Chapter 47

In the next few days, aside from repairing the truck, Shen Cong repeatedly went to Yinpingzhen to search through the ruins as well as watch the scavengers from a distance. Zhang Youhai and his seven-men party persisted in scavenging every day, as if they really wanted to come into contact with Shen Cong. But he never showed up. He planned to wait a little longer, at the very least until he started having a clue as to how he should modify Titan and the Drastically Modified Battle Armor.

The repairs on the truck and scavenging was not all that he did though. He also spent a great amount of time on researching Activity cores. After sensing the frequency and continuity in Activity radiation, he thought of many plans in hopes to develop bonemetal weapons… He might not like the term “bonemetal”, but he did not intend to be unconventional. He chose to follow the others.

He insisted that Activity cores provided a more vivid description compared to bonemetal, but he would follow others and just call all the weapons created from them as bonemetal weapons.

It was just a name, so it would be better if he did not let himself be bothered by it.

Shen Cong needed to figure out how to develop Activity cores; however, he already had an idea. It was, thus, time for him to come up with a plan to prove that his ideas were plausible.

‘Since my Activity frequency could synchronize with the ant eggs and even interfere with Titan’s so that it could sync with the brachyponera ants’ frequency, this means that Activity frequencies can be changed. If I manually adjust two Activity cores until they reach the same frequency, will they form a connection?

‘Activity cores are showing signs of turning into metal, and since metal can become one through alloying, can I do the same with Activity cores?’

Shen Cong brought out two maxillae from the brachyponera worker ants and started going about merging them together.

The Activity radiation frequency from the brachyponera ants was the same. The queen ant, soldier ants, and worker ants all shared the same frequency. This was perhaps the foundation behind how the creatures could exist in harmony. After Titan’s frequency synced with theirs, he immediately became one of them. Now, Shen Cong tried to make the two Activity cores fuse.

If he wanted to merge them together, he needed help from Titan, because Titan had Alloying and Extension.

First, he would use Alloying on the two Activity cores and turn them into Titan’s parts.

Second, he would use Extension on the two Activity cores and merge them into one Activity core.

Shen Cong focused and used his mind to guide Titan.

The test started.

He finished Alloying really quickly and incredibly smoothly. There was basically nothing in the world that Titan could not perform Alloying on. It was just that the speed was different.

But Shen Cong ran into a huge obstacle when it came to Extension.

No matter how he guided Titan’s Activity, he could not make the two Activity cores merge into one through Extension. Titan might have used Alloying on the two Activity cores, but the Activity radiation that spread out from them was still different. It was as if Titan had eaten something that it could not digest.

The food was in its stomach, but it was still not part of its body.

Hence, Shen Cong adjusted Titan’s Activity in an attempt to use Extension on the two Activity cores, and immediately, the Activity cores started rejecting each other once more.

He could not continue with the extension.

After gaining no results despite trying a few times, Shen Cong came to a conclusion.

‘This method isn’t correct.’

He held the two Activity cores in his hand and frowned while he thought. The two’s frequencies were the same, and their continuity was basically the same as well, so why were they rejecting each other so much?

He also thought about when Titan had devoured the motorcycle. Its Activity had been like a huge supplement, and the moment Titan took a bite of it, a comfortable wave swept through its entire body.

But the Activity cores were like dog bones. It could not digest them.

‘Could it be that Titan and the motorcycle’s Activity is livelier? Ah, that’s right. Titan’s Activity has increased and decreased a few times. It doesn’t feel like it’s fixed. The Activity in evolved beasts is fixed and won’t change even after they die, regardless of whether it’s their carcass or their Activity core.

‘If I were to compare them, I would say that Titan’s Activity is a liquid, while the evolved beasts’ Activity is a solid.’

This was a fresh point of view, but Shen Cong felt that it fit what was happening in reality a little. Titan was like liquid that could accommodate everything. It could easily perform Alloying with other things, while Activity cores were like solids, which was why they could not go through Alloying easily.

Next, he should go along this train of thought and think about how he should use Activity cores.

