IMC Chapter 79

“Welcome to Xia Wang Tribe! No need to be nervous, everyone here is really friendly!” Shu Bao, upon realizing the visitor’s possible identity, immediately became enthusiastic. Remembering the previous misunderstandings with the White Bear people, he added with a playful tone, “And we don’t eat people, just so you know~”

Tesla, who had been starting to relax a bit: “…” Wait, what does that last part even mean?

The other tribe members, noticing the deity’s warm attitude, quickly understood that the newcomer was no ordinary person. They all smiled brightly and glanced over with friendly curiosity.

From Tesla’s perspective, however, it seemed like these primitive people suddenly had a collective change in demeanor. Under the flickering light of the torches, their wide grins looked eerie, as if they had come to some secret agreement.

Naturally, Tesla felt nervous about the situation. But as a time traveler, he had anticipated various potential dangers and had brought plenty of weapons for self-defense. So, while cautious, he wasn’t truly afraid of these “primitives”.

As his nerves settled, Tesla’s gaze fell upon the furry creature—a talking mouse. Having traveled through several timelines, it was the first time he had encountered such a being. His curiosity piqued.

Considering that it would take some time for the temporal capsule to repair itself and that he needed a place to stay, Tesla mulled it over for a moment and then cheerfully followed the fluffy creature toward Xia Wang Tribe.

As for the large pit filled with his belongings, the tribe members would take care of moving them to the tribe later when they had some free time.

Before entering the tribe, Tesla had assumed it was still in the Stone Age. After all, everyone was dressed in animal hides and there were no signs of textiles or advanced tools—just simple torches in their hands. Nothing indicated an advanced civilization.

But as he stepped further into the tribe, he spotted the Magic Academy in the distance, illuminated by the moonlight like a towering giant. Although he hadn’t approached it yet, just from its outline and height, he knew it couldn’t be a product of the Stone Age. Moreover, the tribe was filled with numerous well-crafted wooden houses, with a level of craftsmanship that couldn’t be achieved through simple stone-cutting methods.

Tesla was amazed, wondering if he was witnessing some unsolved mystery. In his own world and in other worlds he had visited, there had been buildings that modern people couldn’t explain. He had always been curious, wanting to travel back in time to see how these structures were built.

However, time travel couldn’t be that precise, so this wish had remained unfulfilled—until now, it seemed. He felt as though he was witnessing something extraordinary!

“Mr. Tesla, this house is for you. I advise you not to go out at night or leave the tribe’s boundaries without permission, as something bad might happen,” Shu Bao warned sincerely, worried that something might happen to the genius inventor.

“Alright, I understand. Thank you for the invitation.” Although Tesla was eager to explore—especially that tall building—he decided it would be wise to listen for now, since he had just arrived.

After everyone left, Tesla immediately started examining the two-story wooden house. Both the furniture and the walls convinced him that this wasn’t the work of stone tools. But on the other hand, those people were clearly dressed in animal hides and carrying stone clubs, with no signs of iron tools.

Unbeknownst to Shu Bao, his decision to leave soldiers in the tribe and take the magicians out for inspections had successfully misled the genius. As it neared midnight, Shu Bao instructed everyone to prepare for the Chaotic World’s arrival.

Meanwhile, Tesla, who had finally started to drift off to sleep, was suddenly jolted awake by a terrifying roar. The sound alone was enough to convey the immense size and fearsome nature of whatever creature had made it. Panicking, he rushed to the window, pushed it open to look outside, and accidentally hit something.

Suddenly, the night was lit up with bursts of colorful light, like fireworks. In the intermittent flashes of light, a massive dragon’s head was reflected on the wooden window.

Tesla froze in place, wondering if he had hit his head during the crash landing or if he had traveled to some Jurassic-like era where enormous dragon-like creatures existed.

The creature outside, startled by Tesla’s movement, stirred. Tesla crouched down quietly and hid behind a wooden table, trying to remain unseen. When he glanced back at the window, a massive orange-yellow vertical pupil was staring straight into the house.

At that moment, Tesla felt as though his heart had stopped. He instinctively held his breath, desperately hoping that this was all just a nightmare.

Unfortunately, as is often the case, the very thing he feared most came to pass. The giant eye outside the window eventually noticed him, and he could clearly sense the sudden shift in its gaze. Just when he thought the creature was about to attack, a familiar voice broke the tension from outside.

“Yinzi! What are you doing?” Shu Bao was utterly exasperated. He had been so careful, worried that the inventor might be frightened, even instructing everyone to keep the night’s defensive operations quieter than usual. Yet, once again, it was this troublesome dragon causing problems! Shu Bao even began to suspect that the lazy cat’s curiosity had somehow been transferred to the dragon.

Startled, Yinzi instinctively retracted its head. Then, like a well-behaved child, it extended one of its massive feet, signaling to Shu Bao that he could kick it like last time, and it would play along, pretending to cry!

Looking at the enormous foot, which was like a small mountain in front of him, Shu Bao couldn’t help but marvel at how Yinzi had precisely placed it just five centimeters from where he stood.

