"What the hell went wrong? The fission reactor has exploded several times in a row…" Fernando hadn't paid the slightest attention to Lucian's warning. As long as no other peak Legend or third-tier powerhouse had tampered with anything, he would survive even a massive fission reactor explosion unaffected by any curse — the triggered and passive magical effects on his body alone would guarantee that.
His hair looked as if it had been caught in a gale, wildly disheveled, and his red arcane robe was crumpled full of wrinkles — the very picture of someone who had just survived a catastrophe. Yet he was completely oblivious to his appearance, his entire attention fixated on the potential problems with the fission reactor. His tone was irritable and laced with intense puzzlement: based on his own research in the fission domain and his reverse-engineering of the Legend-level spell "Atomic Fission," there shouldn't have been any problems. After all, what happened during those runaway explosions really was a fission reaction!
"Several times?" Lucian sucked in a breath as though his tooth ached. So this wasn't the second fission reactor meltdown — it was the third, fourth, or even fifth or sixth. No wonder he had "coincidentally" stumbled upon one at such a "low probability" — because it was nothing of the sort.
Only now did Lucian truly understand why his master had rarely taken him and the other students to conduct arcane experiments in the past — at most something relatively simple like blackbody radiation. Following him into arcane experiments was genuinely this dangerous! Being a Legend didn't mean you were safe; it meant you could be "obliterated without a trace" at any moment.
Fernando furrowed his brow. "The number of times isn't the point. The point is *why*. There's nothing contradictory between this and the spell model of 'Atomic Fission' or the principles of fission."
Lucian thought for a moment. "'Atomic Fission' is an uncontrollable area-of-effect destructive spell, whereas the reactor demands a steady, controllable output. Perhaps the problem lies precisely in that difference."
"Do you think I'm stupid enough to just copy the spell model of 'Atomic Fission' directly into the reactor design?" Fernando said irritably. "You've seen our reactor model and the detailed layout yourself. You should know we added numerous magic circles to facilitate energy extraction and control."
"But that doesn't necessarily mean it's truly controllable and steady. I believe that to solve this problem, we need to study the fission process in much greater depth — understand the role that neutrons and other particles play, and understand the different reactions they may cause under different conditions." Lucian had also considered the issue of reactor meltdowns and initially suspected that the current research was too crude and simplistic. The reactor design so far relied heavily on "reverse-engineering," and the differing roles of slow neutrons and fast neutrons had not yet been discovered, let alone their different effects in various fission reactions.
When it came to genuine, substantive suggestions, Fernando never dismissed them out of hand — though he never conceded verbally either. "As if I haven't considered that? But it requires a great deal of time to redo the experiments — bombarding different elements with neutrons under varying conditions using magic. Hm, Heather and I have already started on that."
Neutrons couldn't be accelerated by electromagnetic fields, making the bombardment experiments considerably more complex.
"I'll try conducting some of these experiments myself as well," Lucian said with a smile. "The sooner we complete the research on a small-scale fission device, the sooner our artificial planet can fulfill its greater potential — and the Church and our other enemies won't be able to catch up even if they try to copy us."
The artificial planet's orbital mechanics and electromagnetic wave reception and retransmission principles weren't particularly complex and fell within the realm of imitability. But fission reactors — without in-depth research into the fission process, any attempt by the Church and other enemies to replicate one would only produce the same explosion accidents that Fernando had been dealing with recently, with no way to fundamentally eliminate the problem. If they didn't understand which magical rune pattern served what function, they naturally couldn't determine which elements to combine or discard when converting them into the corresponding Divine Arts symbols. And any mistake in any one of the many steps could lead to a catastrophic accident.
This was the difference between the "absolute forefront of arcane science" and the "relatively cutting edge" — after all, the "launch" process in this world was far too crude and simplistic.
Fernando nodded slightly. "As long as we can achieve a stable fission reactor, miniaturization is only a matter of time."
In this world of magic, many technical difficulties that were insurmountable on Earth ceased to be problems. For instance, the fission reactor that Fernando and Heather had built used magic circles to directly convert the released energy into electricity and other forms, taking up no extra volume whatsoever. Of course, the cost of miniaturization would be enormous — apart from the Council footing the bill to install them on the artificial planet, likely only Grand Magisters and Legend-level Archanists would have the means to use them.
Moreover, the members of the Supreme Council were divided on promoting miniaturized fission devices due to the safety hazards they might pose — potentially causing massive casualties and pollution that would take a long time to eradicate.
Seeing his master's confidence, Lucian smiled. "Fission reactors and miniaturization are only our first step in accumulating experience. Controlled nuclear fusion is our true goal — and when that day comes, we can all call ourselves 'Sun Kings.'"
