The Trajectory of Infinity

"Have you heard? Li Mo has become Professor Bryce's assistant!"

"What assistant? He's a partner!"

During the break between classes, students gathered in groups of two or three.

The news about Li Mo had long since spread through every class, even drawing more discussion than the war in the distance.

"A genius really is a genius at anything. I couldn't even understand the first math problem the professor gave us that time..."

A curly-haired girl said admiringly, "I always knew young master Li Mo would be brilliant at his studies too. I just knew he was different from us."

A boy beside her grew jealous and said, "Li Mo may be doing very well now, but I still think he's not quite what he used to be. At his peak, Wellington made an exception to admit him. Now he can only crunch astronomical data with Professor Bryce. In the end, it's a step down."

"Yeah, while he's doing math, I've already started selling things and making money," one of the boy's best friends said with a laugh, covering his face. "It's just... you know..."

The curly-haired girl rolled her eyes. "I can't be bothered talking to you."

The students weren't the only ones discussing it. The teachers were too.

Mr. Harrison felt bitter... as though someone had beaten him to the prize.

Li Mo had exceptional aptitude and talent for mathematics.

Mr. Harrison had originally planned to introduce Li Mo to several old friends at the Kingdom Mathematical Association.

Astronomy? Wouldn't that waste his talent?

He believed Li Mo should specialize in pure mathematics.

After thinking it over, Harrison decided to speak to Professor Bryce. Li Mo absolutely couldn't neglect his mathematics. At the very least, he couldn't spend all his energy at the observatory.

At the same time.

Matthew walked briskly, his head lowered and without a word.

The autumn breeze was gentle, but he felt nothing but irritation.

Matthew had accepted that he couldn't match Li Mo in mysticism.

Mysticism depended on talent, after all. He could only say that Li Mo's mother had given birth to a gifted son.

But how could he be worse than him in academics too?

How could this be?

The more Matthew thought about it, the more miserable he felt. He left the academy and hailed a carriage.

His destination was a basement in a small alley.

It was a secret underground club run by a private organization.

He didn't know who had founded it either. In any case, everyone who came here was handed a mask to wear after the gatekeeper checked their identity.

Matthew put on a mask and went inside.

The interior was laid out like a bar, with dim lighting and someone playing music.

It served spirits and herbal drinks of dubious origin.

Rumor had it that as long as you had money, you could buy anything you wanted here.

Matthew bought a glass of spirits, found an empty corner, and drank half of it in one go.

He leaned back in his chair, his mind full of thoughts about how to regain face.

Suddenly, an idea occurred to him.

Could he really buy anything he wanted here?

That evening, Helen pushed open the door to her home.

Mr. Green sat on the sofa reading a newspaper. "Helen, you're back. How was school today?"

"It went very well, Father." Helen hung up her coat and started toward her room.

Mr. Green stopped her. "Wait. I heard Li Mo has returned to school. Today... you didn't run into anything strange, did you?"

Helen stopped.

She had heard her father say things like that countless times.

Back when Li Mo was still a genius, her father had always found ways to bring the two of them together.

After Li Mo dropped out, her father immediately changed his tune. Afraid that the curse on Li Mo would spread to her, he had strictly forbidden her from having any contact with him.

Helen had long been unhappy with her father's two-faced behavior.

"Something strange? What counts as something strange? Father, Li Mo is outstanding. He's truly outstanding!"

Mr. Green frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"He solved a difficult problem in math class and even shocked Mr. Harrison. This morning, he became Professor Bryce's partner and was excused from all his basic courses. Now all the students at school are talking about him. Everyone says a genius is a genius wherever he goes. With his own mind, he's still the most outstanding one among all of us!"

Mr. Green was stunned for a moment.

He apparently hadn't expected the young man who had lost his talent to cause such a stir.

After a moment's silence, he said, "I see... What a pity. If he didn't have that curse on him, the boy really would be quite good."

"Curse! It's always the curse!" Helen grew a little agitated. "Even if he really is cursed, so what?"

Mr. Green's face darkened. "Helen, mind your manners."

"Why can you only see other people's misfortune, and not the light they show in the face of it?"

Helen gripped her skirt tightly, her eyes beginning to redden.

"You have no idea how much Li Mo has put into this. He lost the thing he was proudest of, and everyone was laughing at him, but he didn't give up. He got back on his feet through his own efforts! Yet all you care about is whether he's cursed!"

Mr. Green raised his voice. "I'm doing this for your own good! Getting too close to someone afflicted by a mystical curse will bring you trouble!"

"Enough! I've had enough of you saying things like that!"

Crying, Helen ran straight out the door.

"Helen! Stop right there!" Mr. Green chased her to the doorway.

In truth, Helen wasn't running very fast.

But he was unwilling to pursue her another step.

After all, chasing and scuffling in the street was neither gentlemanly nor respectable.

So Green stood on the steps and shouted somewhat angrily, "Go on, run! Don't come back if you dare!"

Helen ran aimlessly.

Tears soon blurred her vision.

The moonlight was dim that night, clouds blocking the light of the red and white moons.

Some of the gas lamps along the street were broken, leaving the road ahead poorly lit.

