Chapter 548: Notorious

"Don't act as if this is all because of the failure of your love life! It's because your love life is sh*t that we are caught in such a disaster!"

"Sh*t! Your view about love is pure sh*t! If you truly love Florencia, you wouldn't have hurt her again and again! You are as filthy and ugly as sh*t!"

By then Lucien reached Fernando's library on the thirty-third floor of the tower, he could still hear his teacher's astounding roars. Oliver, on the other hand, kept his body on one side and dared not face the Lord of Storm at all, as miserable as a small boat in a huge storm.

"Master, what happened?" Lucien tried divination while he was on the lift, only to no avail.

It was then that Fernando held back his flying saliva. "This ass*ole whose head has been filled up with libidos and s*it forgot to hide your paper after he read it! He led Douglas into his library just like that!"

His head humming, Lucien asked in shock and concern, "Is Mr. President alright?"

"He's fine. Douglas' head did not explode, and his cognitive world was not frozen." Oliver was wearing a bitter smile, his facial muscles vaguely twitching.

Lucien's heart fell back to where it was. "That's good. It fixed the problem that we had been worried about. I wonder if Mr. President could find a path to advance into a demigod.

Fernando glared at Oliver. "Why didn't you finish? Douglas only read the postulates of your paper and inferred the rest of the contents on his own. He hasn't discovered the relativistic effect yet. If he happens upon it when he reads the journals and runs experiments, Oliver, you will be the most glorious saint of the Church!"

"I don't think anything will happen. Mr. President left in a steady mood. Also, he had armed his head with Lucien's philosophical notions about absolute truth and relative truth. I believe that, even if he reads the papers and does the experiments, he will accept them after the initial shock." Oliver was rather optimistic about it. Or rather, there was nothing he could do except be optimistic right now.

Fernando contained his fury. "Oliver, one day you will die from your messy love life! Let's go to the Land of Truth first, which I hope still exists..."

The demiplanes of the seven grand arcanists and the ten legendary arcanists were all connected to the Allyn magic tower. Therefore, Fernando opened the gate of the space.

Seeing that the Land of Truth was as beautiful as before, and the lake was rippling in glimmers under the gentle breeze, Fernando felt much less apprehensive. He glared at Oliver and said, "You are quite lucky."

Led by the puppet, the three of them passed the long corridor and reached Douglas' library, only to discover that he was staring at the window.

"Douglas, I'm told that you read Lucien's paper. What's your opinion?" Fernando grabbed Lucien for this visit exactly as an excuse.

Douglas was still wearing a black tailcoat, but the bow-tie had been loosened as if he tried to make it easier for him to breathe. He turned around and looked at the three of them gravely. "In fact, you may be late. I have already done the experiments with the cyclotron."

"Your cognitive world is broken and solidified?" Fernando could deal with such a result.

Since Douglas was still standing, the worst consequence couldn't have been too terrible.

Douglas shook his head, his weary face filled with confusion. "Thankfully, I was more or less mentally prepared. I ran into similar problems in the past, and I thought of Lucien's ideas about absolute truth and relative truth. Finally, I constructed the framework of the cognitive world from a higher level and included my previous knowledge in it. Although it was shaken and damaged, my cognitive world is not broken and solidified yet."

Lucien clicked his tongue in shock. It was indeed as expected of an extraordinary person who built the Congress of Magic from scratch. Few of his peers, juniors and students, after the development of arcana, the theoretical disruptions and the assassinations of the Church, were still alive. He could be called legendary in every aspect. If it were Lucien, he might not have such an open mind to accept it. Chances were that his cognitive world would've already been broken and solidified.

"It seems that you can advance further." Fernando and Oliver's previous concerns were finally gone.

Douglas shook his head in a bitter smile. "Not yet. I was lucky this time because the greatest shock from Lucien's paper was not the disruption of the motion system but the new understanding of time and space."

"During the previous studies and battles, I already had similar ideas about motion, except that I was too bound by my obsolete knowledge to overthrow my own thoughts. However, the understanding of time and space that was beyond imagination truly disrupted my knowledge. The world that was rather clear to me was suddenly blurred. Thankfully, I could tell that your exploration in time and space was still preliminary and flawed. That's why I could manage to bear it."

Lucien smiled, "It's indeed not easy to accept or understand a relativistic time and space. I hope that Mr. President can explore the mysteries of time and space together with me in the future."

"Wait until this paper is digested." Douglas smiled gently, his clear eyes more or less rippled. "What is time, and what is space? Those questions are bothering me."

"You will probably advance into a demigod after you digest Lucien's paper." Fernando intentionally changed the subject in case he was mired in the world of whys.

Douglas hinted for them to sit and smiled, "It's barely possible. The change in motion system can slightly improve my strength, but it is only because casting spells will be easier. In order to advance into a demigod, I have to fully understand the changes of time and space, or to grasp gravity on a much deeper level. It's like Brook had to truly recognize electromagnetic waves and grasp the electromagnetic power in order to reshape his cognitive world. Only things connected to the origin can help a person ascend into a demigod."