In the end, to avoid Yinzi rolling around and accidentally knocking over the houses, Shu Bao decided not to kick. Since their guest hadn’t shown himself, he figured that Tesla might not have woken up after all. Even though it was quite unreasonable to sleep with the window open in the middle of winter, perhaps that’s just how geniuses preferred things.

Shu Bao quickly led the young dragon away, lecturing it along the way to be more careful in the coming days and not scare their new guest. After all, if this guest decided to stay, the base’s future development would be secured.

Watching the dragon and mouse disappear into the distance, Tesla’s eyes lit up with excitement. He suddenly felt a deep interest in the world he had crash-landed in. Beyond the dragon, he had glimpsed various flashes of light at the edge of the tribe—fireballs, purple light, white light, and even plants glowing with a greenish-blue hue.

The whole reason Tesla embarked on time travel was to witness more exciting and diverse worlds. Yet in all his travels so far, every world had been disappointingly similar: the same kinds of creatures, even the same eras, the same developments, and the same greed.

The experiences from this trip had left him disillusioned, wondering if the entire universe was just more of the same. It felt like traveling to a much-anticipated city, only to find it no different from his hometown.

But now, due to an accidental crash caused by a data error, he had stumbled upon something truly different, something that gave him a spark of excitement again.

Tesla’s mind raced, considering the possibility of a temporal trap within the universe. What if a consciousness capable of time travel could only enter worlds similar to its original one?

After all, in his original world, one plus one equaled two, and the design and operation of the temporal capsule followed those very same rules. If the calculations for time travel were based on that logic, it would make sense that the worlds he visited would also follow the same patterns, resulting in such similarities.

In contrast, it was this crash landing, breaking all the norms, that allowed him to witness a world like no other.

Tesla’s mind continued racing as he silently observed the situation outside. By the time the sky began to brighten, he finally returned to bed for some rest. After just two short hours of sleep, he woke up again, brimming with excitement, and immediately sought out Shu Bao.

During breakfast, Tesla finally received confirmation from Shu Bao—this world indeed had magic! This wasn’t a purely scientific world. Tesla immediately expressed his desire to join the Xia Wang Tribe and learn magic.

“In addition to the Magic Academy, we’ve just completed building a Technology Research Center. You might find it interesting as well. As for learning magic, of course! Anyone who is a resident of our tribe can undergo a talent test and begin training,” Shu Bao explained, and without hesitation, led Tesla to the Magic Academy for the talent test.

As expected, Tesla was identified as someone with a unique mental magic talent. He also possessed the ability to summon a contract beast.

After reluctantly leaving the Magic Academy, Tesla was taken to the Research Center by Shu Bao. Once again, Tesla found himself unable to tear away. Clearly, he loved both magic and science—and wanted to pursue both.

Thus, after joining the Xia Wang Tribe, Tesla embarked on a busy journey of learning, keeping up with both his magical studies and scientific research.

In their conversations, Shu Bao also learned the reason behind Tesla’s time-traveling.

This Tesla was indeed the one Shu Bao had imagined but with one difference: in Tesla’s home world, there was no Edison¹One of the most famous and prolific inventors of all time, Thomas Alva Edison exerted a tremendous influence on modern life, contributing inventions such as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera, as well as improving the telegraph and telephone.. As a result, after inventing alternating current, Tesla’s career skyrocketed like it had a cheat code. However, as his work continued to develop, his world could no longer satisfy his curiosity.

So, in secret, he invented a temporal capsule and decisively embarked on one-way time travel. Unfortunately, the different time periods he visited didn’t vary much from his original world. He never encountered the vibrant, colorful worlds he had imagined.

That was, until now. This new world opened a door to the unknown, and Tesla became deeply immersed in the study and research of magic.

“Magic leans more toward quantum mechanics, where consciousness determines objective reality. So, the practice of magic is actually a practice of consciousness and it just so happens that I have some talent in this area,” Tesla explained, dedicating himself not only to studying magic but also to understanding its fundamental nature.

“And what about technology?” Shu Bao gently reminded the now magic-obsessed Tesla.

“This is the design blueprint for the Tesla Tower. Once it’s built, it will automatically generate electricity and transmit it wirelessly—just like wireless signals. As long as you’re within range, you’ll be able to access electricity. I’m currently entering all this information into the Technology Research Center’s system. I believe we’ll see results soon.” Tesla gave Shu Bao a reassuring look before diving back into his work of combining magic with science.

Shu Bao was thrilled by this response. He hadn’t expected the tribe to achieve electrical independence so quickly!

Meanwhile, the audience in the livestream chat was baffled. What is a Tesla Tower? What does “automatic electricity generation” even mean? Energy can’t just be created out of thin air—this device would violate the laws of physics. Surely, this guy must be a fraud!

And besides, how could a primitive tribe possibly leap straight into the electrical age?

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  One of the most famous and prolific inventors of all time, Thomas Alva Edison exerted a tremendous influence on modern life, contributing inventions such as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera, as well as improving the telegraph and telephone.