I Think That's Pretty Scientific

Chapter 9: 009: Farewell, Beloved Dream…

It was just beginning to get light out, but quite a few people in Chinatown were already up—some setting up stalls, others exercising. When they saw Kraft sprinting down the street, they all looked surprised. “Hey! Isn’t that the Martin family’s kid? You’re up this early today?” The elderly men and women gathered for their morning exercises all greeted Kraft one after another. Kraft stopped in his tracks, politely returned their greetings, and then replied, “I just had a sudden burst of inspiration—I’m heading to the lab to run some experiments.” “I knew all along you’d go places, kid!” One elderly gentleman patted Kraft on the shoulder, grinning widely to reveal a gap in his teeth as he praised him, then turned to his old friends and began boasting. “What did I tell you back then? That kid Kraft looked like a smart one right from the start, but you guys wouldn’t believe me!” “Pfft! Old Zhang, have you no shame? It was Little Li who fixed your radio back then, and you only said that polite thing because you didn’t want to pay him—I know exactly what kind of person you are, you old cheapskate!” “Exactly, exactly! Old Zhang, what are you trying to pull? And I remember—in the end, you old rascal really didn’t pay a dime!” The group of old men showed Old Zhang no mercy, all jumping in to take him down. Naturally, Old Zhang wasn’t about to let it go; he dropped Kraft and, full of bravado, launched into a heated verbal battle with the crowd. “Don’t mind that bunch of silly old men,” said an elderly woman holding a big red fan as she pulled Kraft over to her side. “Kid, you haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? Here, this is some rice cake Grandma made herself. Take it to tide you over.” “Rice cake alone might be a bit dry—I’ve got a bottle of milk here.” Another elderly woman walked over and handed him a bottle of milk, while several other elderly ladies also contributed the food they had brought with them. “Thank you, ladies.” Kraft didn’t stand on ceremony; he accepted the food, packed it all into a bag, and waved goodbye to the grandmothers. “I’m in a hurry to get to the lab, so I’ll be heading out now.” “What a good kid. I wish my grandson were even half as outstanding as he is.” “That’s right. I heard this kid has made quite a bit of money with his inventions—even the TV station went to his school to do a report.” “He’s handsome, too—so well-mannered. What’s that word again? Scholarly! Yes, just like the great scholars of old. No way—I can’t let a fine young man like that slip away. I’ll have to talk to Martin sometime and see if we can become in-laws.” “You’re full of it, you old hag! I think your chubby granddaughter would be a better match for that Liao kid. Kraft is going to be my son-in-law!” Following the old men, the old ladies also started arguing over Kraft. Meanwhile, Kraft—who had long since left—had no idea he’d somehow ended up with several fiancées out of the blue. He had already arrived at his private workshop, carrying the food he’d brought with him. But Kraft wasn’t in the mood for breakfast right now. He casually set the food aside on a nearby table, dug a tape recorder out of the pile of materials, and began taking it apart. Since he didn’t have a bow tie on hand, Kraft simply shaped the sound simulator into a megaphone. Once that was done, he turned on the computer on the table and, recalling the code Dr. Agasa had written in his dream, typed it out word for word. Once everything was ready, Kraft followed Dr. Agasa’s example by opening a video, recording a voice sample from it, and then holding the little megaphone to his mouth. “Hey, hey, how are you? My name is Kraft Lee… Holy crap! This is actually real!” Hearing his own altered voice—which sounded exactly like the audio in the video—Kraft was completely stunned. “This isn’t scientific!” Running his fingers deep into his hair, Kraft’s mind was in a state of confusion. Looking back now, those strength-enhancing shoes seemed pretty unusual too. Just by using electrical currents to stimulate his muscles, he could fling a burly guy weighing over a hundred—nearly two hundred—pounds several meters away with just one hand, and without a single side effect. That seemed way too exaggerated, but since Kraft didn’t know much about bioengineering, he hadn’t noticed it before. “So, does Dr. Agasa’s world actually have some kind of mysterious property too?” After pondering for quite a while, Kraft could only come up with this theory. He had, in fact, dreamed of other technological worlds imbued with similar special powers before, but in those worlds, the special powers were quite obvious. Dr. Agasa’s, however, was hidden so deeply that he had always assumed it was an ordinary world just like this one. “So, does that mean I could actually master those mysterious powers too?” At this thought, Kraft grew excited again. He’d long coveted the mystical arts—such as Taoist spells and magic—that appeared in his dreams, but since he knew nothing about cultivating immortality or magic, he’d always treated them as nothing more than scenes from a movie. But now things were different. Since Kraft could replicate Dr. Agasa’s神奇 powers, didn’t that mean he could also learn the techniques for flying through the air and teleporting that he’d seen in his dreams? Although Kraft had tried those mysterious techniques before—and failed every time—perhaps the timing just hadn’t been right? Just as his dreams were constantly evolving, maybe now he could actually master these magical powers. Kraft couldn’t wait to dig out a mechanical bird he’d made earlier. Recalling the runes and incantations used by the Mohists to activate their mechanisms, he picked up a carving