Chapter 831 The true face of the unknown race (Part 1)
While feeling shocked in his heart, Lei Xiao continued to look intently.
The steam locomotive in front of me was covered with thick dust. It had obviously gone through a long time. Many places on the unknown black metal skin had been rusted and rotten, making it extremely mottled.
In addition to the conventional structure, the locomotive is also inlaid with many unknown gems of various colors, which are also covered with thick dust.
But it can be clearly seen that these gems are connected by a magical pattern engraved on the surface of the car body, just like the components on a circuit board, looking complex and profound.
"What is this? What a strange structure."
Next to Lei Xiao, Ariel had a look of surprise on her face. She had obviously never seen this strange product combining technology and magic.
"This is a vehicle on the ground, just like a carriage or an airship in the sky, but it is faster, but it also requires a special energy source that is different from magic, and that is steam."
Lei Xiao nodded to Ariel while thinking secretly in his heart.
After this period of understanding, Lei Xiao has clearly understood.
In this different world of swords and magic, magic is the only energy source.
Since the human race only occupies a part of this land and is not the master of this land, it needs to be constantly wary of foreign armies. In addition, this land is full of monsters and dangers everywhere.
Therefore, most people focus on their own cultivation, the forging of equipment that can directly improve combat power, the research of magic, and the development of magic cannons.
This makes the overall scientific and technological level of the human race in this world relatively lagging behind, which is roughly equivalent to the level of the late Middle Ages. Mechanical applications only stay at the level of windmills and hydraulic turbines.
But even so, the human race is already the ceiling of technology. Other well-known races such as the elves, winged humans, and dwarves are even worse than the human race in terms of technological applications in daily life.
After all, most of these alien races admire nature, have a comfortable personality, and lack the curiosity and thirst for knowledge of humans.
And under such circumstances, it is indeed amazing that this unknown race has reached the level of the first industrial revolution and began to use steam as power.
Surprised, Lei Xiao's eyes wandered, and he continued to observe, and soon discovered other clues.
That is, except for the front part of this hybrid magic and steam train, the carriages of unknown length at the back are actually tightly embedded in the soil without any gaps.
Moreover, the wheels of the train were not in contact with any tracks, and there was no trace of the tracks around.
The weird and disharmonious scene was like this strange train that appeared out of thin air in this small underground space, and seemed extremely out of place.
"I was surprised just now. How did this train appear here?"
"You know, this is inside the "Wandering Gate". It's surprising enough that a small town appears, but why does a train appear again? ”
Thinking of this, Lei Xiao's eyes were suddenly filled with doubts.
"Lord, most of these gems retain a trace of space system energy fluctuations, and the outer skin of this thing is also made of the same raw material as the storage ring in many places. This should be able to form a special protective barrier against the void space. Just like the one used by subordinates to cast teleportation spells.”
After carefully examining it for a while, Jiang Li was surprised and said to Lei Xiao: "If my subordinate's prediction is correct, this thing seems to be able to shuttle back and forth between the void space and the real space to achieve the same level as a strong person in the space system. Teleportation effect.”
"Good guy, it turns out that this is not only a hybrid train of magic and steam, but also a teleportation train that can travel through space?"
The surprise on Lei Xiao's face became more and more obvious, and he murmured to himself: "Everything about this unknown race is really becoming more and more curious."
"Lord, this rusty metal door seems to be able to be opened."
I saw the burly Knotweed standing in front of the cab in the rear part of the locomotive. He nodded to Lei Xiao and said, "Do you need my subordinates to unload it?"
"Knotweed, you are always so reliable."
Lei Xiao raised his eyebrows, smiled faintly and said: "Take it off, it's time to see who this unknown race is."
"As you command, Lord."
With the respectful response of the knotweed, the thick, rusty metal door, which weighed at least several hundred kilograms, was easily dismantled by the knotweed and then gently put aside.
At this point, the interior of this magical teleportation train has been displayed in front of Lei Xiao and his party.
"Let's go in and have a look."
Lei Xiao nodded to his subordinates, and headed straight towards the cab with Huzhuang and Hongye taking the lead.
Coming to the inside of the cab, Lei Xiao noticed.
This place is more spacious than expected. There are more than a dozen people standing inside, and it doesn't feel crowded at all. It's just that the door of the cab is slightly smaller, and the knotweed even has to bend down to get in.
Under the illumination of the magic light ball, I saw two side-by-side operating consoles on the left half of the cab.
On one of the consoles are several devices similar to mechanical rockers.
As for the other console, it consists of a crystal ball with most of it exposed and several round gemstones.
The former is technology and the latter is magic. The combination of the two consoles can be said to complement each other.
In the second half of the cab, although the shape is a bit strange, like a propeller that is tightly spliced together, Lei Xiao can still see that this is obviously the boiler mouth to add a heat source.
The bottom of the black boiler is connected to large and small gears, and the surface is covered with a large number of magic lines and various gems. It looks both steampunk and fantasy-like.
But what remains unchanged is that there is still a thick layer of dust here, and even the humid air is filled with an extremely strong smell of rust.
"Lord, what is this window-like place used for?"
Chaoyan sniffed, blinked his shining star eyes, and said with a curious look on his face.
"This is where steam is generated, and steam is a special energy source like magic."
Lei Xiao explained the working principle of the steam engine in the most concise and clear words.
"As long as resources such as wood and coal are placed inside, and converted by some special devices, it can become an energy source similar to magic."
"As expected, this space train is driven by a hybrid of steam and magic."
Lei Xiao looked around in the cab and said with a faint smile: "In the world I was in before, magic did not exist, and for a long time, steam was an important production and development tool."
"It's so amazing."
