While the Wizarding World's attention was entirely drawn to the International Confederation of Wizards's meeting, the first high-level meeting of the Succession Society also concluded smoothly.
Whether the four branch managers reached a conclusion is unknown, but the hostile glances they exchanged as they left suggest that even if they did, they would not be satisfied with the outcome.
200 meters underground at headquarters, Vincent is observing the operation of the second batch of Magical Automaton.
Unlike the first batch of Magical Automaton that strictly followed instructions to modify headquarters, the second batch of Magical Automaton were more human-like in size and appearance, with joint flexibility similar to that of humans, but that was all.
Without explicit instructions, the Magical Automaton will remain still; they have no independent consciousness, will not act on their own, and will not even make mistakes.
Unless it's imbued with a soul through Dark Magic, or by artificial intelligence...
Vincent shook his head, banishing the two dangerous thoughts from his mind.
The Terminator's Omnic Crisis is terrifying enough; if you add magic to it, no matter how many Horcrux No-Nose creates, it will be doomed.
—Huh?
Vincent's eyes suddenly lit up.
The Magical Automaton will only strictly follow instructions or be manipulated by his magic. The Magical Automaton is a medium and can be seen as an extension of him.
Vincent was very proactive and immediately began the test.
Controlling one Magical Automaton at a time is manageable, two becomes somewhat strenuous, and three is the limit.
"If we use a simpler, alternative structure..."
Vincent took off his coat and instantly switched into research and development mode.
After a whole day of hard work, he created a small silver metal ball that was slightly smaller than a glass marble.
He named it Type-A Sphere, with the "A" taken from "Area," meaning that the Type-A Sphere's range of activity belongs to his territory.
Despite being slightly smaller than a glass bead, it actually contains a levitation device, a small thruster, a mini Magical Projection, Magical Beam emitter, and more.
Under Vincent's magical manipulation, the Type-A Sphere slowly rose, and suddenly a crack appeared on their silvery surface, projecting another Vincent.
Not only the projection, but Type-A Sphere, under his control, surrounded him and formed a 360-degree barrier through the diffusion and combination of Magical Beam.
Then, they transformed from spheres into darts, which, accelerated by small thrusters, plunged deep into the thick metal walls.
Type-A Sphere can do many other things, such as stealth tracking, remote surveillance, precision strikes, and firepower coverage.
Even after replacing the Magical Automaton with small balls, Vincent only felt slightly tired when manipulating 14 at the same time.
It's a good product, but the cost is a bit high, considering it uses top-notch alchemical technology and Mithril shell.
Vincent removed the Magical Communicator from his wrist, causing the Type-A Sphere to attract each other and form a bracelet.
He shook his wrist vigorously to make sure it wouldn't fall off before importing the data from the Magical Communicator into the bracelet.
Everything works perfectly; the Type-A Sphere is practically omnipotent.
Once the cost comes down, it will become the fourth piece of general-purpose equipment for the Succession Society.
Over the next few days, Vincent focused on perfecting the Type-A Sphere.
On August 11, Hunter brought good news: William had unexpectedly discovered that graphite contains a single-layer hexagonal honeycomb lattice, whose unique structure allows charge carriers to move freely in the plane, transmitting current throughout the material.
Because the scattering between charge carriers is very small and the transmission distance is very long, this single-layer hexagonal honeycomb lattice has very low resistance and excellent conductivity.
Hunter rattled off a string of technical terms, leaving Vincent bewildered.
I knew absolutely nothing about this before, how did I suddenly become a semi-expert?
Hunter repeated it, Vincent was finally convinced that he was reading from a script.
A single-layer hexagonal honeycomb lattice... This thing seems somewhat familiar.
Vincent suddenly slapped his forehead. This is nothing but the king of new materials—graphene!
It possesses extremely high electrical and thermal conductivity and mechanical properties, making it a core material in fields such as electronic information, new energy, and defense technology.
If he remembered correctly, graphene was not discovered until after 2000, but it was discovered ahead of time because of his Dominator Pistol project for Muggle.
"Hey kid, are you listening to me?"
"Yes, yes, I'm coming right away."
"Come here? Do you know where I am?"
Hunter, far away at Catterick Barracks in North Yorkshire Britain, stared speechlessly at the mobile phone that had been hung up.
A few seconds later, he stared wide-eyed at the black and white vortex that had suddenly appeared in front of him. Vincent's appearance had startled him.
"Are you crazy, kid?" Hunter quickly pulled him into the dormitory building next door.
"This is the largest army base in all of Britain, and it's also home to the Intelligence Regiment, the Royal Lancaster Regiment, the Royal Yorkshire Regiment, and the Royal Military Police. If you're discovered—"
"If I'm discovered, the old men in the military will dismember you, right?"
Hunter's face darkened. "Knowing this, why are you still being so high-profile?"
Vincent blinked his big eyes. "Uncle Hunter, I've already been very discreet."
Hunter rubbed his temples. "Then you don't need to be in such a hurry, do you? William is still in the MI6 lab."
"Oh." Vincent thought for a moment, then raised his Serpent Staff. "Uncle Hunter, wait a moment."
After saying that, he disappeared into the black and white vortex again.
Hunter was dumbfounded. This was an army base, after all. Was it a place he could just come and go as he pleased?
Vincent returned half an hour later.
Where did you go?
"Get a certificate."
Hunter stared blankly at the British Intelligence Agency special advisor's credentials that he displayed.
"It's pretty realistic, even has special markings. Where did you get this fake ID?"
Vincent put away his documents and slightly raised his chin. "Uncle Hunter, I've already met with the Queen and the Prime Minister. Do I still need fake documents?"
Hunter's lips twitched slightly, and he said sourly, "I was just kidding."
Vincent put his hand on his shoulder. "Uncle Hunter, we're about to leave."
"Let's go? We're going to—"
Before he could utter his last syllable, he disappeared into the black and white vortex.
The Side-Along Apparition is accompanied by severe dizziness, Hunter, being a soldier, was not affected by it thanks to his strong physique.
He appeared near MI6 headquarters in the blink of an eye; if it weren't for that rather large black and white vortex, it would have been a perfect teleportation.
Vincent and Hunter showed their credentials as soon as they entered the headquarters and took the elevator to the underground laboratory where William was located.
The lab has many researchers, each with their own workbench, and they are all busy with their own tasks.
Through the transparent tempered glass, the two could see William heating up graphite, seemingly trying to peel something off.
He was so focused that he didn't notice the two people's arrival at all.
When graphite is heated to 2400 degrees Celsius, a thermal decomposition reaction occurs inside it, causing it to pulverize and detach into numerous fine grains.
William examined the crystal under the microscope for a long time, muttering to himself, "High-temperature oxidation generates new crystals, but why is its hexagonal structure destroyed?"