658 Fleeting Time

In April of 827, it was warm in Rentato with a gentle breeze.

Wearing a neat female knight suit like how her idol, Queen Natasha, was dressed, Heidi sat in a tea shop on Rose Avenue, appreciating the piano song while reading 'Herald of Arcana and Magic' on the table.

Ever since the South Church was banished, the terms such as arcana, magic and alchemy were known by more and more people, who were full of curiosity about the charming, mysterious fields even though they could not understand the sophisticated theories and did not have excellent talents.

Also, as more and more generic schools and Landings were established, more and more ordinary people had learnt how to read. 'Arcana Voice' was no longer enough to satisfy the citizens who wanted to know more. As fans of 'News of the World', they were very familiar with the anecdotes in the world of arcana and magic, and they adored the famous arcanists and sorcerers as much as they adored musicians and playwrights.

In their community, it was considered cool and fashionable if anybody could discuss the cutting-edge concepts in arcana, even though they did not understand the meaning of the dizzying words at all.

Therefore, 'Herald of Arcana and Magic', a popular version of 'Allyn Impression', was created, and the circulation was surprisingly good. According to Heidi's noble friends, quite a few nobles were thinking of setting up similar newspapers.

Sipping the Count Red Tea, Heidi read the newspaper casually:

"After Prince Lucien 'Atom Controller' Evans proposed to solve the radiation problem by quantizing the electromagnetic field, Mr. Annick and Sprint respected it as 'second quantization' and applied it to the electronic system, achieving excellent results. The two arcanists who won the Holm Crown Ring and the Silver Moon Medal for the model of electron spin at such a young age have shown their talents again."

Reading the news that did not involve any specific theories, Heidi couldn't help but click her lips. Although she could keep up with Annick and Sprint in microscopic studies, and she could understand the sophisticated theories, she was not as distinguished as them and merely had a few products that were far from astonishing. However, in the field of 'artificial intelligence', she had made remarkable progress.

After her conversations with her teacher, and after too many thoughts and experiments, Chelly, Lowi, Alfalia and she had a general plan for the design of 'artificial intelligence', which had been named by their teacher as 'Heidi-Chelly A. I. System'.

As for the alchemical products needed, thanks to Katrina and Layria's material knowledge and Hathaway and Hellen's magic crystals, and thanks to the joint research of hundreds of arcanists who worked in a similar field, they already had the fundamental parts they needed after more than a year of work. They had transformed the electronic tubes they designed before into the smaller and more convenient transistors.

"However, the current arcana theory cannot completely explain the mechanism of the transistors. They can only be roughly manufactured and applied with magic, which means that their demand is high and cannot be popularized. Are we obliged to use the electronic tubes for a long time in the future?" Heidi raised her hand and combed her hair, deeply upset by the problem.

Recalling that she had come to Rentato exactly to get away from the problem, Heidi decided not to dwell on it anymore. Therefore, she focused her mind on the newspaper again.

"Mr. Douglas, the Emperor of Arcana, has published two solutions of Evans' equation of gravitational field. He believes that one of the solutions describes the special celestial body when tremendous matters are focused on one point in space. They will establish a 'horizon' around the celestial body. Even the light wouldn't be able to escape it. It's the most terrifying body that can swallow everything. It has been named 'black hole'."

"The other solution is a complement to the first solution. It describes the electric black hole formed by charged matter, whereas the first 'black hole' neither carries electricity nor spins…"

"A black hole…" Heidi thought to herself. As a sorcerer close to the senior rank, and as a student of a grand arcanist, she knew more than what was reported. "Mr. President also believes that the Host Star of Destiny that the black hole corresponds to is the reason why the people whose fate does not have a track appear. It's not true to say that their face doesn't have a track, but the track can only be observed and determined by intermittent phenomena… My teacher's conditions seem to be similar. Does he have a dual-body system made of a general Host Star of Destiny and a black hole?"

Shaking her head, Heidi thought to herself. "After Mr. President observes the black hole in space and confirms the arcana significance of the two solutions, his gravity magic will be even more terrifying. Well, so will my teacher's."

Although it was impossible to create a real black hole, Douglas could certainly simulate one in his cognitive world and project it out. The effect would be extraordinary. As the constructor of the field equation, Lucien would certainly earn similar benefits.

At this moment, a few young men, who appeared to be from the No. 5 generic school nearby, read the newspaper in a low voice. "Mr. Fernando, the Lord of Storm, has published his discoveries. The rays of electric curse in element decay show a sign of energy non-conservation. Also, the spectrum is continuous and non-quantized…"

"Based on that, he speculates that a tiny particle that does not carry electricity is released together with the rays of electric curse. It's a new particle that is different from the other fundamental particles. He has named it 'neutrino'. He has also proposed the possible situation when the atomic nucleus decays and pointed out that the undiscovered Force of Water in the four fundamental forces may be contained in the process…"

"How awesome. They can boldly predict a new matter just based on certain experiment phenomena! Arcanists are so cool…" The students discussed it in a low voice. Arcanists in their eyes seemed to be gods that mastered the law of the world and predicted everything according to it.

