241: Materials Crisis and "Silver" Alchemy

The failure of the first energy transmission test was like a small fish bone stuck in the throat of the smooth progress of the "Star Hub" project.

The problem was clear: the existing "star pattern gold" Materials could not withstand the load brought about by energy transmission.

Senior Brother Li led the technical team in repeatedly testing and analyzing the damaged beacon, and the conclusion was somewhat discouraging.

It wasn't that there was a problem with their rune inscriptions, but that the "star pattern gold" in the base's inventory was not pure enough and contained many Impurities, which caused uneven hot spots and stress when energy flowed through it, eventually leading to structural collapse.

"We need higher purity 'star pattern gold', or... find a better energy-conducting material that can replace it." Senior Brother Zhang pushed up his glasses, his tone grave.

Higher purity "star pattern gold" meant needing more Advanced refining technology or finding higher quality raw Ore, neither of which could be solved in the short term.

The atmosphere in the base was gloomy for a while.

The flame of hope for the "starnet" that had just been ignited seemed about to be stranded due to material issues.

Just when everyone was at their wits' end, Wen Youyi once again cast his gaze toward the "Flowing Silver" that was always wandering around the base and occasionally helping out with small tasks.

These magical liquid metals exhibited too many incredible characteristics: they could devour metal, convert energy, self-repair, and optimize structures...

Could they themselves be an extremely excellent energy-conducting material?

Could they even... refine Materials?

This idea was very bold.

Letting a group of liquid metals that seemed to have no brains do refining?

It sounded even less reliable than letting Zhao Iron Pillar do embroidery.

But Wen Youyi decided to try.

He found a "Flowing Silver" that looked relatively "idle," brought it to the industrial zone, pointed at the pile of impure "star pattern gold" Ore fragments, and tried to convey his thoughts: "This... Impurities... remove... keep the good... can you do it?"

The "Flowing Silver" extended its silver tentacles, touched the Ore, and transmitted a vague thought of "eat... energy...".

It seemed to only be interested in devouring and energy.

Wen Youyi did not give up; he picked up a small piece of "star pattern gold" Ore and a small piece of ordinary iron Ore, showed them to the "Flowing Silver" at the same time, and then guided a trace of pure Star Power to cover the "star pattern gold" Ore, radiating a fluctuation of "this is delicious, has energy"; while radiating a fluctuation of "this has no energy, not delicious" toward the iron Ore.

He repeatedly carried out this seemingly childish "teaching," trying to make the "Flowing Silver" understand the value of "star pattern gold."

At first, the "Flowing Silver" just restlessly circled the two stones, showing desire for the "star pattern gold" covered in Star Power, but had no concept of how to "remove Impurities."

Wen Youyi was very patient; he even had Senior Brother Li bring a simple smelting furnace capable of producing high temperatures and magnetic fields, and conducted a small-scale "star pattern gold" purification demonstration in front of the "Flowing Silver."

Although the final metal purity was still not high, it at least allowed the "Flowing Silver" to "see" the process of Impurities being separated.

It was unclear whether Wen Youyi's "teaching" had worked, or if the "Flowing Silver"'s own learning and evolutionary abilities were far beyond imagination.

After observing a few demonstrations and swallowing a few samples marked by Wen Youyi with Star Power that contained trace amounts of high-purity "star pattern gold," the behavior of this "Flowing Silver" began to change.

It no longer tried to directly devour the entire piece of Ore, but slowly covered a fist-sized piece of "star pattern gold" Ore with more Impurities with its silver liquid.

Immediately after, a strange scene occurred!

The silver liquid surface undulated slightly as if it had life, as if it were performing extremely precise operations inside.

Some gray-black, fine particles that were almost invisible to the naked eye were slowly "repelled" and "squeezed" out of the surface of the Ore, like sweating, while the main body of the Ore covered by the silver liquid seemed to become purer and deeper in color, and the energy fluctuations it emitted also faintly increased a notch!

Although the process was very slow and the efficiency was far inferior to a professional smelting furnace, it was indeed... purifying!

"It succeeded! They can really do it!" Senior Brother Li's voice changed pitch with excitement after confirming the purification effect through a high-precision Magical Artifact!

This ability to separate and purify substances directly from the atomic/molecular level was simply incredible!

When the news spread, the entire technical team was boiling with excitement!

The material problem that had plagued them had actually seen a glimmer of hope for a solution in such an unexpected way!

Wen Youyi was even more ecstatic; he immediately organized more "Flowing Silver," especially those individuals who appeared "smarter," to join the "alchemy" work.

A special area was designated in the industrial zone, where a large amount of low-purity "star pattern gold" Ore was piled up, and dozens of "Flowing Silver" were responsible for preliminary purification.

These "Flowing Silver Alchemists" lay on the pile of Ore, silver liquid flowing slowly, silently engaged in the tedious purification work.

They seemed to regard this work of being able to obtain pure energy (Wen Youyi would regularly give them Star Power as a reward) and "valuable" metal as a new way of "foraging," and they were working quite enthusiastically.

With the assistance of the "Flowing Silver," the acquisition efficiency of high-purity "star pattern gold" was greatly improved.

Although there was still a long way to go before mass production, at least manufacturing a small amount of Materials for experiments and key beacons was no longer a problem!

Senior Brother Li immediately set to work, utilizing the newly purified "star pattern gold" and combining the lessons learned from the first failure to optimize the structure and runes of the beacon, starting to produce the second-generation prototype beacon.

The unexpected resolution of the material crisis put the "Star Hub" project back on the fast track.

Everyone looked at this group of magical "neighbors" with admiration; they were not only useful tools but also partners with unlimited potential!

Zhao Iron Pillar looked at the busy silver figures and couldn't help but smack his lips: "Good guy, this bunch of iron lumps... no, that's silver lumps, they have this ability too? In the future, if we lack any Materials, can we just let them gnaw on some rocks?"

Wen Youyi smiled and shook his head: "It's not as simple as you think. They seem to only be able to perform this operation on Materials they 'understand' and are 'interested' in, and the efficiency is limited. But this has undoubtedly opened a new door for us!"

The development path of "Spark" was once again brightened by an out-of-the-box idea and a group of magical partners.

(End of Chapter)