Yama Rising

All of the scientists faltered slightly upon hearing this, having completely failed to anticipate this turn of events.

They had never heard of the Prometheus plan. Weren't they supposed to be discussing the Cathayan Underworld's next press conference?

All of the scientists exchanged puzzled glances while Archimedes smiled and prompted, "Why don't you all take a look first?"

Röntgen picked up the scroll in front of him with a skeptical expression, but after opening it and taking a look, he immediately raised his head as if he had been pricked by a needle to stare at the two death gods with incredulity in his eyes.

He wasn't the only one, all of the scientists were astonished by what they had seen, and it clearly showed in their expressions.

The title on the scroll was like a nuclear bomb that had been set off in their hearts, and they were stunned beyond belief!

"The Prometheus plan involves the three pillars dedicating all of their research and development power into creating a brand new energy resource? Have you gone insane?" Louis de Broglie closed the scroll with a snap as he said in a trembling voice, "How much resources would that require? How many cities would have to become designated experimentation sites? We can't afford the investment required to complete such a monumental project! On top of that, the Cathayan Underworld is already well ahead of us! Don't forget that they've already unveiled a prototype unit!"

"But which one of you has actually seen the prototype unit up close?" Archimedes stood up with a serious expression as he said in a thunderous voice, "At the time, all of you were kept several dozen meters away, how can you be sure that was a genuine prototype unit? If it was, then we are the only people who should have the right to have examined it up close! If we could've confirmed the authenticity of the prototype unit, then the entire world would've been convinced, and all of those ancient clans and international corporations would've invested everything they had into this project! Money, resources, no matter what's required, all the Cathayan Underworld would have to do is ask, and it would be theirs!"

He stood up as he looked around at everyone, and his voice was making the entire room tremble. "But they didn't do that. Why did they not do that? Under normal circumstances, there's no way that anyone would pass up such a fantastic opportunity! However, what did they do? They went as far as to deploy their Yin soldiers to keep all of you at bay! After that, they had gone completely silent for eight months, refusing to hold any academic press conferences and turning down all of the invitations issued to them by the World Energy Resource Research Organization! This is their duty, yet they've continued to remain silent even in the face of the threat of major sanctions! Do you still believe even now that they're actually ahead of us in the race of creating a new energy resource? How foolish can you be?!"

His voice was almost deafening to all of the scientists present, and after taking a deep breath, he lowered his voice as he urged, "Open your eyes and take a good, hard look at reality, everyone! Deception is impossible in science, but the underworld is rife with deception! Don't be frightened by the title of the Cathayan Underworld's King Yanluo! Just because he's in such a lofty position doesn't mean that he can't be a scam artist! This is a very commonly used political strategy. They have no interest in actually developing the new energy resource, this is all just a ruse for them to secure more political power! Think about it, everyone! Are you going to be fooled by him for the rest of your lives?"

No one said anything in response.

Indeed, there were benefits to the Cathayan Underworld's complete isolation from the rest of the world, but there were drawbacks as well, one of which was that they couldn't monitor the situation unfolding in the rest of the world. As such, they didn't know whether their allies and enemies were angry or pleased.

"Then what if the new energy resource really does exist?" Joseph Thomson asked. "Doesn't that mean all of our investments will be in vain?"

Archimedes pointed directly at Joseph as he said, "That's why I'm asking you to take a good look at the documents I've provided. If you do, you'll see that there's a clause that states that the three pillars will cover all expenses related to the research and development of the new energy resource. You don't need to pay a single cent, all you have to do is contribute your expertise, and your names will go down in history!"

Everyone fell silent yet again.

After a long while, Faraday finally said with a serious expression, "Even if we don't need to pay for any expenses, wouldn't this pit us directly against the Cathayan Underworld?"

"This is fair competition, nothing more, nothing less," Aristotle said in a calm manner. "In the underworld, the Argosian Underworld has always excelled above everyone else in research and development, while the Cathayan Underworld excels in military might. I'm confident that the Cathayan Underworld's research and development capacity wouldn't allow them to create a new energy resource. Even if they have a head start of two or three years, we can still catch up!"

Faraday's brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "Have you thought about what would happen if the Cathayan Underworld is telling the truth? What if they really are extremely close to completing the new energy resource? If that's the case, our defeat would be sealed, and we would become the laughing stock of the entire world! Our reputations would be tarnished for the next few centuries, if not longer!"

Aristotle's eyelids twitched slightly, but he replied in a resolute voice, "That's why we're putting down our names as the main architects. If the project fails, then your names won't be included!"

All of the scientists looked up to stare at the two death gods with incredulity in their eyes upon hearing this.

They were putting their reputations on the line here!

This declaration essentially meant that all of the three pillars were convinced that the Cathayan Underworld was telling a massive lie!

In reality, this wasn't such a difficult decision to understand. The first time the new energy resource had been proposed was during the conference for the re-signing of the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts. However, no content related to the new energy resource was presented, but everyone simply thought that more information would be released in the subsequent press conference. After all, surely the Great Revelation Debate would allow everyone to examine the authenticity of the Cathayan Underworld's claims.

