The Realm of Pure Mathematics

Energy flowed-

It happened too quickly for Li Mo to see clearly.

All he saw was the end result.

Seven tiny points of light appeared on the surface of the globe.

Puzzled and curious, Li Mo tried tapping one of them.

Nothing happened.

What does this mean?

Li Mo turned to Anna. "Anna, can you see anything unusual on this?"

Anna leaned in and examined it closely, then shook her head. "All I can see is a brass globe. There's nothing else."

Li Mo understood.

This Mystical Artifact clearly had some unusual properties.

During his time at Wellington Academy, he had encountered quite a few Mystical Artifacts.

Most Mystical Artifacts, once activated through a specific ritual, produced effects that could interfere with the physical laws of reality.

For example, they could create fire out of thin air, produce low temperatures, or generate tremendous force.

After all, if something couldn't affect reality, no one would know it was a Mystical Artifact... a very simple truth.

And the points of light on this artifact only appeared when he was in his "Focus state." No wonder Professor Bryce had thought it was an ordinary object.

He continued observing.

Li Mo turned the globe, noting the position of each point of light.

One point was unusual: it hovered over the sea.

Not only was it far from every major ocean trade route currently known to the kingdom, but there were also no islands marked anywhere around it.

Another point was unusual too, located inland on another continent.

This point was moving slowly... so the points could move.

Li Mo continued turning the globe until he found the point closest to his current location.

As luck would have it, this point was in Mondel Town.

In his Focus state, whenever Li Mo observed something carefully, it was as if he had a magnifying glass.

In his field of vision, the globe slowly grew larger.

More precisely, the point was in the area around Mondel Town's harbor docks.

The most intuitive guess was that this thing might be something like a treasure map.

The points marked some kind of valuable objects, and the moving point might represent an object being transported.

Another possibility was that this Mystical Artifact had prophetic properties.

It was indicating that some major event significant enough to affect the course of the world was about to happen, or had already happened, in the areas marked by the points.

Whichever it was, the only way to test his theory was to investigate in person.

Since the nearest point was at the docks in Mondel Town, he could find time to go there himself and see what was going on.

The moment the thought occurred to him, a chill spread through his entire body.

That instinctive intuition to seek advantage and avoid harm had come again...

Li Mo frowned deeply.

Intuition itself was also a hint.

Come to think of it, the last time he had felt this way was when he wanted to look for the Red Moon symbol.

Could such danger exist within Mondel Town itself? Danger comparable to that of the Red Moon symbol?

The contents of the Mondel Morning News that Wayne had read aloud that morning flashed through his mind: the throat-slashing murder at the West District textile mill, the sudden industrial dye leak at the docks...

Behind the seemingly peaceful town, something was probably happening.

Just then, footsteps sounded behind him.

Li Mo blinked, and the points of light vanished instantly.

He turned toward the door.

Mr. Harrison and Professor Bryce walked in side by side.

Li Mo immediately stood up. "Good evening, teacher; good evening, professor."

Professor Bryce said approvingly, "Li Mo, you're still studying this late. Thanks for your hard work."

Li Mo said, "It's all right. I enjoy doing research, so it isn't that hard."

Professor Bryce gave him a thumbs-up. "Students like you, who are willing to settle down and devote themselves to their studies, are rare these days."

Mr. Harrison cleared his throat, interrupting their pleasantries.

"Li Mo, I came here with Professor Bryce today because there's something important I wanted to discuss with you. I fully respect Professor Bryce's choice of you as his collaborator, and your ability in astronomy really is astonishing... but I firmly believe your mathematical talent shouldn't go to waste."

Professor Bryce smiled and shook his head beside him, but didn't interrupt.

Clearly, the two had already discussed the matter before coming.

Mr. Harrison continued, "I strongly recommend that you try your hand at pure mathematics. I have some connections at the Kingdom Mathematical Association. As long as you can write a worthwhile mathematics paper, I can send it directly to them for you. It would be an immeasurable help to your future."

That's great, Li Mo thought.

Researching astronomy and Mystical Artifacts both took time.

Conditions differed from world to world, so he couldn't simply apply what he knew without adapting it.

Pure mathematics was different.

No matter the world, no matter how its underlying logic changed, mathematics was bound to have things in common.

So simply bringing Earth's achievements to this world would give the kingdom's mathematicians enough to study for hundreds of years...

Making a name for himself in pure mathematics would be a piece of cake.

So Li Mo said,

"No problem. Actually, I have had some new ideas in mathematics recently."

Mr. Harrison's eyes lit up. "Oh? What ideas? Tell me more."

Li Mo said, "They concern the foundations of calculus. Mr. Harrison, I believe the definition of a limit in the current mathematical system isn't thorough enough. It still relies mostly on intuition. I think such a vague definition is bound to cause problems when dealing with complex functions, so I've devised an entirely new algebraic language to redefine limits."

