Over the next three days
the Bluewater Elf Queen did not come to see Zhao Chen again.
Just as she had said, she had already given Zhao Chen what could help him.
There was nothing else left for her to do.
As for how the Owl Dragon Emperor would deal with that material once he had it, and what arrangements he would make, that was the Owl Dragon Emperor's own business.
Zhao Chen naturally understood what she meant, and did not go looking for the Bluewater Elf Queen either.
Instead he had a great deal to do with the Emerald Elf King in this time; the Emerald Elf King was extremely interested in the technical material Zhao Chen had provided.
In these three days, seventy-two hours, he seemed not to rest at all; Zhao Chen did not know whether seventy-two hours without sleep would harm an elf's body.
But the Emerald Elf King was simply like that.
As for why Zhao Chen thought so: in these three days, apart from the first eight hours the Radiant Elf King had specially reminded him of, for all the rest of the time,
whenever the Emerald Elf King ran into some difficulty or question, he would contact Zhao Chen directly.
When he ran into some big problem, he would even come straight to Zhao Chen's door.
Later, to save time, the Emerald Elf King simply set Zhao Chen up in his own office outright.
That way, whenever anything came up, he could ask Zhao Chen face to face.
Zhao Chen did not know whether to laugh or cry at it.
But he admired this Emerald Elf King's professional spirit too.
In this time Zhao Chen was not idle either.
It was the Emerald Elf King's office, after all; a temporary one, but it held a good deal connected with the Sacred Elf Empire's technology.
Zhao Chen leafed through it at his leisure.
The Emerald Elf King only glanced at it, with no intention at all of stopping him.
Presumably this material was not the Sacred Elf Empire's top-secret technical material.
So the Emerald Elf King did not stop him.
In this time Zhao Chen also found moments to ask the Emerald Elf King some technical questions about these elf-line interstellar warships.
When some important questions came up, Zhao Chen and the Emerald Elf King would even fall to discussing them.
At the same time Zhao Chen also found time to borrow some technical equipment and carry out some experiments in technology close to the T7 grade.
These experiments had all succeeded many times over at the Owl Dragon Empire's Imperial Industry Research Institute.
But here!
They actually failed every single time.
It was as though some marvelous power were blocking every discovery in research toward T7 technological civilization.
He had heard the Flame Elf Queen's explanation of it before.
But Zhao Chen had still had some doubts; now that he had truly experienced it himself and seen the result with his own eyes,
Zhao Chen could only sigh that in the myriad universes there were still far too many things that could not be explained.
The three days soon came to an end.
Zhao Chen got ready to set out back to the Owl Dragon Empire.
The Emerald Elf King was very reluctant to let him go.
He even took Zhao Chen by the hand and tried to persuade him to stay a few more days.
Zhao Chen could only say helplessly, "I'm very sorry. I'd like to go on discussing these scientific matters with Your Excellency the Emerald Elf King too. But there are a great many things on the Owl Dragon Empire's side that I need to oversee in person. And many more matters waiting for me to deal with in future. Staying here three days was already pushing the limit. But once the war is over, I'll certainly come to find Your Excellency and go on exploring the mysteries of universe technology! Or you could come to the Owl Dragon Empire, and explore the mysteries of the technology together with our scientists there!"
Hearing Zhao Chen's suggestion,
the Emerald Elf King's face actually showed that he was tempted.
At this point the Radiant Elf King beside them keenly noticed it; he naturally knew their scientist's character well; he really would be tempted.
Had they not stopped him before, this fellow might really have run off to the Owl Dragon Empire to explore the secrets of that technology.
The Radiant Elf King promptly stepped between Zhao Chen and the Emerald Elf King, separating the two, and said with a smile, "Your Excellency the Emperor truly hasn't much time to stay in our Sacred Elf Empire this time, and didn't get to the Moon-God Planet either; it's a real pity. Next time you have the chance, please be sure to stay a few more days here; I'd be glad to keep you company and show you the sights of the Sacred Elf Empire properly."
As he spoke, the Radiant Elf King did not forget to glare at the Emerald Elf King.
The Emerald Elf King calmed down now too, and could only look at the Owl Dragon Emperor helplessly.
Zhao Chen said nothing more; he took his leave of this interstellar cruise liner and went back to his own ship.
Then the Owl Dragon guard fleet sailed for the universe star gate, back to the Owl Dragon Empire's universe.
