Mage? Spell Engineer!.

Chapter 438: Finding Answers in the Chaos

Weak regions of transmutation dust flow are observed indirectly; they do not actually penetrate the entire hierarchy.

First, the astronomical observatory on the Starlight Torch Tower observed a star that had deviated from the already determined and mapped trajectory, and for the first time, stars with lower brightness were discovered around it.

Regarding this phenomenon, some scholars believe that the star has changed, such as splitting, which can explain the above two phenomena. However, some people have questioned that the star splitting hypothesis cannot explain why the original star is even brighter.

There are even "archaeologists" who point out that the existence of those celestial bodies is recorded in ancient books and star maps.

Only Kano guessed that it might not be the change in the starry sky, but the change in the transmutation laminar flow that he and his research team had been dealing with. Combined with the 16 extraction machines currently in operation in Valuvana, the fluctuations in their extraction volume and the changes in the starry sky occurred almost simultaneously.

In the laboratory, Paulina was assembling a special glass experimental device. The main body was a large transparent water tank with six holes at the bottom.

Master Poincare was also in the laboratory. Following Carnot's instruction, Paulina released water on one side of the water tank. The drain outlet was also specially made, allowing the water to flow from left to right in the form of parallel laminar flow. When passing through the hole in the middle, some water flowed out and turbulence occurred.

Carnot cast a spell to deform the experimental device, and the holes at the bottom of the cylinder began to move. Under certain combinations, the disturbances produced by the holes influenced each other, and small turbulences merged to form a larger vortex centered on the largest hole.

"So your experiment is trying to show," Poincare pondered for a moment, "that the transmutation dust extractor array disturbs the original laminar flow, and the mutual influence coincidentally produces a larger vortex? Therefore, a relatively thin area appears near the center of the vortex, causing the stars observed by the astronomical observatory to change."

"Yes, this makes sense, and the thickness of the thinnest part should be significantly smaller than normal, otherwise the changes in the stars would not be so significant, and there may even be celestial bodies with lower brightness whose light can penetrate our 'shell' for the first time."

"It's not the first time." Poincare corrected: "The Tower of Time in Istani sent a message. After comparison, the so-called four newly appeared companion stars are part of the Perseus constellation that disappeared after the 'Great Extinction'."

"Doesn't that further prove my point?" Kano hammered the palm of his other hand with one hand: "After the mass extinction of the symbolic world, the transmutation laminar flow interfered with the stars with lower brightness. Now there are weak areas in the laminar flow, allowing some stars to reappear."

The obscuring effect of the Transmutation Dust Flow caused astrology and celestial magic to suffer a severe setback, and it may also be related to the disappearance of the power entities corresponding to the constellations. In any case, the news from the Tower of Time confirmed Kano's conjecture.

"So this is why you asked me to come here." Poincare had already guessed something, so he decided to confirm with the fat man first to be on the safe side.

Carnot was so excited that he almost trembled: "Help me, Jules Poincare! Now we have sixteen machines. The coordinates and extraction rates of the transmutation dust they extract are controllable. I want you to calculate an optimal solution and use these machines in an array to create the largest vortex, creating larger and thinner areas in the transmutation dust layer flow!"

"Calculation? You are an outsider!" Unexpectedly, Master Poincare responded to the Grand Master's request with an almost roaring voice. He pointed to the water tank model and said:
"What do you want me to calculate? Fluid! A chaotic system composed of endless dust. To find a special solution means an endless amount of calculations! And how much do we know about transmutation dust? What is the equivalent viscosity coefficient of the unprocessed dust scattered in the star realm? The frequency of vortex separation? And in a three-dimensional system. If you can get all the brains in the world to participate in this work, then maybe there will be a day when you can calculate everything."

Carnot was frightened by Poincare's "roar" and said slowly: "In the past few years, we have determined the velocity gradients in the lower and middle layers."

"Haha" Poincare was almost laughing. Even so, all the remaining mages and apprentices in the Starry Tower participated.

The Tower of Stars, whose actual location is hidden, has become the "eye of the storm" in Valuvana. The mage apprentices who did not join the army or hide in the countryside have been doing research behind closed doors and concentrating their efforts on serving the Chief Mage's project.

First, they needed to obtain more data. Led by three intermediate mage teachers, they boarded a floating capsule produced by the Alchemy Department to reach the highest altitude for safe transmission and released three sounding balls under the transmutation dust layer flow.

The floating capsule and the sounding ball are all equipped with the blue barrier that Rorschach revealed. It is precisely because of the existence of the barrier that can resist transmutation dust that it is possible to penetrate the transmutation laminar flow.

However, before, the barrier only worked in the extractor, and there was a huge difference between the amount of transmutation dust transmitted and gushed out and the amount of transmutation dust in the laminar flow above the sky. This time, it was also a test of how long the barrier could maintain operation.

"Teacher, ball No. 3 has lost contact, and the trajectory information of the other two balls has been collected."

"Okay, let's go back first." The barrier of the airship gradually lost its effectiveness, and the coldness of the high altitude penetrated the temporary and crude cabin. After collecting data and finding the relationship between the thickness of the barrier and the retention time in the transmutation dust layer flow, the airship stopped the operation of [levitation] and fell naturally. When it accelerated to a certain speed, the magic circuits around it lit up and disappeared in the sky.

By means of this method, eleven sets of sounding ball movement data in the transmutation laminar flow were collected, and the basic parameters of the lower layer of transmutation dust were preliminarily depicted.

Based on these data, the computational team led by Poincare reported for the first time a simplified model of transmutation dust flow. Their research also attracted the attention of the Tower of Time, which also began to experiment.

Poincare found an approximate periodic law from the changes in the transmutation dust level and proposed an idea: change the parameters of the chaotic system small enough to fine-tune the target variable without affecting other variables in the system, and ultimately achieve the steady state required by Carnot.

In addition, there are many efforts. All computer machines and students are running. The laboratory is full of calculation processes. There are also water models, oil models and quicksand models made to simulate the macroscopic flow of transmutation dust. They flow back and forth under the control of sophisticated alchemical devices.

Finally, they obtained a model that was very crude in Poincare's eyes, a "special solution" improved from the form obtained by chance. According to the calculation results, the parameters of the transmutation dust extractor of the Starry Tower were adjusted, and the abnormal small piece of starry sky was successfully brightened a little bit.

It's just that little bit that proves that the work is effective and the weak areas of the transmutation dust layer flow can be made thinner!
The above is the research that the Starry Tower has been carrying out since the beginning of spring, and it has been going on for four months. However, Rorschach was not aware of it. Apart from the results of the Poincare Group and the sounding survey group, the content related to Carnot's own work has not been published publicly, and Rorschach did not pay attention to it.

When Rorschach's telegram arrived, it gave Kano further ambition:

"Yes, we forgot about the machine that Rorschach can control! If we include the Transmutation Dust Extractor on Rorschach's side and form a larger array, can we get the best effect and allow me to travel through time?"

"Are you crazy? Are you willing to take the risk yourself?" Master Poincare grasped the key point of Carnot's words.

(End of this chapter)