658: Chapter 653 The Real Purpose

There was no signboard, only a mottled iron door.

As the door was pushed open, a wave of heat rushed out.

The courtyard was piled high with various clay blanks and defective products. A middle-aged man, bare-chested and wearing only a pair of large shorts, was squatting by the kiln opening, observing the color of the fire inside.

He was soaked in sweat, his bronze skin glistening under the firelight. The muscles on his arms were knotted like the gnarled roots of an old tree.

Only his eyes were startlingly bright, as if they could see through the soul of the flames.

He was a world apart from the national-treasure-level scientist Shen Yan had imagined.

He looked more like an old Artisan who had dealt with clay for half his life.

"Boss, buying porcelain?"

The man didn't look back; his voice was hoarse, carrying a touch of coarseness from being smoked by the fire.

"Not buying."

Shen Yan walked to his side and squatted down as well, watching the roaring kiln fire.

"I'm looking for someone."

"Looking for who?"

"Wei Zhengxun."

The man's hand pulling the bellows paused for a split second.

It was so fast it was almost imperceptible.

"There's no one by that name here."

He stood up and slapped the dust off his hands. "You've come to the wrong place."

"Is that so?" Shen Yan also stood up, his gaze falling on a row of celadon teacups on a nearby shelf.

"I heard that fifteen years ago, there was a metal that existed only in theory, called 'Poseidon Steel'."

"It could maintain a perfect atomic structure under the pressure of fifteen thousand meters in the deep sea."

"Its creator was surnamed Wei."

The man picked up a wet cloth and wiped the sweat and dust from his face, his movements very slow.

He didn't look at Shen Yan; his eyes remained fixed on the kiln opening.

"Who exactly are you?"

"My name is Shen Yan."

"I've come because I want to invite Engineer Wei to return to the field."

"Return to the field?" The man—Wei Zhengxun—finally turned his head and looked Shen Yan in the eye.

There was no curiosity in his eyes, only a dead, silent indifference.

"I'm just a kiln burner. I don't understand whatever steel you're talking about."

"The people from back then are all dead, and the events of back then have long since burned to ash."

"You should leave."

There wasn't a ripple of emotion in his tone, as if he were stating a fact that had absolutely nothing to do with him.

Shen Yan didn't leave.

He picked up a teacup from the shelf and examined it closely.

"This cup was wood-fired, wasn't it?"

"The fire temperature was around 1,320 degrees Celsius, but because of the different positions within the kiln, the redox atmosphere varied, so the glaze color of each one is unique."

"This one, with a hint of reddish tint within the sky-blue, is a masterpiece of kiln transformation."

"It seems, Engineer Wei, that you've dealt with fire quite a lot over these years."

Wei Zhengxun's expression finally showed a slight change.

It was the surprise of an Artisan being seen through by a peer.

"You understand porcelain?"

"A little," Shen Yan put down the teacup. "I also understand materials."

He looked into Wei Zhengxun's eyes and said word by word,

"I also know that the development of 'Poseidon Steel' back then was actually stuck on the final step."

"Its strength and toughness reached design standards, but its energy conductivity under extreme pressure was always off by 3%."

"That 3% is the key to it becoming the core reaction chamber of the 'Eye of the Tide'."

"You didn't solve that problem back then. Because the laboratory... exploded."

Wei Zhengxun's body jolted violently.

In his eyes, which had been as calm as an ancient well, a massive wave finally surged.

That 3% data was the deepest thorn in his heart.

It was the regret that caused him the most heart-wrenching pain when he woke from his dreams at midnight.

This secret was something no outsider could possibly know, except for the core members of the Spark Laboratory back then.

"You... who exactly sent you?" His voice now carried alertness and hostility.

"Someone who also wants to build the 'Eye of the Tide'."

Shen Yan took a military-grade encrypted USB drive from his pocket and placed it on the nearby stone table.

"Inside this is simulation data for the resonance frequency of a new type of piezoelectric crystal material in an ultra-high pressure environment."

"Perhaps it can solve that 3% problem."

"I'll come back tomorrow."

After saying this, Shen Yan turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

Wei Zhengxun froze in place, staring fixedly at the USB drive.

He wanted not to touch it, wanted to throw it into the kiln and burn it to ash.

But that phrase, "solve that 3% problem," was like a curse, echoing frantically in his mind.

His hand began to tremble uncontrollably.

In the end, like iron filings attracted by a magnet, he walked over step by step and picked up the USB drive.

He had said that clay was the most honest and wouldn't lie.

But data wouldn't lie either.

At the same time, in Magic City.

The headquarters of a top domestic game company.

Chen Guangke sat in the reception room, having already drunk three cups of coffee.

The Qian Liyang he was waiting for put on much more of an air than he had imagined.

An hour later, a slightly chubby man wearing a plaid shirt with messy hair walked in, yawning.

"You're the one who wants to headhunt me?"

Qian Liyang plopped down on the sofa, looking Chen Guangke up and down.

"Hello, Engineer Qian. My name is Chen Guangke."

"Cut the crap." Qian Liyang waved his hand. "My time is precious; I've got a bug stuck. Just say it directly: what's your company called, and how much are you offering me?"

His tone was full of contempt and impatience toward capital.

Chen Guangke smiled.

He liked people who were this direct.

"Our studio is called Spark. As for money, we aren't naming a price."

"Not naming a price?" Qian Liyang sneered. "Are you messing with me? Then I'm leaving."

"We're giving shares."

Chen Guangke calmly spoke those three words.

Qian Liyang's movement to stand up stopped.

"Oh? Let's hear it. How big of a pie are you painting for me?"

"Spark is a newly established independent laboratory. You'll come as the Chief Architect of the central control system. I'll give you 2% of the laboratory's original shares."

Qian Liyang was stunned, then burst out laughing.

"2%? Brother, do you know what my current annual salary plus bonuses is? A tiny, unheard-of laboratory giving me 2%? I wouldn't even be interested."

"I suggest you go find out the market rates before trying to headhunt people."

Chen Guangke remained unruffled and simply asked a question.

"The physics engine for 'Origin Chronicles' was your work, wasn't it?"

"Duh." Qian Liyang looked proud.

"That real-time calculated combat feedback system is indeed very impressive," Chen Guangke praised. "Being able to compress latency to within 0.01 seconds—no one else in the country can do that."

"At least you know your stuff." Qian Liyang's expression softened slightly.

"However," Chen Guangke's tone shifted, "don't you think it's a waste of talent to use that algorithm, which can predict gravitational surges, just to calculate the blade trajectory of a virtual character?"

The smile on Qian Liyang's face froze.

"What did you say?"

"I said," Chen Guangke stared into his eyes, "that algorithm can predict energy surges caused by minute changes in lunar-terrestrial gravity seventeen seconds in advance."

"That is its true purpose, isn't it?"