If Activity cores were solids, then aside from using refinement skills from the industrial fields to merge the two Activity cores together, it would be very difficult for Shen Cong to merge them into one. The distance between the particles that form a solid was very small, and if he were to compress them, they would show great rejection.

Merging Activity cores together might actually be rather difficult.

‘I’ll need to change my train of thought.

‘I can’t just fall into a set way of thinking. Activity cores might be showing signs of changing to metal, but they are definitely not normal metal. I might be able to use Activity radiation.’

But Shen Cong could not think of a good concept for the time being. He went to search for information, and he found physics knowledge regarding radiation, frequency, and wavelengths. He wanted to use this knowledge and make cross references in search for inspiration.

Suddenly, a chapter in a book regarding general physics knowledge caught Shen Cong’s attention. It was about resonance.

The definition for resonance was that it was a phenomenon that occurred when a physical system oscillated at a higher amplitude than other frequencies when it was set under a specific frequency. During the beginning of the 19th century, when Napoleon led his soldiers over the bridge, their orderly footsteps created a resonance, and it made the bridge collapse. There was also news reporting how resonance had managed to shatter glasses during normal, daily life.

One loud shout could even cause an avalanche.

‘Then, can Activity reach resonance?’

Shen Cong once more had to rely on Titan to verify his thought. The only frequency with which he could interfere was the Activity radiation frequency from Titan.

Shen Cong adjusted its frequency multiple times in search for one that could make the two Activity cores resonate with it.

But he did not find it. This caused Shen Cong to wonder for a moment whether Activity radiations could produce resonance.

He wanted to give up, but he changed his train of thought once more. Resonance was a term used rather frequently in the world of physics. It meant that resonance was a very normal and common phenomenon. Microwaves used resonance, particle accelerators utilized resonance, radio communication also employed resonance. If nothing went wrong, Activity radiation should also be able to make use of resonance.

Shen Cong had always been a stubborn person who easily stuck to one single track of thought. Hence, for the next few hours, he just thought about how he could make Activity radiation produce resonance.

He kept thinking until midnight, but he did not feel tired.

‘Just what is preventing me from making Titan create resonance? Could it be that the frequency I use to interfere with its Activity is not high enough? How can I increase the speed of my frequency?’

He could not figure it out.

With this puzzle in mind, Shen Cong washed up and went to sleep.

*****

On the 8th of August, 2022, it was sunny, and there were no clouds in long stretches of the sky. The wind that blew over was a grade 3 northern wind.

Shen Cong was still troubled by the question of resonance. Over the course of the day, Titan had only gone up to Level 0.557, because there were no more Activity-laced nectarines. It had gone up by 0.002, while Shen Cong remained at Level 0.752.

Relying on Titan to absorb the wandering Activity in the air on its own to quickly reach Level 1 was not a practical idea.

Hence, Shen Cong wished to figure out more things regarding Activity cores.

Another day passed, but he still did not figure out anything about resonance.

Shen Cong felt a little uneasy, and he decided to do something drastic. He had been trying his best to make sure that Titan’s frequency remained within a range that he could control. Now, he decided to increase the speed of Titan’s frequency while directing its Activity at the two Activity cores.

With that thought in mind, Shen Cong immediately set out to turn his ideas into reality. He moved away some items and cleared out a cubicle so that he could conduct his experiment.

The Activity cores which had gone through Alloying were embedded into the wall of the truck.

Shen Cong stood at the entrance of the cubicle and focused his mind. His mind started interfering with the Activity radiation frequency from Titan. He no longer set any limits to his interference and just kept trying to figure out how he could make Titan’s frequency increase in its speed of oscillation.

BUZZZZZZZ!

Shen Cong thought he heard the rhythmic vibrations after the Activity radiation frequency increased its oscillation speed. Gradually, he sensed that Titan’s Activity began to leave his control. His hand trembled, and he immediately stopped. He lost control over Titan’s frequency, and after it buzzed for a moment, it gradually returned to its original state.

“Whew…”

It was… a little exciting. Shen Cong calmed down and decided to add another layer of defense for himself. He put on his Drastically Modified Battle Armor.

“Again!”