He had spent long enough at the peak of legendary, and he had profound wisdom. Even though he hadn't found a right path of advancement, he had indeed found something.

After that, he did not continue the topic but smiled at Lucien. "I inferred Oliver's transformation formulas, but why did I fail to get the mass-energy equation in your paper?"

Lucien knew that they had come too soon. Otherwise, with Mr. President's wisdom and arcana expertise, he could've figured it out very soon. So, Lucien asked the puppet to bring paper and pen and inferred on the spot.

"Mass, energy... No wonder your atomic fusion could be so powerful." Douglas observed the formula with his eyes glittering. "Although many key models haven't been explained yet, I believe it will take much shorter time for me to construct 'Eternal Blaze'."

He had been trying to construct it with his spiritual power.

As he spoke, he began throwing out questions again. "Why can energy and mass be turned into each other? What is the nature of matter..."

Fernando sniffed, "Douglas, now that you've accepted Lucien's paper, let's discuss the things about Sard and be prepared that he circumvents his promise in other ways. Lucien has offered a plan."

Douglas calmed down and smiled, "I like plans. Nobody is smart and powerful enough to calculate everything. The key is to gather information and simulate all possible scenarios in advance. That's exactly a sorcerers' strong suit."

The four of them discussed for a long time. When he saw Lucien, Fernando and Oliver off, Douglas smiled, "I look forward to the day you start studying gravity, Lucien."

"I hope that I can have your guidance when the day comes, Mr. President." Replied Lucien modestly.

Looking at their back while they left, Douglas suddenly sighed, "I'm confused about gravity myself. Where does it come from? How is it generated..."

......

One day in April, 824, inside the Allyn branch of the Moonsong League.

Two senior-rank sorcerers of electromagnetics happened upon each other and therefore discussed the latest trend of arcana studies.

"Annhora, is there still no rebuttal paper from Lucien Evans regarding the Oliver transformation?" One senior-rank sorcerer asked Annhora, who was a member of the Arcana Review Board.

Annhora was wearing a white wig and looked more like a noble than a sorcerer. He replied with a bitter smile, "No. In the past eight months, except for the few papers on the new alchemy and the cyclotron, all his results are about tensor analysis and Evans Geometry. He wrote ten papers independently and worked with Levski on another six. Together with the contributions of Levski, Neeshka, Milina and Samantha, a new mathematical system is taking shape."

"But I don't understand the mathematics at all." An old middle-rank arcanist was quite upset. "Also, what we are most concerned about is his opinion on the Oliver transformation..."

Another seventh-circle sorcerer sighed. "Exactly. We know that the Oliver transformation is only mathematically applicable for now, and that it cannot prove the existence of 'Ether', but it can explain the light speed experiment with the Ether theory. It is by far the most perfect hypothesis, and we are all willing to support it. But... But why is Lucien Evans not publishing any paper in that regard? I'll always be ill at ease before I learn his opinion."

Annhora nodded solemnly, "Every time I recall the gore he caused and the disruptive theories he proposed, I find it impossible to trust Mr. Oliver's paper until he offers his opinion. I'm always looking forward to something with worry. It's like I can't be reassured in a thunderstorm until the raindrops do fall."

"I always told other people that Lucien Evans dares not discuss the problem because he recognized his mistake, but I cannot sleep tight at night without his opinion. Sometimes I even have nightmares." The old middle-rank arcanist said in agitation.

The nightmare where brains and blood litter the ground still freaked him out.

Annhora was about to reply, when his pocket suddenly beeped. He immediately took out a fine-looking box and pressed a button on it. "Hello? Mr. Oliver? I'm on my way!"

It's a mobile communication item that the Allyn Telephone and Telegram Company recently developed. It had a lower requirement and would not conflict with other magic items.

Seeing off his partners, Annhora reached Oliver's office on the thirty-fourth floor of the Allyn magic tower, only to discover that a familiar arcanist was already seated there, and Mr. Oliver hadn't come out from his inner library yet.

"Mariana, why has Mr. Oliver summoned us?" Annhora asked the middle-aged lady who had shiny black hair.

Mariana, holding a broad-edged hat in his hands, were equally puzzled. "I have no idea."

At this moment, Oliver walked out with two papers in his hands. "Mariana, Annhora, no formalities are needed. I asked you to come here because there's papers for you to review. It should be acceptable for the members of electromagnetics to review it. Take a look at it first. If everything is alright, I'll give it to the Sorcerer Administrative Department and ask the alchemical life in the Arcana Review Board to assign it to you."

Mariana and Annhora, both having a premonition, asked simultaneously, "Whose paper is it?"

Oliver rubbed his fingers. "Lucien Evans."

Boom. Annhora felt that a thunder rumbled in his head. He asked with a pale face, "Mr. Oliver, can I refuse it?"

While talking, he secretly observed Mariana's head, only to discover that Mariana was also observing him, with her eyes also focused on his head.