Everyone was convinced that there was no way one of the four pillars would lie about something like this.

However, the Great Revelation Debate had been held under extremely inexplicable circumstances. No concrete evidence was provided aside from the final prototype, but no one had been allowed to get close to it, so it was impossible to verify its authenticity! All they could tell was that it looked real to the naked eye, but would it stand up to scrutiny from scientific apparatus?

The final straw was the Cathayan Underworld's silence, which had already lasted eight months. This was already enough for the three pillars to arrive at its decision!

If it were to be said that the Cathayan Underworld was taking a gamble, then the risk was simply too significant. Essentially, they were putting the future prosperity of their nation for the next 1,000 years on the line.

Thus, they speculated that the Cathayan Underworld's new energy resource wasn't a complete ruse. Perhaps they discovered some leads that could put them on the path to creating a new energy resource, but they definitely didn't have enough to be on the brink of completing the new energy resource as they proclaimed.

The final deciding factor was the Great Revelation Debate.

Under the immense pressure exerted upon them, the Cathayan Underworld had been forced to reveal some things, such as voidsilver.

As a result of this, the price of voidsilver on the international market had spiked up by over twofold! The three pillars believed that this was very likely to be the only thing that the Cathayan Underworld had discovered thus far, and that wasn't a gap that couldn't be breached!

Archimedes gave everyone some time to think before asking, "Is there anyone who's still unconvinced?"

None of the scientists immediately replied. Only after a long while had passed did someone ask, "What percentage chance do the three pillars think that the Cathayan Underworld's new energy resource is fake?"

They're on the hook!

Archimedes and Aristotle exchanged a glance and an undetectable nod.

Truth be told, this was also just an unproven theory. The fact that the Cathayan Underworld had been able to bring up voidsilver was an indication that they really were working toward the development of a new energy resource, and they were ahead of the rest of the world, but this gap was most likely not very big!

They needed more help! With all of the top scientists in the world on their side, they would be able to bridge this gap!

"Over 70%," Aristotle replied. "Nothing is 100% certain in this world, but think back to what the Cathayn Underworld has done since it declared the existence of this new energy resource. Do they really deserve your trust? There's no telling who's actually going to discover the new energy resource first! The Cathayan Underworld isn't guaranteed to go down in history as the birth nation of the new energy resource!"

All of the scientists fell silent as they exchanged glances with one another.

Indeed, all of them wanted to be the ones to create history, this was their lifelong pursuit!

They had already achieved this goal back in the mortal realm, but they certainly wouldn't mind doing it again in the underworld as well!

However, everyone was still quite cautious, and in the end, all of the scientists directed their attention toward Faraday, who stood with a wry smile as he said, "I just had a look at the document. The three pillars are planning to establish the Heavenly Fire Research Station in Istanbul, and all of the world's scientists are welcome to join the project. It really is a very alluring prospect. However, I think we should still wait."

"That's a wise decision. We'll be looking forward to hearing your final choice," Archimedes said with a smile.

Faraday pursed his lips with a grim expression, making the wrinkles around his mouth appear extremely deep and pronounced, and only after several minutes of deliberation did he decide, "We'll wait until the end of January. Due to the emergence of the new energy resource, the Cathayan Underworld has its own designated venue and reporting schedule during the energy resource conference to be held in Dubai at the end of January. If they can't bring out anything during that conference, then I, for one, would be willing to sign this agreement!"

This was not a minor conference, and very few parties had the honor of being allocated a dedicated venue and reporting time slot during the conference.

All of those parties were either nations that produced an abundance of ore or the four pillars. Aside from them, no other nations were granted this opportunity.

"There's still over a month left until the conference, and that will give us some time to think as well."

Archimedes rose to his feet as he nodded and said, "Of course, if you have any questions, you can contact me directly. I will be traveling to Dubai at the beginning of January, and I hope to see everyone there."

Before anyone had a chance to respond, he had already vanished on the spot.

By the time they reappeared, he and Aristotle were standing in front of a resplendent door.

"Do you think they'll agree?" Aristotle asked.

Archimedes replied with an indifferent expression, "The choice isn't ours to make, it depends on whether the Cathayan Underworld will be able to present anything substantial during the upcoming conference. If they can't, they won't even have to try and persuade the scientists any further."

A cold smile appeared on his face as he continued, "After all, the patience of the world is limited. At the same time, I trust in the judgment of our panel of advisors. I'm confident that the Cathayan Underworld is only trying to gain political power and do not have the corresponding research outcomes to back up their claims! I trust in my own eyes!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he opened the door before making his way into the room beyond with a smile on his face and his arms spread wide open in a welcoming gesture. "We meet again, my dear friends. Ah, what a pity, only eight of the 10 top consortiums have sent their representatives, it looks like the remaining two are still standing on the Cathayan Underworld's side. No matter."

As soon as Archimedes made his way into the room, a hint of surprise appeared on his face, following which his smile became even more genuine. "And we have some unexpected guests! Welcome, Mr. Franklin of the Euler's Gem No. 1 Energy Resource Research and Mr. Volta of the Sirian International Underworlds Research Center!"