She didn't know how long she had been running. The buildings around her grew increasingly unfamiliar.

The cold wind blew against her face, clearing her head a little.

She stopped, wiped away her tears, and looked around.

Ahead was a brightly lit area.

Perhaps because the lights were on there, she had subconsciously run toward them.

She walked a few steps farther and saw what lay ahead.

It was the docks.

She had been to the docks with her classmates before.

Back then, porters had been everywhere, and the place had been quite lively.

But today's docks... were completely different from before.

The atmosphere was strangely tense. Iron fencing had been put up all around, and squads of soldiers stood guard nearby.

Out on the distant sea, several enormous steam-powered freighters could just be seen at anchor. Thick black smoke rose from their smokestacks and blended into the night.

Helen felt a trace of unease and decided to turn around and go home.

"What are you doing here?"

A deep voice suddenly came from behind her.

Startled, Helen spun around.

A tall, powerfully built man in a black trench coat stood in the shadows.

With the light behind him, Helen couldn't see his face.

She took a step back and hurriedly said, "I... I took a wrong turn. I'll leave right away."

The man looked Helen up and down. "Then hurry home. There's been an industrial dye leak here recently. It isn't very safe."

"All right, I understand. Thank you." Helen lowered her head and hurried back the way she had come.

After taking a dozen or so steps, she suddenly blinked.

She had always had a good memory.

Although the man had been standing in the shadows and she hadn't been able to see him clearly, his outline, his posture... she felt as though she had seen him somewhere before.

Perhaps... in a newspaper?

Helen couldn't remember which newspaper or what day it had been.

Helen's heart began to race.

The moonlight really was poor tonight.

For no apparent reason, she felt a little frightened and involuntarily quickened her pace, wanting only to get home as soon as possible.

Suddenly-

Someone grabbed Helen from behind.

"Ah!"

Helen let out a cry.

A piece of cloth was pressed directly over her nose and mouth.

She struggled with all her strength.

But the person behind her was far too strong.

Helen felt her consciousness gradually grow hazy.

Her limbs gradually lost their strength.

Her struggles grew weaker and weaker...

The academy, the observatory.

Li Mo had already finished half his paper.

He was now observing the moons.

Unfortunately, the precision still wasn't good enough...

Li Mo shook his head slightly and thought, With a refracting telescope, chromatic aberration is difficult to eliminate completely, and the image is somewhat distorted around the edges.

I'll make do with it for now.

He said, "Anna, prepare to record."

"All right, Li."

"Record one: the red satellite has prominent crater formations on its surface, unevenly distributed. Crater density is markedly higher in the southern hemisphere than in the northern hemisphere. No atmospheric refraction has been observed, and the edge is sharp, suggesting a vacuum or an extremely thin atmosphere. The reflected light is dark red, possibly indicating a large quantity of iron oxide or other minerals that absorb blue-green light."

After he finished speaking.

Li Mo suddenly remembered that scientists in this world currently believed the pits on the moons were the vents of extinct volcanoes.

Calling them impact craters wouldn't do. That was too far ahead of the times.

So he said, "Anna, change 'impact craters' to 'ring mountains.'"

Anna said, "All right."

Only then did Li Mo continue. "Record two: the white satellite has an extremely high albedo. Its surface contains extensive plains, possibly ice sheets or highly reflective mineral formations. Both satellites exhibit distinct phases, consistent with spheres illuminated by a star."

Li Mo continued observing for more than ten minutes, assessing the angular diameters of the two moons.

"At present, I can't measure their parallax precisely, but I suspect there may be some relationship between the orbits of these two satellites... Anna, record this: long-term observation of the orbital periods of both moons is needed, along with a gravitational model, to determine whether they are mutually tidally locked or exhibit orbital resonance caused by a large disparity in mass."

"I've got it down," Anna said.

Li Mo stepped away from the telescope, thinking, This will definitely be a long-term undertaking. There's no way to reach a conclusion after observing them for a single night.

Wayne had gone home on his own after finishing the cleaning.

Seeing how late it was,

Anna said, "Shall we head back too?"

"Mm, once I finish one last thing."

Today's work schedule was to write his paper, observe the moons, and examine the Mystical Artifact.

He had reached the final task.

Although he was already somewhat tired, that was just how Li Mo was.

If he didn't finish the work he had planned, he would feel so uncomfortable that he couldn't sleep...

Anna sighed and could only stay with him, thinking that once Li Mo got home, she would have to coax him to sleep quickly and not let him tire himself out like this.

Li Mo placed the miniature globe on the table.

He closed his eyes and entered a state of Focus.

When he opened them again, he could see the thread clearly.

The thread was smooth and joined end to end, forming a figure eight.

Li Mo quickly thought of the trigger mechanism of the fire-starting stone.

The fire-starting stone's thread wrapped around its entire body, so rubbing any part of it could release energy and start a fire.

Then could this artifact's energy be triggered by tracing the thread's path?

It was the most intuitive inference.

Li Mo decided to try it.

Following the path, he traced a complete figure eight.

As soon as he finished,

His expression froze.

What... does this mean...?