They indeed possessed the theory and core material, but between theory and reality there always lies a chasm constructed from precise craftsmanship and professional knowledge.
Julian kept chewing over the modern-sounding, unfamiliar term "noise generator" in his mouth. He painfully scratched his already ssy artist's curls and said, "My dear Lin, please don't misunderstand, I hold your wisdom and imagination in the highest esteem, but what we are facing now is a rciless engineering problem!"
Pointing at his own head, filled with all sorts of humanities knowledge, he said in a self-deprecating tone, "I am an ancient docunt scholar, a historian, and barely a half-baked mystical symbologist. My brain is stuffed full of the nas of long-dead kings and the grammar of ancient texts."
"But regarding spiritual conduction, energy frequency calibration, alchemical rune matrices—these problems that require calipers and the periodic table to solve—my knowledge reserves are zero!"
His gaze turned to Lin Jie and he continued, "Although your brain can always co up with so genius ideas, you are also just a chief engineer stuck at the theoretical level."
"The two of us together might be able to write a perfect paper on how to make a deity sing off-key, but we don't even have the most basic spiritual engraving knife needed to cut the crystal!"
Julian finally made his conclusion in a tone of despair, "And we have less than twenty hours left!"
What he said was an ironclad fact. Within the entire I.A.R.C., even the whole of Europe, the master who could shoulder this responsibility and might still be willing to accompany them in this experint was one and only one person.
Lin Jie's voice was exceptionally calm, "We need Arthur."
A spark of hope burst forth in Julian's eyes, "Arthur? Yes, that's right! Only that madman, that technical fanatic who views forging Grotesque Armants as his sole faith, could possibly complete the creation in such a short ti!"
Ten minutes later, Julian skillfully preheated and activated the "Hers Ether Communication Array," representing the pinnacle of I.A.R.C.'s communication technology.
Inside the massive crystal device, electrostatic interference signals surged like a blizzard, emitting a low, deep, rumbling hum.
And at that very mont, the rune matrix on the surface of the dormant Alchemical Beacon at the other end of the room suddenly lit up.
A soft silver-white light flashed from the center of the beacon, and then a palm-sized, thick lead-sealed box materialized out of thin air on the beacon's platform. The box was engraved with ergency and biohazard runes.
As the tal box appeared, the violent electrostatic blizzard on the communication crystal screen before them suddenly cald, and a familiar face of a shrewd, composed British gentleman surfaced.
But this was not Arthur, whom they wanted to find.
It was one of the core Investigators of the I.A.R.C. London branch, Barton Chris.
Barton's voice, transmitted via ether signal, remained steady, betraying no emotion, "Good evening, Lin, Professor Julian. Your requested 'ssenger' service has been delivered. Sir Henderson's high-priority authorization order has also been received. But according to regulations, before transferring the communication to the Equipnt R&
D Departnt, I need to confirm the requirents of this operation with you one last ti."
"Are you certain that aside from utilizing this strategic UMA material, you have no other choice?"
"Yes, we are certain." Lin Jie and Julian exchanged a glance and then gave the affirmative answer in unison.
Barton nodded slowly. He didn't press for details, just gave Lin Jie a deep look, then said in an official tone, "Very well. Then good luck to you, gentlen."
After speaking, his image vanished from the crystal, replaced by several seconds of crackling signal switching noise.
Finally, the face of a young technical madman, blurred due to the forced signal transfer and carrying an aura of impatience and mania, appeared on the crystal screen.
It was Arthur Conan!
The Armant Artisan was in his own workshop, full of grease and hazardous materials. He still had ssy black hair and bloodshot brown eyes, and he hadn't even had ti to take off his signature goggles from around his neck.
Arthur's roar was sowhat distorted by electrical signal interference, but the imnse anger contained within was still clearly audible, "Who?! Which damn, blind fool dares to disturb with this kind of ergency communication at the most critical juncture of my spiritual core overclocking load test?!"
"I swear, if you can't give a reasonable reason that would make abandon a great experint that might change the history of Grotesque Armants! I will personally design a brand new piece that can extract your soul and turn it into a wick..."
His threat cut off abruptly when he saw the East Asian face belonging to Lin Jie on the other end of the crystal ball.
The manic fury on Arthur's face imdiately faded by more than half, replaced by a "it's you again" look of resignation.
His voice was still displeased, "Lin Jie? What are you doing in Dublin? And you even used the cross-border ergency communication array? Has that city full of drunks and traitors been completely swallowed whole by a Calamity-class Leviathan?"
A polite, apologetic expression appeared on Lin Jie's face, "I'm very sorry, Arthur, for disturbing your experint. But I have indeed encountered a small engineering problem right now that only you, the greatest Armant Artisan in all of Europe, can solve."
"And I guarantee that the academic value and challenge of this problem itself far exceed that of the work you are about to complete."
He knew full well that the best way to deal with a tech geek like Arthur was to dangle an enticing technical puzzle to whet his appetite.
Sure enough, upon hearing the phrase "brand new technical problem," Arthur's bloodshot eyes lit up instantly.
Lin Jie wasted no words. He directly took the sealed box, aid the core fragnt from the Catacomb Nightingale inside at the communication array's image collector.
When that tiny but silver-glowing gray-black fragnt clearly appeared on the crystal screen before Arthur, the Armant Artisan stood up from his chair, an interested look on his face.
Imdiately after, Lin Jie laid out his script and the technical objective he needed Arthur to accomplish for him in the most concise and efficient language possible.
"I don't need it to be able to launch a powerful attack. I don't need it to last for a long ti. I just need a disposable, simple, sound wave disruptor that the two of us amateurs can personally assemble."
"Its function is only one: that at a specific ti tomorrow night, when that Silver-Stringed Harp, which also possesses the laws of sound, begins to play, our little gadget must also be activated synchronously, and be able to emit a sound wave whose frequency is completely opposite and contradictory to the main lody of that deathly lant."
Finally, Lin Jie used a tempting tone to speak to the other end of the crystal, "I need you to teach us how to use so of the most common, easiest-to-find ordinary materials in Dublin, like tuning forks, copper wire, clockwork from pocket watches, and a few small batteries, to personally compose a dissonant chord."
The other end of the crystal screen fell into a brief silence.
Arthur stared at the fragnt and at Lin Jie's face.
His brain, filled with countless formulas and blueprints, was operating and burning.
"Which street is the best tuning fork shop in Dublin on? And I need at least thirty feet of oxygen-free copper wire with a purity above ninety percent!"
He grinned at Lin Jie, "Our concert begins now."
User Comments
0 comments from readers