Mr. Harrison: "?"

What on earth is this kid babbling about?

He says he's devised an entirely new algebraic language? Is that true?

Half skeptical, Mr. Harrison said, "Uh, go on... how do you intend to do that?"

Li Mo explained simply and clearly, in words anyone could understand. "By using arbitrarily small positive numbers to set constraints. Simply put, for any given positive number, no matter how small, we can always find another corresponding positive number such that, when the change in the independent variable falls within that range, the change in the function's value is strictly smaller than the positive number we initially specified. We can use algebraic inequalities to establish the rigor of calculus."

Mr. Harrison was immediately astonished.

For one thing, he could tell that Li Mo wasn't talking nonsense.

Leaving aside whether the process was correct, the result he described was extraordinarily ambitious.

"You... you've already derived it?" Mr. Harrison asked.

Li Mo nodded. "I'll do it in the next couple of days. I'll finish the paper on the self-excited DC generator in the next two days, and sorry for the trouble, Professor Bryce, but could you send it to the Royal Academy of Sciences for me? While I'm at it, I'll also write the pure mathematics paper on the rigorous definition of limits. Sorry for the trouble, Mr. Harrison, but I'll need you to take that one to the mathematics institute for me..."

While he's at it? That's quite a thing to do while he's at it!

Mr. Harrison didn't know how to respond, so he looked at Professor Bryce.

Professor Bryce scratched his head. He was at a loss for words too.

Li Mo was going to hand each of them a paper within the next two days?

What could they say to that?

After exchanging a glance, the two professors had the same thought.

Things have been going too smoothly for Li Mo lately.

He was indeed talented, but young people were bound to get a little full of themselves after achieving success.

He had probably imagined writing a paper was too simple.

Mr. Harrison and Professor Bryce exchanged a look and reached an understanding.

They would talk about it when he brought them the first drafts. At worst, they would spend a few months patiently helping him revise and polish them word by word, sentence by sentence.

"All right, we'll wait for your good news."

"All right, professor."

After saying goodbye to the two professors, Li Mo and Anna left the observatory.

Li Mo's fatigue always hit him later.

He stumbled again as they went down the stairs...

Anna sighed, caught him, then crouched down in front of him.

"Get on."

Li Mo didn't try to tough it out. He obediently climbed onto her back.

Lying on Anna's back, he could smell her lovely fragrance.

And if he were bold enough to look down from this angle...

Li Mo took one glance and didn't dare look again.

If he looked too long, the king could descend from the heavens, furious and ferocious. That would be embarrassing...

The atmosphere was pleasant on the street back to the mansion.

It helped that the night was dark and their surroundings were quiet.

Enveloped in thick darkness, a sense of intimacy quietly began to grow.

When Li Mo first felt it, he thought it was damn wrong. How could there be anything intimate between him and Anna?

But eventually he could no longer fool himself. Deep down, he always had some inexplicable anticipation...

People said that anticipation was a subtle form of violence.

What is Anna... anticipating now?

At that thought, Li Mo was about to speak, but Anna beat him to it. "Li Mo."

"What is it?" Li Mo asked.

Anna was silent for a moment. "Give yourself less work from now on. I don't want to follow you around every day reminding you to take care of yourself, take care of yourself. I've said it so often that even I'm sick of hearing it."

"Oh, I understand... Sister Anna," Li Mo said.

Anna sighed again.

She felt a little sad, and blamed herself a little too.

Li Mo had suffered the enormous upheaval of falling from a supreme genius to an ordinary person, yet all she could do was watch as he desperately tried to prove himself in other ways.

Apart from making sandwiches, cleaning, and carrying him home, she couldn't help him at all.

If only she could find a way to lift the curse on Li Mo.

Anna silently prayed in her heart:

Goddess of the Moon, as long as Li Mo can regain his Mysticism Perception, I'm willing to pay any price.

The Silver Moon in the sky had been hidden by clouds, but it emerged at that very moment, as if it had flickered at Anna...

The two continued forward.

Suddenly, a stray cat darted out of the shadows of a tree and shot past Anna's feet!

Anna stopped at once.

She had excellent balance.

She stopped, but Li Mo, lying on her back, did not.

Momentum carried Li Mo's body forward.

To keep himself from tumbling over Anna's shoulders, Li Mo instinctively reached forward, trying to find something to hold on to.

His hands, which had been resting on Anna's shoulders, slid downward with the momentum... and finally grabbed Anna's breasts.

The stray cat let out a startled yowl and quickly disappeared at the other end of the street.

The night wind blew past.

The two froze in that position for a moment.

Several seconds passed.

Li Mo felt they couldn't go on like this.

Staying silent would only make it more awkward.

So what should I do?

An idea struck him.

I'll play it cool!

So he boldly gave them two squeezes and said with a smile, "Anna, these feel pretty darn good!"

Anna: "?"