knife and carefully engraved the runes onto it. Then, muttering to himself, he said, “Silence breeds thought; speech imparts wisdom; action accomplishes deeds… Ha!” Imitating the movements of the Moist disciples in his dream, Kraft let out a loud shout and pointed his finger at the mechanical bird on the table. The mechanical bird remained motionless; none of the sound and light effects from the dream appeared. “Why did it fail!” Kraft tried a few more times, unwilling to accept defeat, but unfortunately, neither the mechanical bird he’d made before nor the new mechanical dog he’d just crafted showed any reaction. “Damn it! Did I get it wrong? Or is it that the land of the United States simply doesn’t support Moist mechanical arts?” Refusing to give up so easily, Kraft shifted his approach and began experimenting with magic. He also speculated that perhaps he hadn’t yet mastered this method, which required the use of mystical power to imbue the mechanism; he needed something like Dr. Agasa’s inventions—something that could be produced as a finished product right away. Kraft thought it over. In the magical system, the only option that seemed to fit the bill was potion-making. Although most labs had substitute tools, when it came to such esoteric matters, it was best to stick as closely as possible to the original tools from his dreams. Besides, he didn’t have any of the ingredients for potion-making here, so he’d have to go out and buy them all over again. There was no point in panicking now; he’d better fill his stomach first. Kraft rubbed his rumbling stomach and finally calmed down. After all that fuss, it was almost noon—he hadn’t just skipped breakfast, but also missed his morning classes. While pulling out the food the old ladies had given him earlier, Kraft made a call to Fat Liao. “Hey, David, it’s me.” Kraft mumbled with his mouth full of rice cake. “I lost track of time doing my experiment and only just realized I had class today. But I haven’t finished the experiment yet, so I won’t be going this afternoon. Could you ask the professor to excuse me?” Even without the earlier incident involving Tony Stark, Kraft didn’t need to worry too much about school rules simply because of Board Member Martin Lee’s status. However, he wasn’t the type to be ungrateful, so he still called Fat Liao to let him know. After hanging up, Kraft quickly polished off his food and then rushed out to buy the tools and ingredients needed to brew potions. The tools for brewing potions weren’t particularly complicated, but many of the ingredients required for most potions were magical creature parts that Kraft had never even heard of. He spent quite a while sifting through options before finally finding a potion for which he could gather all the ingredients right here on Earth. Kraft scoured the entire Chinatown and even made a stop at a specialty reptile pet store before he managed to gather all the necessary materials. “Dried toad, lizard tail, ink cap mushroom…” Kraft added the ingredients one by one, in order, into an antique-looking crucible. Crucibles are an indispensable part of many chemistry experiments, so Kraft had no shortage of them. However, the crucibles used in modern science differed significantly from those in the medieval magical world. Just to be on the safe side, Kraft sought out a similar one—which he eventually unearthed at an antique shop owned by Martin. Following the potion-making steps from his dream, Kraft stirred the mixture while muttering incantations just like the witch had done. After more than an hour, he finally finished brewing the potion known as the “Smooth Potion.” Pouring the potion into a prepared beaker, Kraft removed the mask from his face and fell deep in thought. He’d brewed the potion on a whim, so now the question was… Who should he give this to? Kraft brought his nose close to the rim of the beaker and took a gentle sniff… “Ugh…” The pungent smell that shot straight to the top of his head nearly made him throw up everything he’d eaten for lunch. “Something’s off! The smooth potion in my dream didn’t smell like this…” In Kraft’s dream, the smooth potion was something the witch used to beautify her skin. After brewing it, she couldn’t wait to drink it. At the time, out of curiosity, Kraft had dipped his finger in the leftover potion and tasted it. Although the flavor was a bit odd, it certainly didn’t give off the putrid stench of the one in front of him now. “Looks like it’s another failure…” After spending half the day psyching himself up, Kraft still didn’t have the courage to try the eerie liquid in front of him, so he finally poured it into the waste disposal bin. “What a waste of excitement…” Aside from the potion, Kraft stubbornly tested other wondrous creations from his dreams, but the results were still less than ideal. Exhausted, he collapsed onto the lab floor, sighing helplessly. “So are Dr. Agasa’s inventions really just products of pure science?” If creations born of mysterious powers cannot be replicated, then that means the Power-Boosting Shoes and the Bowtie Sound Generator don’t contain any such mysterious powers. “Is it because the laws of physics differ between worlds or something like that? Then why was I able to replicate them?” Although mastering this strange power was a good thing, Kraft was still curious about the specific reason behind this phenomenon. He really wanted to find someone to test whether he was the only one capable of creating these “unscientific” scientific creations, but doing so would likely expose his uniqueness. Moreover, Kraft had no intention of spreading these rather magical gadgets around, so in the end, he decided to give up on pursuing the matter further. Zhongyuan finally learned to hold back when beating me up… QAQ