"Your Majesty! We believe you!"
At that moment, several more old Sarkaz in the crowd shouted, as if afraid he had not noticed them. "Your Majesty! We've been here for decades too, and we've always followed Old Wenk's method!"
"We refiners use Old Wenk's method too!"
"I... believe you. You're the best evidence."
Theresica looked solemnly at Old Wenk. "This mine now belongs to me. I appoint you as the technician of this mine. I hope you can pass on your experience."
Kal'tsit had once told him that Originium bugs were creatures commonly found throughout Terra, and that their living environment was directly related to Originium. Their symbiotic history with Originium might even be longer than the evolutionary history of many of Terra's sapient species. Perhaps they really had evolved substances on their bodies that protected their flesh.
"Your Majesty... I can't fight... Am I really still useful?"
At those words, the old Sarkaz suddenly fell to his knees and began to cry. Theresica hurriedly helped him up. "Of course you're useful! The years you've lived through are your greatest treasure! You won't just be this mine's technician. I also want to put you in charge of raising Originium bugs and providing the raw materials for this protective method. Can you do it?"
"I can, Your Majesty! I'll definitely do it well!"
That old, emaciated body suddenly erupted with a powerful voice.
After that came dividing the Originium bug-raising area and assigning construction materials and workers. Even with the assistance of an Absolutionist and the Banshee, it took a long time to finish.
There was no choice. A king and the leaders of two tribes had to do the work themselves. Shining only knew how to swing a sword and use Originium Arts, while most of the others were still illiterate!
"Thank you for your hard work today."
Theresica smiled sheepishly. He had no airs as a ruler, but that did not mean others had none. Both clan leaders wore dignified, exquisite clothing. He had been focused entirely on the mine and had failed to notice, leaving the two of them covered in dust as well.
"We carried out your will."
The two bowed. They understood that everything this young king had done today was intended to make the Sarkaz better. At the very least, outsiders would no longer be able to take a portion of the mine's profits.
"Your Majesty."
"Go ahead."
"Your decision was unquestionably correct, but what the old man said...?"
The Absolutionist asked cautiously, "Originium bug powder... slowing infection... I can't connect the two."
"You don't need to be so careful. Nothing like this has ever happened before, so it's perfectly normal to have doubts."
Theresica was not used to this feeling. He was more accustomed to having a counselor point things out to him. "Whether Originium bug powder works or not is actually irrelevant. If it works, that's naturally for the best. If it doesn't, we can treat it as psychological comfort. Besides, building an Originium bug farm won't waste much. They can also serve as somewhat natural Originium purifiers."
He had Kal'tsit's forced biological lessons to thank for this. Originium bugs could eat their fill from just a little low-grade Originium ore. Most of the impurities were absorbed by the bugs, while the Originium components gathered on their backs.
In short, there was no loss! But could Originium bug powder really not slow infection? Since the method had been passed down, there had to be a reason for it.
After returning to the royal residence, Theresica immediately kicked open Warfarin's door.
"Warfarin, can protective equipment made from Originium bug powder reduce Originium's harm to people?"
"Huh? How could that possibly work?!"
Warfarin was sprawled on the floor, eating snacks and playing video games. She rolled over lazily, swallowed the food in her mouth, and spoke in surprise. "Where did you hear such nonsense... Wait, you smell like an Originium mine. You went to a mine?"
"Yeah. I heard it from an old Sarkaz who had worked at a mine for decades."
Theresica gave Warfarin a detailed account of Old Wenk's method. "The Originium crystals on his body really were much smaller than everyone else's. The miners who used the same method were all several decades old. Aside from them, there weren't any miners of such an advanced age."
"The size of Originium crystals on the body's surface can't effectively reflect a person's infection symptoms. Many infected lesions are inside the body, on the organs, and can't be seen. You clearly didn't listen properly when that old hag Kal'tsit taught you."
Warfarin sat up. The laziness she had shown while gaming vanished, replaced by a scholar's solemn air.
"But the ages of the miners you mentioned... That is rather fascinating. Sarkaz naturally possess better Originium affinity. In theory, under the same working conditions, they should be the shortest-lived miners in all of Terra. Living for decades... I've never seen that in other countries. Hmm..."
Warfarin pondered for a long while, then lay back down. "It's an excellent research topic. But Kazdel has no instruments, no laboratory, and no reliable team. We won't be able to determine the cause."
