Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
In the classroom, all the students focused their eyes on Ali, but he sensed none of it and simply stared at his teacher Brian, as if he were trying to confirm that what he heard just now was not his hallucination or a dream.
Brian was mostly interested in illusion and psychoanalysis in the magic school. Therefore, he nodded with a smile and repeated what he said just now, “Yes, you are the most distinguished student in your grade in the monthly exam. Congratulations. You won the special prize.”
It’s true!
It’s true!
Ali’s mind suddenly burst out. His clenched hands shivered softly, and his head was filled with only a few words.
The cosmic observatory!
The Atom Institution!
Jane!
The boundless space!
“Ali, are you not going to share your joy and your experience in learning with everybody?” Brian’s voice made Ali back to himself.
“Yes, Ali. None of us has ever touched the basics of arcana and magic before. How can we learn it well?” Some of the students who were born as common civilians just like Ali opened their mouths.
It had only been half a year since they came to school. They hadn’t suffered major setbacks or given up on themselves yet. Therefore, they were more curious about Ali’s miraculous rise in rank than they were jealous.
Ali stood up and was about to say something, but he suddenly remembered the difficult journey recently and how he had been toiling. Immediately, his eyes became sour, and it was impossible for him to see what was clear around him.
“I… I was only thinking that my father is not a sorcerer, not a noble, not a banker, not a merchant, and my talents are not nearly as good as those geniuses who have been admitted by the magic school, so I can only work harder than them if I want to keep up with them…” Ali said, half sobbing. He wanted to express something, but he did so rather poorly.
…
The Month of Harvest (September) came again. None of the islands controlled by the Congress was attacked by Maltimus. It seemed that all his attention had been dedicated to uniting the sea clans. Therefore, Brook returned to Allyn in advance.
Inside the Atomic Universe, the complicated magic circles on the top floor of Babel were now gradually perfected. The ripples of space and time were spreading out in the hall.
“Are you prepared?” Natasha sensed the strangeness after she returned from the Nekso Palace.
Lucien collected the materials for the magic circle and smiled. “I still need to modify the details. They will be completed in probably a few days.”
“It’s a shame that the Shield of Truth hasn’t been totally restored yet, or I would like to jump over with you and see what the real sun is like…” Natasha scratched her chin, apparently enticed. She sounded rather regretful.
Without the protection of the Shield of Truth, it was impossible for her to resist the ultra-high temperature near the sun. Therefore, she decisively held back the thought of trying, or it would’ve been irresponsible for her family, her father, and her subjects. After all, even Lucien could not tell whether he would reach an appropriate distance away from the sun or simply land on the sun after his teleportation.
Lucien smiled. “You have to hold Maltimus responsible for that.”
He paused and continued, “If I can really find the sun, you can take a look at it whenever you want to. Right now, I have a paper that I would like you to submit in Allyn for me tomorrow.”
Natasha chuckled. “You still have time for papers?”
To seize every moment to set up the magic circles, it had been a couple of months since Lucien went to the Atom Institution.
“It’s a paper that I wrote earlier.” Lucien took out a paper from the magic pouch and handed it over to Natasha.
Natasha picked it up and glanced at it, reading the title aloud. “‘Positive Electrons Discovered in Cosmic Radiations and Some Heuristic Thoughts on the Model of Positive and Negative Particles’, you are ready to submit the paper?”
“Yes.” Lucien nodded softly. “After the cosmic observatory is established, it will only be a matter of time for positive electrons to be discovered. Also, I already used ‘Positron Cannon’ in the battle against the Lord of Hell. It might’ve been caught by the elven queen… After all, the magic model cannot be built so easily.”
For a very long time, it was his unique spell.
…
At the beginning of the Month of Harvest, a group of vigorous boys and girls arrived at the gate of the Atom Institution.
“What will the Atom Institution be like?” Ali took a deep breath and said to Anderson, whom he just met. The guy was the top student of the second grade in the generic school.
While Ali was speaking, he was actually glimpsing at the girl who was wearing a daisy dress not far away. She had a delicate face, and her curled black hair dangled on her shoulder gently.
The students from all the schools had introduced themselves just now. Therefore, Ali knew that it was his pen pal, Jane.
However, under the watch of the teachers of the noble school, Ali dare not speak with Jane in case the teachers got suspicious and informed Jane’s parents. In such a case, they wouldn’t even be pen pals anymore. In the tales and plays of the bards, most of the relationships between the noble lady and the poor boy would be highly rejected by the noble families.
Sensing that Ali was looking at her, Jane turned around and put on a gentle smile, which excited Ali and made his blood boil.
“It definitely won’t disappoint you.” Anderson had visited the Atom Institution before, but he was still nervous and excited. “What will the real cosmos be like?”
How would the place that carried so many tales and so many beautiful wishes present itself?
“What did you see last time?” Ali intentionally asked, in case his knowledge caught suspicion.
