Translator: AnubisTL
Planet Anvil.
True to its name, this planet was renowned throughout the entire human domain for its heavy industry, giant machinery manufacturing, and cutting-edge materials research.
Colossal orbital dockyards formed a steel jungle, tracing the planet's silhouette.
The surface was covered with automated factories and smelting facilities stretching for thousands of kilometers. The air seemed to permeate with the unique scent of a mixture of metal and energy fluids.
Jieming came here to inspect and learn about its core industrial technology.
To this end, using his status as an outstanding graduate of his school, he attended an open technical seminar on the efficiency optimization of next-generation high-energy plasma transmission pipelines, held at the headquarters of the "Giant Forging" Corporation.
The venue was a massive, tiered conference hall filled with a hardcore industrial vibe. Engineers and researchers from various star sectors were engaged in a heated discussion.
Amidst the clash of technical jargon, a familiar voice, with a slightly hurried yet extremely clear and logical tone, caught Jieming's attention.
He followed the sound and saw a figure that was completely different from his memories, yet faintly overlapped at its core.
That person... was Rex?!
Jieming could hardly believe his eyes.
The man before him was no longer the tenth-tier super-genius from the Noren Workshop graduation trial, covered in menacing mechanical augmentations and radiating the scent of alchemy and metal.
Gone were the glowing runic eyes and the humming power joints.
In their place stood a young engineer in a slightly oversized standard work uniform, his frame slender, a pair of plain, unfashionable glasses perched on his nose.
He was standing at a podium, locked in a heated argument with a white-haired veteran engineer over the energy vortex loss at a specific transmission node.
"Your model ignores the second-order topological effects of superfluid media in non-uniform magnetic fields!" Rex spoke rapidly, his fingers tracing complex formulas and data across a virtual light screen. "Look here! If we introduce this correction parameter and combine it with the boundary layer's Chaos Oscillation Model, we can explain that extra 3.7% energy dissipation!"
His words were plain, but his logical chain was as airtight as interlocking precision gears, showcasing his formidable technical prowess.
To Jieming, the man seemed like a stubborn tech geek, completely immersed in his own world, refusing to tolerate the slightest flaw.
His personality hasn't changed at all, Jieming thought. He still treats everyone around him like air.
But as he listened, Jieming's keen senses caught a subtle inconsistency.
It wasn't Rex's appearance or personality that set off the alarm, but rather a few unconventional technical approaches and simplified models he occasionally employed during his argument.
On the surface, those methods seemed to be general engineering practices common to this plane. Yet, their underlying simplification logic and a certain "intuitive" handling of the essence of energy gave Jieming a faint sense of familiarity.
After a moment's thought, Jieming concluded that it resembled the kind of mental path a wizard would take when manipulating elemental energy, rather than a purely physics-formula-based derivation.
Could it be... A flash of insight crossed Jieming's mind.
But he didn't rush forward. After all, the intelligence report had mentioned three unlucky souls who had died on this plane, indicating it wasn't entirely safe.
He waited a moment. The seminar moved into the free exchange session.
Jieming quietly approached Rex, who was alone, organizing his notes.
"Excuse me," Jieming said, offering a friendly, curious smile. "Your discussion on applying the Chaos Oscillation Model to energy boundary layers was brilliant. However, I have a question. The 'Resonance Frequency Compensation' algorithm you mentioned doesn't seem to be a standard library solution. Did you derive it yourself? Its assumption regarding the 'affinity' of the underlying energy field is... quite unique."
He placed a barely perceptible emphasis on the word "affinity."
It was a concept commonly used in wizardry to describe the compatibility between energy and specific runes or mental imprints. But in this plane, the term was rarely used in such a context.
Rex looked up, pushing his glasses. A flicker of annoyance at the interruption crossed his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by profound confusion and wariness as Jieming's question sank in. His fingers curled unconsciously.
"Standard algorithms are too rigid," Rex said, his voice dropping an octave and his pace slowing. "In actual high-energy environments, one must consider the... 'bias' of the field itself."
He deliberately avoided the word "affinity," substituting it with "bias." Yet, for a man who had cultivated the image of a rigorous technician, his failure to correct the terminology directly—choosing instead to subtly refine it—was a telling response.
"Indeed, rigid standards cannot account for all variables," Jieming continued, his gaze locked onto Rex's eyes behind the lenses. "Sometimes, I even wish we could manipulate energy with our will, don't you think?"
The statement was all but an explicit admission.
Rex's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he pushed his glasses up again—a gesture that had seemingly become his habit for masking inner turmoil.
After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly spoke, posing a seemingly ordinary technical question:
"Suppose... there is a closed system whose internal energy follows the law of conservation, yet external observations reveal that its total entropy fluctuates periodically... What do you think is the most likely cause? Measurement error, or does the system itself possess an unknown... 'Breath'?"
On the surface, this was a discussion on thermodynamics.
But in the wizards' worldview, terms like "closed system," "periodic fluctuations of entropy," and "Breath," when combined, were often used to describe the evolution of a demiplane, the operation of a large-scale barrier, or even the energy tides during the meditation of certain powerful beings!
The air between them seemed to solidify instantly.
The chatter of other engineers around them and the hum of data flowing across the light screens all became a blurred background noise.
Standing in the middle of the bustling crowd, they were as if placed upon an invisible arena.
Jieming's heart tightened. He knew Rex was probing him.
He couldn't afford a single misstep. His mind raced, striving to craft a response that fit the physical laws of this world while subtly conveying a signal only a "fellow traveler" could understand.
"We need to rule out measurement error," Jieming said, choosing his words with care, his gaze meeting Rex's without flinching. "If this is the system's own 'Breath,' it might mean it isn't completely closed. Perhaps it's engaged in a faint... energy exchange with a greater 'Void' across some 'Law' we have yet to recognize."
He had deliberately used the words "Law" and "Void" instead of "rule" and "universe."
To a normal person of this plane, Jieming's explanation would seem clumsy, though still understandable.
But in reality, these terms were the core concepts of the wizard civilization.
Rex's pupils constricted slightly. He looked up, his eyes meeting Jieming's.
In each other's gaze, they saw a shadow—deeply buried, yet impossible to erase—of another civilization.
(End of the Chapter)
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