Watching the Owl Dragon guard fleet gradually vanish,
the Radiant Elf King looked at the somewhat downcast Emerald Elf King beside him; he naturally knew how he felt.
He said, "How much of that data the Owl Dragon Emperor gave us have you mastered? Is that technology of use to us? Can we reproduce a weapon of that grade?"
Seeing that they had come to the point, the Emerald Elf King said seriously too, "These three days I've been studying that technical material, and talked with the Owl Dragon Emperor many times in that time. It has to be said this Owl Dragon Emperor is a very fine scientist; he has deep insight in every area. In some areas he's even beyond me. That also explains why the Owl Dragon Empire could develop a super-weapon on the level of the 'Supernova Ultimate Bomb.' But what I never expected is that he's of the human race, a short-lived interstellar race, and this Owl Dragon Emperor isn't even thirty. Even if he were a genius who started learning as soon as he could remember, to master so much in less than thirty years, surpassing my centuries of research, is truly hard to believe."
The Radiant Elf King frowned slightly and coughed on purpose a few times.
He had not come to hear praise of that Owl Dragon Emperor.
The Emerald Elf King came to with a start, realizing he had gone off in the wrong direction again.
He collected himself and went on, "As for that technical material, I've basically worked out its outline; only some details still need us to run the relevant experiments. Those are all T6 technology grade, so running the experiments here will be no problem. Once those experiments are done and the theoretical figures confirmed sound, we can go on to the next stage: imitating this technology with our plant technology, and developing related technology suited to us. Finishing the first stage will take only about three months. The hard part is the second stage; how long it takes depends on our own research ability and effort: half a year or a year at the shortest; at the longest…… there's no telling. And besides, mind you, this is only part of the Supernova Ultimate Bomb's technology, and likely not the core technology at that. To get to the bottom of the Supernova Ultimate Bomb's technological principles from this tip of the iceberg alone is impossible."
The Radiant Elf King had naturally realized all this; as for the time it would take,
it looked long, but for the long-lived elf race it was in truth nothing.
"As for the rest of the Supernova Ultimate Bomb's technology, don't worry about that. Since this Owl Dragon Emperor is willing to make one trade with us, there'll certainly be another. For now, set up a dedicated project team, and finish the stages you just described as quickly as you can. Don't trouble yourself about anything else," the Radiant Elf King said.
No one could fail to be tempted by the Supernova Ultimate Bomb's technology.
It was, after all, a portable weapon that could destroy a star system in a short time!
"Then…… about going to the Owl Dragon Empire……" the Emerald Elf King asked tentatively.
"No. Mansfield, you should know very well what you're worth to our Sacred Elf Empire. You're our Sacred Elf Empire's finest scientist and expert in your fields at present. Your importance exceeds even that of any Elf Sovereign; your safety concerns not only yourself, but also……"
"Concerns the future of the Sacred Elf Empire; I know. How many times have you said that? Fine, I won't go." The Emerald Elf King rolled his eyes, then turned and left,
unwilling to waste time here with this stubborn old relic.
The Radiant Elf King watched the Emerald Elf King's back as he left, then looked at the universe star gate leading to the Owl Dragon Empire.
He murmured, "Can you truly defeat the Devourer Civilization and…… that terrifying being……"
……
After returning to the Owl Dragon Empire, Zhao Chen went without a pause straight back to the Imperial Military Industry Research Institute, into the project team dedicated to cracking the universe-exploration instruments and equipment.
At last, with the related technical support from the Sacred Elf Empire, and their own work day and night,
twenty days after the war with the Devourer Civilization ended, they finally built the first experimental device!
It was wholly different from the earlier equipment; it was an entirely new series,
combining the Sacred Elf Empire's technology with the Owl Dragon Empire's,
raised enormously in a very short time.
It had to be said that without the Sacred Elf Empire's support, the Owl Dragon Empire on its own could never have made so great a breakthrough in so short a time.
"Everything's ready; we can run the first test at any time!" Dr. Camille appeared beside Zhao Chen and said excitedly.
Zhao Chen nodded, looking at the data panels before him, and at the scanned projection of the map of interstellar universes.
"Begin," Zhao Chen said.
The familiar procedure started once again.
Zhao Chen stared at the scanned map; as the experiment began, coordinates of interstellar universes quickly rose one after another on the map of interstellar space, which had been all black.
Compared with the most advanced equipment before, the improvement was enormous.
Very soon the original three universes all appeared before Zhao Chen.
And after them, farther interstellar universes appeared one after another……