Terry Cable stood before the podium, his fingers unconsciously stroking the astrolabe pendant hanging around his neck. This astrologer, who had just been hailed by Paul as " an outstanding astronomer of the Weiss Academy," now seemed as nervous as a newcomer attending an academic conference for the first time. His short, light blond hair was disheveled from constant scratching, and his amber eyes behind his silver-rimmed glasses blinked incessantly.
After a brief opening, Cable got straight to the point.
"Uh, my teacher, Viscount Blar —I'm sure many of you have heard of him—was the court astrologer in Corinth… cough, he left behind a vast collection of observations. Combining my teacher's data with my own observations over the past three years…" His voice trembled slightly at first, but when he looked at Paul Greiman watching him from below, his tone gradually became firm: "The traditional geocentric model, or rather the geocentric model, is… wrong!"
A murmur rippled through the auditorium. Several long-bearded astrologers frowned, and one of them even snorted dismissively.
Cable held up a scroll depicting a traditional star map and continued, "If the stars truly revolve around our world—thanks to the great Captain Gran, who, along with his valiant crew, accomplished the first circumnavigation of the globe in human history, proving that our world is indeed spherical—if the stars truly revolve around our world," he pointed to the traditional star map in his hand, "then the trajectory of Crimson Star should be as symmetrical as a horse-drawn cartwheel. However, I have discovered…"
He suddenly turned around and, based on his teacher's and his own observation records, marked the position of Blazing Star on the blackboard one by one according to different times. Cable knew the data he was going to present by heart and did not need to look at the manuscript at all.
"Look here! When the Crimson Star passed through the Frost Throne Star Cluster, its speed was 30% faster than the theoretical value!"
Several elderly scholars immediately took out crystal lenses to examine their star charts, their faces gradually turning pale.
An elderly astrologer stood up shakily: "Perhaps...perhaps it's just a minor deviation in the orbit of this cycle?"
"And what about this?" Cable suddenly lifted the velvet cloth, revealing an exquisitely crafted model of a star orbiter. "This star orbiter was made strictly according to traditional theories and actual observation records. I tried my best to combine the two, but they are contradictory!"
He turned the handle, and the seven clay planets slid along their intersecting orbits, stumbling and bumping along. "But if the planets moved according to conventional theory, they would get stuck at certain points—because real stars don't take these imaginary curves at all!"
The clay star shattered with a "crack" at the joint of the track, scattering fragments all over the ground.
No one laughed anymore—everyone saw the truth revealed by the broken model: the geocentric system, which had been used for thousands of years, simply could not contain the real trajectories of stars.
An older astrologer suddenly stood up, his white beard trembling: "Young man, do you know what you're questioning?"
Cable didn't back down. "I know this is hard to accept," his voice was exceptionally clear in the noisy hall, "but the data doesn't lie. Our world is indeed not the center of the universe. The sun is the center, and the planets—our world is also a planet—revolve around the sun!"
The entire auditorium erupted in chaos.
Some people cheered, "Just as I predicted! See? I told you so!"
Some conservative scholars loudly denounced, "That's utter nonsense! Your records must be fabricated!"
The entire venue descended into chaos. Unlike the intense atmosphere downstairs, the second-floor corridor remained relatively peaceful, perhaps because the scholars present were not astronomical researchers but rather there to watch the spectacle.
Cole acted strangely, weaving past one group of people discussing something while keeping her attention focused on the person downstairs who resembled Alvis, lest she accidentally let him disappear into the crowd. There were too many people on the first floor; once she lost focus, it wouldn't be easy to find him again.
" Master Alvis, what do you think?"
Paul returned to his seat, next to Gabella. Scholars Tower Alvis.
Alvis stroked his gray beard. "To be honest, I'm not very familiar with astronomy, but with my limited astronomical knowledge, I don't seem to be able to find any errors in what Mr. Cable is saying."
"Haha, you're too modest!"
Alvis sighed. "Alas, if Aldrich were here, he would surely have a good discussion with Mr. Cable. My senior is an expert in astrology and astronomy, otherwise he wouldn't have believed so much in the prophecy of the ominous star. It's just a pity that Aldrich is now more and more entangled in politics and intrigue, and he probably has long lost interest in academia."
The noise in the hall subsided a bit, and Cable continued his speech.
"Planets revolve around the sun, which is just a small part of what I'm going to say today..."
Before he could finish speaking, someone suddenly stood up and shouted, " Viscount Blar would be ashamed to have a student like you!"
The man looked around the room and shouted, "Did you know that this Cable is a fugitive? He was accused of murdering his teacher while he was in Collins, which is why he fled to Northwest Bay!"
"Get them out!" Paul frowned.
Before the guards could react, academy security personnel rushed in and "invited" the troublemakers out of the venue.
Cable disdained to refute the accusations made by the troublemakers, as it would only make things worse; he continued to recount his academic findings.
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"Furthermore, based on my years of research—and of course, with the help of the Marquis Glaeman, to whom I am grateful—I have finally summarized the motion of planets into three laws! These three laws perfectly match the observational records accumulated by my teacher over decades!"
"First, all planets orbit the sun in elliptical paths, with the sun located at one focus of the ellipse. Second..."
On the second-floor gallery of the auditorium, Catherine, Eileen, and La Di stood in a spot with a good view, listening to Cable recount his discoveries. They were all very interested in today's content, but didn't want to squeeze in downstairs, so they stayed on the second floor.
Laddie Setia, who was listening with great interest, suddenly felt something and looked up sharply into the distance.
"Dear La Di, what's wrong!"
Catherine noticed her actions and asked her with concern.
Having spent some time in Lakeheart Town, she had noticed that the green-haired woman seemed to have a certain degree of intimacy with her husband.
Despite some minor emotional outbursts, Catherine is also a woman who adheres to tradition, as it is common for men in this era to have multiple wives.
She even wondered why her husband didn't take La Di as a concubine.