that after the two data-fabricating researchers in Group Six were dismissed last time, these were local Cloud Marsh Wetland wizards recruited through sequential replacement.

Locke glanced over there. The two new researchers currently appeared very cautious, so their original personalities couldn't be seen.

This morning, Locke had heard his colleagues discussing. Reportedly, one was a formal wizard who graduated from Golden Crown Mountain, and the other was a just-graduated formal wizard sent over from Luxu Bridge.

The Origin Academy was their first job after becoming formal wizards. Naturally, their résumés during the wizard apprentice stage looked very good—they were frequent participants in various competitions.

Witch Mason, Witch Freya, and Wizard Barrett surrounded Locke.

Witch Freya stood in front of Locke's workstation and said in a low voice, "Locke, what did you do? How did you become our team leader?"

Wizard Barrett said in a low voice, "I heard. Locke completed mechanism pathway analysis for four types of bromeliad magical plants at once, and also discovered a type of natural magical power structure component not discovered before. Moreover, this time he also wrote a project application to research 23 types of bromeliad magical plants at once."

"Many researchers within Group Six heard about this. They're all quite amazed. I previously only knew Locke rapidly completed a Tier 3 project funding, but didn't know Locke's Tier 2 funding project application... was this explosive."

Witch Freya blinked. "Indeed explosive. Mechanism pathway analysis of so many magical plants—how many topics could be separated out to help us ordinary Origin Academy researchers complete Tier 3 funding projects?"

Locke hadn't expected Wizard Kelt would form a team-within-a-team in Group Six, making him the leader of three formal wizards.

However, this was also good for him.

After discovering that his performance had never exceeded Witch Yekaterina's expectations, he wanted to accelerate his research progress.

Comparing with Wizard Daniel, and within Witch Yekaterina's plans, if he wanted to steadily obtain the special funding project plus a sub-topic of Witch Yekaterina's special separate plan, he needed to become more outstanding.

Even the kind of outstanding that could exceed Witch Yekaterina's expectations.

Even if just a little bit.

Then he could obtain one of the three major funding goals he came to the Origin Academy for.

For someone with Witch Yekaterina's personality, as long as he slightly exceeded her expectations even a little, he would definitely gain her great value and trust.

But wanting to exceed her expectations, even just a little bit, was extremely difficult.

But now Wizard Kelt was actively cooperating, making him team leader. This could undoubtedly save him a lot of trouble.

After thinking and deliberating, Locke spoke, "I remember you three have all concluded Tier 3 funding, but your Tier 2 funding project applications haven't passed yet, right?"

This was also why Wizard Kelt could have them put down what they were doing to follow Locke—because the three were originally still in the project proposal writing stage, with nothing they absolutely had to do.

The three quickly nodded. Witch Mason and Locke made eye contact. Through their gazes, both confirmed that they both knew about Golden Crown Mountain's hidden secret society and were both in the stage of being tested by that secret society.

This way, Locke and Witch Mason were natural allies.

They had a special relationship bond between them.

Witch Mason said, "Tier 2 funding projects are even harder than we thought. So the three of us are all looking for topics. We've all been rejected more than once."

"The three of us originally planned to take a gamble, see if we could complete Tier 2 funding before graduating from the Origin Academy."

"If any of us three could apply and pass first, the other two would contribute resources to fully help them complete the conclusion. After graduation, that person would then contribute some resources as compensation to the others."

Witch Freya quickly nodded. "The three of us are all good friends, so we made this private agreement."

Wizard Barrett said to Locke, "Of course, now you're the team leader. You make the decisions. We accept you as our team leader."

Locke nodded and issued his first suggestion as team leader. "Then I suggest you cancel the agreement."

Locke knew he and the three were essentially the same rank. Therefore, he didn't use a commanding tone like with apprentices, but a consultative tone.

This was a technique for managing peers that he learned in the Land of Six Towers.

In peer management, what's most feared is mistakenly thinking oneself the leader who can order colleagues around. This often offends people.

So he could only give suggestions, always understanding that everyone was colleagues.

