BXBX NOVEL Chapter 101 - The Doofus Has Made A Contribution Again!
Chapter 101: The Doofus Has Made A Contribution Again!
However, this didn’t mean he was giving up on the goal of creating a universal, reliable, and simple motive-power machinery.
He still remembered in his native world, how industrial mass production had eroded all inefficient production methods, including manual workshops, sweeping away all obstacles in the way; how roaring engines had launched human civilization from the ground into the space age. In factories, raw materials were poured into the workshops like flowing water, and at the end of the cluster of machines, tens of thousand tons of products would gush out. The power of machinery could change entirely the mode of operation of a society. They could cut into mountains and crack rocks and could also reclaim land and flatten grounds. They were stronger, more precise, more efficient, and more inexhaustible than individual human beings, and these properties that replaced the natural man happened to reflect humankind’s true power.
That was the power of thinking and creating.
Of course, Gawain was also very clear about the side effects of industrial mass production: for example, pollution and the pressure that overly high production efficiency had on natural resources. Though there would be problems, they could be resolved, and survival was the highest priority now. Just like how human illnesses could be cured, but if you reject reincarnation just to avoid falling sick, that wouldn’t make sense…
Hence, regardless of whether it was for the sake of pushing through natural calamities and man-made disasters, including the Dark Wave, to allow himself to live more comfortably in this backward world or for the sake of figuring out the truths of this world, Gawain had to establish technology in this world. And to kickstart technology, the most fundamental was to resolve the problem of motive power.
Steam propulsion was an impassable way, but there were still many rules in the macroscopic domain of this world that could be used. Gears could be used; levers could be used; waterwheels could be used too. And thanks to the power of magic, many technological advancements that normally could not be skipped through or that required gradual accumulation to achieve on Earth, could instead go forward by leaps and bounds here. For example, from high-quality steel that was smelted through magic skills, or from all sorts of alloys and crystals that differed from Earth’s but whose properties are unusually outstanding — only no uses had been found for these things in this world.
Rather, the people of this world had indeed unearthed the uses of these things in their own technological route. After all, the pseudo-Earth people weren’t fools either; only, due to the restrictions in their world view, they had never considered other ways of utilizing these things.
Gawain looked at the cylinder body structure on the blueprint. He had drawn a cross on this structure. Now, he needs to think of a substitute to replace steam that could provide motive power for the whole apparatus.
What came to mind was still the work1 of expansion or high-pressure draft, but where would the ‘source of energy’ for these high temperatures and high pressures come from?
He’d once considered Rebecca Crystals. Explosion, when simplified, was also a form of expansion. As long as it was used appropriately, the energy of explosions was also a form of motive power. Earth’s combustion engines were essentially carrying out ‘safe explosions’ continuously in the cylinder. Then, could the explosion caused by Rebecca Crystals also be controlled and vectored to become motive power?
However, after comprehending the theory behind the explosion of those crystals, he had to give up on this idea.
Rebecca Crystals that used magic to create explosions completely differed from Earth’s gunpowder. The processes of the two types of ‘explosions’ were entirely different too.
The explosions that Rebecca Crystals produced were essentially ‘spells’. The power of the magic circles stimulated the energy inside the crystals and formed an autonomous spell-casting process, and the effect of this spell was ‘explosion’. Thus, before producing impact and expansion, what Rebecca Crystals first produced was a spell effect. Then, if he were to shove such crystals into the cylinder and set off the explosive magic circles, what outcome would be created?
The cylinder would be ignited as an alchemical product…
Of course, Gawain could make this cylinder extremely sturdy, extremely thick, and heavy — to the point where it could not be blown apart even if it were to be filled to the brim with crystals. Then at this point, could the explosive magic inside produce motive power?
No, it would blow up the relatively weaker connecting rods, pistons, and the like as materials for the spells. As long as these items are placed within the area of effect of the magic circles, there was no escape for them.
If even the connecting rods, pistons, and everything else were extremely tough and would not be blown apart, leaving only the crystals to participate in the magic reaction…?
Alright, at this point, this equipment might really be able to work now. However, its size would be massive, because that outer wall that was absolutely explosion-proof has to exceed the area of effect of the explosive magic circles. Judged according to the quantity and size of the core, this outer wall could be a round ball with a radius ranging from a few meters, to tens of meters. And no shrinkage was allowed — once there was a shrinkage, a portion of the equipment outside would then be located within the area of effect of the explosive spell. Then, if the operator was standing right beside it, the operator would be ignited… Humans were one of the best magic conducting materials.
Even if there wasn’t an operator beside it, this equipment would be enveloped in constant explosions and would blow up everything close to it.
This was no way to use it at all!
As the ‘explosions’ of this world were so special, Gawain also gave up on the thought of using Rebecca Crystals to build firearms. At the least, he had given up on the idea of launching such crystals. He had no way of stuffing these crystals into the barrel as propellants because these propellants would directly create a one-off explosion within the area of effect in the process of spell-casting. By then, the gun might be fine, but the person firing would definitely have exploded; the people standing beside him would probably suffer the same consequence as well…
Then what should he use to have work done?
Steam didn’t work; explosion didn’t work; fuel oil… He had yet to hear of something similar to petroleum in this world.
Moreover, he had to take into consideration the problem of process precision in this world. Even if he designed a usable prototype machine, it would be a problem if the blacksmiths could not forge the suitable spare parts.
However, to be honest, this wasn’t what worried him. He still remembered the Mithril safe he had dug out in his old mansion in the capital. The safe’s complicated magic lock was actually a type of very precise gear. The people who created such gears weren’t ordinary blacksmiths, but rune craftsmen who specially worked on magic articles and had a higher standing than blacksmiths.