"An excellent topic? Does that mean this stuff might actually reduce Originium's harm?"
Theresica's eyes regained much of their vigor. If this method worked, it would be an unbelievable stroke of luck. Combined with suppressant medicine, they could safely expand Originium production.
"Uh... perhaps. But there's nothing here, so I don't dare make unfounded claims."
The lazy air returned to Warfarin. She tossed him a controller. "Relax. There's no point thinking about this now."
"Ah! If only we had a complete medical system and research facilities."
Theresica sighed and picked up the controller, pressing the selection button. He wanted to switch games, but the screen did not respond at all.
"What happened? Is the controller broken? It was working fine when I used it just now."
Warfarin tried it and tossed him another one, but it still did not respond when he picked it up.
"Hm? What's going on?"
Warfarin looked over curiously, and Theresica was equally confused. What was wrong with his hand today? These things were not cheap!
He hurriedly took the controller apart. After carefully examining the Originium components inside, he suddenly looked toward the tiny smear of grime between his fingernails. His eyes slowly widened.
P.S. Please give me some monthly votes. I'll add another chapter today. Please!!!
Removing Impurities
Originium infected objects that remained in contact with it for a long time, corroding their structure. This was common knowledge in Terra.
All of Terra's energy-consuming machinery used Originium energy. To ensure that such machinery operated normally, Originium components were sealed as quickly as possible after installation. If even minute impurities fell onto a component, Originium energy would slowly corrode them over time. As its energy shifted and dissipated, large amounts of deposited impurities would form, causing the component to fail.3
"Shining! Gather all the guards! Quickly! Right now!"
It was already deep into the night, but shouting rang out from the royal residence. Theresica looked at the hastily assembled guards and, without any mood for further explanation, immediately issued an order.
"Everyone, go catch Originium bugs! The more, the better!"
The warriors' faces were filled with astonishment, but their long-trained obedience still made them answer in unison, "Yes!"
Warfarin hurried out of her room and looked at Theresica in confusion. "What are you doing? You've made so many people unable to rest."
"An experiment."
"Where would Kazdel get a laboratory and equipment?!"
Warfarin looked even more bewildered. "Inaccurate data is useless."
"But as long as the margin of error falls within the required range, won't that be enough?"
Theresica laughed excitedly. "I only need to know whether it works or not. I just need those two clear contrasts to exist."
The Royal Court Guards carried torches and caught large numbers of Originium bugs near Kazdel. They restrained a batch of Acidic Originium bugs alive. The rest were handed over to the miners, who removed their Originium crystals and outer shells before bringing the corpses back.
Looking at the enormous pile of chaotic materials before him, Theresica ordered the attendants to set up a large pot. They put the Originium bug corpses inside, boiled them, removed all the flesh, then smashed and chopped the shells into small pieces.
Warfarin watched from the side, completely puzzled. She had no idea what this boy intended to do, or what results an experiment carried out under such conditions could produce.
But she did not make a single move that might interfere. This was her respect for the act of experimentation.
After obtaining a large pile of Originium bug shell fragments, Theresica began gathering and packing them while muttering as if reciting from memory.
"Removing impurities... They're probably either heat-resistant or acid-and-alkali-resistant. But heat can only remove a limited number of things. Acids and alkalis should be more effective..."1
"Wait!"
Warfarin suddenly spoke. "You want to use Acidic Originium bugs on this pile of corpses... to purify it?"1
"Mm."
Theresica nodded, then turned to look back and was surprised to find that Warfarin had already changed into protective laboratory equipment.
"I'll do it. Acid isn't something to play around with. Go stand over there. You tell me what to do, and I'll handle it."
"Oh, oh... all right."
He obediently moved aside. Warfarin was a professional, so leaving it to her was indeed safer. Though he would be directing her... an outsider directing a master's student in her own field?
Theresica gave a few casual instructions, and Warfarin completely understood his meaning. She first properly prepared the acid extracted from the Acidic Originium bugs' mouths, then poured it into the mixing pot little by little according to concentration and stirred it with the Originium bug shells. Finally, she poured in a solution of soda ash to neutralize it.
After washing the mixture repeatedly, a pile of blackened residue was placed before Theresica.
"Is this enough?" Warfarin looked doubtfully at the pile. "What if you removed the thing you wanted instead?"
"Then we'll try again."
