The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician

Chapter 92 - 93 Derivative Entry: Flame Spirit
Chapter 92: Chapter 93 Derivative Entry: Flame SpiritJiang Shu stood atop the television station’s rooftop helipad, rubbing his hands together. He stood at the edge of the rooftop, gazing down at Lonely City.

He kind of wanted to imitate penguin people and shout, ”I am the king of Lonely City,” but for sure Xiao Yi would record it, and then it would become an emoji pack.

The wind on the rooftop was strong and a bit cold.

He rubbed his hands again and exhaled a breath.

The night colors of Lonely City were washed out, faint with the neon lights, the slender moon melting into the clouds glowing with a faint white light in the far distance.

The stars and moon were always so dim here.

With the technological level of this place, had they really never considered aeronautics?

He had examined all the data here, and there had never been thoughts of space exploration in the past, present, and probably not in the future either.

All relevant materials were deeply secretive about it, unwilling to discuss further.

Probably... it had to do with Lonely City itself.

This was yet another secret. Lonely City had many secrets, all of which he would figure out one by one.

Jiang Shu glanced at the rooftop door, which was still tightly closed, with Tablet Spirit Xiao Jia struggling to crack the electronic lock on top of it.

He had already changed into the common uniform of a plumber. In a work bag at the side lay the glass brackets he had just disassembled.

Heavenly Ladder Fireworks, an artifact emerging from the blue with no beginning or end, was an inspiration from a master of fireworks in his previous life.

It looked incredibly cool, but was actually quite simple.

A hot air balloon, a rope ladder, character fireworks, also known as rack fireworks.

Fireworks were tied to each segment of the rope ladder, lit successively from bottom to top, and a fiery ladder just appeared like that in the night sky.

The top of the hot air balloon was painted black, just like the belly of a swallow is white, a protective coloring.

From below looking up, the night sky was dark, and so was the hot air balloon, and below, the neon lights were blazing bright. Looking into the darkness from the light, it was impossible to spot the hot air balloon.

This was also a stealthy job.

And what he was climbing, was obviously not real flames, but the glass bracket pre-arranged, which under the blockage of his body, made it natural that neither cameras nor viewers would spot the flaws.

This live streaming studio was right on the rooftop. He had simply climbed onto the rooftop via the bracket, then quickly disassembled the bracket and packed it away.

At this time, the pursuing camera could only capture the dummy at the top of the ladder and, hmm, that clump of fake fire.

As for the monster, that was even simpler, just a chemical principle of combustion and expansion, with baking soda and sugar. Poured on the sand, when lit with oil, a monster of this sort could be created.

However, Jiang Shu had arranged some molds shaped like skulls and claws in the altar, and as the expanding carbon emerged from the sand at that moment, it carried these molds with it, heat-fusing together to become the upper body of the monster. The rest of the serpent body was all generated carbon, which could produce the same effect without the need for molds.

In the dim environment, with the cool drafts from the air conditioning, the monstrosity of roars synthesized by the human-shaped speaker Shen Xuwan, combined with Jiang Shu’s lead with his own lines and the stage scene arrangement, perfectly created a gloomy and terrifying atmosphere.

In such an ambiance, as the monster moved towards Jiang Shu, parts that were prone to revealing flaws, like the head and claws, were covered by its own body. Even if there were imperfections, it was difficult for the audience to notice.

As for the earlier parts, whether it was controlling flames or burning fire in the palm, it was all quite simple; controlling black matches with transparent threads created the effect of controlling the fire, and hand sanitizer with an extremely low ignition point could burn in the hand without issue.

(Don’t even think of trying this! The hand sanitizer is special, I’m not telling you the composition, if something goes wrong, I’m not responsible!)

Other effects were also mostly due to some chemical reactions and materials, like the black fire from the flame color reaction.

There is no metal flame color reaction that is black, but Jiang Shu used a very clever method.

The candle was made from sodium and alcohol, and thus should normally produce a bright yellow flame when lit, a characteristic flame color reaction of sodium.

When the flame, suffused with sodium atoms, was illuminated with the yellow light emitted from a sodium lamp, the yellow light would be absorbed, resulting in a black flame.

The principle was quite simple.

The ring-shaped flame and Ghost Face Fire were because he placed a cylindrical transparent container on the table, which contained a mixture of hydrogen sulfide gas. It was lit from a small opening at the top, and the flame naturally burned downward in a ring shape.

The glass walls had been precoated with a heat-sensitive, color-changing material, so as the gas burned, the ghost face effect appeared...

Most of these were basic chemical reactions, just ingeniously designed and packaged, pulling a fast one on the buddies there with a series of connected moves.

As for...

Ordinary people would naturally be baffled by this magic, but those with a strong background in chemistry, such as various research staff, could naturally discern some details.

But they might not see everything; after all, he had employed a number of cleverly conceived magic principles, and the problems that arose during filming, coupled with the reactions of the live audience, would likely lead to considerable misdirection.

Sometimes the more complex one’s thinking, the farther from the answer one gets.

At least, according to T2 technician Kirie, this magic was very simple in its simple aspects, readily apparent at a glance, but the difficult parts, with too little information available, were hard to clearly explain.

After much questioning, Jiang Shu had received such a response from Kirie—

”Research staff are very busy. They wouldn’t watch this kind of variety show even if you forced them,” she said helplessly. ”As for non-research staff, their basic education includes very little about chemistry, and after a few years without studying it, how much can you expect them to remember?”

Since she put it this way, Jiang Shu didn’t ask any further; after all, the situation in Lonely City was quite different from his past life.

Basic education in chemistry was not extensive there, falling far short of the educational level of his previous world, and with distorted setting constraints, most people had little understanding of knowledge points outside their own professions.

Therefore, very few people could understand it, and even fewer who both understood it and had the time to watch.

Jiang Shu somewhat relaxed; he looked at his Character Card, which showed new changes.

Milestone:

Completed the magic ”Flame Spirit.”

Gained entries ”Storytelling,” ”Chemistry·Introduction,” ”Scenery”

Entry ”Mysterious” advanced to ”Mysterious Aura.”

Gained Deception derivative entry ”Flame Spirit.”

Entries:

-Passive·Storytelling (White): Verbal description ability +1; when performing magic, it is easier to influence audience emotions.

-Passive·Chemistry·Introduction (White): Possesses basic chemistry knowledge.

-Active·Scenery (Blue): Magic scene arrangement ability +3

-Passive·Mysterious Aura (Purple): You always carry a very mysterious atmosphere around you, pressure +5, charm +5, prestige +5.

-Active·Deception·Flame Spirit: Control flames, communicate with the yin and yang.

He had transferred a derivative entry to the Tablet Spirit beforehand, so he wouldn’t lose any entries.

Skipping the rest, Jiang Shu’s gaze landed on that derivative entry.

”Control flames, communicate with yin and yang?” he muttered, looking at his palm.

A bright yellow flame appeared there, burning quietly with its scintillating glow.