Steel steam and flame

"Mr. Cassia, don't be so shy. We are all men." Sotagang was wearing a bath towel. Seeing that Cassia had woken up, Sotagang walked to the opposite side of the pool and followed Cassia's example and sat in the pool.

"Ye Jielin saw that you had fallen asleep, so she asked us to come here directly." Suotagan exhaled and said, "When I came here, I really didn't think that soaking in a hot spring would be so comfortable."

Cassia nodded to acknowledge this matter, and her tense body relaxed.

"This kind of relaxing time will not be available in the future. Next, I have to assist you in dealing with Ovelia. When the things are repaired, I will also start to find a way to safely transport the goods to the customer. It’s a long route and I won’t be in a good mood for more than ten days.”

"A small super vapor compression device? I've only heard of their names in books, but I've never seen their real form. I've seen detailed photos of the large ones that are completely welded to the rear row."

"Although it is something that has been popularized in the Empire and even the Later Continent. But after all, it is a collection of steam technology, whether it is made into a super large one, such as those on airships, or It is not an easy task to still make it have terrifying power after being miniaturized. The factories in the empire that can produce these things are all in the hands of the imperial military and those big forces. If you want to get one The finished product is for personal use, which is an extremely troublesome thing in the dark world." Speaking of the annoying topic, Sotagang sighed.

"Do you know how much this thing costs?" Sotagang suddenly said with a smile. Maybe now only the profit that he will see soon can make him a little happy.

Cassia shook her head: "It will definitely not be cheap. Even if the principles are clearly written in the textbook, ordinary factories do not have the ability to manufacture it."

"One machine is close to 65 million holy coins, and the ones I have are defective products removed from scrapped machines. I came here this time to repair some of the more troublesome problems above. There are several technologies A very good mechanic lives here. The model is also old goods from decades ago. The update speed of this kind of thing is not fast, and the empire doesn't seem to have much interest in the development of this area. On the black market , it is still a popular product. But compared to the latest model, it is still two generations apart.”

Sotagang studied steam power when he was a student, and it influenced him a lot in life. Including now that he is an intermediary agent, most of his business is related to these mechanical power components.

"The empire is really starting to get messy. I never thought that I could sell this kind of goods before. I remember that in the years since I became an agent, I have sold the most technologically advanced things, which were just disassembled and assembled analysis of large commercial airships. The most critical computing core was taken away from the machine parts, leaving only the storage part and information transmission part, but it was also sold at a very good price. Like a miniaturized military super vapor compression device, the goods circulating in the dark world They were all released proactively by the imperial military and major forces, and some were manufactured as defective products with major flaws."

As if he noticed that he was the only one talking, Sotagang smiled apologetically and did not continue the topic. He moved on to other things, things that both of them were interested in.

"Mr. Cassia, I wonder what you think about steam power and electricity, which have been emerging for many years?" It seems that it is rare to find someone who has the same interests as him, so Sotagang did not immediately discuss Ovelia's plan. Intend.

Cassia looked over and didn't quite understand what Sotagang meant.

"Electricity has been around for a long time. In extremely prosperous areas, it has been popularized a hundred years ago. In border areas, small nobles in those places can also enjoy the benefits of electricity. The place where I was born is relatively good. I enjoyed the convenience brought by electricity. At that time, I didn’t have much exposure to the advanced knowledge now, and I always thought that electricity would replace the superheated steam in those red copper pipes at an extremely fast rate in the next ten years.”

Sotagang's face was full of nostalgia, and he asked Cassia: "I wonder if you had the same idea when you were a child. Maybe it won't be completely replaced, but as an emerging energy source, it is foreseeable that it will become mainstream, right?"

Cassia shook her head and nodded again. When he lived in a small frontier city, the gas lamps that made a squeaking sound every night were indeed something he didn't like very much. The high-pressure mercury lamps that emitted blazing white light from several noble houses were something he longed to own. I started working in a factory when I was just a teenager. The main power there was all provided by the steam burned by the boiler, and some large-scale forging machinery required an astonishing amount of energy for starting and forging. In the frontier where high-pressure mercury lamps were not fully popular, In a small town, coal sold as rock is definitely much cheaper than electricity.

It's not that I haven't thought about it, but after entering a steam factory, some things that can move are more or less connected to red copper pipes or steam hoses, and rely on countless valves controlled by differential engines to operate. Before coming to Manoma, Cassia's life was a world without electricity.

"Perhaps red copper pipes and steam have penetrated into every aspect of the empire. With the empire's thousands of years of history, it will still take a long time to be completely replaced by new things."

Sotagang didn't nod or shake his head. But it can be seen from the expression on his face that he does not agree with Cassia's answer. He raised his head and looked at the sky. Across the hot spring water a few meters away, the slowly rising white mist made Sotagang's face blurry. He felt the cold feeling of the steam slowly falling down and hitting his face, and was immersed in it.

From the room on the side, the sparse voices of Ye Jielin and Berta could be heard talking, as if they were talking about something.

"Actually, I don't know either, but as an intermediary, I have always been in the business of power components. I have come into contact with many large-scale machinery, and there are quite a few real war machinery in them. You know, those are not the ones that fly in our heads all the time. The merchant ships on board are all airships filled with cannonballs. Until now, they still retain the internal structure of a hundred years ago, and electricity seems to have nothing to do with them. I have been inside several times, and although there are lamps, they are also Electric lighting is used, but gas and lime lamps are still there, well protected and ready to be used."

Cassia vaguely remembered someone saying something to him with roughly the same meaning. It was Lieutenant Doyle who came to pick him up when he first arrived at the volcano base.

Cassia still remembers what Lieutenant Doyle said, everything that seems to be unnatural is mostly caused by man-made images.