Theresica directly used Originium Arts to dry the residue, then ground it into a fine powder. He found ten fresh pieces of meat of roughly equal size, wrapped them evenly and tightly in fine cloth together with the black powder, and tied them to high-purity Originium blocks.
Besides these, he found several more fresh pieces of meat of similar size, wrapped them tightly in the same fine cloth, and tied them to high-purity Originium blocks as well.
"Each of you is responsible for catalyzing one Originium block."
Theresica found a Royal Court Guard for each experimental sample. Originium energy dissipated naturally extremely slowly, but if someone infused the Originium ore with energy in reverse, the process could be accelerated!
The night grew deeper, but Theresica could not sleep at all. He could not wait to see the results.
Originium energy was not electrical energy. It would not be rapidly disrupted by conductors like an electric circuit. Its failure was a lengthy process. When the material between his fingers had first fallen into the Originium component through a gap in the controller, it had not caused any material growth, yet it had immediately affected the operation of the Originium energy.
That made him realize a surprising possibility, and he immediately began acting on it.
After Warfarin learned the abrupt reason for Theresica's actions, she hurriedly picked up the disassembled controller and examined it carefully. After remaining silent for a long while, she spoke.
"I understand now why that old hag Kal'tsit kept pestering Theresia and telling her so much."
"Telling her what?" he asked.
"That old hag often pesters Theresia, demanding that she drag you out of this residence. She says it's a waste for you to spend every day eating, drinking, and playing... Hmm, the experiment was designed quite well."
Warfarin spoke sincerely. "Although the process was truly absurd, it still produced the correct result. I don't even know how to describe it."10
"Really? Hahaha..."
Theresica smiled sheepishly.
The sun slowly rose from the horizon. The Royal Court Guards had already rotated through several groups, but the catalysis of the Originium had never stopped.
At last, Theresica ordered them to stop catalyzing the Originium. After putting on personal protective equipment, Warfarin carefully cut open each cloth bundle.
Some were already filled entirely with Originium-like impurities, while others had been mostly consumed by Originium. But the meat wrapped in black powder had been visibly less corroded than the meat wrapped only in cloth.
"Yaha—this is amazing!"
Warfarin excitedly hugged him. Theresica let out a relieved sigh. Although the experiment had succeeded, the motive behind it had truly been nothing more than his own wishful thinking.
Ever since completing the succession ceremony, he had felt that the things around him seemed somewhat different. For example, when looking at a chair that had been used for a long time, he could inexplicably sense at a glance where to strike it to destroy it with the least effort, as well as which part was the hardest and could be used to strike someone else.5
When he carefully examined the Originium component that the Originium bug powder had fallen into, he discovered that most of the material on it could resist acids, alkalis, and high temperatures. He had therefore immediately decided to use acid to purify the substance.
With a smile spreading across his face, Theresica suddenly walked off to the side and used a fixed communicator to contact the Absolutionist.
"Your Majesty, you..."
"That Feline from the mine... Andrew. Does he have any Sarkaz relatives?"
"His parents died long ago. I attended their funeral in Lord Theresis's place, Your Majesty."
"Then... wait a moment."
Theresica pressed down on the receiver and took several deep breaths. Even he was surprised that he had suddenly thought of this person—and had that thought.
After thinking alone for a while, he resumed the call with the waiting Absolutionist. "Can we still find him?"
"Your Majesty, although he used a personal landship, the area around him consists of vast wastelands. He can't directly reach any city and must resupply at refugee settlements. That gives us a trail to follow."
"I understand... Kill him. Bring back the body."32
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Disguise
Early in the morning, all the leaders and important personnel of Kazdel's various tribes had gathered in the Sarkaz Royal Court's council chamber at Theresica's summons.
"The situation is unusual, so I've called an emergency meeting."
Theresica looked at the Absolutionist. "How is the personnel registration going?"
"Most of it is complete, but it hasn't been verified."
The Absolutionist handed over a rough list. Theresica flipped through it casually, and his face immediately twisted in pain.
The proportion of young and able-bodied people was very low, and there were illiterates everywhere... Ah! What a mess!5
"We can't worry about that now. Use them first."
Theresica forced himself to give the order. "Recruit miners and refiners from among the unemployed residents. Give them food according to the soldiers' standards. Then gather some female Sarkaz who know how to sew clothes and have them report to Warfarin. They are to follow her instructions and produce the Originium protective equipment as quickly as possible, then distribute it to every miner and refiner."
"Originium protective equipment?"
Before you continue