Capítulo 941: Chapter 939: Void Book
The room was silent for some time, and finally, Pandora broke the frozen atmosphere. She wrinkled her nose, showing a nonchalant expression, and looked at the Witch Demon Elder, asking, “What are the few questions you want to calculate?”
“Ah—” The Witch Demon Elder exhaled slightly, reached into his robe, and pulled out a crumpled piece of papyrus, on which some scribbled words were written, “Here, they are all written down, three in total.”
Pandora glanced at it, calling out aloud, “Little Bell!”
“Woof!” A dog’s bark rang out, and a yellow shadow darted out from under the desk—it was the Witch Demon Elder’s golden yellow dog.
After darting out, the golden yellow dog looked at Pandora ingratiatingly, wagging its tail and panting, awaiting Pandora’s command.
Pandora pointed towards the papyrus in the Witch Demon Elder’s hand and said, “Bring it to me, Little Bell.”
“Woof Woof!”
The golden yellow dog barked twice in response, hopping to the Witch Demon Elder, taking the papyrus from his hand carefully, and returned bouncing to the desk.
Delivering the papyrus to Pandora, she casually patted the golden yellow dog’s head. The dog spun around excitedly on the spot, its tail wagging like a car windshield wiper in a rainstorm, snorting through its nose.
Pandora began reading the contents on the papyrus, while the Witch Demon Elder watched the overly excited golden yellow dog with a strange expression. After a moment, he spoke to Pandora, “Hey, little girl, why do you… call my dog Little Bell? I remember, he doesn’t have that name, right?”
“Swipe!”
Pandora put down the papyrus she was reading, glanced at the Witch Demon Elder, and asked, “Is there a problem? Little Bell is no longer your dog, but mine. I remember you promised to lend him to me for twenty days, and it’s only been seventeen days, with three still remaining. And since you’re here to ask me questions, the time will be extended. Before returning Little Bell to you, what I call him is my freedom.”
“But…” The Witch Demon Elder wanted to say something, but he opened his mouth, yet said nothing.
Glancing at the golden yellow dog diligently trying to please Pandora, the Witch Demon Elder sighed softly, capitulating with a sound, “Very well.”
“Crash!”
Pandora wrinkled her nose with satisfaction, picked up the papyrus, and continued reading.
…
Elsewhere.
Richard finished inspecting the facilities in numerous rooms, confirming that they were all functioning normally and could ensure the Uranium 235 was purified under the action of laser. He breathed a sigh of relief and stepped back into the main laboratory.
Sitting at the circular experimental table in the main laboratory, Richard laid out a piece of papyrus, dipped his quill in ink, and began writing complex equations on it.
“Scratch, scratch, scratch…”
Finally, Richard substituted the instrument readings observed during the inspections into the equations for calculation.
“Scratch, scratch, scratch…”
A few minutes later, Richard set down the quill and looked at the bottom of the papyrus, where a final numerical result had just been calculated—0.5125±0.0025.
This value represented the current energy deficit in the nuclear weapon research and manufacturing plan.
Compared to the desired state, there was still about fifty percent of the energy lacking, even after successfully reducing energy waste with the Truth Society’s “Blood Alchemy” and utilizing the energy from the Ancient Tree Species Ximu.
Before this, the deficit was several times higher.
Under the current situation, without changes, it would take about two years to produce enough weapon-grade enriched uranium and manufacture nuclear weapons.
However, after one year, the cooperation time with Ancient Tree Species Ximu would end, and they would depart, which would extend the time to three years or more.
Though he figured Ancient Tree Species Ximu would likely stir up trouble before the cooperation time ended, it wasn’t guaranteed.
So now he had two ways to solve the problem.
One was to find some way to truly “force” Ancient Tree Species Ximu, then subdue them violently, forcing them to extend the cooperation time to two years later.
The other way was to use other methods to fill the energy deficit.
Between the two methods, he leaned towards the latter. “Forcing” Ancient Tree Species Ximu was risky and uncertain in guaranteeing full cooperation. Comparatively, using other methods to fill the energy deficit was more secure.
As for these methods, he had some ideas now—learning from Ancient Tree Species Ximu to extract from the Void.
Ancient Tree Species Ximu, due to its unique life, directly extracts endless energy from the Void. He didn’t have this ability but could achieve effects using some spells.
Indeed, spells that could achieve effects were rare, but not non-existent. He recalled that the Truth Society branch seemed to have a related book, called…
…
Two days later.
Truth Society Delan Branch, conference room.
At one end of the rectangular conference table, sat Steward Canon and Supervisor Long Mei’er, with Long Mei’er holding a noticeably fat white rabbit in his arms, seemingly weighing over ten pounds, while Richard sat at the other end.
Long Mei’er rubbed the long ears of the rabbit with his fingertip, looked up at Richard, and slowly said, “So, Wizard Richard, you want to exchange for the branch’s ‘Void Book’?”
“Yes.” Richard nodded, his facial expression unchanged.
“And what’s the reason?” Long Mei’er asked, releasing the rabbit’s long ears, then scratching its head.
“The same as before,” Richard replied, “for the sake of my ongoing research.”
Long Mei’er’s hand scratching the rabbit’s head paused slightly, then lifted the rabbit with both hands, placing it like a decoration on the table, showing a serious expression as he looked at Richard. Staring for about a second, he took a deep breath and said earnestly, “Wizard Richard, I remember we discussed this before. Your research on matter and energy is a dead-end, progressing further won’t yield results, it’s better to stop early. Previously, I thought after exchanging for ‘Blood Alchemy’ and researching it, you’d recognize this reality. It seems now, you’re even more entrenched, even planning to research Void-related knowledge.
You must understand, even ancient wizards haven’t thoroughly researched Void-related knowledge, and very little has been passed down. Trying to make breakthroughs in your research with incomplete records is almost impossible, it’s better to give up sooner.”
“But I want to persevere a bit longer, I want to try again.”
“Do you call your actions persistence? To me, it looks more like stubbornness.” Long Mei’er gently shook his head.
“Whether it’s persistence or stubbornness, I haven’t hit a dead-end yet, I just want to see how far I can go, Steward Long Mei’er,” Richard replied without arguing.
“So, you’re saying you must see a dead-end before you’re willing to give up?”
“Maybe.”
Long Mei’er suddenly fell silent, not saying a word. Sensing an uneasy ambiance, the fur of the rabbit placed on the table stood up and it fearfully glanced at Long Mei’er, shivering as it tried to jump into Canon’s lap beside it. But after taking two steps, it was petrified on the spot by a glance from Long Mei’er, then embraced by him.
Canon by the side was about to speak but stopped.