Time flew by, and it was the start of the school year.
Ding Yun arrived at school on time, completed all the enrollment procedures, and attended classes normally for half a month to familiarize herself with the process. Only then did she begin to arrange her own affairs.
She started by planning the production of basic Poké Balls and how to modify them for mass production.
The former was relatively simple.
After all, she had the secret recipe, the production equipment, and alternative materials. All Ding Yun had to do was to gauge the specific usage of the alternative materials and then proceed with production.
A little over a month after school started.
Ding Yun successfully produced basic Poké Balls.
What followed was the modification phase.
The difficulty of manufacturing and modifying things is different. Theoretically, as long as one learns the manufacturing skills, anyone can create an item.
However, to modify something, one must have a thorough understanding of its principles and be clear about every technology involved. This is the ability to modify, not the ability to modify well.
To modify successfully, one must understand the principles and then achieve improvements and expansions.
Fortunately, Ding Yun didn't intend to modify the basic Poké Balls to an extraordinary extent. She merely wanted to change their external appearance and internal structure based on the existing foundation, making them more convenient to carry and sell.
Mobile phones come in several colors; why couldn't basic Poké Balls have multiple colors and designs?
This type of modification, which did not involve core technology, significantly reduced the difficulty.
Moreover, she could continuously watch instructional videos within the Poké Ball manufacturing system and incorporate the manufacturing techniques of other special Poké Balls into the basic ones. Thus, before the end of the semester, Ding Yun successfully produced basic Poké Balls in three types and twelve colors.
One was the standard basic Poké Ball, the kind she received in her beginner's gift package. It was round, with about eighty square meters of space inside, capable of housing people and storing goods.
There were a total of four colors.
They were gold and silver, red and blue, black and white, and cyan and green.
Gold and silver were considered similar colors, while red and blue, and black and white were contrasting colors. Although theoretically, dozens or even hundreds of different colors could be created, Ding Yun didn't have the energy for it. If someone disliked her color schemes, they could always apply a film to the outside.
Another type was the refrigerated storage basic Poké Ball.
Since this Poké Ball was not specifically for housing people or raising pets, Ding Yun deliberately designed it to resemble a small warehouse.
It transformed from a sphere into a cuboid.
The button for opening and closing in the middle was changed to a door or lid.
The interior was also eighty square meters, with a constant low temperature similar to a normal cold storage, suitable for preservation. Additionally, it could be adjusted for refrigeration.
The colors were the same as the basic Poké Balls.
There were a total of four.
The last type of Poké Ball was intentionally designed to be flat and semi-transparent.
In terms of capacity alone, it was similar to the other two types of Poké Balls. However, due to its flat shape, the height of the space was reduced, while the planar area was significantly increased, amounting to nearly one hundred and twenty square meters.
The height was only two meters.
But it was sufficient for normal use.
After all, very few people exceeded two meters in height.
This type of Poké Ball was specifically designed by Ding Yun to resemble a farming game. It included one hundred square meters of land, a small spring, and a warehouse.
The warehouse area was small, only ten square meters, mainly for storing tools, feed, and fertilizers.
As for its drawbacks.
There was no automation, no time acceleration. It was just like normal farming. Those who fantasized about having a portable farm might be disappointed after purchasing it.
They might even be too lazy to farm.
However, Ding Yun still created it.
After all, even if most people know something will be idle, haven't many of them still been sold?
For instance, some e-readers. People might intend to buy them to read books, but in the end, many are either left collecting dust or used as coasters for instant noodles.
Despite this, it didn't affect sales.
At least, a short-term burst of sales was possible.
However, while the items were created, a significant challenge remained in mass production.
That was the carving of the core energy chip.
Yes, since these Poké Balls could function normally, especially for refrigeration, they required energy. Without energy, how would the opening and closing of the space be managed? If a little Pokémon lived inside, it would be pitch black; could that be called a good life with food and shelter provided?
But these Poké Balls certainly couldn't be recharged. How long would it take to charge them?
Furthermore, frequent charging would be inconvenient.
Therefore, these Poké Balls actually had a different energy system, not a common energy system like electricity.
Instead, they used crystal energy.
In essence, natural crystals were made into crystal chips, and then special patterns were engraved onto these crystal chips. That small piece of natural crystal could then serve as an energy chip, generally lasting for ten years.
This sounded quite good.
But this was precisely the core problem that made mass production of basic Poké Balls difficult. All crystal chips had to be hand-carved and must use natural crystals.
Artificial crystals could not provide energy.
Machine carving also could not make the chips effective.
The crystal energy chip was only the size of a fingernail, yet it required over three hundred different symbols and patterns to be engraved. This was a task that ordinary engravers could not complete. Only highly skilled micro-carvers could accomplish it, but there were very few truly capable micro-carvers left in the world today.
The precision of machine micro-adjustment was comparable to or even surpassed manual work in some aspects.
This further compressed the job market for micro-carvers.
Ding Yun's ability to successfully micro-carve in a very short time was mainly due to her strong mental power. Strong mental power not only allowed her to learn faster.
It also enabled her to be extremely meticulous.
However, others were not like her. Even with diligent study and rigorous practice, a normal person would need at least ten years to reach the level of successfully micro-carving an energy chip. Who could wait that long?
Without enough people to micro-carve the energy chips,
Ding Yun could not mass-produce Poké Balls.
If this issue could not be resolved, Ding Yun would only be able to limit purchases. After all, even if she found a way to gather more micro-carving masters, the output would likely be meager. With insufficient production, how could purchases not be limited?
She couldn't possibly modify the energy system.
To make it rechargeable?