The various affairs in the fief seemed to have entered an orderly stage, and Gwen finally had a brief moment of leisure.
In the study of the liege's residence, he had finished dealing with the official affairs that had accumulated over the past few days. He then leaned back in his spacious chair, relaxing as he listened to Heti's daily report.
"… All in all, all the autumn grain storage and statistics have been completed. The winter rations in the remote areas have also been distributed. There should not be a large-scale famine in the main areas of the southern territory this winter …"
"The magic net project is still expanding along the cross axis, and has now covered the Peirin area …"
"The commercial messenger sent to the east has already set off …"
Gwen sighed slightly. "It's good to have no bad news."
"We can't have bad news every day. It was not easy for us to settle down." Heti smiled, but halfway through, her expression became a little subtle. "But while there is no bad news, there is one thing that is quite concerning. Rebecca seems to be tinkering with something recently …"
Gwen's relaxed expression suddenly changed. "Rebecca? What has she been doing recently? "
"She has built a big pool in the Magitech Research Institute …" Heti looked almost blank when she said this. "She is raising slime monsters in it."
Gwen was stunned. "… Why is she raising slime monsters?!"
"The report submitted says that she wants to study the industrial value of the slime monsters. But because it is a small project within the Magitech Research Institute, she only knows the details of the project."
Gwen was puzzled. But just as he was about to ask more, the magic net terminal installed beside the desk suddenly lit up and let out a loud buzzing sound.
Gawain activated the terminal, but to his surprise, the holographic projection on the top of the terminal was none other than Rebecca.
"Rebecca? I was just about to — "
But before Gwen could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the girl. The girl was wearing a white researcher's robe outside her dress, her face and hands were greasy as she jumped up and down excitedly in the image. "Ancestor, ancestor!! A car! A car! There's a car!! "
Gawain was dumbfounded by this abrupt question. "What did you say?"
Heti looked at Rebecca's ungraceful behavior and could not help but frown. "Rebecca, have you forgotten the etiquette again?"
"Ah! Aunt! " Rebecca then noticed that Heti was also on the other side of the communicator. Her expression and movements instantly stiffened. "You're here too …"
"You're at the machine building?" Gwen noticed the scene behind Rebecca after she stopped jumping. He saw the lathes and the wide assembly platform, and his heart skipped a beat. "It's a magic car?"
"Yes! Dan Dan and I finally managed to solve the last few problems! We've built it!! " Rebecca rushed to the communicator excitedly. Eighty percent of Gawain's screen was occupied by the girl's greasy face. "Come and take a look! Come take a look! "
Nicholas Eggy's voice came from the background of the communicator. "Why is it Eggy again? Didn't you call me Mr. Eggy last time?"
After that, Rebecca seemed to say something, but Gwen was not in the mood to continue listening. He suddenly got up and turned off the communicator. As he walked to the door, he said to Heti, "Come with me!"
Heti's mind was still spinning with the question of why Rebecca was raising a Ooze, but from Gwen's reaction, she realized that Rebecca had probably made some amazing achievement, enough to make the ancestor throw the Ooze to the back of his mind.
She hurriedly agreed and quickly followed Gawain's footsteps.
Mechanical Research Institute. Beside the 'mechanical platform' of the first workshop, hundreds of technicians in work clothes or research uniforms gathered together, looking at the hard-earned achievement on the platform with eager and proud expressions. Rebecca and a few of her assistants stood in the middle of the crowd, excitedly discussing the possible future uses of this epoch-making creation. The silver-white Nicholas Eggy, with a cheerful smile on his face, quietly floated closest to the mechanical platform. He felt every exquisite detail of the complex machine, every seamless gear and lever, every repulsive mechanism and pump mechanism ready to go. An unprecedented sense of satisfaction filled his 1.3-meter-diameter, 1.5-ton body.
Heavy and hurried footsteps came from the door of the workshop. Rebecca immediately looked up, and after seeing who it was, she excitedly waved and greeted, "Ancestor! Aunt! You're here!! "
Gwen walked through a group of researchers who were saluting him and looked at the mechanical creation on the circular platform with eager eyes. "Is this it?"
"As you can see …" Rebecca raised her hand, mimicking the gesture of a butler or senior attendant when introducing guests. "Isn't it beautiful?"
Frankly speaking, in the aesthetic sense of many people in this era, this thing might not even be considered beautiful. However, in the eyes of those who had already accepted the style of Cecil's arcanotech devices, it could indeed be associated with "aesthetics."
It was a complicated machine made of black steel, and its shape was slightly similar to the car chassis in Gwen's impression, but there was a huge difference. Since it was a test product, it did not have a shell, and almost all of its mechanical structure was directly exposed to the outside. The assembled gears, levers, and axles were like a fleshless monster, which made it look quite frightening, but also had a strange sense of beauty.
Since there was no shell, Gwen could clearly see many of the structure of the chassis: four steel wheels were installed on both sides of the same steel frame, and a miniaturized, second-generation magic engine specially designed for mobile vehicles was installed at the rear to provide power. A large number of runes covered the entire chassis structure, forming a complete set of magic net structure, and in the center of the chassis, there was a very conspicuous' beam '. It was not only a beam that provided structural strength, but also a part of the magic mechanism. Gwen saw a large number of runes concentrated on the beam, and the magic net of the chassis was also connected to the beam. Many connecting rods and wire mechanisms that controlled the runic triggers were also integrated in the front of the beam. This structure gave him a sense of déjà vu.
