Chapter 990: Centenary Underworld Academic Convention (1)

Nipponese Underworld, Shikoku.

Shikoku referred to the easternmost cluster of Nipponese Islands. The Nipponese Underworld was still reeling from the international conference that had been held in Nara one and a half months ago, but it had no choice but to open the best hotel it had, the Shikoku Underworld Hotel, to accommodate the foreign emissaries that still hadn't left the country.

Inside an elegant Nipponese-style courtyard, an elderly Caucasian man wearing a white robe was looking up at the sky in an absentminded manner. His appearance was quite ordinary, and he didn't even seem to be a Yin spirit. He was seated on a wooden chair, and beside him were seated six other men in the same attire.

If there were any other Yin spirits present, they would definitely be astonished by the fact that all seven members of the Argosian Underworld's round table had been gathered in this small courtyard!

The leader of the group was Death God Archimedes, and he was accompanied by Aristotle, Thales of Miletus, Pythagoras, Euclid, Diophantus, and Ptolemy! If this lineup were present in any place in the world aside from the Cathayan Underworld and the Hindustani Underworld, it would be a formidable force to be reckoned with!

The courtyard was completely silent, and no one said anything as they held their teacups with contemplative expressions. Right at this moment, a Yin spirit wearing a kimono made his way into the courtyard. His face was of a snowy white color, presenting quite a stark contrast with his black lips, and he extended a respectful bow as he informed, "Esteemed underworld emissaries, I've received some news."

Archimedes immediately turned his gaze toward the servant upon hearing this, and the servant bowed even deeper as he continued, "An hour ago, several dozen messenger birds flew out of the Cathayan Underworld's Array of the Nine Gods, carrying these things with them..."

Before he had a chance to finish, his eyes abruptly widened as he cast his gaze forward with a stunned and horrified expression. In the next instant, his entire body shot back like an arrow, disappearing from the courtyard in the blink of an eye before he even had a chance to cry out.

A cold look appeared on Aristotle's face as he harrumphed, "Just cut straight to the point! I have no time to waste with incapable servants like this. It looks like the servants of the Nipponese Underworld are in need of some etiquette training."

After that, he raised his hand, and a scroll that had fallen onto the ground flew into his grasp. He unfurled the scroll to take a look, and after only a single glance, the netherfire in his eyes instantly erupted up to a meter in height.

Only after a full five seconds had passed did he hand the scroll over to Archimedes with a faint sigh of relief. "The Cathayan Underworld has agreed to our request. In 15 days, they'll be holding a press conference on the island of Jeju-do, and all of the international underworlds are invited to attend the occasion."

Archimedes quickly read through the contents of the scroll before setting it aside as he mused, "Why is the press conference being held at Jeju-do? Why not Formosa or any other coastal city in the Cathayan Underworld?"

Euclid's eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "It's common knowledge that the Cathayan Underworld's political transition wasn't as smooth as it could've been. We don't know the exact circumstances, but the more reluctant they are to open up their borders, the more it seems like they're hiding something."

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He then shrugged as he sighed, "But even then, so what? It's not like we can destroy the Cathayan Underworld. Jeju-do as the press conference location also makes some sense. The Daehan Underworld has always been a subsidiary nation to the Cathayan Underworld, so technically, it can be said that Jeju-do is within the Cathayan Underworld's territory. So long as it continues to exist, it will still be one of the four pillars, and all we can do is take advantage of this period of its feebleness to gain as much power as possible."

He accepted the scroll from Diophantus and took a glance at it before a cold smile appeared on his face. "So the main architects of the new energy resource project will be Zu Chongzhi and Lu Ban. During the several-thousand-year-long feudal era of Cathay, they've never put much focus on the development of heavy industries, and as a result, the nation has a pitiful number of renowned mathematicians and physicists. Zu Chongzhi and Lu Ban are already the best that they have to offer, but they're certainly not exceptional minds by any stretch of the imagination. I recall that they've studied in the Argosian Underworld at some point, right? Didn't you meet them at the time, Ptolemy?"

Ptolemy was a slightly chubby middle-aged man with a short blond beard, and he gave a slight nod in response. "I did."

A hint of pride then surfaced in his eyes as he said, "They wanted to join the round table, but I turned them down. Due to the abilities of King Yanluo's Seal, the Cathayan Underworld has improved in the field of Yin runes, but it's nothing remarkable. What right do they have to join the round table? They have no worthy knowledge that they can exchange with us, so why would I agree to their request?"

"Don't you think this is very strange?" Aristotle's eyes narrowed slightly as he mused, "There are countless brilliant minds in Cathay who have participated in the research and development of energy resources in the modern era. Zu Chongzhi and Lu Ban have only participated in the research and development of forbidden arts in the past, and it's already extremely shameless of them to still be clinging onto relevance off the back of contributions that they made hundreds of years ago."

He then turned to Archimedes as he continued, "So why is it that Yanluo Qin appointed them to be the main architects rather than any of the other modern talents who would be more suited to the job?"

Archimedes took a sip of tea as he said, "Don't underestimate Yanluo Qin. He may have only been inaugurated not long ago, but he's certainly very much capable of succeeding in his role. To answer your question, we can look back at the second-generation forbidden arts startup module that they unveiled during the conference for the re-signing of the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts."

This was a very embarrassing subject, so much so that none of the Abyssal Prefects present had dared to mention it.