"Controlled nuclear fusion…" Fernando repeated the words with a trace of longing mixed with a frown. This problem's difficulty was on an entirely different scale from the fission reactor. He, Douglas, Heather, and the others currently had no leads whatsoever, and Lucian couldn't offer any useful suggestions either. "Let's figure out the fission reactor first…"
At this point, he instinctively launched into a sardonic aside. "Every Archanist with in-depth research into the microscopic domain — their main experiment right now is bombarding particles with other particles, sifting through countless sets of experimental data to find the one set that might contain a secret. They look more like repetitive alchemical laborers than Archanists."
"It's not just the ones with deep research who do it," Lucian chuckled. "The vast majority of mages know that particle bombardment experiments in the microscopic domain are the most likely path to new discoveries. They're terrified of the bizarre properties of electrons, as if something that could destroy the world were hidden within. And their understanding of quantum mechanics is only partial — they can't contribute to theory or novel experiments, so they're left with this one path that can't possibly lead them wrong."
It was the same as on Earth: particle bombardment and collision experiments were the most fundamental and most promising avenue for discovering secrets in the microscopic domain. The only difference was that the Council's high-level mages could set up the corresponding experimental apparatus themselves, without having to wait in line like Earth's researchers, who needed to queue up for access before they could test their hypotheses or derivations from collision data.
Of course, once things reached the stage of a Large Hadron Collider, the scenes might look increasingly similar. For mid-level mages who wanted to conduct similar arcane experiments, there were only a few paths available.
First, being a student or friend of a high-level Archanist. Second, working at an institution like the Atomic Research Institute. Third, being wealthy enough to hire a high-level Archanist to set up the equipment.
Fourth was submitting an application to the Arcane Research Committee, entering the queue, and waiting for free access to Alinsol Magic Tower's open large-scale laboratories — something Lucian had specifically proposed at a Supreme Council meeting, enabling low- and mid-level mages to conduct their planned research without spending a fortune.
Fernando's crimson eyes blazed. "And whose fault is that? It's all because of your 'Observer Effect' that they're terrified and panicking!"
Lucian laughed awkwardly and changed the subject. "Master, no field theory research today? Has Mr. Brook not arrived yet?"
"Research? What's the use of researching this! My head is full of infinity, infinity, infinity — I don't understand what the point of any of it is!" Lucian's question had hit precisely the right note. Fernando erupted like alchemical explosive that had been lit.
Lucian wanted to comfort his master with the observation that everyone who researched field theory kept millions of infinities hidden in their rooms — it was an unavoidable consequence of deep research in the microscopic domain.
Take Mr. Dirac, who had proposed the Dirac equation — the relativistic quantum mechanics equation, also known as the Lucian Equation. As one of the founders of quantum field theory and one of the top ten, even top five, greatest physicists in Lucian's estimation, Dirac had held a different view on infinities: he believed that the appearance of infinities should have an inevitable reason and deeper significance, that the previous classical theory might contain errors, and therefore he opposed using mathematical methods to perform renormalization. This had eventually led to his gradual departure from the most cutting-edge research (a shattering and crystallization of his Cognitive World?).
After his tirade, Fernando calmed down somewhat. "Brook will be a little late. But even though infinities appear in higher-order calculations, the field theory we've built together does genuinely provide a preliminary description of the interaction between charged particles — in other words, the nature of the electromagnetic force…"
He was fairly satisfied with the joint research he, Brook, and Lucian had conducted — except for those damned infinities.
Starting from the field theory they had developed, Fernando and Brook believed that the electromagnetic force was mediated by the exchange of photons between charged particles, involving many different processes. However, these photons were different from the ones studied in everyday research — they were unobservable, a purely mathematical conclusion. The two of them called them virtual photons.
After discussing quantum field theory for a while, Fernando suddenly said, "Stanis told me that things aren't entirely peaceful in the Dark Mountains. Those shadowy folk seem to have only truly recognized our strength after the Battle of Lontart, and they're now weighing the pros and cons of cooperation versus confrontation with us."
"Are they really that slow on the uptake?" Lucian said with amusement.
Fernando scoffed. "Those races all have extremely long lifespans. Our decade or so is probably only a dozen days or so in their eyes. Add to that their interest in arcane science being even less than the Church's, and it's inevitable that situations like this arise. Pass a message to Natasha — she should keep an eye on the situation in Lontart for a while. There will likely be quite a few dark creatures making their appearance."
"Understood." Lucian nodded solemnly.
…………
Deep within the Dark Mountains, a young man with silver-gray short hair and golden eyes spoke with authority: "Nasdel, infiltrate Lontart and Alinsol. Take a thorough look at the changes the Arcane Council has brought. This will form the basis for our decisions going forward."
"Yes, Your Grace." The werewolf before him retracted his fur, transforming into a rugged man with the same silver-gray hair.