Chapter 559 — A New Line of Thought

"After distributing the power, the problems of overload and interference in the high-output engines were indeed solved, but the mechanical complexity and the difficulty of control have risen severalfold in an instant," Camille said in a low voice. "To ensure that multiple power carriages can run in sync and be controlled in sync, and further to ensure that when some of those carriages fail, the whole system can automatically rebalance and isolate the faulty section... with our current technology and materials, we cannot build a reliable control mechanism."

A technician beside him could not help saying: "After all, the train's chassis is limited—there's too little room for us to work with..."

"On one hand we can't build a large power unit; on the other, the mechanical structure is too complex and unreliable," Rebecca scratched at her hair again—it was already a tangled mess. "Maybe we should go back over all the parameters..."

Daniel watched this scene in silence. Though, being new to the project, he did not know all the secrets of the arcane train, he understood Rebecca's vexation very well—

In any project, the calculated data may be entirely sound, yet when applied to physical reality, errors and accidents will always arise. This was a difficulty almost inevitable in the passage of any technological product from paper to reality; he had researched his non-implantable neural cord for over a decade, and more than half of that time had been spent stuck at precisely this stage.

He raised his head and once again carefully observed that arcane mechanical construct, so complex in structure and so vast in bulk.

It truly was an incredible thing—an incredible line of thought.

Before coming into contact with the Otherworld Wanderer's knowledge, he had never imagined that the power of magic could be applied in such a form, never imagined that once ordinary people too took part in the transcendent realm, the operation of the whole society would undergo earth-shaking change.

Each descent of the Otherworld Wanderer carried its own mission: to create, or to destroy, to conquer the world, or to save it.

So then, this descent of His... was it to forge a world driven forward by arcane technology?

How he wished he could see with his own eyes what Cecil would look like once arcane machinery had long since become commonplace...

"Daniel? Daniel?" Rebecca noticed that the old mage had suddenly raised his head and fallen into a daze, and could not help asking curiously, "Master Daniel, what are you thinking about?"

Daniel roused himself from his momentary distraction. He blinked, looked at that mechanical train—now grown excessively bloated and complex through repeated modifications—and suddenly said offhandedly: "The arcane train's power... must it be placed on the train?"

"If the power isn't on the train, where else would it go?" Rebecca said matter-of-factly. "If the power isn't on the train, then the power... wait, are you saying the train's power doesn't have to be on the train?!"

"Ah, I was only asking," Daniel said quickly. "It's just that I don't understand its architecture..."

"No, no, no. Whoever makes the better argument wins," Rebecca cut him off. "You said just now that the power source shouldn't be mounted on the train... so does that mean putting it on the track?"

Whoever makes the better argument wins...

It had been decades since Daniel last heard anyone say such a thing.

And it was a thoroughly sound principle.

"I don't understand the architecture of a magic-energy train, but as an 'outsider,' I do know that the whole point of building one is to haul large quantities of cargo from one place to another," Daniel said, thinking aloud as he spoke. "Whether the power goes on the train or on the track, all that matters is that it serves that purpose. From what I can see now, the sheer bulk of machinery packed onto the train has far exceeded what the car body can hold. Force all that inside, and reliability is the only thing you can sacrifice. But if we don't put the power on the train... there are plenty of spells that can push a movable entity from the outside... say, repulsion mechanisms or a traction spell installed along the track."

Rebecca and Camille could not help exchanging a glance, and in each other's eyes they both saw a glimmer of light kindling.

Camille's was the brighter of the two.

"Putting the power on the track—that never occurred to me, never..." A note of excitement had crept into Camille's voice. "But if the power is on the track, can we still control the train's forward and backward movement and its braking from aboard the train? By remote control through the magic-energy obelisk? Or... do we hand all control over to whoever operates the track?"

"...The latter isn't safe. The train itself has to have some way of controlling the power—at the very least, a way to brake. After all, it's going to carry passengers someday. Nobody would dare ride in an iron can that gets pushed along the track and can't stop itself when something goes wrong," Rebecca said, thinking as she spoke. "...Maybe we can break the power structure apart? Or... ah, I've got it!"

She suddenly raised her head and looked around at the arcanomechanical engineers, each wearing a thoughtful expression.

"Everyone, let's get to work—we're doing this again!"