25. Deadline (Forty-seven)

Science or magic, as a technological system, both are rooted in the most basic empirical rules. Through the tedious process of long-term accumulation, theoretical verification, experimental comparison, practical examination, data collection... and so on, a theory could move from conception into reality. This process was unavoidable and irreversible; technological progress had always been like this.

Even if you were a once-in-an-epoch genius, you couldn't escape this ironclad rule.

As a rare talent, Luna Eustia was an outstanding theorist, with many original and visionary insights into experimental methods. Yet she couldn't break free from the shackles of this ironclad rule, and due to the theoretical and equipment environment limitations of her time, the experimental methods she adopted not only lacked forward-thinking but even seemed somewhat baffling today.