Chapter 234: The Truth Lottery

The brilliant tracks sparked by the particle collision lingered for a long time on the massive crystal screen.

The silence in the laboratory was broken by King Augustus’s excited voice, “Professor Lia, Master Klein, does this… does this mean we can create new materials stronger than mithril and more magically conductive than adamantine?”

His eyes sparkled with a desire for wealth and armaments; these were the things a monarch cared about most.

“Your Majesty, its significance goes far beyond that,” Horace’s voice trembled slightly as he stared obsessively at the track diagram on the screen.

“We have knocked open a door—a door leading to the depths of matter, to the very origin of the world.”

“Materials are but one of the trivial treasures behind this door.”

President Samuel, however, was full of worry, “Such immense energy, such an unknown field… I fear it will bring consequences we cannot control.”

“Any progress comes with risks, Your Excellency,” Klein said indifferently.

“And we are the ones who control those risks.”

His gaze turned toward Lia, who was focused on analyzing the several never-before-seen tracks that had just appeared on the screen.

The decay patterns and deflection angles of those tracks were completely inconsistent with any existing theory.

“We’ve discovered some new things,” Lia said, pointing at the screen.

“We need more data to analyze their properties.”

King Augustus immediately declared, “The Royal Academy of Sciences will provide full cooperation! I order that the security level of the particle accelerator be raised; all related research data is to be classified as a kingdom secret!”

Hearing this, Horace’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Your Majesty, truth should not be locked in a safe.”

“I suggest establishing a specialized research committee and opening experimental applications to all qualified mages in the kingdom.”

“Only collective wisdom can interpret this star chart more quickly.”

“Open it?” King Augustus clearly disagreed. “Master Horace, the value of this technology…”

“Its value lies in pushing the entire system of physics forward, Your Majesty,” Horace did not yield an inch.

“It should not become the exclusive tool of the Royal Workshop.”

A debate regarding “openness” versus “monopoly” quietly unfolded before this machine that had just inaugurated a new era.

Ultimately, under the mediation of Klein and Samuel, the two sides reached a compromise.

Led by the Royal Academy of Sciences, with Archmage Horace as the chairman, a “High-Energy Particle Research Committee” was established to approve all experimental applications.

The King held the final veto power but promised not to interfere lightly with pure theoretical research.

However, they all underestimated the speed at which this storm would spread, and the true meaning of the words “New Era.”

Just one day later, news that the particle accelerator had run successfully and collided to produce “unknown particles” spread through the capital’s mage circles via various channels.

Circulating alongside the news was the “Particle Rain” track diagram, which had been duplicated countless times by magic crystals.

The mages of the entire capital went mad.

***

The next morning, when Adèle rushed into the dining room carrying breakfast, her face was a mixture of laughter and tears.

“Lia! Mentor Klein! Something big has happened!”

Lia was taking small bites of toast covered in jam. She looked up upon hearing this.

“What is it?”

Adèle pointed out the window. “Outside the mage tower… there’s a long queue!”

“It stretches from our front door all the way to the East District Market! They say… they say they want to book an appointment to use your ‘big circle’!”

Klein frowned. “Drive them away.”

“I can’t drive them away!” Adèle was about to lose it.

“Leading the group are several Sixth-Circle mages. They say they have major theoretical conjectures that need the particle accelerator for verification! They even said this was a personal promise from Master Horace!”

“Open to all mages!”

Lia and Klein walked to the window and indeed saw a line that stretched beyond the horizon.

Mages in various robes were gathered together, noisy and clamoring, causing the morning silence to vanish completely.

“My god, what do they think this place is? A wishing well?” Lia couldn’t help but complain.

As it turned out, the situation was even more ridiculous than a wishing well.

Klein used the mage tower’s defensive array to issue an announcement, informing them that all experimental applications needed approval from the newly formed committee.

But this could not dampen the enthusiasm of the mages.

They simply set up camp outside the tower, discussing their “great conjectures” while they waited.

Master Grey complained to them every day, saying mages were trying to bribe him to help them jump the queue.

Some held chests of gold coins, others brought rare alchemical materials, and one female mage even tried to seduce him.

Adèle became the full-time “Intelligence Reporter.”