Chaoyan looked suddenly enlightened and blurted out: "You can actually transform the wood that can be seen everywhere into a magical existence. The world where the Lord lives is really amazing!"
"That's right, so if the strengths of the two worlds can be successfully combined, a more powerful human civilization will surely develop. This has already been implemented and practiced by alien lords on other continents."
Lei Xiao nodded and said in admiration: "But what I didn't expect is that this power of combining technology and magic has already been born."
After a pause, Lei Xiao added: "However, judging from the current situation, this combination is still at the technological level of my world two or three hundred years ago, and many places are still very primitive."
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"For example, the efficiency of this kind of steam engine is very low and will cause a lot of waste of resources, so there is still a lot of room for improvement."
At this point, Lei Xiao curled his lips helplessly.
Through Qin Qian's report, Lei Xiao already knew.
So far, not only have no materials for making gunpowder been found in the world, but no energy sources related to oil and natural gas have been found.
This means that if traditional methods are used, it is obviously impossible to apply an internal combustion engine more powerful than a steam engine in this world.
But if you can combine these with magic, you may be able to create a more powerful special engine.
And this unknown race that has adopted a hybrid power of steam and magic will undoubtedly make this research smoother.
"The lord is indeed very powerful."
Although Chaoyan looked confused, he still nodded heavily.
"This knowledge is still too obscure for you. I will tell you more about my previous world when I have time."
Lei Xiao casually touched Chaoyan's head, and then focused his eyes on the operating table again.
After careful observation, Lei Xiao further noticed.
Although the metal seats configured on the two operating consoles can adjust the height and front-to-back distance independently, the current state is obviously not a size that normal people can use, and it looks much more crowded.
"It seems that the height of this unknown race seems to be much shorter than that of normal humans."
Lei Xiao remembered the stairs and the cab door when he came down, and nodded thoughtfully.
As for the town at the top, although it is all human-sized, it is probably just a disguise.
With this in mind, Lei Xiao ordered the other subordinates: "Okay, let's go to the car at the back and have a look."
The subordinates bowed and ordered, forming an exploration formation again.
After passing through the shorter compartment door that was once again removed by Japanese knotweed, when Lei Xiao came to the section of compartment behind the cab, he suddenly had a look of surprise on his face.
The trains here are completely different from the high-speed trains that Lei Xiao has seen. Not only is the area larger, but the space utilization is also very high.
Except for the aisle in the middle, there are three-layer structures on both sides, which are upper, middle and lower. Some are similar to sleeper cars. Each layer is connected by fixed ladders.
But the difference is that this is not a place to rest, but a place of work.
There are more than twenty empty workbenches in the area on the left, while the area on the right is an area similar to a library or information library. There are a large number of bookshelves engraved with exquisite patterns, and each bookshelf is filled with sheepskins. roll.
Unfortunately, after some inspection, Lei Xiao discovered it.
These parchment scrolls have rotted and deteriorated, and many of them are even just a pile of debris, making it impossible to decipher the words and patterns on them.
"That's interesting, let's move on."
After a careful search, Lei Xiao once again ordered the knotweed to remove the carriage door blocking the road in front.
Next, Lei Xiao and his party passed by the magic plant cultivation carriage, the breeding room carriage, the forging room carriage, the magic workshop carriage, the empty equipment carriage and warehouse carriage, the pub and restaurant carriage, the lounge carriage, the research room carriage, and even the There was also a bathroom compartment, which amazed the group of people.
The layout of each carriage here is extremely sophisticated, not only highly practical, but also artistic, except for the fixed rows of deep magic lines in each carriage.
Various exquisite floral textures can be seen everywhere, and even thick dust cannot block their brilliance.
Coupled with the long-lasting mottled and vicissitudes of life, each carriage is like a small museum, exuding a sense of history and unknown curiosity everywhere.
The most important thing is that this place is full of traces of the combination of technology and magic. It is very different from the outside world and gives people a very strange feeling.
"I have to say that this unknown race is really extraordinary. It's like being in a scene from a movie, with the never-ending train and the endless wind and snow."
After walking out of the empty bathroom compartment, Lei Xiao's eyes were already full of surprise: "It really makes people more and more curious about the true face of this unknown race."
"Lord, there are no corpses here either. Could it be that it is also a lost ruins?"
Ariel was surprised and couldn't help but said with doubts on her face: "In other words, the reason why this space train appears here is because of the "displaced object effect"? ”
"It's definitely not the "displaced object effect", otherwise there would be no abandoned town, pressure detection barrier, and those vigilant golem puppets on it. ”
Lei Xiao rejected one of Ariel's ideas and said thoughtfully: "As for whether this is a lost ruin, we will have the answer after exploring it."
After Lei Xiao finished speaking, he turned his attention to the car in front of him again.
This is a larger carriage with an even more amazing structure.
The carriage in front of you is filled with large and small metal gears, racks, springs and connecting shafts.
The structure of a layer of gears within a layer of gears makes the entire carriage form an extremely sophisticated and huge machine. Only the middle aisle is left empty, making it look complicated and orderly.
At first glance, the huge machine itself, complemented by the exquisiteness of every detail, gives people a different kind of beauty.
However, upon closer inspection, there is another picture.
After years of hard work, every part of the huge machine has been covered with traces of corrosion, making it mottled.
But every gear on it is still tightly meshed with each other, as if it is making a silent struggle, and it seems that it does not take time into account at all.
Although the entire machine seemed to be unable to operate again, Lei Xiao could still clearly observe the kinetic energy transmission process in each local area until it was dizzying.
Finally, Lei Xiao's eyes fell on the piles of gears marked with numerical symbols, and he slowly uttered a few words.
"Is it the Difference Engine? This race is really getting more and more surprising." (End of Chapter)