Chapter 146 : The Tenth Anniversary of the Founding
Chapter 146: The Tenth Anniversary of the Founding
Amid her busy schedule, Mitia still went to the Alliance Central Station to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the first trial run of the new locomotive, and she personally rode this train.
This “Alliance-class” locomotive used a 12-cylinder internal-combustion engine powered by crystal powder, and the engine compartment adopted a streamlined bullet-head full-seal design.
Several air ducts were built beneath the front end to ventilate and cool the engine.
Even the wheels were covered by curved steel plates, giving the locomotive excellent aerodynamics.
Its theoretical top speed could reach 230 km/h, and the external powder-storage tank brought its maximum range to around 1,000 km.
But achieving such a speed was no easy task.
Trains nowadays were already very different from the past.
Every bogie between the carriages was independently built and included spring-shock structures.
The joints between the cars were wrapped in rubber boards to maximize stability and airflow efficiency.
It could be said that even if this locomotive were placed in her previous world, it would definitely not be outdated.
Aside from advancements in industrial technology, the Seris Alliance had never stopped researching magic crystals and Mechanical Bodies.
For instance, the internal-combustion engine—previously forced to use oil fuel—could now increase power output through detonation ignition using injected elemental crystal powder, thanks to new alloys and stronger injectors.
Its thermal efficiency was also much higher than oil-based fuels.
However, because the mixture ratio of the powder required extremely precise control—too much or too little directly affected the density of energy release—the mechanical structure had to be far more delicate.
In simpler terms, it was not robust or durable enough, and transportation requirements were extremely strict.
If handled poorly, the powder really could explode instantly.
Therefore, fuel-powered engines still had their own survival niche.
This clean, extremely dense energy source was something Mitia planned to reserve for future high-end or ultimate weapons.
The magitech engine could even supply energy back to the magitech pack—this point was worth exploring further.
But for mid- and low-end production, she still relied on mass-produced armaments forming armored floods.
High-end weapons were not suitable for “using anti-aircraft cannons to shoot mosquitoes”; they would have their own dazzling stage.
Assigning such engines to trains was also a form of real-combat trial.
To the Alliance, trains—its primary tools—held strategic value no lower than military weapons.
Besides enriching mathematical theory, she also tinkered with small devices, such as a desktop printing calculator she had fiddled with earlier.
This purely mechanical device could perform certain calculations.
It was specially provided for workers in the Tax and Accounting Department to reduce their workload.
Mitia did not devote too much energy to this purely mechanical creation.
In truth, what she had always been advancing was the transistor technology that would come after vacuum tubes.
If one asked which human invention came closest to a miracle, it would undoubtedly be the transistor.
With the rapid rise of military technology, demands for computers grew higher and higher.
The Alliance Academy of Sciences now had two punch-card computers capable of performing multiplication within a single second, greatly improving the calculation speed of bulk-product data.
At the same time, they introduced the concept of abstraction, shifting the主体 of calculation from humans to virtual machines.
But there was one very awkward issue—education levels could not keep up with electronic development.
Forget understanding principles; even basic operation required large amounts of study.
Thus Mitia had no choice but to elevate part of the Alliance’s educational level through multiple simultaneous measures.
For example, she established gifted classes for young prodigies of basic disciplines, taught by experts or by herself, especially in the field of mathematics.
Under her subtle guidance, competitions large and small related to mathematics became innumerable throughout the Alliance.
Even the smallest competitions awarded substantial prizes—because Mitia personally subsidized them from behind the scenes~
At the same time, printing factories mass-produced fundamental books of related specialties for citizens to read and review what they learned in night school.
Unions also regularly printed introductory mathematics handbooks to distribute for free, cultivating a nationwide atmosphere of mathematical study.
Mathematics was the most needed discipline for now and the future.
Anyone wanting to advance into computing required mathematics for theoretical foundations, and deciphering mathematical problems was one of the driving forces behind computer development.
After handling her affairs and gaining a brief moment of rest, Mitia lifted her tea and took a sip.
Looking toward the nearby Anna, she asked: “Have you figured out the attitudes of those two Empires?”
Anna shook her head: ‘The intelligence agencies have found little progress inside the Empires.
They can only conclude that the other side is highly interested in industrial machinery and systems.’
‘According to their observations, these two Empires already have railways and fully operational steam trains, but…’
“But these technologies weren’t provided by us, nor by the Suria Kingdom, correct?”
‘Mm… the other party is deliberately avoiding us.
It’s very strange.’
“No… it’s not strange at all.”
Mitia tapped the table lightly, a shallow smile appearing on her face: “They are afraid that if they accept our technical aid and follow our developmental path, they will be controlled by us in the future.”
“Aren’t they controlling other countries through Mechanical Bodies? And we just so happen to have never imported their Mechanical Bodies~”
December 25th, Year 3258
The final Festival of the Magic Goddess’s Birth before the Tenth Anniversary of the Founding of Seris
After just a few years of recovery, the citizens newly joined into the Alliance already felt considerable identification with it.
At the very least, tonight’s birthday festival would be extremely lively.
Because the Holy Light Cathedral—completed by the Seris Alliance not long ago—was about to officially open to the public.
Tourists taking the day off for leisure would occasionally pass by the cathedral, and they always heard majestic and ethereal long notes echoing from within, often making them stop in their tracks.
“Listen!”
“Well? What does this sound make you feel?”
Mitia released her hand and looked at Miwei with a bright smile: “The principle of the pipe organ is airflow vibrating through pipes to create unique notes.
Airflow… is the breathing sound of the organ.”
“And this cathedral is nothing more than the resonator of this instrument!”
Miwei stood dazed, letting the waves of sound envelop her, her expression turning doubtful as though questioning life itself: ‘Why do I feel like it resembles a Pontiff more than you~’
“Nonsense! It’s an instrument!!!”
‘Are you going to perform it tonight?’
Mitia looked eager: “Being called a cultural wasteland, a barbarian, a country bumpkin for so long—I’ve been wanting to pay it all back!”
‘But… something so complicated, we can’t play it…’
Miwei glanced at the master console, densely packed from top to bottom with at least hundreds of buttons.
Her head spun—could a normal person even manage that?
Mitia stared at the pedals beneath her feet, and at the three rows in front of them, feeling a wave of guilt: “Ahem… I know two simple pieces… it should… probably be fine?”