Fundamentals

"And carrying something like this around is pretty inconvenient in a fight." Luo Yifang said that although holding such a huge lump of iron did not feel like much to him, it still felt strange.

"Whatever you say. So, should we head back and deal with this containment object first?" Paqi puffed out her cheeks. "Oh, right, you got another hundred-dollar bonus just now because you caught this thing."

"SCP-4972?" Luo Yifang now understood just how absurd this world had become. A containment object had suddenly appeared and eaten who knew how many Misaka Sisters. Maybe tomorrow some Ultraman would land in the middle of Academy City and start beating up little monsters. "But won't this thing escape?"

"It can't escape while it's in your hands." Paqi explained, "No matter how much SCP containment objects defy physics, as long as their abilities affect the physical world, they must be closely tied to some kind of law. The thing in your hands is only unscientific in two ways: first, it cannot be destroyed; second, it can interfere with time and space in a certain sense."

"And Vector Manipulation happens to eliminate the influence of certain physical quantities," Luo Yifang said. Come to think of it, was Vector Manipulation really just manipulation of vectors? Even he could not say for sure. He had never encountered a time-based esper, but spatial abilities truly did not work on him. After all, if spatial espers like Kuroko could casually move all sorts of random things into his body, he would not be able to get by at all.

"Bingo! I didn't expect you to start answering ahead of time." Paqi suddenly smiled, and the smile was extremely sinister. "But SCP-4972 was just unlucky to fall into our hands. Hehehe."

"I'm telling you, that kind of delighted laugh of yours sounds terrifying, okay?" Luo Yifang was nearly scared into falling over by Paqi. SCP-4972 seemed to realize something too, but Luo Yifang's ability automatically suppressed that strange fluctuation. The incubation chamber shook twice before going still.

Seeing this, Paqi said to Luo Yifang, "See? In front of you, it can't escape even if it wants to."

"Fine, I get that, but what exactly are you trying to do?"

"Go back to that coffee shop of yours first. Your current place is too cramped—not suitable for this."

"Alright."

Changing direction, Luo Yifang flew toward the coffee shop Lilith had given him.

A little over ten seconds later, with a muffled bang, Luo Yifang tossed the incubation chamber into the basement. "What do we do next?"

"Open the shop and buy these things." Paqi told Luo Yifang.

Under Paqi's guidance, he bought some materials he had no idea how to use. He had thought he could simply stand aside and watch after that, but Paqi unexpectedly told Luo Yifang, "You do it."

"You're joking, right?"

Sure, Luo Yifang could be like Tony Stark and hammer out a Mark I after being captured by terrorists. But now she had given him a pile of mysterious materials whose composition he did not even know, several of which could even move on their own. No matter how capable he was, there was no way he could use this stuff to modify another unscientific SCO-4972.

"It's fine. It's very simple." Looking completely certain that he could do it, Paqi tossed Luo Yifang a blueprint.

Luo Yifang picked it up from the floor and looked at it. A few seconds later, his face darkened. "What fucking language is this?"

"Ah, sorry, sorry. I forgot to translate it." Paqi hurriedly took back the blueprint in Luo Yifang's hand and tossed him a new one.

Alright, this one was much more normal, and it was even a Chinese version. It should be—should be my ass! Luo Yifang threw the blueprint to the floor and roared, "Are you sure this thing can even be built?!"

"Geez, geez, it's just a gateway connecting worlds. Don't worry, it's not that hard. Look at that Burning Legion lackey, Dog Egg—he can open portals across universes and across timelines. Are you really worse than Dog Egg?"

"What is there to compare?! He's a warlock, I'm an esper! How am I supposed to know all those weird tricks of his? Why don't you go ask Sargeras to open a portal for you?!"

Complaints aside, Paqi had no way to help assemble it herself. In the end, Luo Yifang could only sit on the floor and carefully study the blueprint, whose every word he could understand but whose meaning became incomprehensible when they were put together.

"It's been a long time since I felt like this..." Luo Yifang pored over the blueprint for several hours. It was not until night fell that he emerged from the basement. Both Luo Yifang and Accelerator possessed extraordinary learning ability, and it had been a long time since he had encountered a technical bottleneck. The last time had been when he was writing the core matrix for that intelligent lifeform, and even then it had only caused him a little trouble.

This time was completely different. The blueprint Paqi had given him was a hybrid creation of mysticism and technology. The technological aspects were not much of a problem; after purchasing some relevant materials from [Myriad Worlds Mall], Luo Yifang could deal with them easily. The trouble lay in those damned magical methods—things like multi-phase connection techniques for arcane circuits and temporal-spatial longitudinal manipulation arrays. He was not a mage, so he had absolutely no clue how to handle any of it.

After casually grabbing something to eat, Luo Yifang plunged straight back into the basement, shutting out the world and focusing solely on forbidden technology.

"Why not try learning magic?" Paqi suggested to Luo Yifang, who was staring blankly at a pile of utterly bizarre magical materials.

"I'm an esper! Wouldn't learning magic make me explode on the spot?!"

"Why does it have to be magic from this world?"

"...That actually makes a lot of sense." Luo Yifang was speechless. Could cramming at the last minute really get him something this high-end?

"Perfect. I bought a copy of the Azeroth Spell Introduction Compendium. Take a look at it first." Paqi casually tossed out a very thin booklet.

"It's this thin?" Luo Yifang picked it up and examined it from top to bottom, finding that it seemed no different from an ordinary manual.

But the moment he opened it, Luo Yifang realized something was wrong... What the hell was this? It looked like it only had a few pages, so why had he already flipped through dozens without reaching the end?!

"Ah, this is the compressed edition. It covers everything from basic spells designed for Titans to modern spells. You should be able to manage after reading it. That world's research into time and space is pretty advanced." Paqi said casually.

Luo Yifang, who had already turned through roughly two thousand pages, looked increasingly grim. This was supposed to be an introduction?

If you like this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you won't have trouble finding it next time.