He had to use benefits to gather these people, like a merchant would.

Locke said to the three, "Following me, all three of you can complete Tier 2 funding projects."

All three's eyes brightened.

Witch Freya said, "Great! We three will all listen to you, Team Leader."

Barrett nodded, "Mm."

Witch Mason said, "I had a good feeling about Locke from the start, from the first day you entered our team, Team Leader."

Locke made eye contact with her. Both had a special bond and naturally found it easier to connect.

The core of peer management lay in creating reasons for cooperation that couldn't be refused.

And Locke precisely grasped the three people's key point—projects.

As long as he could bring projects to this newly formed team, he would become the de facto leader within this team.

Of course, this was also Locke's first time engaging in such deep peer cooperation. Previously in the Land of Six Towers, because of his relationship with Alicia and Grand Wizard Sulla, he was naturally half a rank above Montgomery and others, because he had the authority of a family wizard.

But now it was different. Although he was outstanding in Group Six, behind him stood no spokesperson for any interest circle.

So Locke could perceive that managing this small team this time was different from before.

Locke looked at the three researchers. Although these three researchers were far inferior to Daniel, taken outside, they were all geniuses.

At least all far surpassed Albert.

With their help, he should be able to discover more natural magical power structure components next, right?

But if he only discovered more natural magical power structure components, that would very likely still be within Witch Yekaterina's expectations, because she believed he possessed the dragon race's super intuition talent.

Group Six's responsible experiments should at most only reach the point of discovering more natural magical power structure components, right?

What else could be done?

Locke fell into deep thought.

Locke found three sets of materials from his workstation and distributed them to the three colleagues. "These are preliminary experimental data I did on three types of bromeliad magical plants. I originally couldn't do it all alone. Now our team has four formal wizards, equal to having four times the opportunity to apply for usage rights to the Three Great Mirrors. All four of us can use the Three Great Mirrors for analysis..."

"We need to strive to make our team's bromeliad-type magical plant data even richer than the madder-type magical plant data."

"Help me complete this project first. I'll also help you find suitable topics to apply for your funding."

Locke said, "The four of us mutually helping each other can create power that none of us originally possessed."

As a peer relationship, shaping common goals was most important. Otherwise, in this small team, everyone would only shirk responsibility, with unclear responsibility boundaries, superficial agreement but actually low motivation.

The biggest characteristic of peer relationships was the absence of hierarchical power among them.

For example, he had the power to decide his students Gregor's and Dora Williams's futures with one sentence, but didn't have such power over these three colleagues.

So he needed to shape common goals and common enemies to form cohesion within the team.

Witch Mason, Wizard Barrett, and Witch Freya, under Locke's encouragement and the future he depicted, indeed became motivated and very enthusiastic.

After the three temporarily left the workstation, Locke turned his attention to Williams, this new student, while handing a bottle of advanced Weeping Blood Nightshade potion to Gregor.

Locke asked Gregor, "By the way, Gregor, do you want to participate in apprentice-level competitions?"

Gregor recalled his previous participation in the breeder competition and the disastrous defeat. His face immediately turned pale. "No... Teacher, I don't want to participate in competitions."

Williams's eyes brightened. She quickly stepped forward and said to Locke, "Teacher, I want to sign up for this year's Cloud Marsh Wetland's apprentice-level breeder competition."

Gregor decisively retreated silently, wanting to reduce his presence.

Locke looked at Gregor strangely. "Why are you so resistant to participating in competitions?"

Williams also looked at Gregor strangely. "Listening to your teacher's words and participating in competitions—isn't that good?"

Gregor was very nervous, his face pale. "Very... very good. Teacher treats me well usually too. But the problem is... my psychological endurance isn't good. Last time I participated in a competition, I didn't achieve any results."

Locke frowned slightly. He had originally wanted Gregor to guide Williams a bit. Now it seemed this idea was impossible.

He might as well have Williams guide Gregor instead. These two students' personalities were completely opposite.

Of course, Gregor's personality also had its advantages. At least he didn't need to worry that Gregor would do something dangerous without his knowledge.