Success of Science in Alchemy

Gu Yuan checked the time, then glanced at Mo Yuan.

The boy had already retreated to a chair beside the workbench and sat down. His expression was calm, as if the series of operations just now—enough to exhaust any Level-9 Soul Engineer—had been nothing more than a mildly strenuous warm-up for him.

"About eighty minutes," Mo Yuan said. "You can sit down first."

Gu Yuan glanced at the dust-covered stool beside him, thought about it, and decided he might as well keep standing.

Li Du approached with considerable tact and wiped the dust off the stool for him.

Gu Yuan nodded, then sat down anyway.

During the time that followed, Mo Yuan barely spoke.

He closed his eyes for a while. After expending his mental power, he needed peace and quiet to recover.

Jin Ling jumped onto his lap and curled into a ball. The golden glow around its belly was slightly brighter than before. Mo Yuan noticed the change and reached out to gently rub the top of its head without opening his eyes.

Gu Yuan stood in front of the conversion device, watching the changes inside the reaction chamber through the observation window.

A silver-white radiance slowly flowed across the surface of the metal. Whenever it passed through a designated rune region, its brightness fluctuated slightly. That was the signal of metallic bonds breaking and reforming. Each fluctuation corresponded to a batch of iron atoms being dismantled and rearranged into the structure of a Star Silver complex.

The entire process was astonishingly quiet. There was no noise or vibration, only the temperature-control indicator on the device shifting color once every few minutes, showing that the internal reaction was progressing steadily.

At the sixty-third minute, Mo Yuan suddenly spoke.

"Senior."

Gu Yuan turned his head. "Hm?"

"If the finished product passes inspection," Mo Yuan said in his usual light tone, his eyes still closed, "who do you plan to approach with it?"

Gu Yuan thought carefully.

"The Academy of Sciences. I know the head of their materials science department. His surname is Huo, and he's a practical man. If he sees the actual product, he might not go through a lengthy reporting process. Given his position, he can take the sample directly to the Academic Affairs Council for discussion."

"What's he like?"

"He's a straightforward man, I suppose, but he isn't very good at dealing with people from the parliament. So if you need to take the political route later, he can only help you open the first door. You'll have to rely on someone else for the road ahead."

Mo Yuan hummed.

"That'll be enough," he said.

Gu Yuan did not ask any further questions.

Those four words had already told him a great deal. Mo Yuan's plans for this project went far beyond "producing a piece of Star Silver." He already had a complete judgment of how to proceed afterward.

That was good news. At the very least, only a meticulous person could go farther—and that would make Gu Yuan's investment worthwhile.

The seventy-ninth minute.

The conversion device's indicator light switched from steady illumination to a slow flash.

Mo Yuan opened his eyes, stood up, and walked to the front of the reaction chamber.

Gu Yuan had reached it even before him. Through the observation window, he saw that the metal ingot inside had completely changed.

The original silver-gray color had vanished.

In its place was a deep silver-blue, its surface covered in extremely fine natural cloud patterns—the intrinsic texture formed by Star Silver in a state of perfect crystallization.

The entire piece of metal radiated a steady, restrained luster, like a metal ore core that had lain undisturbed in the deep sea for ten thousand years. There were no sand pits, pores, or grain-boundary cracks anywhere on it.

Mo Yuan reached out and pressed the hatch-release button.

A faint wave of heat surged from inside the reaction chamber. Using heat-resistant tongs, he lifted out the silver-blue metal ingot and placed it on the cooling table.

Jin Ling was the first to approach.

It circled the Star Silver ingot twice, cautiously touched its surface with a forepaw, then abruptly pulled back—it was hot. But it immediately leaned in again and began chirping in a series of excited coos, as thrilled as if it had just spotted a treasure.

Gu Yuan did not rush to touch it.

He stood beside the cooling table, bent down, and examined it closely for a long time. Then he lightly tapped the surface of the Star Silver with his knuckles.

The clear echo was short and even, without the lingering tremor caused by any internal cracks.

"Top-grade Star Silver from a natural ore vein usually reaches around ninety-two percent lattice integrity. Even repeated purification can only push it to ninety-five percent at most." Gu Yuan's voice was very calm, as though he were stating a fact he had already confirmed. "For this piece, I can't see any flaws for now."

Mo Yuan turned the Star Silver ingot over and confirmed that there was nothing abnormal on the bottom either. Then he placed it in front of Gu Yuan.

"There's an analyzer here. Why don't you inspect it yourself, Senior?"

Gu Yuan readily agreed and carried the Star Silver over to the analyzer.

The device worked very efficiently. The results came out a minute later.

"Test result: lattice integrity: ninety-eight point seven percent..."

"Gasp—" Gu Yuan sucked in a cold breath.

"Good. From now on, this item will be entrusted to the Mecha Engineer Association for safekeeping. I hope you won't disappoint me, Senior."

Gu Yuan looked up at him.

"Also, I need you to help me arrange a meeting with Minister Huo. The sooner, the better."

Gu Yuan stared at the Star Silver ingot gleaming with a silver-blue cold light. After a long while, he nodded.

"I'll contact him tomorrow morning."

He reached out and solemnly picked up the Star Silver. After wrapping it in a clean velvet cloth, he carefully placed it into the alloy case he carried with him.

Mo Yuan stood beside the silver-gray conversion device, put away his engraving knife, bent down, and scooped Jin Ling up before returning it to his shoulder.

Li Du drove the car and soon took them back to the place where the Mecha Engineer Association was located.

After returning to his room, Mo Yuan tried to call Na'er through Fenghuang Down, but the other party gave no response at all.

Although he was somewhat puzzled, since Fenghuang Down had not warned him, that meant Na'er was still safe at present.

Judging by the original story, Na'er was probably still struggling with the Silver Dragon King's personality at this moment.

There was nothing he could do about such a situation.

According to the famous maxim of a certain pure-love devotee: The world allowed consciousness to match with a new vessel, but it did not allow a vessel to gather consciousness that had dissipated.

He indeed had the ability to prepare a new body for Na'er. After all, there had already been precedents of resurrection on the Douluo Continent, not to mention that Na'er was not dead yet, was she?

But after thinking it over carefully, he gave up on the idea.

After all, Na'er had originally been born as a second personality from the Silver Dragon King's body. How could there be a body more compatible and more powerful than her own?

Perhaps only the Dragon God could compare.

But what difference would that make from having her own body?

Besides, he did not know whether Na'er was willing to do such a thing.

He considered himself neither a tyrant nor a dictator, so he was willing to leave more decisions in the hands of the person involved.

However, if Na'er did not object, he would do his best to help her.

It was just that...

"How exactly did the Silver Dragon King split into Na'er and Gu Yue in the original story? It couldn't have been binary fission, right?"

Mo Yuan was utterly baffled.

"Forget it. If I can't figure it out, I won't think about it anymore. I'll go out for a walk."

Since he had some free time, Mo Yuan decided to properly explore Mingdu, the capital of the Douluo Federation.