Chapter 2374: The Dilemma of the Negative Energy Research Institute

After the Negative Energy Downgrade, Xia Duo is currently not an Arcanist, whether in his Projection Avatar or his true body in the Main Plane, but he still possesses the basic literacy required of an Arcanist.

This is actually thanks to the education he received in his hometown before crossing over; if he were truly a Mage born and raised in the Main Plane, even if he had successfully advanced to Arcanist in the Main Plane, he might not necessarily be qualified here.

Although Xia Duo considers himself qualified, Dean Lisi might not necessarily think so, otherwise there would be no need for tonight's meeting, so Xia Duo very decisively proposed:

"Maruente is willing to accept Dean Lisi's test!"

"Very good, doing research requires this kind of unyielding spirit!"

The usually solemn and stern Lisi rarely revealed a hint of a smile, then he pointed to Gelinqi at the side and said to Xia Duo:

"You have served in the Army before and have even received an Excellent Service Medal, so you must be no stranger to Negative Energy; now their Negative Energy Research Institute has encountered a predicament.

"The problem mainly comes from two aspects: one is the public's general distrust of Negative Energy, and the other is the extremely chaotic nature inherent to Negative Energy itself.

"Based on these two points, I want you to take the Negative Energy Research Institute as the main body to come up with a plan to resolve the public's distrust of Negative Energy, and to design a verification experiment used to circumvent the chaotic nature of Negative Energy.

"For more details, you can ask Gelinqi; you can discuss and work on it together. As long as the final result satisfies me, then that counts as passing my test.

"It's not just your test, oh; there is also Gelinqi. If you don't pass, I will tell Archibu and have you come back to repeat a few years."

After speaking, Dean Lisi walked out of the Reception Room, leaving the space to Xia Duo and Gelinqi.

Once Dean Lisi left, Xia Duo's pressure greatly decreased, and he immediately asked: "What kind of predicament has the Negative Energy Research Institute actually encountered? Can you tell me in detail?"

"This should originally count as confidential, but since Dean Lisi mentioned it, I will tell you."

Gelinqi glanced in the direction of the door, then smiled and said: "Actually, the problem is very simple: in recent years, the Negative Energy Research Institute has not been able to produce any useful results, and coupled with the public's worry about Negative Energy pollution, there have recently been constant calls to cut the funding allocation for the Negative Energy Research Institute."

"Then didn't Dean Lisi just say that the Second Executive demands that Negative Energy be utilized properly?"

"That is true, but this matter must be viewed in two layers. On one hand, Negative Energy research itself will be developed, but on the other hand, doesn't the Second Executive's demand to utilize it properly show that we are not doing enough right now? The upcoming opportunities for Negative Energy development may not necessarily fall to the Negative Energy Research Institute."

"I see!"

Xia Duo suddenly understood. Although the Red Heart Alliance and the Chixin Tribe have a common, great goal internally, when it comes to the specific execution steps in between, it is not as if there are no disagreements at all.

Specifically regarding the Negative Energy Research Institute, although it is one of the few Negative Energy research institutions in the entire country and the entire Alliance, its sluggish development in recent years is truly something that can be criticized, and coupled with the public's misunderstanding, it might just be the beginning of its decline.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Duo asked again: "Then where is the bottleneck in the Negative Energy Research Institute's slow research? Dean Lisi just said it was related to the chaotic nature of Negative Energy; what exactly is going on?"

"Let's put it this way: everything we can research regarding Negative Energy has already been completed. What remains is related to the essence of Negative Energy, but at this step, even designing an experiment is very difficult. Specifically, no matter how many times any experiment is repeated, there will never be the same result, as if Magic did not exist."

"Every experiment has a completely different result?"

"Yes."

Gelinqi nodded helplessly, but still added one more sentence, "The experiments mentioned here refer to experiments verifying the essence of Negative Energy, not ordinary application experiments."

"I understand."

Xia Duo was thoughtful. Does the fact that experimental results are different every time already reflect the extremely chaotic essence of Negative Energy? After thinking, he asked again: "Is there any pattern in the large-sample statistical data?"

"No! If there were, we wouldn't have to be this troubled."

Gelinqi had a troubled look, but Xia Duo actually already had a bit of an idea. However, he was not prepared to say it so quickly, but instead changed the subject to talk about the public's misunderstanding.

In this regard, his current Projection Avatar, Maruente, also has a certain right to speak, because there are various types of offensive weapons in the Army that use Negative Energy; not only is their power immense, but they also leave behind destructive, hard-to-repair impacts on the environment.

Perhaps Negative Energy being misunderstood also has the "credit" of those weapons, but ultimately, the public's wisdom has already been opened, and they know that Negative Energy indeed has such and such harmfulness.

And the benefits obtained from researching and applying Negative Energy may not necessarily cover these existing harms, let alone the more harms produced by subsequent research.

Regarding the same matter, group decision-making tends to be more rational, but for an individual, it may not necessarily be possible to be rational throughout the whole process. In Xia Duo's hometown, there is also a saying similar to "the mob."

But the Red Heart Alliance is such a new era; it needs even more to explain the necessity of Negative Energy research to the public, rather than using simple policies of prevarication and deception to temporarily alleviate the public's differing opinions.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo told Gelinqi, "Negative Energy research is related to the origin of the Universe; we cannot stop researching it just because it might produce terrible consequences. What we researchers need to do is to turn harm into benefit, not forget the benefit upon seeing the harm.

"Regarding how to resolve the public's distrust of Negative Energy research, the first thing that needs to be clarified is that the public does not distrust the Negative Energy Research Institute, but is worried about the potential adverse effects of Negative Energy.

"Therefore, we need to fully demonstrate the standard procedures of the Negative Energy Research Institute, and indeed any other Negative Energy research institution, in the process of researching Negative Energy, and fully demonstrate the safety of the research to them.

"Show them our strong confidence in controlling Negative Energy and utilizing it properly."

After speaking, Xia Duo added another sentence, "Concealment and avoidance are the sources of distrust; this is what we most need to face squarely."

"Well said!"

Gelinqi could not help but clap in approval, "Now, a trend is starting to become popular throughout the institute of only talking about the benefits and not the harms, preparing to deceive the public. I think this trend is very dangerous!

"Perhaps some researchers have been away from the masses for too long. Although they are researchers closer to the truth, they cannot therefore develop an arrogant mentality, thinking that the masses are unable to understand the truth, and subsequently thinking that they do not need to explain it to the masses.

"In fact, the masses have enough comprehension to understand everything we are researching now. The wisdom of the masses is infinite; this is the teaching of the first-generation leader. To this day, some researchers may have truly forgotten it."

Speaking to the end, Gelinqi could not help but reveal his true feelings, which made Xia Duo also feel deeply moved.