Heidi smiled at them as if she were looking at herself when she was still a teenager. At that time, she also felt that sorcerers were mysterious and powerful. That's why she was fascinated and dedicated to the infinite ocean of arcana studies."

Turning her head around, she checked her watch and realized that there was still time, so she kept reading 'Herald of Arcana and Magic'.

"Ms. Hathaway, the Lord of Elements, and Mr. Fernando, have published their preliminary theories on element decay based on reverse engineering and the current studies in the micro scope. Of course, the theory is still rough and does not contain detailed magic structures… They have shared the third Evans Prize in Arcana and the Holm Crown prize for the remarkable contribution… It has offered us a new source of energy and a glimpse at the mysteries of things."

"Ms. Hellen, the Witch of Iceland and Ms. Hathaway, the Lord of Elements, have published their research on crystals again. They have established a superb system after two years of in-depth studies in the field… Hopefully, they will win the fourth Evans Prize in Arcana…"

"Mr. Raventi, Mr. Morris and Mr. Gaston have made both theoretical and practical breakthroughs in the synthesis of life matter…"

"Mr. Dieppe, Mr. Larry and Mr. Jurisian have independently processed the Oliver-Brook Wave Equation with the theory of relativity, but they also admit that their attempts have failed. They do not agree with certain experiments and will lead to strange results where the energy is negative…"

"Mr. Felipe has submitted a standard textbook on anatomy, which lays a solid foundation on the emerging hospital system…"

Almost all the introductions on 'Herald of Arcana and Magic' were about the research in the cutting edge, but even so, they had taken up quite a few columns dazzlingly. It suggested that the golden age of arcana had come after years of development. The products were surging out so crazily that even the sorcerers found it hard to catch their breath.

"Twenty legendary sorcerers. Finally more than before…" Heidi somehow thought of that after reading the paper. The grand development in the microscopic domain and the research on the general theory of relativity have yielded results. Morris, the Silver Miser, and Annonis, the Astrologer, had both advanced.

Heidi folded the newspaper and put it before her. She shook her head. "Only good news? In the past year, many arcanists halted because of the probabilistic explanation and the uncertainty principle, just like Mr. Donald…"

Just like how they did not consider the meaning behind 'quantum' before, most arcanists treated Lucien's 'Basics of Quantum Mechanics and the New Alchemy' with a pragmatic attitude, but the result was surprisingly good, because it explained most of the experiments in the past and bolstered the development in the microworld by accurately predicting many things. Therefore, a lot of arcanists had changed their attitude.

The debate about the three principles remained unabated in all journals and symposiums. Douglas, Brook, Fernando and Oliver proposed many thought experiments to falsify it, only to be corrected by Lucien who pointed out their mistakes and inconsiderations. Later, the arcanists who supported Lucien's principles joined the debate, too.

The debate did not gradually die down until Lucien submitted another paper. When he studied the particle exchange with the wave equation, he realized that the particles followed Chloe statistics when they were symmetric, and they followed Hellen-Fernando statistics when they were asymmetric. Therefore, the probabilistic explanation went one step further.

"Such peace is only temporary. I can feel that a terrible storm is now brewing…" Looking at the empty teacup before her in a daze, Heidi had a sense of suffocation. "All the achievements in the microscopic domain in the past years will be completely unified by the storm…"

At this moment, a square iron monster stopped next to the teashop after a squeak. Then, a middle-aged man in black suit got off and approached Heidi. With a warm if not adulating smile, he asked, "If I may ask, are you Ms. Heidi?"

"Yes. Are you Mr. Buck from the police department?" Heidi rose with a smile.

Buck took off his hat and bowed. "It's an honor to meet you, my lady. With the help of such a distinguished sorcerer as yourself, I'm sure that the serial murder case will be cracked soon."

Because sorcerers were capable of many weird spells, the police department also requested the Congress of Magic's help when they had problems in their investigation by issuing tasks. However, Buck did not expect that Ms. Heidi of the Atom Institution would come this time! Why would the arcanist who had been dedicated to the arcane frontier be interested in such a small task?

After they sat down, Buck took out photos of the crime scene and gave them to Heidi. After the magic cameras were simplified, they were at least affordable for the police department now.

Heidi took them over and checked. She immediately frowned. Although she had done many autopsies herself, she still subconsciously found the brutal and bloody pictures repulsive.

In the first photo, the abdomen of an ordinary person was cut, and all the viscera were taken. Around the dead body was the dirty, filthy slum of the city.