Steel steam and flame

"I don't think the scientists in the imperial scientific research structure have completely given up on this field. Those people are not old-fashioned people. Exploring and developing new things has always been something they are interested in. But the current fact is that the popularity of electricity is only used for Just lighting and basic communication transmission, most of the power operations in life are still driven by steam. It seems that the position will not be shaken by electricity in a short time." Sotagang said slowly, "Of course this is just my guess. ——Perhaps there is something that limits the development of electricity. It is a problem that even the highest scientific research institutions in the empire cannot solve in a short time. Stability? Safety performance? Or is it a problem in mining and manufacturing? Or is it steam power, electric power belt? After all, the motivation to come is much less?”

"After I came out of school, I read a lot of books and got a lot of precious information based on my identity. Maybe there is a reason, but it was blocked so hard that it couldn't get to the core."

"Of course it's the reason. As a huge country, the empire will never do anything meaningless." Cassia was sure of this, but there were some things that he couldn't understand. "Actually, I don't know much about electricity. , only limited to lighting and communications, and of course some super-giant engineering machinery. I once saw a super-giant mining machinery in an abandoned limestone mining area. The main power was an old-generation tube. Provided. The generation and heating of steam are accomplished using the electricity inside. There are also pneumatic weapons, which Mr. Sotagang should be familiar to you."

"I have a business in this area. I have a few mechanics who are familiar with me, and they provide various imitation or customized pneumatic weapons. But the profits are not high, and they all go into the pockets of those mechanics. This kind of weapons I can understand the application of Hui Tuan." Sotagang looked over again, and he knew a lot. He had served as an intermediate agent for nearly ten years, and these time were not only used in black market business.

"Abandoned super giant machinery for mining. As expected, it should have been built by the Imperial Mining Company." With a very sure tone, Sotagang's expression became a little confused here, "This is the place that I can't figure out. As one of the seven giant companies in the empire, they can directly connect with the top scientific research institutions. Judging from the current status of electricity in the empire, their approach is indeed a bit strange. On the one hand, many large machinery and war machines almost always exclude electricity. attitude, but on the other hand, they actively use this convenient energy in other fields.”

"The size of the phosphorus tube and the energy contained in it do not reflect each other very well." Cassia added.

"Or maybe,..., as one of the power agencies in the empire, they have far more information than we do. In other words, they know when and where the tubes can be used. And in other areas , only steam can drive the shafts to move?" Sotagang waited for Cassia's words.

Without getting an answer, Cassia looked at the white steam rising from the water. He had almost never thought about this kind of question, so it didn't matter what he discussed with Sotagang.

When the two returned to the house, it happened to be ten o'clock in the morning. It's been a while. After changing their clothes, the four of them had no intention of going to the factory. Fortunately, there was some food in the refrigerator in the house. After briefly dealing with it, the four of them sat down and began to discuss the next plan.

At the table, the expressions of several people all became serious. To be able to reach this point, strength and caution are the basic qualities that everyone has.

"My team will come up tonight, and I will have to worry about you for the supplies of shelter and weapons." When he came back last night, Cassia also briefly informed Ye Jielin of the situation on his side. I tried again, but still couldn't contact Atuohuan. Selmer should have already arrived there, and it was only a matter of time before he met Atuohuan.

Sotagang nodded yes. Bota unfolded the city's floor plan, using the steam tower as a symbol. After three days of exploration, some areas were painted red.

"This is the result of the investigation. We cannot guarantee its accuracy and can only be used as a reference. The Ovelia you mentioned knows us very well, and the investigation information is extremely comprehensive. The signal transmitter was found on the bait released for the first time. We have also sent people to investigate several airports, and there are indeed records of small airships landing, but it says that they are merchant ships, used to transport some valuable mechanical parts." Berta knocked on the table, "Follow this The clues continued to be followed, and all the mechanical parts transported disappeared. The enemy swept away the traces."

"Active searches will not yield good results." Ye Jielin said, "Those mechanical parts are probably weapons. Ovelia is very talented in mechanics, and the operation is confirmed to be in the second stage. There may be something inside A new set of armor specially customized for her by the Astus family. It is very important for her to become proficient in using the armor as quickly as possible. She will not miss the opportunity to practice in actual combat and must think of ways to deal with it in advance."

"War Armor..." Sotagang became interested. It was also one of the integrations of imperial industry and bioscience technology. It was just a war machine and would not appear in ordinary people's lives as frequently as airships. .

"This is the source of your small super vapor compression devices. But it is not complete because it cannot be overridden. Ovelia's physical strength has not fully reached the standard it should be. Some functions cannot be accepted and used by the second-stage surgery. . But it can indeed increase the combat effectiveness of Ovelia to a higher level. The firepower is somewhat limited by the size and size, but the defense is a big trouble for us. The fire blunderbuss should not be able to work, and the heavy machine gun that destroys the bunker may be able to .”

Sotagang smiled and shook his head: "So you asked me to prepare these things three days ago. Unfortunately, we are not Miss Ye Jielin, and we have the arsenal of Webley Company behind us. What you said The better-quality heavy machine guns of this kind are those from big forces and the military that have taken the initiative to flow into the black market. This thing is not easy to get, at least for my current status. There are large-caliber platinum bullets, and platinum gunpowder can also be used. If you get a lot of them, they will explode in a concentrated manner, and the armor will not be able to withstand it. I just want to lure the enemy to the explosion site..."

"What about pneumatic weapons?" Cassia interrupted at this time. Pneumatic weapons have always been called the absolute nemesis of steel machines. They are often used on the battlefield to quickly cut through enemy heavy and giant armored units, and are also extremely destructive to buildings. The threat performance even exceeds that of aerial bomb clusters in some special missions and battlefields. It’s just that the standards of use are too high and the rigid requirements for surgeons are extremely strict. In the imperial military, only those with a rank of lieutenant or above are eligible to use pneumatic weapons. And it is only limited to contact and knowledge of such ultra-destructive weapons.