Chapter 531 — The Accident
Blade of Dawn · Page 4 of 4
Cecil had by now developed many "advanced marvels" that outsiders found inconceivable—the ley-network terminal that combined instant communication, holographic imaging, and file transfer into one device; the rainbow-light cannon that used energy beams as its means of destruction; the thermal ray gun; the White Knights' inverted holy-light apparatus. All of these appeared to be epoch-spanning, even beyond their era. But Gao Yang knew the truth: behind them all was nothing more than the extension and recombination of technologies this world already possessed. The ignorant would marvel at how swiftly they had advanced, while those who knew the truth would recognize the sheer height of this world's own technical foundation—and it was precisely because those existing magical techniques had laid so solid a groundwork that Cecil's arcane industry had been able to develop so smoothly all along.
But the magic-energy train... it had already gone too far, far too far, down the road of arcane industry—so far that the old magical techniques could hardly give it any further push.
No existing magic could further optimize the ley network and the magic-energy engines; progress in that quarter had to depend on breakthroughs from Jenny's Rune Research Institute and the other materials-science and engineering departments. And from the look of things, Rebecca had most likely run into trouble in exactly that quarter.
Fortunately, from the very moment he had first proposed the concept of the magic-energy train, Gao Yang had sensed that the project might prove extremely difficult, and he was fully mentally prepared for it.
"The Ancestral Inkstone People..." Seeing Gao Yang sink into thought, Rebecca could not help rubbing her scalp. Guessing that she might not be beaten today after all, she ventured cautiously, "Then... should we put this project on hold for now?"
Gao Yang roused himself from his brooding. Looking at the hope written across Rebecca's soot-blackened face, he had already made up his mind.
"You may continue. I will find a way to deal with the aftermath of this affair. But in light of this lesson, all testing phases of the magic-energy train project must be conducted far from the city. In addition, the experimental procedures are to be replanned and the safety measures redesigned, to guarantee the safety of the research staff and to isolate the personnel from the experimental apparatus..."
Rebecca listened earnestly, point by point, as Gao Yang spoke earnestly, point by point.
In the course of technological development, accidents are forever unavoidable. Back at the very beginning of the territory's construction, Heidi's laboratory had once been blown up by Rebecca Crystal—yet in the end the crystal had not been sealed away, but now shone brilliantly in the military and engineering fields.
As arcane technology continued to advance, the scale of energy that people could command would inevitably grow ever greater. Today's explosion would not be the last, nor would it be the most powerful. But even Rebecca was already prepared to keep going—and Gao Yang, naturally, was the same.
To keep going, all they could do was be careful again and more careful, cautious again and more cautious, doing everything possible to ensure safety—and then, try again.