Chapter 1002: A Race against Time
Azima took a breath and said, “There’s a stone made of the same material in your drawer.”
Roland smiled — satisfied, confirmed. He set the second box on the desk. “But I’m curious. Why ‘same material’ and not ‘identical’?”
“Because the reactions differ. Both are source material — but the first is stronger.” She described what she had seen: the twin beacons, their relative intensities.
“Can you locate more pieces?”
“Let me try.”
She closed her eyes and reached for the light again. The first two stones blazed, half-blinding her — she had to navigate around them the way you look away from a lamp to find something faint nearby. Gradually the other threads emerged: three lines extending east, west, and north. Each was thick, significant — but each was made of dozens of thin dimmer threads braided together.
More stones. Larger ones. But fragmented, distributed.
She reported what she saw. Roland nodded, already thinking.
“So you won’t know how far they are until you actually travel there.”
“Correct.”
“Then go east first, then north.” He spoke with the ease of someone crossing off a list. “West is too dangerous — you’d be crossing the Barbarian Land. If you haven’t found what we need by the time you reach the shore, turn north.”
Azima hesitated, then asked what she’d been holding since the first flash. “Your Majesty — is this stone worth more than gold?”
She wasn’t a combat witch. If anyone learned what she was carrying — or hunting — the danger would follow her like a shadow. She’d survive it poorly. So would the mission.
Roland read her concern and answered without dismissing it. “Yes and no. To someone who doesn’t know what it is, it’s just an ugly rock. But to me, it’s worth far more than gold. It’s the key to the ‘Resplendent Radiation’ Project.”
“Resplendent Radiation.” The words made no sense to her. “What’s that?”
“I wouldn’t send you alone regardless.” He gestured toward a guard at the edge of the room. “This is Sean — your protector. A combat engineer unit from the First Army will accompany you as well. Your priority is locating the stones. Sean will liaise with local officials to clear any obstacles.”
“You’re saying — they’ll answer to me?”
“Why not?” Roland shrugged. “They aren’t lords in the old sense. They serve the central government, and the central government is telling them to help you.” He paused. “Since the search may take time, I’ll pay thirty percent of your salary in advance. The rest comes monthly. That’s the shape of the contract. What do you think?”
Azima considered it. “Your Majesty — could you direct the payments to Doris?”
His eyebrows rose. “If that’s what you want, yes.”
“Then I’ll take the job.” She bowed. “I’ll be ready by tomorrow morning.”
There were still things she didn’t understand — the project, the purpose, the scale of what he was building. But the shape of the task was clear, the support was real, and the money would reach people who needed it. She couldn’t find a flaw.
“Good.” Roland rose. “I look forward to the good news.”
After Wendy escorted Azima out, Roland moved to the French window. Below, the city’s winter lights lay scattered across the dark. He exhaled.
“Finally. We’ve got it rolling.”
“Creating a sun?” Nightingale stepped out of the Mist behind him. “You go bright-eyed every time this project comes up.”
“Because it’s the path.” He turned, pointing up at the ceiling. “At this moment, humanity has entered a new era — not the era of watching the sun, but of making one. Nothing could be more romantic than that.” He dropped his hand. “Do you see a yellow exclamation mark up there?”
“I see a mumbling daydreamer,” Nightingale said, with no change in expression, “in his perfect delirium.”
Roland almost choked. “Did you have to be that direct?”
“I’m just being honest.”
“Then I’ll tell you that I’m very willing to get this done.” He shot her a stare, half-annoyed, half-amused. He knew she was joking. And he knew she was right — most people would think him mad until they saw it finished.
Even he didn’t know if it would work.
He wouldn’t have conceived of it without the witches. The Manhattan Project had required the full industrial and financial weight of the most powerful nation in the modern world. To attempt something similar from near-scratch would be absolute lunacy — except that Lucia, Soraya, and the rest made the math change entirely. The bulk of the work that had once demanded entire facilities could now fall to abilities he couldn’t have imagined two years ago.
Minimal investment. Maximum witches. It sounded like the punchline of a joke. But the chance was real.
