Chapter 753 — Neural Thorn
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
As a military man who had little grasp of cutting-edge arcane technology and no intention of switching careers to become a researcher, Byron had set foot in the Arcane Technology Research Institute only a handful of times. His last visit to this place had also been for Pea's sake.
Pea was a mute girl, and that fact meant deep regret and sorrow to Byron, who had been her adoptive father for several years now.
The poor child had once been the mute slave of some great merchant, her tongue cut out so that she could not speak. And because the tongue had been severed for too long, conventional druidic magic could no longer do anything about it. Even though the Cecil Territory had become the Cecil Empire, even though Byron had gone from a country knight to the commander of an imperial army, he was powerless in the face of it.
In the blink of an eye, several years had passed. The little mute girl of those days had grown into a graceful young woman, and an unexpected turn for the better arrived just then.
The legacy of the End of All Things dug out of the Solin region had given Byron hope of curing Pea.
Those incredible cutting-edge biotechnologies could be used to create terrible monsters, and they could also be used to heal unfortunate mortals.
After obtaining Pea's consent, Byron made his adopted daughter the first clinical test subject in the druidic laboratory under Pi Yun's name. The early stages of the treatment went smoothly; regenerating the severed tongue took less than half a day. But getting Pea to speak again ran into unexpected difficulties.
Today, this middle-aged knight had come once again to the Arcane Technology Research Institute to seek a new solution.
Pi Yun, hunched of waist and white of hair and beard, walked ahead, leading Byron deep into the Arcane Technology Research Institute.
This large-scale facility, built personally by Rebecca Cecil, had after a period of development and refinement become the Empire's most advanced research facility, and its interior had since acquired many new departments and divisions. In addition to the conventional arcane, mechanical, and mathematical research rooms, two research rooms under the name of the Runic Research Institute and one druidic research center under Pi Yun's name had been established here over the past year.
Just as Gao Yang had originally planned, the Arcane Technology Research Institute was no longer a mere research facility; it had already become a "greenhouse" for cultivating new technologies, providing space, equipment, personnel, and other services to all manner of emerging technologies or promising teams.
After passing through a gate on the third floor, Byron and Pi Yun entered the area belonging to the druidic research center. The walls here were decorated with painted vines and leaves, and the arcane device at the entrance quietly projected a holographic image, upon which floated an emblem encircled by flowering vines.
This emblem was the Empire's standard druidic mark.
Many technicians in short robes of white with green patterns came and went through the corridor, and they all bowed respectfully to Pi Yun. Though Byron had seen this sight on his last visit as well, he could not help glancing at the little old man beside him: "Honestly, seeing a shameless fellow like you receive such respect from so many scholars—I'm still rather surprised."
"You're the one with too much to say," Pi Yun shot Byron a sidelong look. "When I see soldiers on the road salute you, do I say anything about it?"
Byron pursed his lips and said nothing, merely following Pi Yun through the corridor to a laboratory that seemed to be of a rather high specification.
"Put on an outer robe, go in, and stand on that platform," Pi Yun said, stopping before the gate at the laboratory entrance and pointing at a small round platform inside the gate. "Once you're in, wait for me."