Rune craftsmen were equivalent to blacksmiths or carpenters who’d undergone advanced training. Although they did not have the ability to cast spells, they possessed some knowledge of magic. They were usually ‘workers’ that mages educated to produce magic articles for themselves.
Their workmanship was exquisite, and they were able to forge things that were more precise and complicated than the usual ironware. Moreover, they knew how to safely process all sorts of magic materials.
Although there were fewer rune craftsmen and it would be costly to forge these items (mainly due to the costs of magic materials), if they could build a prototype machine for him, it would still be worth it.
There were rune craftsmen amongst the hundred technical personnel who came from the capital…
Just as Gawain was pondering, two familiar auras appeared in his senses. Then, the portiere of the tent was lifted. Rebecca and Heidi walked in together.
“Ancestor (Lord Ancestor), you were looking for us?” The two of them greeted almost unanimously.
“Yes.” Gawain did not waste time either and pushed the blueprints toward them. “Bring yourselves a chair and come sit here. Look at these things.”
Rebecca ran to get a big chair, while Heidi casually lifted her hand and the Sculpture Hand grabbed a chair in the corner of the tent and flew towards them. The sight left Rebecca stupefied.
But very soon, this tiny bit of disappointment of Miss Iron-Headed was replaced by the blueprints that Gawain had laid out.
“What is this?” Rebecca’s eyes sparkled. “There are so many wheels and connecting rods… Is it also a waterwheel?”
“No, it’s a type of… ‘machine’ that can produce motive power,” Gawain casually explained. “My conception is limited, so I would like to hear your thoughts. Visualize this, a type of machine, driven using the most basic magic unit. It can produce stable and reliable motive power, such as allowing wheels to spin continuously, such as making a hammer move up and down. Look at these connecting rods and wheels, and this structure — it’s called a crank. These things are able to inter-convert the back-and-forth movement of the straight line into rotational movement for the wheels…”
Gawain patiently explained his ideas. Heidi became absorbed in thought as she listened, while Rebecca’s eyes twinkled brightly. She had developed a keen interest in these unconstrained and imaginative designs!
A machinery that depended on the drive of magical power for operation — this concept was actually not a new one. This world where supernatural powers existed had a natural advantage in many aspects. Of course, they were also many things that were ‘ahead of time’ in Gawain’s eyes. For example, the magic puppets that mages created, the automatic doors of the vault in the mountains that were activated using cipher keys, and the magic lock that he had seen back in the capital that could distinguish the user’s identity. All these were considered applications of magic mechanisms, and a considerable amount of them could even be described as ‘black technology’.
However, Rebecca instinctively felt that the ‘magic motive-power trigger’ that Gawain had proposed was an entirely different thing compared to those products.
The majority of its structure were intuitive and direct mechanisms; it did not require the involvement of magical power.
Its function and goal were especially simple — to provide motive power, and this portion of motive power was prepared for the next stage of machinery.
Its specifications and standards were plain and to the point. Abandoning everything that allowed the craftsman to ‘be free’, in exchange was the numerical index as precise as the rules of magic, striving to accomplish the goal using the most logical and most succinct way. Traditional rune craftsmen or mages would often carve a heap of patterns on the magic articles that they’d created and even racked their brains to find ways to conceal those truly usable runes inside the complicated, encrypted lines, afraid of them being seen and understood by others.
Rebecca thought hard for a long while. A term that Gawain often said to her finally surfaced in her mind: universality.
Just like Magic Web 1, this equipment was also ‘universal’.
It wasn’t designed to be a treasure or work of art. Instead, just like those Rebecca Crystals being baked at steelworks — what they wanted was a large amount and for it to be sturdy and reliable.
Gawain finished explaining his own thoughts and finally pointed at the cylinder that already had a cross on it. “Now, we’re just left with this step. It needs an initial motive power source, so that this ‘piston’ can move. I’d thought of using expanded gas to complete this process, so I designed this airtight ‘air cylinder’, but you don’t have to be restricted by my ideas. — From the viewpoint of magic, what kind of spell do you think can create a driving energy whose supply can be non-stop and recycled?”
Rebecca held onto the chair while her body swayed here and there. “Carve a super-mini typhoon magic circle inside it? To blow wind hard?”
Heidi frowned and contemplated seriously. “Not too practical. The typhoon magic circle is too complicated. Besides, the air current that it can draw in a closed environment is limited…”
While speaking, she casually condensed a semi-translucent Sculpture Hand beside her. However, she quickly dissipated the magic again. “It would be simple if we could use the Sculpture Hand and propel it inside. Regrettably, this is a very unique spell. There’s no corresponding magic circle. Moreover… it feels so strange to have a Sculpture Hand pushing inside the machine.”
“Sculpture Hand…” Rebecca’s eyes rolled up as she thought hard. Suddenly, it was as if some train of thought was unfolded. “Oh yes, it’s not a must to use air currents… So much so that we can even dispose of this thing called ‘air cylinder’?”
Watching Rebecca’s eyes that were growing brighter and brighter, Gawain could not help but feel delighted at heart. The doofus was going to make a contribution again!?
Heidi also became curious. “What have you thought of?”
Rebecca gestured happily. “Aunt, do you remember that I had a spell that I could never learn back then…”
“Other than fireballs, which other spells have you mastered?”
“No, that trick level one. You believed that I would definitely be able to master it regardless of how dense I was.” Rebecca waved her hands with effort. “Subsequently, I secretly drew runes inside the glove, pretending that I could cast the spell. In the end, I was hung up and beaten up by you and dad…”
Gawain was speechless.
Was there a need for this girl to be gleeful when speaking about these?!
Meanwhile, Heidi had clearly recalled what that ‘trick’ Rebecca was referring to was. “Repulsion trick?”