232 Why (2/2)

Out of habit, Iristine was rubbing her pink lips with the right index finger as she thought. The druid agreed that there was a huge difference between a living organism and a nonliving one, however, the arguments from the sorcerers had slowly changed her opinion in the last several days. ”Under the natural environment, huh? It sounds good.”

”The primitive nature? Without the help of God?” Arcelion was a bit confused. He was thinking in a druid’s way.

Nicolay and Walter were waiting outside the door nervously, and they had two plans in mind. The first plan was to strike Felipe in surprise when they were allowed to enter the room and they were able to walk by him. If the old sorcerer Vern could not help them get the chance, they would have to use the second plan, which was waiting for the sorcerers to finish the discussion and ambush Felipe when he left the room.

They did not expect the conference to last for a whole week. The longer they stayed there, the easier they would be detected by the others.

They still had hope, as if Felipe was provided with a room in another building, he would still have to leave the hall and they would have the chance to attack him after that.

Vern was sitting in the front of the hall. He rubbed his white beard with a serious expression on his face. If the chance did not come by itself, he would have to create one, but it seemed there was nothing he could for the day.

Raventi waited for the arcanists to finish the discussion and said, ”Our research cooperation with the druids went well this time. The three alchemical ingredients submitted by Lucien Evans were all validated. Those ingredients can help the plants grow and it’s an important discovery for all the countries that are controlled by human beings.”

”The experiment has entered an observation period without the effect from the druids’ divine spells and it’ll take four to five months for it to be completed, so we’ll start discussing the other possible alchemical ingredients that might help the plants grow first. Also, we need to find the simplified reactions to those ingredients so we can mass produce them. Now, let’s ask Evans to share how he got the results with us.”

Everyone was clapping, most of the arcanists knew that if Lucien did not artificially synthesize the carbamide, Felipe would never try to overthrow the Life Force Theory. Although the decisive result was lacking, it was still a respectable move.

Some of the necromances glared at Lucien with hatred in their eyes as the man walked to the platform. They were having trouble meditating due to the interruption of their meditation worlds, but none of them had the intention to kill Lucien. It was Felipe who overthrew the Life Force Theory, so they would go after him first before going after anyone else.

Lucien cleared his throat and started explaining the procedure of the experiment in a gentle tone. Most of the controlled experiments were validated by elves like Iristine and sorcerers like Theodore. There was no problem with the experiment design, and although some of the data was changed by them, Lucien changed it back after reasoning it out.

Everyone clapped again as Lucien finished the speech and they thought he would return to his seat. However, Lucien used a hand gesture to ask the arcanists to quiet down.

Lucien’s expression turned serious as the arcanists stared at him, looking confused.

”I think you have already noticed one thing through the experiments you did and the paper I submitted. The elements that can help the plants grow are all inside the alchemical ingredients that are soluble in water, that’s how they absorbed by the plants.”

”That’s obvious, isn’t it? Plants need water and sunlight to grow, so only the substances that are soluble in water can be absorbed. I think most of the arcanists will notice this point after failing the experiments several times. Mr. Evans, you’ve just discovered it slightly ahead of us,” an arcanist spoke in a disappointed tone. He was good at both soul and element magic, so he was impacted by the matter of the Life Force Theory.

A mysterious smile appeared on Lucien’s handsome face. ”I have some questions for you, if it’s that obvious. Why can the substances only be absorbed when they’re dissolved in the water? What can’t the particles that are floating in the water have the same effect? Plants do need water and sunlight, but there is no evidence proving that water is just a transportation tool. Why is an alchemical substance so different before and after being dissolved in water? For the last point, I think the arcanists here all noticed similar situations in some other experiments, but why?”

The questions made the arcanists’ heads dizzy, they recalled the experiments they did, and they realized that what Lucien just mentioned was actually there. For example, the conductivity of salt changed dramatically after it was dissolved in the water. However, such situations were so simple that people thought they were just common sense.

Lucien stepped down the platform after asking all those questions. He left the rest of the time for the arcanists to discuss.

”Evans, again? I remember you asked a series of questions after the periodic table was validated, just like president Douglas.” A sentimental smile appeared on Larry’s round face. ”You’re good at finding the important problems and it’s surprising, there are so many things I can learn from you.”

Timothy pushed his gold-wired glasses and started joking before Lucien could say anything, ”Evans, I think I have several decent nicknames that fit you well, such as, ‘Evans the Whybringer’ or just ‘Question Asker’, what do you think?”

”I’m not impressed. Also, my name is in the first one, so it's not a good nickname.” Lucien shook his head and walked past them, heading to the seat in the center.

Timothy chuckled, ”Evans, what is a good nickname for you then?”

”One Hundred Thousand Whys…” Lucien sat down with a blank expression on his face.

...

In the space of the demiplane, the Lord of Storm smiled.

”So many questions,” he turned around and said, glaring at the president of the Congress of Magic, Douglas.

Douglas noticed that the Lord of Storm was looking at him and thus he shifted his sight away from the experiment device. Douglas was trying to simulate the experiment in his meditation space and find the possible results, but he did not pay too much attention to the things that happened after, and he looked at Lord of Storm in confusion.

”One Hundred Thousand Whys,” Lord of Storm spoke in a low voice.

Douglas had no idea what the Lord of Storm was talking about. ”What?”

...

The arcanists had another thing to discuss thanks to Lucien’s questions. There were people giving speeches at the platform from time to time, and they also completed several experiments using the other alchemy platforms. Some were giving hypothesis but they were proved wrong quickly. Time flew.

Lucien and Felipe were assigned rooms on the upper levels of the main building. Their servants were selected from the apprentices, so Nicolay and Walter had no way to sneak in. Vern almost tried to finish the job by himself but he was assigned to other buildings.

Nicolay and Walter had several chances to enter the hall but Felipe and Lucien were carefully sitting in the center of the hall, among many other arcanists. The water they drank was prepared by themselves so it was impossible to kill them by poison or surprise attack, and thus Nicolay and Walter were very disappointed about the situation. However, they were not detected by any senior-rank arcanists and they thought the divine items were extremely effective.

The week was ending but they had no chance to touch Lucien or Felipe. The old sorcerer Vern was getting nervous. The elemental sorcerer would not be able to assist Nicolay and Walter after Felipe returned to Heidler City.