“Lia, today there’s a Fifth-Circle mage named Bach. He firmly believes that ether exists and wants to smash out ether particles to prove Master Klein’s theory wrong!”

“Oh, tell him to queue up at the committee.”

“And another one named Philly. He says he wants to smash two protons together to see if he can find some mysterious existence in the sparks of the collision!”

“Very creative. Let him queue up.”

“The most ridiculous one is a Third-Circle mage! He says he studied ancient alchemy and believes that by smashing gold atoms at a specific frequency, he can turn them into the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’!”

“Put him on the mage tower’s permanent persona non grata list.”

This situation left Archmage Horace both gratified and headache-prone.

He urgently gathered the committee members to start reviewing the snowflake-like application reports day and night.

The first batch of approved experiments officially began a week later.

The first experimenter was indeed that Mage Bach, who firmly believed in the existence of ether.

He stood nervously in the control room with his entire research team, watching Lia operate the controls.

“Particle beam stable. Ready for injection.”

“Acceleration initiated.”

Bach’s breathing grew rapid, his eyes fixed on the detection crystal.

He had spent half his life searching for ether; today was the moment to witness the truth.

The magnetic field activated; a white light flashed.

Brilliant particle tracks appeared on the screen, but they were completely different from what he had envisioned.

The results of the data analysis soon came out: there were no unknown signals, and all tracks conformed to known particle models.

“Impossible… impossible…” Bach looked ashen, muttering to himself, “My theory… my calculations…”

He staggered back a few steps, appearing as if he had aged twenty years in an instant.

His students hurried to support him, each of their faces filled with disappointment.

A lifelong conviction was shattered completely by cold experimental data in a mere three minutes.

Klein watched their departing backs without expression.

The road to truth was already paved with countless skeletons of falsified theories.

The second experiment brought a hint of surprise.

The applicant was an obscure Fourth-Circle female mage named Cecil.

Her theory posited that during the decay of neutrinos in certain high-energy states, a highly unstable, extremely short-lived “transient particle” would be produced alongside it.

Her theoretical model was very rudimentary, filled with various assumptions.

The committee had originally intended to reject it, but Horace overruled them and gave her a chance.

The experimental process was equally rapid.

When the collision results appeared on the screen, everyone noticed an extremely tiny bifurcation amidst the complex tracks.

It existed for less than a tenth of a second before vanishing.

But it had indeed existed.

“My god! It’s right there! I saw it!” Cecil pointed at the screen in excitement, weeping with joy.

Master Laplace immediately channeled his mana to enlarge the data in that area and began complex calculations.

Half an hour later, he reached a conclusion.

“The energy, mass, and decay path of this bifurcation have a ninety-seven percent probability of conforming to the ‘transient particle’ model in Mage Cecil’s theory.”

The entire control room erupted in an uproar.

A Fourth-Circle mage, relying on a bold conjecture and a rudimentary model, had actually predicted the existence of a new particle.

After this news spread, the queue outside the mage tower became even more fanatical.

The example of failure did not deter them; instead, the example of success gave everyone infinite hope.

They saw a brand-new ladder to ascend.

It was no longer just the theoretical peaks that only geniuses like Horace and Henry could climb, nor was it the smooth path of application like Alistair’s.

This was a path to truth belonging to everyone.

As long as your conjecture was bold enough and your logic self-consistent enough, you had the chance to receive final proof through this “Judge of Truth.”

Because of this machine’s appearance, the academic atmosphere of the capital began to grow active.

Inside the mage tower, Lia looked at the still-bustling scene below and let out a helpless sigh.

“I feel like I haven’t built an accelerator, but opened a ticket office for a truth lottery.”

Klein handed her a cup of hot cocoa.

“But you gave them a ticket that allows them to participate. Before this, they didn’t even have the eligibility to enter.”

Lia took the cup and sipped.

The sweet, warm liquid slid down her throat, dispelling the fatigue of several consecutive days.

She looked out the window.

A young apprentice was debating a physical model intensely with his mentor, his face turning red.

Not far away, several mages sat together, frantically performing calculations on parchment.

The air was filled with the scents of debate, thought, and hope.

Perhaps this was the true meaning of this machine.

It didn’t just smash the old barriers of thought; it sparked the thirst for knowledge of an entire era.

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