Chapter 1297: Chapter 1296: Starting Line

Give the new hypothesis a name?

To be honest, Rebecca had never thought about this—it was because during her long career as a deity and absentee, she had never explored beyond the realm of ideologies, like a true researcher. She possessed vast knowledge and an unreachable understanding and comprehension of Magic, but in some aspects, she indeed lacked experience.

She learned the paper format on the fly from someone in the neural network.

"I... don’t have any idea," the former Goddess of Magic thought seriously, a bit embarrassed, "Honestly, I never considered it... but you’re right, it does need a name to make it easier for other scholars to study this hypothesis in the future. How about ’Unified Wave Hypothesis’?"

"Initially, I wanted to name it according to the standard rule, after the proposer, like ’Rebecca Hypothesis’," Gawain said with a smile, "But the name you suggested sounds pretty good."

"Rebecca Hypothesis..." Rebecca was a little surprised; she thought seriously for a moment but finally shook her head and laughed, "Let’s not use that name, it sounds weird to me."

Gawain spread his hands: "Alright, so ’Unified Wave Hypothesis’ it is, but this way, students in the future might not be happy. They’ll have to learn both the hypothesis and also memorize the discoverer’s name..."

"It’s not like I have to memorize it," Rebecca carelessly waved her hand, as if suddenly recalling something, said thoughtfully, "Since we’re on this topic, I’ve been pondering a question over the past couple of days... which is whether when publishing my research papers, whether the theocracy Authority Council or other research units should disclose my name as the ’Paper Author’..."

Gawain paused, realizing that the question Rebecca posed seemed simple but in fact had some complexity—he had to reflect deeply for a long time. Until a few minutes later, he slowly lifted his head: "If you’re asking for my personal opinion, I think you should put your name in the paper. Certainly, at this stage, it’s not suitable to publicly disclose the true identity behind this name, but the name ’Rebecca’ itself can and should be made public."

"Why?" Rebecca stared into Gawain’s eyes seriously, "Is it just because it’s some kind of ’entitlement’? In fact, I don’t mind about this—compared to the signature, I’m more concerned if this will lead to rebuilding the chains I’ve finally escaped, causing some to start ’nostalgically’ remembering the goddess they had in mind."

"But my view is quite the opposite, the appearance of the name ’Rebecca’ in the cutting-edge scholarly literature might in fact separate this name from ’divine’," Gawain replied calmly, meeting Rebecca’s gaze. His judgment clearly wasn’t a whim, "Because no name of any God will appear in such places. No God has ever done such things: write papers and submit them to prestigious research journals, conduct experiments with mortals in high-level experimental projects, have their name listed in national projects—this will be the furthest form a deity has been from the divine seat."

Clearly, Rebecca hadn’t previously considered this matter from this angle. Hearing Gawain’s analysis, she couldn’t help but think deeply. Her eyes sparkled slightly, and after a while, she uncertainly said, "Will it really be like this?"

"Keeping a distance from the former belief system is indeed an effective way to escape the ’shackles’, but that doesn’t mean we have only this path," Gawain said slowly, weighing his words, "Placing the names of the Goddess and mortals side by side will more efficiently erase the divine factors behind these names, and this aligns with the theocracy Authority Council’s ideology of ’theocratic secularization’. To illustrate with a more typical example, if a Mage scholar finds out that a certain paper in the latest academic journal is authored by ’Rebecca’, if he discovers that his peers and colleagues can all call this name, the special nature of this name in his heart will quickly fade..."

Listening to Gawain’s theory, Rebecca pondered for a long time before she couldn’t help nodding gently: "That seems to make some sense... but we should limit it to ’names’, right?"

"Of course," Gawain nodded in agreement, "The whole truth is still premature for most ordinary people, and the awe and nostalgia for the Goddess of Magic that remains in the hearts of the common Mage still run deep. That’s why only a few top members of the theocracy Authority Council know about your current situation. Let’s start with the ’name’. Let the world slowly re-understand you, the absentee God."

