Chapter 103 | The Otherworld Journey That Starts From a Slime

After rattling on for a long time, Zhang Ye summarized, “So, the person who designed this magic device is most likely a total novice in the field of magic device engineering.”

“Let me see who designed it... Ke Ling? That’s a pretty nice name,” Zhang Ye muttered.

Ke Ling looked at him and nodded as if agreeing with his words. Then she said, “Follow me.”

Zhang Ye was taken aback. “Where are we going?”

Ke Ling replied, “I am researching a magic device and have hit a dead end. Help me.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ye’s eyes lit up.

Although his theoretical knowledge was extremely vast, he hadn't had a single chance to practice. He naturally wouldn't pass up such an opportunity to work with magic devices up close.

“No problem!” Zhang Ye said, eager to try. He then smiled. “By the way, my name is Zhang Ye. What’s yours?”

Ke Ling looked at him and said indifferently, “Ke Ling.”

Zhang Ye froze. “Ke... Say that again? What’s your name?”

“Ke Ling.”

Zhang Ye: “...”

So... I just showed off right in front of her face?

I called her an idiot and then said she was a novice?

Damn it!

“Um...” Zhang Ye scratched his head awkwardly. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were...”

Ke Ling turned and walked out, her voice devoid of any emotion. “Keep up.”

Zhang Ye quickly followed. “I apologize to you.”

Ke Ling walked straight ahead. “No need.”

Zhang Ye felt that this girl had quite a personality. She didn't even get angry when called an idiot or a novice. Perhaps this was the mindset of a magic researcher in this world.

He nodded and said, “Then let me go tell my friends first.”

Ke Ling nodded. “Okay.”

Zhang Ye ran over to tell Lina and the others, then returned with a smile. “Alright, let’s go.”

Zhang Ye followed Ke Ling to a place that looked highly advanced.

It was a building somewhat similar to a research institute, minimalist and white. Upon entering, he could see groups of people in white lab coats moving about.

Those people cast curious glances at Zhang Ye, but when they looked at Ke Ling, their eyes were filled with respect and admiration.

It made sense; Ke Ling was very beautiful and had a naturally ditzy air about her. A girl like that would be revered as a goddess anywhere.

Following Ke Ling, they reached a laboratory without any hindrance. The room was filled with various magic machinery, and a pile of magic device parts lay on a long table.

At the same time, there was another woman in the room.

She had blue hair just like Ke Ling and wore blue glasses. When she saw Ke Ling, she immediately walked over and draped a white coat over her before looking at Zhang Ye.

“And you are?” The woman looked at Zhang Ye, her eyes full of confusion.

“Hello, my name is Zhang Ye. I’m a freshman from this year’s intake. I was invited here by Senior Sister Ke Ling,” Zhang Ye said politely.

The woman nodded with a faint smile. “Hello, I am Ke Ling’s mother, Ke Lan. You can call me Mentor Ke Lan. If you have magic device courses in the future, I will likely be the one teaching you.”

Zhang Ye nodded.

In terms of looks, the two were indeed very similar, but their personalities seemed completely different. Ke Lan exuded a mature and intellectual aura; she didn't have a lack of expression like Ke Ling, nor did she have that mechanical feel.

After an analysis, Zhang Ye discovered that Ke Lan was actually a Four-star Saint-tier, one star higher than Big Nana. Ke Ling was a One-star Saint-tier at only twenty-three years old, the same age as Zhang Ye.

A One-star Saint-tier at twenty-three? This talent is even more impressive than Renomon’s!

“Come here,” Ke Ling said suddenly, bypassing her mother and walking straight into her private lab.

Ke Lan gave Zhang Ye an apologetic smile. “I still have a project to finish, so I’ll be going now.”

With that, she left.

Zhang Ye blinked.

She’s just leaving like that?

Is it really okay to leave your daughter alone in a room with a grown man?

Well, given Ke Ling’s rank, Zhang Ye probably couldn't beat her anyway.

But isn't this mother a bit too carefree?

Zhang Ye shook his head and followed Ke Ling.

Inside the lab, Ke Ling took out a magic device, and Zhang Ye’s eyes instantly lit up.

The exterior of this magic device looked very much like a sniper rifle from Earth, though it seemed to be in an unfinished state.

“This is the Long-range Miniature Magic Cannon. I am researching how to reduce its size while keeping its power constant,” Ke Ling said, getting straight to the point. “However, if the volume is small, a high-power mana core cannot be installed, and the power cannot be increased.”