Anderson was a rather flamboyant boy, so he said proudly, “Last time, we completed the particle collision experiment under the guidance of Mr. Lazar and Ms. Heidi…”
During the last visit, most arcanists in the Atom Institution were busy with their own experiments. Also, they were not allowed to draw close for the sake of confidentiality. Only arcanists like Lazar, Rock, and Heidi, who were better at dealing with people, showed them around and did the famous experiments.
“… They’re very knowledgeable… The whole laboratory is absolutely quiet save the noises…”
The picture of the Atom Institution in Ali’s head was more and more clear thanks to Anderson’s introduction. The only thing that dissatisfied him was that Anderson’s narration did not reflect the cutting edge of the microscopic domain.
At this moment, the gate of the institution was opened, and noises came out of the room.
“Alfalia, read this issue of ‘Arcana’!”
“What?”
“Mr. Evans has discovered positive electrons. Antiparticles do exist!”
“This world is too amazing…”
The exclamations came into the ears of Ali and the other students. They were rather confused. What were positive electrons and what were antiparticles? Why did they sound familiar?
As hypotheses that hadn’t been proven, the notions of positive electrons and antiparticles were not introduced in their textbook. That was why those students were confused.
However, Lucien was best famous for his disruptive theories. His speculations often piqued people’s attention and curiosity. They were mentioned a lot in the newspapers and by the radio stations.
In other places, they might have remembered it soon, but this was the cutting edge of the microscopic domain. How could the terms in stories show up here?
“After Ms. Hellen and Mr. Oliver extrapolated the Lucien equation to the microscopic particles whose spin is not integral, enshrouding the whole microscopic particles with its splendor, I knew that Mr. Evans’ speculation on antiparticles would be proved sooner or later.” Lowi said excitedly, “Then, the odds that the vacuum ocean of negative energy exists have increased too!”
Layria and Alfalia were reading the same copy of “Arcana”. They understood Lowi’s excitement well because they were also very thrilled. Suddenly, they exclaimed as they read the following paper.
“Our teacher did not mention the vacuum ocean of negative energy and abandoned the description of negative energy. He gave a new model, where positive particles and negative particles would appear and perish in pairs in the vacuum.” Chelly raised her head and hoped to see the same amazement on Lazar and Alfalia’s faces.
Layria read part of the content on the paper. “… According to the field theory and the new material point, all the particles could be seen as different fields. They’re the activated status of fields, and the base of fields is the vacuum. Therefore, different fields that are in the base status can overlap… There is no absolute vacuum in our world… Vacuums are not empty…
“… According to the uncertainty principle, there will be great energy fluctuations in a small, fixed time range… Therefore, the vacuum is itself an ever-surging ocean of energy. The conservation of energy is maintained in general… During the process, the fields enter the activated status from the base status, yielding a pair of positive and negative particles. Then, the pair of particles perish with each other, release energy, and the total is the same…
“… Because the process is too short to be investigated, the positive and negative particles are virtual particles. However, under special circumstances, those virtual particles might be separated because of external force and become the real positive and negative particles. That is perhaps one of the sources of materials. It has been generated from ‘nothing’ because of the uncertainty principle…”
The whole Atom Institution was quiet as she read the content. Lazar, Chelly, and the others tried to understand the model. They were still too shocked.
The ever-surging ocean of energy in the vacuum, the appearance and disappearance of particles, and the generation of matter disrupted their understandings in the past, raising a storm in their brains.
Also, the ever-surging ocean of energy seemed able to explain the source of magic energy!
Alfalia, who was rather good at astrology, suddenly mumbled to herself, “The uncertainty principle that is regarded as a demon because it might disrupt determinism is actually the source of matter…”
Ali was so dizzy at the gate that he turned to Anderson. “Do you have any idea what they are talking about?”
Anderson shook his head quickly. “Not a clue… What about you?”
Not far from them, Jane also shook her head.
“Me neither…” Ali looked more than confused. “Perhaps… this is the landscape at the bleeding edge of the microscopic domain…”
“That’s right.” Anderson couldn’t have agreed more.
Lazar managed to get back to himself from his shock. He turned to Ali and the other students and said, “You’re here? You will be divided into groups of four. Each group will spend half an hour in the cosmic observatory. Heidi and Annick are waiting for you up there.”
Five people could be teleported at one time, but they had to be accompanied by a middle-rank sorcerer. In the cosmic observatory, even though the laboratory was only big enough for five experimenters to work in, there was enough place for more visitors. Besides, the magic gems and energy consumed would be covered by the Congress of Magic.
Ali and the other students were no longer confused. Their hearts were racing again.
…
Inside the Atomic Universe…
Lucien walked to the center and was ready to activate the magic circle.
Natasha, who came to see him off, scratched her chin and said, “To be honest, it has only been three months since we explored the Boundless Ocean and confirmed the ideas with data. I feel that this is too easy, like a child’s game.”
“It did not begin from the exploration of the Boundless Ocean…” Lucien blinked his eyes and smiled rather cunningly.
Then, the light was on, and the gate of space and time was opened.