Archimedes was one of the most brilliant mathematicians in world history, yet he had been so enthralled by the startup module that he had begun calculating and rambling to himself like a madman on the spot! He had suffered such a complete and utter loss of composure that Hypnos had to send him away right in front of all of the world's death gods, and that was surely an extremely humiliating memory, so it came as quite a surprise to everyone that he was mentioning the incident in such a calm and nonchalant manner.

Diophantus turned to Archimedes with a stunned expression and wanted to say something, but Archimedes held up a hand to stop him as he smiled and said, "There's a very good chance that the startup module was genuine, and I find no shame in kneeling down to knowledge."

After that, his smile faded as he put on a serious expression and continued, "The intentions of the Cathayan Underworld are very clear: they want to develop second-generation forbidden arts, and this is closely tied to the domestic situation within their borders. Everyone knows that the Cathayan Underworld has endured a rough political transition, but we don't know exactly how rough it was. However, it most likely had quite a significant negative impact on them. Otherwise, there's no way that the Cathayan Underworld would take such a massive risk to unveil the second-generation forbidden arts startup module during a conference for the re-signing of the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts."

Indeed, what the Cathayan Underworld had claimed at the time was that they had discovered the new energy resource during their research into the startup module.

However, mentioning something like this during the conference for the re-signing of the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts was nothing less than a slap in the face to the Coalition of Underworlds! None of the other nations were saying anything, but they were definitely displeased by this as well.

What exactly were their intentions in researching and developing second-generation forbidden arts? Did they want to recreate the tragedy that had befallen the Alkebulan Underworlds?

Pythagoras massaged his own temples as he said with a wry smile, "It was also because of this that following the conclusion of the last international conference, the Hindustani Underworld and the Aegyptian Underworld immediately announced that they were going to form research and development teams within the next half a year specifically to develop second-generation forbidden arts."

This was a butterfly effect that was leading to the brewing of a massive storm.

Archimedes nodded in response and didn't continue pursuing this subject. Instead, he changed to a different topic as he said, "At the time, we were all stunned by the Cathayan Underworld's announcement and missed the best opportunity. While it's true that the forbidden arts startup module could be genuine, that doesn't mean the same applies to the new energy resource! They've muddled up the concepts, yet we have no way to verify their claims. Even if we were to raise our suspicions, they could just say something like 'so and so Yin rune within the forbidden arts startup module has so and so function', and we won't know if they're bluffing or not. However, we have another opportunity now."

He stared at the scroll with a serious expression as he rose to his feet and continued, "Throughout the course of history, all new innovations and ideas must undergo trials by fire in which doubts and questions are raised against them! This isn't something malicious in nature. Instead, it's supposed to help the researchers, developers, and inventors better refine their ideas, bringing fresh perspectives to identify every single hole and flaw possible. As such, the Cathayan Underworld must answer our questions in regard to this project. Back when we developed the first forbidden art several centuries ago, we held a debate at Parthenon with several dozen of the world's leading scholars! Even now, I can't help but get goosebumps when I think back to that occasion! We declared that Yin runes and religions could be combined to give rise to brand new Yin runes, but no one believed us! However, we succeeded and presented the Yin rune wheel, and that formed the first-ever forbidden art! If the Cathayan Underworld wants all nations and consortiums all over the world to embrace this monumental invention of theirs, then the first thing they must do is win a debate against all of the scientists in the world! We are not the only mathematicians, physicists, and chemists in this world, all of the past Nobel prize winners will be traveling to the Cathayan Underworld for this press conference. They have no choice but to accept this debate that is to take place between the entire academic world! It has nothing to do with national agendas, and all past instances of these debates have been referred to as Great Revelation Debates! Success would earn them worldwide acknowledgment, while failure would severely impact the progress of their project. This is a challenge that their scholars must accept and can only accept!"

His cheeks were slightly flushed with excitement as he concluded, "They must prove themselves in front of the entire world."

Everyone nodded with serious expressions.

Fundamentally speaking, they were also scholars and academics, and they knew just how important Great Revelation Debates were.

It was a purely academic debate without any national agendas, and its sole purpose was to determine whether a piece of new innovation was viable.

"When we go to Jeju-do, we will no longer be representing the Argosian Underworld. Instead, we will only be scholars of the round table!"

………………………………………………

Meanwhile, in another elegant room, a Yin spirit wearing a white Arab robe was absentmindedly playing with an antiquated gold coin in his hand. Beside him sat the representative of the Sacred Treasure Consortium, Kana Fujii, and Izanami was also present, but seated in an inferior position to Kana Fujii's.

The door was silently opened, and a short elderly man strode in, followed by five men and women wearing white lab coats.

Their appearances weren't remarkable in any way, and their attire was also very simplistic, but as soon as they entered the room, the Yin spirit in the white Arab robe, Kana Fujii, and Izanami stood up in unison before extending slight bows. They then put on welcoming smiles as they greeted warmly, "Welcome to Shikoku, esteemed scholars!"

The white-robed Yin spirit maintained his slight bow as a gesture of respect and inferiority as he shook elderly man's hand, and he put on a genuine smile a he said, "This world needs you now more than ever."

Hideki Yukawa, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1949 for his prediction of the pi meson.

Shin'ichirō Tomonaga, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in the years of 1965 for his work in the development of quantum electrodynamics.

Reona Esaki, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973 for his work in electron tunneling in semiconductor materials.

Yoichiro Nambu, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2008 for the role he played in the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics.

All of Nippon's recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics were gathered in this room!

"You're far too kind, Mr. Khilok." Hideki Yukawa shook the man's hand as he said, "We are here purely for the pursuit of knowledge, and this is a duty that we cannot pass up."