Chapter 54

The workshop was filled with a metallic smell, a mix of burning and ozone. Limeng wiped the sweat from his forehead, his fingertips stained with black ash, while the discarded parts piled on the workbench before him resembled a small graveyard. His hand holding the tweezers was shockingly steady as he embedded a rice-grain-sized Electro crystal into the groove of the converter's core—this was the twenty-fourth attempt. "The PN junction principle... unilateral conduction of the elemental channel..." he muttered to himself, his fingertips tracing the redesigned energy-guiding runes. The moment the circuit connected, the core module emitted a steady hum, and the connected simple light bulb steadily lit up with a warm yellow glow, with no more flickering or exploding sparks. "It worked!" He leaned back in the creaking wooden chair, a hoarse laugh rolling from his throat. Sunlight streamed through the oiled-paper-covered window, illuminating the suspended dust motes in the air, as well as the bloodshot veins in his eyes. Lasting half a month, combining the logical architecture of repairing the Akasha Terminal, the mechanical linkage of windmill gear assemblies, and the energy guidance experience of Superconducting The Catch, this tiny lamp had finally pierced the darkness.