"I’ll take that as a compliment," Rebecca smiled, leaning back under the golden oak tree, her eyes filled with amusement as she looked at Gawain, "I’ll put my real name in the author’s section of the paper—and as a co-author, I’ll write yours."

Listening to the first half of the sentence, Gawain nodded slightly; hearing the second half, he almost choked himself with a mouthful of saliva: "Cough... Cough cough, you say what? Why is my name included in this!"

"If I say it’s to ride on your name for easier submission... you probably won’t believe it," Rebecca said with a smile, her mood clearly very good, "The real reason is—I truly believe your name belongs here. Remember those key descriptions you just summarized about the ’Unified Wave Model’? That’s exactly the part I was researching, the content I hadn’t fully supplemented in the paper yet."

"Just based on this?" Gawain looked at her in surprise, then couldn’t help but laugh after a moment, "No, compared to the research you’ve been doing these days, my few casual words don’t deserve a spot even compared to what Kamel did with the Magic Wave experiments—he initiated all this."

"His name is already listed," Rebecca said seriously, retracting her somewhat joking tone, "And you... perhaps you don’t feel it, but all these days I’ve been pondering the most accurate and appropriate description of the ’Unified Wave Model’, considering its key points. Your ’casual words’ are the answers I ultimately need. It sounds sudden, but I’m serious—I never joke on the road of pursuing knowledge and truth."

Gawain hadn’t expected Rebecca’s attitude to suddenly become so serious, he was a bit stunned, but after looking at her for a moment, he suddenly relaxed.

"I think I understand what you mean," he said with a smile, let out a long breath, "At the moment when the name ’Rebecca’ returns to the mortal world, you might indeed need a sufficiently substantial ’companion’. All right, I agree with your view."

"Thank you very much, my friend," Rebecca said with a gentle laugh.

"It’s time to leave," Gawain nodded softly, glancing at the time projected above a nearby ancient magical device. He spoke to Rebecca and Amon, "I still have to gather allies to discuss how to deal with dangers in the wasteland—I’ll visit you next time when I have the chance."

"Feel free," Rebecca nodded with a solemn attitude, "Now I no longer have the ability to descend blessings, but I still wish you all well—and I will do as much as I can in places where I can make an impact."

Beside them, the silent Amon also stood up and turned his head in their direction, the pink-white flowers entwined around his antlers lightly swayed. He bent his head and spoke gently: "Want to take some cucumbers or eggplants? I just sprouted them, they’re fresh..."

Gawain: "...?"

After a moment, Gawain and Amber left with several entourage members—taking a huge pile of fruits and vegetables as they went.

Under the golden oak tree, Amon tilted his head and gazed far toward the defied Fortress. At the end of the path surrounded by nursery beds, a "courtyard wall" made of wooden fences and shrubs blocked the chaotic darkness beyond the court. Within the courtyard wall, this place that had always been bleak and oppressive now had a thriving vitality.

"They moved quite fast," Amon couldn’t help but shake his head, "I actually planned to properly introduce them to the garden and vegetable patch I just cultivated."

"Not everyone has as much free time as you," formulas, self-writing texts, and diagrams were once again surrounding Emilmira, who was next to him. She glanced at the Holy Giant Stag, with a hint of helplessness in her tone, "I’ve been wondering what you would do after gaining your freedom, and it turns out you really do nothing but play cards and grow plants every day?"

"No, I’m also growing vegetables," Amon earnestly corrected Emilmira. He didn’t seem to catch the teasing in her tone, or perhaps tending to these plants was genuinely the most important and legitimate endeavor in his eyes. After correcting her, he couldn’t help but look at his ’roommate’ a couple more times, speaking with a somewhat complex tone, "Your name truly is going to return to the eyes of the world."

"Yeah... I wonder what reaction the scholars and mages will have when they suddenly discover that part of the cutting-edge technology research is signed by ’Emilmira’," the former Goddess of Magic spoke with a sense of poignancy, "And those with access to the theocracy Authority Council’s confidential materials... they probably wouldn’t guess that I’m busy with these things in my spare time."

