Chapter 993: Chapter 991: The Final Obstacle
Richard stepped forward and walked to a corner, finding an Energy Absorption Tower that was only half melted.
He rubbed the melted edge, thought for a moment, and then moved to another corner, feeling the charred wall.
In the third corner, he used Wind Blade to clear away the solidified metallic liquid on the ground, revealing the slightly sunken surface.
In the fourth corner, the situation was best; there was even a perfectly intact Energy Absorption Tower, though under the preset function of the Magic Rune, it sensed the external environmental anomaly and had automatically stopped working.
“Hmm—” Richard pursed his lips, analyzing information while continuing to gather clues.
A fragment of an Energy Controller, traces left by solidified metal liquid, a route of chaotic energy movement…
After several minutes, Richard vaguely reimagined everything that had happened in the room.
Squinting at the floor of the room, Richard muttered to himself:
“Initially, it should have been an Energy Absorption Tower in the third corner that went out of control, causing energy overflow. This rapidly spread in all directions, creating a chain reaction that nearly caused all the Energy Absorption Towers to malfunction.
During the spread, the effect slightly diminished, so the destruction was most severe in the third corner, nearly penetrating the heavily fortified ground; the two adjacent corners followed, and the diagonal fourth corner was least affected, leaving an intact Energy Absorption Tower.
Additionally, the remaining chaotic energy in the room does indeed suggest there was a brief confrontation…”
After a lengthy analysis, Richard looked at the Ancient Tree Tin Wood and said, “So, the accident that happened here truly has nothing to do with you? The issue seems indeed caused by the Energy Absorption Tower, and you actually resisted the energy attack from the tower.”
“That’s how it is.” Tin Wood, gaining assurance, toughened up considerably, seizing the moment to demand, “I said it’s all your fault! Therefore, I demand you shorten the contract duration… by at least a month!”
“Of course, it’s also possible that you did it too perfectly, deliberately using certain means to cause the Energy Absorption Tower to malfunction and orchestrated the whole scene by yourself.” Richard looked at Tin Wood and added, “So, your suspicion hasn’t been entirely cleared.”
“I…” Tin Wood hesitated, then weakly said after a while, “So can the contract be reduced by half a month, if not a full month?”
“We’ll talk after the investigation is clear; for now, you should maintain the current status.” Richard said, without further ado, gave Tin Wood a deep look and walked out the door.
…
Outside the door, Pandora and the Witch Demon Elder who had been waiting for a while quickly looked over and asked, “How was it?”
“No problem.” Richard said, “It shouldn’t be the tree rebelling, it was some issue with my equipment.”
“Really?” Pandora asked.
“Why not go into the room and see for yourself?” Richard said.
“Forget it.” Pandora said with some disappointment, “I knew the tree wouldn’t dare, I’d better go back to solving problems; just now, I suddenly had an idea.”
Having said that, she turned and walked towards the room.
Richard looked at Pandora’s back and shook his head slightly.
The Witch Demon Elder glanced over, frowning, “Was it really not the tree rebelling? Does that mean it might rebel in the future?”
“Yes.”
The Witch Demon Elder’s expression turned bitter, thinking of something, he asked, “By the way, what’s wrong with your equipment? Why is it so unreliable?”
“To be honest, it’s kind of unexpected. According to my previous research, it shouldn’t be like this.” Richard frowned, “So, for the next period, you help keep an eye on Eden; I need to fully dive into researching why.”
“How long will the research take?”
“We’ll see.”
“Oh.”
Richard walked towards the main laboratory.
…
In the following days, Richard stayed in the main laboratory without coming out, returning to his previous state of sleepless and relentless research on the Void Book and Allen Pamp Handbook.
The surviving Energy Absorption Tower was dismantled and repeatedly studied, with each Magic Rune on it retested, searching for the source of the problem.
One day, two days, three days.
Three days later.
Richard sat with a deep frown at the round table in the main laboratory, on the table lay two transcribed Void Books and Allen Pamp’s Handbook.
He was currently holding a Quill, calculating a formula—a formula he originally confirmed.
Based on this formula, he had manufactured various models of Energy Absorption Towers, giving him confidence to fill in the missing final piece of the nuclear weapon research and manufacturing plan.
After the accident in Research Room No.3, he had doubts about this formula, and now prepared to recalculate it—using different methods.
“Rustle, rustle, rustle…”
Step by step, the formula was calculated, then compared with another formula to form an equation and simplify.
With each step in deduction, numbers and letters were wiped out, becoming increasingly concise.
Finally, Richard wrote down the result.
“2=3.”
Seeing the final result, Richard’s eyes narrowed.
2=3, how is that possible?
2≠3, 2＜3 is correct!
Why did it result this way?
According to his calculations, the equation’s left side was the old method, while the right side was the new method.
In other words, the old method＜new method.
Where has the flaw occurred?
Is it that something was overlooked in the old method? But the new method doesn’t have any additional elements.
Or maybe the contents recorded in the Void Book were inherently contradictory, inconsistent, leading to different results with the two methods causing the Energy Absorption Tower issues?
Richard’s brows furrowed deeply, picking up the two Void Books, beginning yet another round of study.
“Whirr, whirr…”
Pages flipped over continuously…
An hour, two hours, three hours, in the blink of an eye half a day passed.
Half a day later, Richard sat at the circular lab table, his eyes fixed on the second-to-last page of the lower half of the Void Book, unmoving, as if petrified.
His face was somewhat pale, lips showing cracked dryness due to lack of water, but there was a sharp glint in his eyes, like he was suspecting something.
Eventually, the gleam solidified, suspicion confirmed.
“Whirr!”
Richard flipped the Void Book to the last page, earnestly read it through, and exhaled a long breath. He closed his eyes for about three seconds, then reopened them, voicing a conclusion:
“If I made no mistake, there should indeed be a third Void Book existing.”
Yes, there is a third Void Book!
Previously, Long Mei’er claimed that the Void Book only had two parts, but through his further study, he found some minor details in the book pointing out that the content composed from the two Void Books was incomplete and there exists a third Void Book.
This third Void Book clearly is the most crucial part of the series, holding decisive significance, yet it’s been cleverly concealed. If not for the Energy Absorption Tower issue in Research Room No.3, he probably wouldn’t have discovered it easily.
When it comes to large-scale production, should another problem occur, the consequences were really unimaginable.
Does Long Mei’er know about this? Was he misleading him on purpose earlier? Or, does Long Mei’er also not understand the reason… Richard quickly pondered… Long Mei’er was very certain before that he was on the wrong path, wouldn’t succeed; could it be that he foresaw this situation? Then, there must be this third, final Void Book in his possession.
Sure enough, wanting to succeed is never this easy; there will always be obstacles, big or small, blocking the way.
Now, it’s the final hurdle.
The third book!
Long Mei’er!