The Federal Armed Forces Laboratory was located on the southern outskirts of Jiangcheng City.
Zeng Jing had been staring at the laboratory apparatus in front of him for more than two hours.
He was like a young man who had finally started a relationship with the girl he'd always adored.
He didn't want to be apart from the instrument for even a second.
"It's so gorgeous.
"Such an elegant trajectory... Such a perfect activity level...
"This is exactly what I have been looking for!
"As long as I can figure out its regular pattern...
"One of the Federal Distinguished Service Medals will have my name on it!"
At this moment, Zeng Jing felt like he was back in the days when he was a young man.
He was full of energy.
He couldn't stop working. The Federal Empire hadn't eased up on research on the Spirit Aura and the psionic power ever since the Spirit Aura had been revived.
Unfortunately, it had been 200 years up to this point.
People still didn't know how foreign species and transcendent beings brought themselves back to life again.
Almost no two cases were the same.
Everything was occult science.
The awakening of the foreign species and transcendent beings was an occult phenomenon.
So were the Spirit Aura and psionic power.
Theoretically, the Spirit Aura Tides could occur any second after the Spirit Aura was revived.
Psionic power that could be absorbed by foreign species, transcendent beings, or even common people could appear in the air, water, and food at any time.
However, most of what comprised the Spirit Aura and psionic power were inert substances.
They remained inactive in most situations.
They had extremely low activity levels even when mixed with catalysts.
Active psionic power could only be detected in the bodies of foreign species and transcendent beings.
Nevertheless, these substances that were active in their bodies would quickly start to decay like radioactive materials once they got out.
In general, the half-life was as short as a few seconds.
In normal conditions, the active psionic power would become lifeless in less than a minute.
This characteristic had been a big roadblock for all the researchers.
If they couldn't observe the active psionic power in a stable condition, they couldn't possibly conduct any research on it.
It would be a wild daydream to put it to practical use.
Yet now...
Zeng Jing had found his fire starter!
This psionic power had been extracted from leftover food and disposable chopsticks and spoons in a plastic bag.
It was identical to the psionic power extracted from other places in terms of structure and substance.
However, its activity level was more than ten times higher than psionic power from other sources.
On top of that, its half-life was significantly longer as well.
Based on the current data gained through observation, this psionic power could last for hours.
This was virtually a miracle!
This psionic power acted as though it had been aligned with some matter that had tremendous radioactive energy.
It was like the nuclei that were produced and ejected in the merger of two neutron stars.
Or energy matter that had escaped from a white hole.
"If I could see this thing with my own two eyes...," Zeng Jing exclaimed, "...I could die right now without regret!"
For scientists, not being able to solve a problem when they were so close was the cruelest thing in the world.
It was almost like torture!
"Imperial Scholar...," A research associate came up to him and whispered, "...General Situ sent some other stuff over and asked us to examine it..."
"Where is it?" Zeng Jing jumped to his feet at once and shouted impatiently, "Where is it? Take me to it quickly. I will examine it myself!"
Soon Zeng Jing received the box made from leaden plates welded together.
He opened the box and saw a bag of clothes inside.
There were about a dozen pieces of dirty clothes that looked like they had been sitting there for several days.
Zeng Jing's eyes sparkled the moment he saw these clothes.
He picked them up and went into the lab right away.
A half hour later, this renowned Federal Empire expert on psionic power walked out of the lab with his eyes wide open.
"Impossible!
"How is this possible?
"These are clothes that have never gone through any special treatment?"
"Scholar Zeng...," Situ He hurried to ask Zeng Jing, "...is there a problem with the clothes?"
"Much more than a problem!" Zeng Jing gripped the hand of this Major General of the Blackguard with great excitement and said, "All of these clothes have the same level of protection capability against psionic power as a Type A vestment.
"You probably wouldn't be able to penetrate them even with an all-out strike.
"Where on earth did you find these?" Zeng Jing stared at Situ He with fire in his eyes.
He might be able to find an explanation for the psionic power that he had extracted from leftover food and disposable chopsticks and spoons in a plastic bag.
But what had happened to these clothes was completely beyond comprehension.
These were only clothes made with common fabric.
Zeng Jing was familiar with the labels on the clothes. They were all casual wear produced by well-known companies in the Federal Empire.
Their price was fairly low as well. The most expensive piece was still less than a .
However, these ordinary clothes...
The same kind of clothes that everyone in the Federal Empire wore every day...
For some inexplicable reason, they possessed the same level of protection against psionic power as a Type A vestment.
Type A vestments were the best kind of equipment that could remain impregnable even when facing the Major General of the Blackguard.
The entire Federal Empire hardly produced any Type A vestments each year.
Because only the finest experts could make vestments at this level.
Their time was limited and precious.
They wouldn't make vestments simply for fun.
Most emperors of the Federal Empire only had a handful of informal suits and ceremonial robes made from Type A.
But now...
A dozen pieces of cheap clothes had the same characteristics and protection capability as Type A vestments.
They also had the same half-life as the psionic power extracted from the leftover food.
If it hadn't been for the food, Zeng Jing could almost have been inclined to think that the Commander in Chief in the capital might have spent years making these seemingly ordinary clothes merely because he was bored.
However, there was no evidence to suggest that anyone had cast spells on these clothes.
Zeng Jing couldn't find any trace of magic art either.
In fact, they looked exactly like the clothes that were manufactured on an assembly line in a factory and eventually bought by a random customer.
Still and all, these unremarkable clothes displayed remarkable protection capability during the tests.
Zeng Jing had used all kinds of equipment, large and small, to assess their defense and response capabilities.
The results showed that almost all the magic art simulated by the equipment was powerless when trying to attack these clothes.
It was an eye-opener for Zeng Jing.
His knowledge and experience had no way of explaining either the phenomenon or the reasons behind it.
"Scholar..." Situ He noticed Zeng Jing's expression. He tapped Zeng Jing on his shoulders and refrained from saying anything more. "This thing is a top secret of the Federal Empire...
"Sorry, but I can't say anything more unless I have authorization from the emperor and the Commander in Chief."
Zeng Jing was not too disappointed.
He nodded and replied, "I'm too eager!
"But..." He stared at Situ He and said, "I hope you can permit me to head to the capital at once..."
"That's not necessary!" Situ He said. "The Commander in Chief will be coming to Jiangcheng City very soon!
"You can go to see him yourself when he comes..."
Situ He looked at Zeng Jing and said no more.
He'd already conveyed his message clearly.