Chapter Ninety-Three: The Methods of Speed and Slowness

Harvey walked down the corridor and saw a staircase winding upward. There was no lift; if one wanted to go up, one had to climb it oneself.

Without the slightest hesitation, he went straight to the tenth floor, intending to try the hundredfold gravity chamber.

His body, for more than half a year now, had been able to withstand the weight of the deep sea at ten thousand meters. A mere hundred times gravity was obviously no more than child’s play to him.

If he wanted to train in a gravity chamber, he would need one of a much higher grade.

“Warning! Warning!”

“This floor contains the hundredfold gravity chamber. Please be mindful of all your actions.”

“Before activating the device, make sure there are no living creatures inside the chamber.”

“If you insist on proceeding and cause any consequences, this company bears no responsibility whatsoever.”

As Harvey reached the tenth floor, red alarm lights flashed across the entire level, and a mechanical voice echoed through it, warning him over and over not to act recklessly.

With that alarm sounding, it also ruled out the possibility of someone deliberately using the gravity chamber to commit murder.

Harvey had no fingerprint registration or identity card.

But he did not care. His body simply dissolved into the void, passed through the heavy door before him, and entered a room inside.

This room was located at a higher elevation, and through the window one could see a large platform below.

Around the platform were affixed black instruments of a kind Harvey had never seen before.

It did not take much thought to realize that once these devices were activated, the gravity on the platform below would increase.

Thanks to the translation, he did not worry about not being able to understand it. After studying the buttons in the room for a moment, Harvey quickly found the switch.

With a gentle press, there came a hum. The instruments around the platform below emitted visible waves of light that intertwined and rotated.

And before Harvey’s eyes, a projection displayed the gravity multiplier, the number climbing steadily upward.

The air above the platform below began to warp, and when the gravity finally reached a hundred times normal, the number stopped rising.

Crimson warning lights also lit up on the platform below, as if alerting every living thing to the danger here.

Harvey slipped into the void, passed through matter, and entered the gravity chamber that had turned red.

The instant he stepped inside, he felt as though someone had lightly patted his shoulders.

His body weight was only a little over one hundred and forty pounds, and the golden armor on him was the product of void magic; it had substance, yet no weight at all.

At only fourteen thousand pounds, the burden was, for Harvey now, no different from an itch.

Of course, this was entirely because he was carrying no weight-bearing load. If he could bring in some heavy objects that could withstand gravity and train with them, he would certainly work up a sweat.

What still pleased Harvey was that if this thing could be raised to a thousandfold gravity, it would surely become a place he could visit for occasional recreation in the future.

After that, Harvey directly turned off the switch and left the black tower.

He intended to ask Sonia which company had made these gravity devices.

He wanted to see whether they could make a chamber with even greater gravity, and whether he could also buy a small gravity device to bring back for Tony.

The Church of the Void only needed him to preside over things at its very beginning; afterward, Sonia could remain stationed in the Church of the Void on Xandar.

As long as the number of believers in the Church of the Void kept increasing, void temples would eventually appear on other planets as well.

Harvey returned directly through the void. When he arrived back at the villa, he found that Sonia had also just come up the stairs.

“You adapted so quickly. Looks like you have real talent.”

Harvey spoke upon seeing Sonia.

He knew he had only been away from Sonia for about half an hour, and she had already adjusted and come over. That was clearly a sign of talent.

“Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Cassadin. I’ve only just adapted to how to use my own strength,” Sonia said with a smile.

“I still haven’t fully adapted to how to maximize the limits of my own power, or to learning various combat techniques, so I still need to work harder.”

Sonia knew Mr. Cassadin had gone to the training area just now, so she was not surprised to see him appear suddenly.

“After believing in the Void, you not only gain power, but also at least several hundred years of life.”

“Time is abundant, so you don’t need to put too much pressure on yourself.”

Hearing Sonia’s workaholic remarks, Harvey said casually.

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Mr. Cassadin, the chefs you selected—I have already informed them.”

“One batch will arrive on the island in an hour to prepare your meals.”

“Because time was too tight, the goods can only be transported tomorrow, so there will be no afternoon tea or desserts today.”

“But starting tomorrow, they will prepare your food and drinks for you on schedule.”

“So please forgive the inconvenience.”

At the mention of there being still several hundred years, Sonia responded with a smile, then added a somewhat apologetic explanation.

“It doesn’t matter. Skipping one meal won’t kill me.”

“More important than that, Sonia, I have something I want to ask you.”

Harvey waved a hand indifferently, not at all concerned.

“What you wish to ask, Mr. Cassadin, I will explain to the best of my knowledge,” Sonia said.

Sonia saw that Mr. Cassadin’s words could easily be misunderstood, but she had no such misconception at all.

She did not know exactly how Mr. Cassadin viewed her, but for Sonia, he was an object of profound awe.

Even if Mr. Cassadin wanted her to spend a night with him, she would be willing.

However, she was certain that Mr. Cassadin would not suddenly make such a request.

“Who built the gravity training chamber?”

“And can their company custom-make a chamber with a higher gravity multiplier?”

Harvey asked directly.

“The gravity chamber is a technological product of Wengas Company.”

“And because gravity technology is not ordinary civilian technology for mass use,”

“its main customers are laboratories and the military.”

“They provide special testing grounds for various laboratories, and military auxiliary equipment for battlefields, as well as special combat training for the soldiers of the Nova Corps.”

“So whether they can custom-make one or not, they are subject to restrictions.”

“Buyers like us can only purchase standard gravity devices.”

“Without sufficient authorization, higher-grade custom orders are impossible.”

Sonia replied that this was the question, then came to a stop about five meters in front of Harvey. She tapped the communicator on her right wrist and projected information related to Wengas.

This made it easier for Mr. Cassadin to understand, and at the same time explained some of the findings she had investigated. The gravity equipment she had purchased was the standard type from Wengas.

“So they can’t custom-make one? Then help me buy every portable small gravity device that can be bought.”

Hearing that custom orders were impossible, Harvey thought for a moment and said.

Once Damm began to develop within the Nova Corps and rose to a sufficiently high position, he should be able to help arrange a custom order through his connections.

But compared with that slow method, there was an even faster one: bring back some important samples and let Tony study them.

Tony could research alien technology and gain greater mastery over science and engineering.

He could also have Tony specially design some more powerful gravity devices.

That way he would have a suitable place to vent the power within his body from time to time.

It was a win-win situation, so Harvey was not worried that Tony would refuse. He only needed to find time to return to Earth for a trip.