Capítulo 987: Chapter 985: Researching the Void
One day later.
Richard left Delan and returned to Jialan City.
He didn’t contemplate Long Mei’er’s words at all, instead, he shoved them to the back of his mind.
It wasn’t out of disdain for what Long Mei’er said, nor did he believe Long Mei’er’s words were wrong. On the contrary, in a certain sense, he had to admit that Long Mei’er was correct, supported by systematic logic.
However, being correct doesn’t mean acceptance.
It’s like some foods are sweet, some are salty; each flavor is correct and reasonable, but he won’t choose to eat all foods. He will choose to eat what he prefers.
Sometimes, persistence in certain beliefs or principles isn’t purely a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of choice.
He chose atheism, so when faced with theism, he acknowledges it but won’t accept it.
For those who believe in theism, they entrust their fear of death and future uncertainties to the omnipotent God. The more pious their faith, the less fear and uncertainty they have, leading to fearless and resolute will. They use God to explain everything, where disasters are God’s might, miracles are God’s grace, treating the Divine Kingdom as their destination.
For those who believe in atheism, they give their fear of death and future uncertainties to their own hearts. The stronger their heart, the less fear and uncertainty they have, also leading to fearless and resolute will. They use their own consciousness to explore and understand everything; disasters and miracles are just unlikely events with internal reasons, viewing the understanding of everything as their destination.
In a certain sense, atheists also believe in God, but this God is not a vague existence, rather it is themselves.
This is the difference between theism and atheism, two sets of principles and interpretations of the world, depending on each person’s choice.
And he chose the latter from the beginning—atheism, and remains steadfast and unwavering.
So, when such an incredibly irrational event like transmigration happened, he didn’t accept it as a matter of course, didn’t view it as God’s gift or even God’s test, but wanted to understand its reasons, grasp the truth of this world.
To understand the reason and the truth of the world, he must first accomplish the current nuclear weapon research and manufacturing plan.
“Let’s begin!”
Returning to Jialan City, Richard murmured in the main laboratory of Eden and busied himself. He began the intensive reading of the transcribed upper half of the Void Book, the exchanged lower half from the Truth Society branch, and the handbook obtained from Allen Pompo.
One day, two days, three days…
The entire next week, Richard didn’t leave the main laboratory.
A week later.
In the main laboratory, Richard sat at the circular experiment table, eyes fixed on the pages of the Void Book on the table, and with his right hand, he picked up a bottle of transparent liquid from the table, opened it and poured it into his mouth, gulping it down—this was the pre-configured nutrient liquid, which he depended on entirely to fulfill physiological needs during the past few days to save time.
“Gulp, gulp!”
Richard drained the nutrient liquid, set the bottle casually on the table, eyes still fixed on the pages of the Void Book, blinking as if in thought.
“According to the documented content, it’s indeed possible to open a channel to attract and utilize void energy. However, there are many requirements for the channel, firstly…”
Richard mumbled to himself, paused for a moment, took out papyrus and the quill to start writing.
“Scratch, scratch, scratch…”
“According to the channel’s requirement constraints, whether it’s possible to establish a model, assuming the energy passage per unit time is x, then the channel strength is α, additionally…”
“Scratch, scratch, scratch…”
Richard spoke while writing.
Suddenly another day passed.
Richard’s eyes fixed forcibly on a piece of papyrus on the table, repeatedly poring over a complex formula on it. His right hand instinctively reached sideways to grab the nutrient liquid for eating, but found nothing.
“Hmm?”
Richard turned his head, noticed all pre-prepared nutrient liquids had been consumed.
“How many days have passed?” Richard was startled but didn’t delve into it, suppressed the hunger temporarily, glanced at the formula again, pursed his lips and said, “If all calculations are correct, casting with this method should work.”
“Then let’s give it a shot.”
Richard spoke out, took a deep breath, expression turning serious.
He stood up, moved to the open area away from the circular experiment table, straightened his expression, raised his right hand, his lips started moving quickly, chanting a series of spells.
“Kor… Ree… Te…”
With the chants, free energy elements gushed from the Magic Origin, deploying their effects.
Once the incantation finished, with visible clarity, above the raised right hand, there was slight spatial distortion, seeming like the optical refraction phenomenon caused by heated air.
Gradually, the extent of the spatial distortion increased, followed by a “zap”, an arc pierced the space, manifesting in the air.
The arc appeared pale blue, extremely thin, only hair-width and lasted just a second before disappearing into thin air. The twisted space also returned to normal.
Richard slowly lowered his right hand, observing the restored space, distinctly felt a faint tingling on his skin surface, an effect from the dissipated arc charge. Although very mild, this indeed indicated there was energy generated—energy drawn from the void.
Richard’s mouth curved into a smile, exhaled deeply, and said, “Succeeded.”
Yes, it succeeded.
But it was just the beginning.
…
After a brief rest, Richard appeared in Research Room No.1 in the mechanical processing sector.
Fixing a palm-sized silver-white alloy plate on the processing table, manually controlling the equipment, he began engraving magic runes on it.
“Scratch, scratch…”
Finally, after completion of engraving, Richard collected the alloy plate and placed it on the shelf nearby, taking another metal plate to engrave.
“Scratch, scratch…”
The third piece, the fourth piece, the fifth piece…
In the ensuing time, Richard incessantly engraved one alloy plate after another, continuing until he’d etched thirty-six pieces, then he stopped to attempt assembly.
…
Three days later.
With a screech, Richard opened the door to Research Room No.3 in the mechanical processing sector, carrying a metal case inside.
This was where the Ancient Tree Species Ximu was located. Compared to before, the arrangement hadn’t changed much, the Ancient Tree Species Ximu was still fixed in an elevated transparent glass pool for convenient monitoring.
The ancient tree, standing one and a half meters high, had a crown full of dense branches, yet devoid of a single leaf, illuminated by dazzling colored arcs dancing upon it.