Vincent and Hunter found a place to sit down in the lobby. If it weren't for a few armed guards on duty, the MI6 headquarters would really be no different from an ordinary government department.
"Uncle Hunter, where are these top talents you mentioned?"
"Don't worry." Hunter pointed to the elevator entrance on one side of the lobby. "He'll be there soon."
With a "ding," the elevator doors opened, and a young man wearing thick glasses and a white coat stepped out timidly, looking around.
"Hey William, over here!"
The young man looked in the direction of the sound and only dared to cautiously approach after recognizing Hunter, who was waving at him.
Looking only a few years older than Vincent, is he really a top talent in electrical engineering and chemistry?
William seemed somewhat taken aback by Hunter's enthusiastic embrace, revealing him to be a rather introverted and shy person.
"Mr. Hunter ...you're...you're using too much force..."
Hunter loosened his grip slightly. "William, no girl will like you if you're this shy."
He patted William's shoulder. "You're too thin. You need to work out more."
"Uh... Mr. Hunter, you know I don't have much time."
Vincent, standing to the side, couldn't help but look at the two of them with a strange expression.
Is the reason why Hunter is still unmarried at his age...?
"William, come here, let me introduce you."
Vincent immediately became serious.
"He is Vincent Wayne, the son of an old friend of mine."
Hunter gently punched William in the chest. "Vincent, William is the son of my old comrade-in-arms. He's 10 years older than you. He got his bachelor's degree from the Bristol University two years ago and his doctorate from Cambridge University last month."
Vincent was completely relieved to learn that the man was his old comrade-in-arms' son.
William looked up at Vincent, his face full of disbelief. "Um... hello, I'm William Sneas."
It's normal for a 15-year-old to be nearly 1.9 meters tall, but Vincent's appearance and physique don't look like those of a 15-year-old at all.
"Hello, Mr. Sneas."
William shook hands with Vincent rather shyly.
Hunter pointed to one of the corridors in the hall. "You guys talk first, I'll go make some coffee."
Vincent smiled slightly and used his magic to block out the surrounding space. "Mr. Sneas, I am developing a portable device that requires high-power electrical energy, but the current materials cannot meet my output requirements. I wonder if you have any solutions?"
William, who had been somewhat shy, suddenly became serious.
"Mr. Wayne, how much output power do you need?"
"Minimum output of 1 billion joules per second."
"What?"
After receiving confirmation from Vincent, William continued to think about it seriously.
One billion joules is equivalent to the energy released by a typical lightning bolt in nature, which is about 277.78 kilowatt-hours. In layman's terms, that's 277.78 kilowatt-hours of electricity, enough to power an average household for nearly a month.
Consuming such a huge amount of electrical energy per second, not to mention the size of the battery, the materials responsible for output must be superconductors, and must also have extremely high thermal conductivity, high temperature resistance and mechanical strength.
Silicon carbide and boron nitride perform well in high-temperature environments, and zirconium oxide also meets the strength requirements, but whether it can withstand such high-energy impacts needs further verification.
A wildly audacious idea suddenly popped into William's mind, and he excitedly stood up. "Mr. Wayne, are you perhaps researching a portable nuclear fusion device?!"
Hunter was so startled when he returned carrying three cups of hot coffee that he almost dropped them on the ground.
Vincent nodded calmly. "So there was this option. How could I have overlooked it?"
Hunter and William stared at him in horror.
Nuclear fusion is one thing, but they actually want to make a portable one?
"Um..." William took a timid sip of coffee, "Mr. Wayne, are you serious?"
Vincent stroked his chin, thinking for a moment.
The biggest problems with nuclear fusion are temperature control and plasma confinement. The former can be maintained by magic, and the latter can be achieved through Alchemy.
Materials capable of withstanding the release of 1 billion joules of energy per second can certainly become structural materials for reactors. The remaining problems, large and small, especially pollution issues, should be solvable with magic or Alchemy.
Controlled nuclear fusion is a milestone for humanity; once achieved, it will be a powerful fusion of science and magic.
"I'm serious." Vincent raised his left hand, letting a flame ignite at his fingertips. "Mr. Sneas, I am actually a wizard, and magic exists."
The sudden news left William's head spinning. He tentatively looked at Hunter, and when he saw the other nod, he froze.
He stared intently at the flame that was constantly flickering and Transfiguration on Vincent's fingertips, unable to snap out of his daze for a long time.
Only after the flames died down did William take off his glasses and rub his sore eyes.
"Magic..." he muttered to himself, then shivered violently.
For people engaged in scientific research, it's too much to ask them to accept the existence of magic in a short period of time.
Hunter glared at Vincent with a hint of reproach, blaming him for demonstrating magic to William without warning.
Vincent glared back, and Henry, thinking of how he had run away on the spot last year, looked away guiltily.
After a cup of coffee, William finally calmed down a bit.
However, there was no fear in his eyes when he looked at Vincent, only intense curiosity.
"Mr. Wayne, can magic create an environment with temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius and maintain that temperature for an extended period?"
"Can."
"What about radiation? Without exception, all existing materials become brittle due to radiation. Can magic solve this problem?"
"Can."
"What about plasma confinement?"
"Can."
"What about the pollution produced by the nuclear fusion process? Can magic remove it?"
"Can."
William asked a series of related questions, Vincent's answers were all the same: yes.
Hunter, who was standing to the side, couldn't understand at all, but he understood from William's increasingly excited expression that it was possible to achieve controlled nuclear fusion through magic.
No, it doesn't even need to be achieved. If we can overcome just one or two of the challenges, human technology will make leaps and bounds.
Hunter watched the two still asking and answering each other, then silently got up and made three more cups of coffee.
Throughout the afternoon, he made a total of seven cups of coffee, and even as darkness fell outside, William continued to tirelessly ask Vincent all sorts of questions.
"Ahem—" Hunter pointed to his wristwatch. "Gentlemen, it's getting late. Are you planning to stay overnight at MI6 headquarters?"
William shook his head vigorously.
Vincent didn't care. With MI6's defensive capabilities, if he didn't want to leave, no one could force him out.
Hunter ignored Vincent and pulled William's arm. "The agents here keep glancing at us every now and then. Let's go somewhere else."