Exploring Technology in a Wizard World-Chapter 578 - 576 Ugly

Next, Richard worked tirelessly, skipping meals and sleep. The successful fabrication of the first chip had boosted his confidence, and the pace of the remaining chip production increased significantly, but it still took a considerable amount of time. This was mainly because the masks for each of the nine chips had to be made independently and without any errors.

Thus, the days flew by, over a couple of weeks.

Richard was busy and fulfilled, but Wan An and Mars outside were frantic. Wan An’s temper flared more frequently, and Mars had to work even harder to minimize his presence and to keep a closer watch on Richard.

Outside the rickety three-story wooden building, Mars hid in a corner, glanced at the door that hadn’t been opened in ages, and viciously bit into a piece of hard, salty fish meat, muttering, "Damn kid, making me eat salty fish every day, I’m turning into a salted fish myself!

Don’t let me catch your flaws, or else... the teacher might spare you, but I won’t! When the time comes, I’ll make you eat salty fish for a year straight and see how you like it!"

As he spoke, Mars viciously bit into the salty fish again, forcing it down while nearly choking and turning his eyes white, finally gulping it down with a "gulp" and gasping for air.

...

Inside Eden, Richard was completely unaware of Wan An and Mars’s situation, and even if he knew, he didn’t care because all the chips were finally fabricated, approaching the most crucial step.

Eden, Mechanical Processing Sector, laboratory.

On the processing table, a silver metal glove was crafted.

The entire metal glove, emitting a metallic chill and bearing a murderous aura, had numerous connecting magic runes engraved on the palms and the backs, adding a touch of mystery.

The engraved connection magic runes smoothly curved across the surface of the glove, finally converging at ten points—two points on each finger, each a one-square centimeter indentation meant for placing the completed magic chips.

Richard took the metal glove from the processing table, then from the Space Iron Ring, he took out a wooden box. Opening it, he saw ten magic chips lying quietly inside.

"Number one magic chip, number two magic chip, thumb."

"Number three magic chip, number four magic chip, index finger."

"Number five magic chip..."

Richard muttered to himself as he installed the distinctly marked chips into the indentations on the fingers of the metal glove, producing a crisp "click, click, click" sound.

Finally, with all the chips installed, Richard put the glove on his right hand and without hesitation, stepped out and headed towards the Magic Test Field.

...

At the Magic Test Field, akin to the bottom of a Heavenly Pit, Richard appeared.

He glanced at the metal humanoid target a few meters away and slowly raised his metal-gloved right hand.

"For the first test, it’s safer to use less Free Energy Elements," Richard said cautiously, controlling the small amount of Free Energy inside him to flow into the glove, releasing an attack.

Then...

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

After a full three seconds, there was no response from the metal glove.

Richard frowned but did not rashly move, continuing to hold his pose aimed at the metal humanoid target.

At that moment, scenes flashed through Richard’s mind from a firearms shooting range where someone experienced a gun jam. Curious, they pointed the muzzle at their eye, wondering, "Why did it jam?", while peering down the barrel and repeatedly testing the trigger. Then, in a stroke of morbid irony, the gun went off with a "bang," unjamming itself.

He certainly didn’t want to make such a contribution to human evolution, a Darwin-Award-winning act of self-destruction through sheer stupidity.

But a minute had passed, and the metal glove still showed no reaction, making Richard somewhat impatient. He glanced at the glove and, with a thought, controlled more Free Energy Elements from his Magic Origin to surge out, this time increasing the quantity of the Free Energy Elements.

Then, he felt the metal glove tremble slightly and emit a unique Energy Wave. Before he could react, a "puff" sound came, and he saw all ten chips embedded in the glove burn out, turning into bright, crystalline forms.

This!

Richard’s eyes widened, and he carefully removed the metal glove, saying aloud, "Did it fail?"

Hmm, it failed.

Richard’s eyes flickered slightly with disappointment, but he swiftly composed himself and regained his tranquility.

Indeed, it was a clear failure.

However, failure was not the end of the world.

Granted, a smooth success in researching something was preferable. But if it failed, it was perfectly acceptable. This simply indicated that the research was not thorough enough, the understanding was somewhat skewed, and needed improvements, corrections, optimizations, and continued research.

In the realm of science, what was needed wasn’t a chance success, but a complete analysis that could be replicated indefinitely; an experience that was assuredly practical.

"Come on, let’s see where the problem lies," Richard said aloud, turning back to the laboratory to begin his research.

...

Later, Richard discovered that the difficulty of the research exceeded his expectations.

Originally, he thought there might be issues with the Magic Chip in the making. After spending a considerable amount of time ruling this out, he speculated that there might be discrepancies in the Magic Runes on the Metal Gloves.

Yet, after numerous tests, there was no issue with the Magic Runes on the Metal Gloves.

The focus shifted to the method of injecting Free Energy Elements, the errors in various materials, the design of the Metal Gloves’ shape... and so on.

A series of conjectures were proposed and then each was negated one by one.

Since the mask had been successfully created and, under the effect of Light Engraving equipment, numerous chips were flowing out and continuously being mounted on one set of Metal Gloves after another for experiments, all of which were invariably destroyed.

For a while, the research hit an impasse.

Before long, more than ten days had passed.

In the main laboratory, Richard installed a newly made Magic Chip in a Metal Glove, which he placed on the surface of the experimental table. With his lips pursed, his fingers lightly tapped on the table, producing a rhythmic "tap" sound as he racked his brain for any oversight.

"Is it the Photoresist? But that’s been changed already."

"The Developer isn’t right? That’s also been changed."

"Is it the bias from the light emitted by the light source? That’s been corrected multiple times already."

"Then, it must be the design of the chip itself. But why does a single chip pass the test, yet fails when all chips are put together? This makes no sense."

Richard shifted through countless thoughts that formed and vanished, continuing to think.

In the corner, Pandora, while writing down the last number on the Papyrus Scroll with a Quill, exhaled lightly—she had finished today’s assignment.

Pandora turned around, intending to report to Richard, but upon glancing at Richard, who was deep in thought with furrowed brows, she blinked and ultimately remained silent. The next moment, she stepped forward to Richard, her gaze falling on the Metal Gloves on the experimental table.

"Richard, are you a bit worried about this thing?" Pandora pointed at the Metal Gloves and asked softly.

"What, did you find something?" Richard asked without much hope.

Unexpectedly, the next moment Pandora looked at the Metal Gloves for a long while, her expression changed slightly, and she nodded quite seriously, replying, "I did find something."

"Uh?" Richard exclaimed in surprise, turning his head to ask, "What did you find?"

"This Metal Glove..." Pandora said, "is rather ugly!"

Richard: "..."

Ugly?

Is this really a matter about being ugly?!

...

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