He’d begun preparing from the day Lucia came of age. He’d gone back through the periodic table, asked Kyle Sichi to isolate uranium samples from Lucia’s extracted elements and seal them away. Uranium existed everywhere in nature — in granite, in coal, in seawater — but the conventional cost of extracting it was staggering. Lucia bypassed that entirely. She could pull scattered uranium directly from raw matter. No separation process. No refining infrastructure.
What she gave him was the starting line.
But he’d left something out of the speech he’d given in the meeting. His eloquence had been genuine — but incomplete. The sun was one reason. There was a second, darker reason he hadn’t named aloud.
What is the origin of magic power?
He didn’t know. That was the problem.
The Senior Demon had told him: demons evolved through upgrades. Four hundred years of relentless acceleration. Agatha’s defensive strategy had an elegant logic to it — hold, endure, outlast — but its flaw was built into its premise. Time worked against the defenders. The Union’s defeat had proven that. Left to their own schedule, the demons would defeat the undersea monsters, complete the third Battle of Divine Will, and upgrade again. What would they become then?
We won’t survive it.
He needed a weapon that didn’t rely on magic power. Something that rendered the question of upgrades irrelevant. A last resort.
Which was why Azima’s ability, and these ugly grey stones, mattered so much more than he could explain to her tonight.
“I’ll have the kitchen send up spicy barbeque, mushrooms, deep-fried shrimp, and Chaos Drinks,” Nightingale said, already moving toward the door.
Roland blinked. “That’s entirely what you want.”
She turned back with a look of perfect innocence. “Order whatever you like, Your Majesty.”
He shook his head and let her go.
Chapter 1002: A Race against Time
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
After a long silence, Azima took a deep breath, pointed to Roland’s desk and said, “There’s a stone made of the same material in your drawer.”
“Correct.” Roland returned Azima a satisfied smile and put the other box on the desk. “But I’m a bit curious. Why did you call it ‘a stone made of the same material’ instead of ‘an identical one’?”
“Because… the reactions were different. Although they’re both source materials, the reaction of the first one is stronger.” Azima then described what she had seen.
“Can you locate more pieces?”
“Please let me try.”
Azima concentrated her mind and found the green light. Due to the blinding interference of the previous two stones, she had overlooked the other lights, but soon Azima found three more lines extending east, west, and north. This implied there were, at the very least, three stones made of the same source material which were bigger than the one in her hand. To her dismay, she noticed the three lines, although thick, actually consisted of numerous dim thin threads.
After Azima reported to Roland, he nodded thoughtfully and said, “In other words, you won’t know how far these stones are unless you actually go there.”
“Yes.”
“In that case, go to the east and then head to the north.” Roland immediately made the decision. “It’s too dangerous to travel west, as you have to cross the Barbarian Land. If you still can’t find the stone when you reach the beach, then head north.”
After a moment of hesitation, Azima asked what she had been thinking all this time. “Your Majesty, is this stone… even more precious than gold?”
Since Azima was not a combat witch, she had limited self-defense skills. Azima was concerned that, if news of this precious stone was leaked, the trip would put her in danger. In that case, she would not only fail her mission but also lose her life on the way.
Seeing that Azima was worried about the potential risk, the young king replied smilingly, “In fact, it’s yes and no. For people who don’t know what it really is, it’s just a plain, useless stone. But to me, it’s much more valuable than gold. It’s the key to the success of the ‘Resplendent Radiation’ Project.”
“Resplendent Radiation? What’s that?” Azima wondered, feeling even more confused.
“However, considering the possible variables, I would certainly not let you go alone.” Roland pointed to a guard next to him. “This is Sean, your protector. Furthermore, a combat engineer unit from the First Army would come with you. Your top priority is to locate the stones. Therefore, you can instruct Sean to liaison with the local officials to assist your search if necessary.”
“Are you saying… that I can make those lords work for me?” Azima asked in surprise.
“Why not?” Roland shrugged. “They aren’t who they used to be. They’re obligated to obey orders from the central government.” Roland paused for a few seconds and continued. “Since it may take a while to find the source material, I can pay you 30% of the salary in advance and the rest on a monthly basis. That is all for the contract. What are your thoughts on this?”