Rebecca quickly explained the source of this sense of déjà vu. "Are you thinking of the 'power spine' on the magic-powered warship?"
Gwen suddenly realized. "The same idea?"
"Yes, the power spine of the magic-powered warship has given us a lot of inspiration." Rebecca nodded. "Integrating various control mechanisms and energy transmission structures into a module, minimizing the intermediate structure and the number of trivial parts can minimize the failure rate and improve the reliability of the machine. Once there is a failure, it will be easier to repair. If the failure is too big, we can even directly replace the entire power spine, so that the whole machine can be operated again in the shortest time. I think as long as it is a large arcanotech machine, such as cars and ships, we can use the power spine structure in the future. "
Gwen could not think of anything at this stage that could replace this structure, so he nodded slightly. "Very good."
The power spine structure could be said to be the most typical technical achievement created by the local technicians since the establishment of the Magic-Powered Research Institute and the Machine Manufacturing Institute. Not only did Gwen not intervene at all, but even Rebecca was not the main inventor of the power spine structure.
It was a group of mage apprentices from the Leslie area who came up with this structure. After they became magic-powered technicians, they were sent to carry out the magic-powered transformation of the old warship. In order to fit a large set of magic-powered devices into a large warship and integrate all the complex systems into a stable and reliable control-power supply structure, they referred to the control technology of the Mage Tower and came up with the initial idea of the power spine.
After that, nearly a hundred runemasters, mechanics, magicians, and craftsmen from all over the Southern Region worked together to create the first generation of the real practical 'power spine', which was used on the Polar Light and the Morning Star.
And now, this technical achievement, which proved to be stable and reliable on the magic-powered warship, was successfully miniaturized and installed on the chassis of the first generation of arcanotech vehicles after the endless efforts of the technicians in the Machine Manufacturing Institute.
If Rebecca's plan was reliable, then the 'power spine' structure would continue to be developed and become the central structure of various arcanotech vehicles and large magical facilities in the future. It would continue to be perfected and popularized until one day in the future, a more epoch-making, more stable and reliable structure could replace it.
Gawain did not know how to describe this feeling. Even though he had started this era, the flashes of brilliance that kept emerging in this era were always beyond his expectations.
He looked up and looked at the control section of the 'prototype arcanotech vehicle'. There was a chair welded to the front of the chassis, and many control devices were installed in front of the seat. Like the mechanical structure exposed in other parts of the chassis, it was also a completely open 'driver's seat'.
At least the steering wheel was still the way he recognized it.
But the several levers and pedals outside the steering wheel were not the same as what he remembered in his previous life.
Obviously, the designers did not fully follow the 'conceptual plan' that Gwen had first proposed to design the machine's operating system. They planned the functions and positions of the levers according to their own habits, or they may have made these changes according to the special operating method of the 'runic trigger'. More likely, they asked the most experienced coachman in the city and made a plan for the entire control seat based on the coachman's driving experience.
In this regard, Gawain would not express his opinion. Although he had the mature design of another world in his mind and had the experience of two lifetimes, he knew that his experience was not always applicable. Besides, he was not the expert here. Whether these things were useful or not would depend on the results of actual tests.
As for now, there was nothing but delight in his heart as he stared at the prototype arcanotech car that had yet to be sealed, its mechanical structure exposed everywhere as if it was some sort of punk product. However, due to the burden of his ancestors, he could only appear solemn as he inspected it in front of others while circling the mechanical platform again and again. It was only on the third lap that he could not help but reach out and touch the wheels curiously. "… What did you use to make these tires?"
Due to the deviation of the list of substances and the technology tree, Cecil did not have rubber — natural or man-made. Without rubber, all kinds of rubber products, including tires, were naturally impossible. When he was designing the arcanotech vehicle, Gwen expected that one of the difficulties would be here.
Tires played a huge role. They could reduce vibrations and make the driver more comfortable while extending the lifespan of the mechanical structure. They could provide reliable friction and prevent skidding. They could also prevent the steel wheels from being directly worn out. A well-designed tire could also allow the vehicle to travel more efficiently and conserve energy …
But without rubber, everything was just a fantasy.
Gwen even considered using suspension and caterpillar track to get around this problem. But now, it seemed that Rebecca and Nicholas' team had solved the material problem. Although he did not know what material they used, the layer of material outside the wheel was clearly not rubber.
It was grayish-white, rough, and had a certain elasticity. Smelling it carefully, there was a very faint earthy smell.
Rebecca seemed to be happy to see the omnipotent ancestor asking her a question. She put her hands on her waist and smiled proudly. "Ancestor, guess what we used?"
Gwen was stunned for a moment and then began to search his memory. But before he could think of the answer, Heti, who had followed him, rubbed the surface of the wheel with her hand and then showed an uncertain look. "This thing is … No way … You used the sludge monster's excrement to make … to make a tire?"
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