A searing pain began at the bottom of his lower abdomen and rapidly spread through his entire abdominal cavity, then through his chest.
His whole body felt as if it were on fire. Violent stabbing pains erupted inside him, as though countless iron hooks were raking his internal organs. The pain was unbearable.
Richard clenched his fists and forced himself to endure. Dozens of seconds later, he exhaled a long breath of foul air.
"Whew—"
Feeling the burning sensation fade considerably and the pain lessen somewhat, Richard's expression eased. However, his body was still plagued by intense discomfort from the erosion of void energy, waiting for the next flare-up.
The same kind of flare-up had occurred many times over the past few days, each one worse than the last.
Richard knew perfectly well that if he did not find a solution, the days ahead would be miserable. From that perspective, returning after the nuclear explosion to collect data at such a terrible cost had been an utterly mistaken decision.
Yet there was little worry on his face. It was as if he had already found a solution. With a flick of his hand, he took out several sheets of papyrus, a Goose Feather Quill, and a bottle of ink, placing them on the table.
He rubbed his cheeks to rouse his spirits, then dipped the Goose Feather Quill into the ink and began calculating on the papyrus.
The calculations were simple: they concerned the data he had previously gathered in Pompey.
He had performed the same calculations many times over the past few days. This time, he was making one final confirmation.
"Scratch, scratch, scratch..."
The ink-stained tip of the quill raced over the papyrus, sketching out numbers and symbols. Before long, he reached the end of the calculation and