"Where's Reyaz?"
Boss Luo brought some food out of the kitchen.
It was evening in the Underwater City, seven o'clock on the dot... There was no beautiful sunset here. Above the city lights lay a swath of dark, almost black blue.
"He fell asleep." Maid Miss hurried over to help. "He fell asleep right on the flying top after finishing the last adjustments. He must have been exhausted."
"Then let's eat." Boss Luo smiled and took off his apron.
Life still had its rituals—at least, Boss Luo's did.
He dimmed the lights, brought out a silver candlestick, and lit the candles. Finally, he pulled out a chair for Maid Miss and invited her to sit.
Dinner was a good time for conversation, whether about the day's experiences, passing reflections, or hopes for the future... But the Shop's owner and Maid Miss had few such hopes for the future.
"Combustible ice?" Boss Luo was listening to Maid Miss's thoughts on magic energy technology.
"It's technology that converts thermal energy into kinetic energy." Maid Miss nodded. "The Lemurians developed techniques for extracting and storing this energy source very long ago... According to the information Reyaz provided, ordinary civilian magic energy cores simply convert heat into energy, but that's enough to power everyday appliances. Then there are the cores for larger machines... Flying tops, for instance, use a more efficient combustion technique. Apparently, there's also a magic energy supply system beneath the entire Underwater City, powered by a large magic energy core."
Boss Luo examined a civilian magic energy core Maid Miss had handed him. Once its energy was depleted, a gentle squeeze was enough to shatter it.
The shattered magic energy core left behind some blue-white powder, which quickly vaporized upon exposure to the air... These gases did not seem to pollute