After completing the production of the Golden Apple Essences, Sein could finally let out a breath of relief.

At last, he could return to his original plan and continue his various magic research projects.

Life in Magus World was calm, peaceful, unhurried, and relaxed.

After enduring the smoke and flames of the frontlines, he appreciated the beauty and preciousness of life on the homeplane even more.

Over the past few years, the rewards Klopp had promised him had gradually begun to arrive.

A portion of the vast war spoils seized by the Divine Tower of Ashes Army had also been transported back from the frontlines to the divine tower.

The Magus Alliance and Magus World could feel the impact of the Clash of Civilizations firsthand in many aspects.

Take the academic mages of the Divine Tower of Ashes as an example. Even though they had not personally participated in the frontline battles, they still reaped considerable benefits from the advantages Magus Civilization gained on the battlefield, as well as from the tower’s own outstanding military achievements in recent years.

The average price of energy crystals in Magus World had decreased compared to before the outbreak of the Clash of Civilizations.

Although healing potions and related magic ingredients had steadily risen in price, the overall state of the economy, resource circulation, academic development, and collective power within Magus World now surpassed pre-war levels.

Much of this was due to the additional benefits mages received annually from the divine towers, along with access to various cheaper resources and materials made available through wartime expansion.

The day Magus World’s people could fully reap the fruits of the Clash of Civilizations, and the day its overall strength achieved a true leap forward, would inevitably be the day victory was secured.

Though Sein now remained in his laboratory, far removed from the battlefield, his pursuit of magic and truth was itself a contribution to the strength of Magus Civilization.

***

Just as Sein had returned to Magus World to recuperate, Bond had also gone back to the Gallant Federation.

In fact, he arrived home much earlier than Sein. While Sein was still fighting in the Aquaria Star Domain, Bond had already traveled through special channels to the federation’s top-tier National Science Center, deep within the Gallant Federation’s star domain.

It was there that Bond had the rare privilege of meeting the federation’s national treasure—Samaret.

The late Master Michaelis Bell, creator of the Magic Cube, had acknowledged only three other scientists during his lifetime: Samaret, Illo, and Syphen.

Among them, Samaret was unquestionably the current academic leader of the Gallant Federation.

The federation’s ultimate apocalyptical weapon, Infinity Light, had been successfully completed and test-fired under Samaret’s leadership.

He also served as the lead scientist for the federation’s ultimate quantum computer project.

After the previous academic leader, Pavlov, perished under mysterious circumstances—leaving behind only fragmented information about the “God Realm”—it was Samaret who inherited his mentor’s core legacy and continued to push the federation’s research into the God Realm further than ever before.

As the academic leader and the federation’s chief scientist most targeted by the Magus Civilization, Samaret agreed to meet Bond, who had just returned from the frontlines, precisely because Bond brought back partial technological data from the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization.

Although he lacked the overt, uncompromising resolve of the federation’s frontline commanders, Samaret was still willing to devote his share of effort to his mother civilization.

If real breakthroughs could be made from the ruins of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization, could it shift the balance on the civilizational frontlines?

No one could say. Samaret was not a military strategist. He could only do his utmost in his own field.

“Oh? An Infinite Energy device...”

The moment Samaret read the data from the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization that Bond had brought back, his eyes lit up with interest.

In many ways, the scientists of the Gallant Federation closely resembled the mages of Magus World.

In their pursuit of truth and experimentation, they often displayed an extreme, almost obsessive drive.

However, federal scientists generally had weaker physical constitutions and lacked the overwhelming destructive power of Magus World mages.

As a result, in this civilization, scientists typically held limited political or military influence.

Only scholars of Samaret’s caliber could truly sway the course of civilization.

Having personally participated in the exploration of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization’s ruins, Bond possessed one of the most comprehensive understandings of this prehistoric technological civilization.

For that reason, he remained at the federation’s National Science Center, answering Samaret’s questions and providing as much useful information as he could.

Moreover, with Samaret present—and proving to be surprisingly approachable—Bond subtly spoke up for Marshal Rommel at the frontlines, explaining that the marshal had already done everything he could at that top-tier ancient site.

Having risen to the position of chief scientist, Samaret was clearly no mere researcher confined to a laboratory.

His true expertise did not lie in quantum computing itself, but in harnessing the power of the God Realm.

Even so, he was ultimately chosen to lead the ultimate quantum computer project. That alone spoke volumes about his authority and overall capability.

Adjusting his glasses, the now gray-haired Samaret reassured Bond, who stood before him.

“Don’t worry, kid. Rommel will be fine. He knows his limits. We all have high hopes for him.”

“Oh, and I hear he recently led a fleet in breaking out of an encirclement by several Magus Civilization overlords,” he added.

“Oh? Is that so?” Bond blinked in surprise. He had not known that Rommel’s fleet had nearly been surrounded and destroyed by a group of Magus Civilization overlords near the Grand Eye Demon World Star Domain.

“Yep. I detect traces of another civilization’s technology on you. Is it from that ancient top-tier cultivation-based civilization known as the Black Merlot Civilization?” Samaret asked.

“Yes. This is the Genetic Bangle I obtained from the ruins of the Black Merlot Civilization,” Bond replied, extending his right arm.

After examining it through his glasses, Samaret nodded slightly. “That’s a rather nice toy. Before you leave, I can have Matthew upgrade and reinforce it for you.”

Before Samaret, the architect behind ultimate apocalyptic weapons like Infinity Light, a low-tier world-class secret treasure like the Genetic Bangle was indeed nothing more than a “toy”.

Bond was momentarily taken aback by the offer.

“Thank you, sir!” he replied quickly.

“Don’t mention it. The Clash of Civilizations always needs young fighters like you and Rommel. Old men like us can only contribute in other ways,” Samaret said with a sigh.

Not a single scientist in this top-tier research center looked young.

Considering how advanced the federation’s life-extension technologies were, the fact that these scientists still appeared so aged suggested that their true ages far exceeded what their appearances revealed.

These elderly scholars were the federation’s real treasures in science and technology.

It was no wonder the Gallant Federation guarded them so fiercely. Even Bond had undergone dozens, perhaps hundreds, of security checks before being granted entry.

This facility was said to be capable of withstanding short-term assaults from multiple overlord-level beings.

After chatting casually with Bond for a while, Samaret asked whether the frontline war with the Magus Civilization had largely retreated into Gallant Federation-controlled star domains.

When Bond confirmed it, Samaret let out another soft sigh.

Several other scientists in the center followed with quiet sighs of their own.

Yet none of them showed open despair. Every one of them remained focused on their respective research tasks.

Bond, now being further examined by Samaret, unconsciously clenched his fists.