Zhang Ye examined it for a moment and asked, “Can I take a look?”

Ke Ling nodded. “As long as you can help me complete it, you can even take it apart.”

She paused and added, “I will pay you enough points as a reward for the task.”

Zhang Ye smiled, then picked up the Long-range Miniature Magic Cannon to inspect it. After examining the external magic lines, he asked Ke Ling for tools and began to disassemble the device piece by piece.

Zhang Ye became more proficient as he went, his disassembly speed increasing. By the time he snapped out of it, the entire magic cannon had been completely reduced to a table full of parts.

He cast a cautious glance at Ke Ling and, seeing that she didn't show any dissatisfaction, let out a sigh of relief and continued his study.

After studying it for a full half-hour, Zhang Ye nodded and said, “The main problem with this sniper rifle—er, Long-range Miniature Magic Cannon—is the mana core, right?”

“Yes,” Ke Ling nodded and said mechanically. “Its prototype is a small magic cannon with a total length of 314.225 li and an effective range of 2.4 kilometers. It can kill a Tier Six fully-armored magical beast at its maximum range.”

“But after shrinking it, the mana core cannot be installed. If the mana core cannot be reduced in size, then the concept of a ‘miniature’ version is invalid.”

“Help me.”

Zhang Ye couldn't help but laugh. How did this girl manage to say “help me” so matter-of-factly?

He nodded and said, “I have a way to shrink the mana core and take the power of the Long-range Miniature Magic Cannon to the next level!”

“Speak.”

She really isn't polite at all!

Zhang Ye cleared his throat. “This is a concept of mine—Compression.”

“What does that mean?” Ke Ling asked, tilting her head. That look of hers really pushed her naturally ditzy attribute to the limit.

It seemed the concept of Compression didn't exist in this world yet, so Zhang Ye organized his thoughts.

“Compression means applying pressure to matter or energy to reduce its volume while its quantity remains the same.”

“Mana is actually composed of mana particles, which I call mana atoms. There are gaps between these atoms. By applying pressure, these gaps can be reduced, thereby shrinking the volume of the compressed object on a macroscopic level.”

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Ke Ling seemed to fall into deep thought. Within her blue eyes, her pupils were actually expanding and contracting, much like a camera lens focusing.

She then nodded. “I can understand. This is a brand-new concept. So, how do we do it?”

“That is also the question I am considering: how to compress mana.” Zhang Ye stroked his chin and entered deep-thought mode.

Ke Ling didn't disturb him, simply waiting in silence.

Ten minutes later, Zhang Ye’s eyes lit up, and he snapped his fingers.

“Universal Gravitation!”

“What is... Universal Gravitation?” Ke Ling asked when she didn't understand.

Zhang Ye didn't explain immediately. Instead, he picked up a part, tossed it up, and let it fall. “Why is it that when I toss this part up, it doesn't keep flying upward but falls back down after reaching a certain height?”

“The force you applied to the part was exhausted,” Ke Ling said.

Zhang Ye nodded. “Right. So why was that force exhausted?”

“Doesn't force just exhaust itself?” Ke Ling asked.

Zhang Ye shook his head. “Of course not. Force never disappears into thin air; it is only offset.”

Ke Ling was stunned, as if she had never considered this question. She thought for a moment and finally shook her head. “I don't know. Tell me.”

Zhang Ye smiled slightly. “Setting aside air resistance, the reason this force is exhausted is because of gravity.”

“The ground beneath our feet is a planet. You can think of it as a massive sphere of matter. Because it is so huge, it has an extremely powerful gravitational pull. It is this gravity that constantly offsets the upward force until it is gone. At that point, the rising part is pulled by gravity and falls back to the ground.”

“By the same token, the reason we can stand on the ground and perceive direction is because of the existence of gravity.”

“If there were no gravity, then as long as we applied a tiny bit of counterforce to the ground, we would keep flying toward the sky. Without considering resistance, we would fly upward forever.”

“That is gravity!”

“How do you prove it?” Ke Ling asked.

Zhang Ye laughed. “You need to prove that through practice yourself. I’ll give you a simple way to prove it.”

“The higher you fly, the weaker gravity becomes. Conversely, the deeper you go underground, the stronger gravity becomes. At those points, you should be able to clearly feel the impact of gravity on your body. You’ll know once you try it yourself.”