"I don’t know about the latter, as for the former... ordinary people will just consider it a peculiar name," Amon said casually, "Without any hints, how would ordinary people link a name appearing on technical journals to the former goddess?"

"That’s true, it’s just a name," Emilmira smiled while shaking her head, and then suddenly gave Amon an unusual look, "Wait, are you jealous? Jealous that my name can return to the mortal world?"

"Why would I envy that," Amon snorted disdainfully, seemingly finding Emilmira’s thought juvenile, "It’s merely regaining one’s name in front of the world, shedding the rigid association between true name and faith, rediscovering one’s place in the mortal world, that’s all. I still have an entire garden to tend to, unlike you with your constant writing and calculating."

"So you are jealous, jealous that your fur isn’t as shiny anymore."

"Say whatever you like, in any case, I need to continue... wait, where’s the flower seed I just cultivated? Did you sit on it?"

"Huh? I didn’t!"

"I don’t believe it, get up!"

...

Early the next morning, Aunt Heidi, having finally had a good rest and regained her spirits, walked into the dining room, looking dazed at the heap of vegetables on the dining table before her.

"Are these all... local specialties brought from the defied Court?" The Empire’s Great Steward rubbed her eyes, suddenly doubting whether she had overslept, causing today’s early morning scene to feel a bit off, "The former ’God of Nature’ is now devoted to... this?"

"He’s started a greening project in the courtyard—honestly, I was quite surprised too," Gawain said with some helplessness, "But that’s not a bad thing. Amon is finding a new ’way of living’, and the more humanistic his actions become, the more it indicates that his divine nature is dissipating thoroughly, reassuringly. And come to think of it... these things he’s grown are actually quite good."

Beside him, Rebecca poked a piece of lettuce with a fork and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing with a face full of concern, "But I really want to eat meat..."

Aunt Heidi immediately glared at the Empire’s Steel Bead, "Don’t talk with food in your mouth!"

"Schedule a direct conversation with Typhon and Silver for me this afternoon," Gawain looked at Aunt Heidi and said, "Tell them it’s urgent, they must make time."

Upon hearing Gawain’s words, Aunt Heidi’s attention immediately shifted away from Rebecca, and her expression became serious: "Is it... the threat from the wasteland?"

"The threat from the wasteland, the threat from sentinel towers," Gawain slowly nodded, "I fear we now have little time to prepare slowly. I hope to push as much force as possible to the great walls as soon as possible... I have a bad feeling."

Aunt Heidi promptly bowed her head: "Yes, I will arrange it immediately."

Gawain nodded, then looked across at Rebecca, who was sitting opposite him, stuffing herself with vegetable salad.

Rebecca keenly noticed the gaze of her ancestor, suddenly tensing to the point of nearly choking. She hastily swallowed the food in her mouth before raising her head to look at Gawain with a bewildered expression.

—Already prepared to be scolded, though she didn’t know why she’d be scolded, but it couldn’t hurt to be prepared.

Gawain had no intention of reprimanding Rebecca; he merely had a question to ask: "How is Project 115 going?"

Rebecca immediately breathed a sigh of relief, thought briefly, and then replied: "The main assembly and main subsystems are pretty much complete, but the scale of the thing is vast, the central system still needs some adjustment time, mainly the servo wetware array. They’re still getting used to their ’bodies’, and the newly installed weapons systems are also..."

"Can it fly?" Gawain interrupted Rebecca, not waiting for her to finish, his expression extremely serious.

"Uh... if it’s deployed now, it might not be ready yet," Rebecca said a bit nervously but truthfully, "I spend more than half my week on Project 115, but some system adjustments and adaptations can’t be accelerated just by overtime, subsystem testing and neural node integration have fixed working hours."

"...Get it flying as soon as possible," Gawain said with earnest seriousness, "Even if Project 115 doesn’t make it, make sure those general aerial platforms fly soon—we’ll likely need them soon."

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