Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence - Chapter 413 - 270: Steam Engine and Knight Special Forces
Chapter 413: Chapter 270: Steam Engine and Knight Special Forces
After the new weapon conference concluded, Louis didn’t immediately leave the workshop district.
Following Mike’s guidance, he quietly bypassed the crowd outside, walked through a rusted corridor, and entered a secret workshop hidden behind the Red Tide Forge.
At the center of the workshop stood a strangely shaped device.
A cylindrical iron tank about two meters tall occupied the core space of the room.
The shell was cast from an alloy of cold iron and alchemical copper, covered in black heat-resistant paint. It didn’t look delicate, and even the seams were sealed with thick alchemical glue to prevent leaks, rough yet exuding a raw industrial power.
“This is what you mentioned before…the ’steam power engine.’” Mike patted the iron tank with a hint of pride, “We call it ’Iron Tank No. 1.’”
Louis looked at it, a hint of realization flashing in his eyes.
It was during a casual chat months ago.
He had casually talked about the steam engine from his Earth memories, but he didn’t know the specific structure of a steam engine, it was merely a passing comment.
Yet Mike had actually turned it from concept into reality.
Even though this thing in front of him was just a strange tank, it symbolized a completely different development path for this world.
Louis smiled and nodded: “…Let’s give it a try.”
Mike immediately called several craftsmen.
The two of them first opened the furnace door at the bottom, removing the ash with an iron shovel.
Afterward, carefully placing fuel bricks refined from Qi veins at the bottom of the furnace, dry wood and ventilating grass stalks were laid out, and finally a pinch of red phosphorus powder was sprinkled.
“Whoosh—!” The flame rose instantly with a blue edge, and the furnace temperature rapidly ascended.
Another craftsman brought a barrel of clean water, pouring it into the iron tank’s side water storage chamber.
Meanwhile, a young apprentice pumped a leather blower, high-temperature air rushed into the furnace, with a “boom,” the flame rose like a dragon.
Mike compared the equipment status against a handwritten checklist while shouting commands: “Main valve locked, lubricant normal, flywheel clip no problem, piston guide track no cracks!”
He even personally circled around “Iron Tank No. 1” to ensure there were no abnormal vibrations.
With his command, “Hiss—!” a high-pressure white steam burst out.
The craftsmen cooperated to turn the flywheel, the piston began to slowly reciprocate, driving the flywheel.
“Boom… boom… boom”
The rhythm gradually accelerated, like a steel heart awakening.
The main control valve slowly opened to the second notch, with a muffled sound “bang!”
The piston suddenly pushed forward, steam rushed in, and the whole machine began to operate rhythmically.
“Click, click, hiss—” Amidst the sound of metal clashing, the belt drove the connecting heavy hammer arm to slowly rise and fall, the air permeated with the scent of coal cinders and metal steam.
As sunlight penetrated through the gaps in the workshop, that plume of white steam seemed to drape the whole room in a veil.
People watched the roaring operation of the machine, amazement and curiosity showed on their faces.
It had no magic glow, nor rune arrays or spell echoes, just the collision of metal and the roar of steam. Yet it was this steadiness, this pure power, that made them feel a strange and wondrous shock.
However, this “magic” was only limited to that.
In a world where magic was everywhere and miracles were frequent, machinery driven solely by heat wasn’t enough to astound beyond belief.
After all, compared to those flying magical beasts and spell-floating towers, this thing was at most just a “moving iron barrel.”
For a moment, the craftsmen looked at each other, unsure of how to evaluate it.
Finally, an older blacksmith gathered the courage to ask: “Lord…what exactly is this thing for?”
Louis looked around, raising his hand to lightly tap the thick metal shell of the iron tank, the sound deep and rich, setting the tone for the upcoming declaration.
“What you see isn’t just this machine.” He spoke calmly, “Today, it just turned a flywheel.
But tomorrow, it can drive iron hammers, move axles, pull entire freight trains. And it won’t tire, won’t fear wind and snow, won’t need feeding, nor depend on magic.”
While speaking, he pointed to a pile of old wooden wheels in the corner of the workshop:
“One day, on the roads, you will see not horse-drawn wagons, but ’iron beasts’ powered by it—future armored vehicles and cargo convoys, all powered by built-in steam engines.”
As his words fell, Bradley’s eyes lit up, adding: “If it can be mass-produced…even just used in workshops, the productivity could be multiplied several times!”
A blacksmith hesitated for a moment, then quietly asked: “Can it be connected to the forging hammer? Would that mean we wouldn’t need to hammer it down by hand anymore?”
Louis smiled slightly, nodding: “That’s exactly my first step, to make steam engines the power core of the workshop.”
With those words, the craftsmen immediately erupted.
“If it can drive looms, the weavers wouldn’t need to step on foot pedals all day!”
“Forging wouldn’t be so laborious anymore!”
“If we could install it on the wooden carriage…could that mean we could create a self-running battle vehicle?”
The crowd gathered around the iron tank, excitedly watching the flywheel’s rotation, as if witnessing a divine artifact transcending time.
Even in a world possessing magic, they were deeply drawn to this ’non-magical’ power.
Even the always aloof Hillco revealed an unusual expression of surprise, softly saying: “Strange…this actually relies entirely on heat energy, without a trace of magic flow. This mechanical approach…is truly rare.”
He bent down, carefully observing the details of the iron tank’s flywheel movement, as if examining an unanalysable artifact from the Otherworld.
In this transcendent world, various magical devices do indeed exist.