Azima pondered for a while and asked, “Your Majesty, could you direct the payment to Doris?”
“I have no issue with this,” Roland raised his eyebrows, “if that’s what you want.”
“Then I’ll take the job.” She bowed. “I’ll be ready by tomorrow morning.”
Although there were still many things she did not understand, at least… she didn’t have to worry about money anymore. Azima couldn’t see any problems with the task and believed she would sooner or later locate the stones with the assistance of the First Army. With the 50 gold royals, life would be much easier for her friends, Azima could not wait to tell Doris the good news.
“Very well.” Roland got to his feet. “I look forward to hearing the good news.”
…
After Wendy escorted Azima out, Roland paced back to the French window and sighed deeply while watching the city night below.
“Finally, we’ve got the ball rolling.”
“To create a sun?” asked Nightingale as she revealed herself from the Mist. “You get super excited every time you talk about this project.”
“Because it’s a path to the sun,” Roland remarked impressively. “As of this moment, mankind has entered a new era, an era where we produce our own sun rather than simply admiring it. To me, nothing can be more romantic than such enormous progress.” Roland turned around and pointed up at the ceiling. “Do you see a yellow exclamation mark up there?”
Nightingale shook her head in great amusement. “I only see a mumbling daydreamer, in his perfect… delirium.”
“Ahem…” Roland was almost choked. “Hey, do you have to be so straightforward about it?”
“I’m just trying to be honest with you.” Nightingale jerked away her head, putting on an innocent look.
Roland shot her a stare, half annoyed and half amused. He knew Nightingale was joking. In fact, most people would think he was crazy until they actually saw the finished product.
Even Roland himself didn’t have the slightest idea of whether this project would succeed or not.
Roland wouldn’t have developed such an unrealistic idea had there been no witches. The Manhattan Project, even in the modern society, had cost so much money, manpower, and resources that even the most developed country had found it difficult to afford such monstrous expenses. It would be absolute madness to try and replicate the Manhattan Project from scratch. However, with the assistance of the various magic powers, he might succeed.
The most distinctive characteristic of his project was the minimal investment it required, as the witches would complete most of the work. Although it sounded like a joke, to produce a nuclear bomb with almost none of the accompanying modern technology, there was still a chance that it might work.
Roland could certainly carry out the project concurrently with the other industrial projects at this stage of development. Even if it did not go well, it would just be a small failure.
In fact, Roland had started to prepare for this project since the day Lucia entered adulthood. After revisiting all the elements on the periodic table, he had asked Kyle Sichi, the Chief Alchemist, to separate Uranium samples from a bunch of extracted elementary substances and store them away.
Uranium was one of the most common elements in nature. It could not only be found in uranium mines but also in granite, coal, and even seawater. Only, due to the limitations of the current technology, it would cost an exorbitant amount, in both time and money, to properly exploit any uranium deposits. However, Lucia could use her ability to directly collect scattered uranium in nature to provide the raw materials required. It thus saved Roland the trouble of separating and purifying the uranium.
Roland knew his eloquent rhetoric in the meeting was simply a political strategy, designed to raise people’s morale. Because he had actually left something unsaid. The ambitious dream of creating a sun was just one, surface level reason, for him putting this plan into action. Another, more important reason, was that humanity was now facing the greatest crisis since its genesis, based on what he had learned from the Senior Demon.
What’s the origin of the magic power?
Roland did not have the faintest idea.
He took this irrational, unknown power very seriously.
According to the Senior Demon, the demons evolved through upgrades. That was the reason they had evolved so quickly over the past 400 years.
Agatha’s proposal of defending seemed to be perfect, but there was actually a massive flaw. Under this plan, the enemies would have as much time as they needed, which is probably why the Union suffered such a complete defeat.
If the demons were left alone, defeated the undersea monsters during the third Battle of Divine Will, and once again upgraded themselves, how powerful would they become?
Since the demons could upgrade themselves with their magic power in such an inconceivable manner, Roland had to develop a more aggressive, powerful, and devastating countermeasure as his last resort.