In this magical world, the value of magical creations is far higher than that of ordinary creations. Especially in the current period, the demand for minerals in the entire Blackstone Collar is the most urgent.

And the amount of minerals in that underwater cave is staggering, and the purity is extremely high. If the specific uses of this mineral could be clarified, then Qin Song would choose to take the risk of attacking the underwater cave and seize this important strategic resource.

The first thing is to find out the properties of minerals.

However, this alone presented Qin Song with a problem. Alice came to try it with her metallic abilities - the crystal cluster didn't react at all. Linda used the rock's abilities to try, but there was no reaction either.

That is, it is not metal and rock in the popular sense.

Well, reluctantly explained, magic minerals, can't be measured by common sense.

This brings us to the second one, the hardness test.

The standard adopted by Qin Song is the famous Mohs hardness, which is a value that can be quantified using references, such as 1 for talc, 1.5 for skin, 3 for calcite, 6-7 for teeth, and 10 for diamond.

The method used is the scratch measurement method, which is rough but convenient and concise. After a simple test, the crystal was able to leave scratches on the surface of the black iron ingot, but not on the emerald, that is, beryl. The hardness of black iron, above iron, is roughly 7, and emerald is roughly 8.5.

That is, the hardness of crystals is in the range of 7.5-8 on the Mohs scale. This hardness is already quite high, second only to corundum and diamond.

Mohs hardness is only a benchmark test and has no specific use at the moment.

The next step is the all-important melt test, which determines whether the single crystals of the minerals present in the crystal can be melted at high temperatures and cast.

In order to carry out this experiment, the new blacksmith shop for Blacksmith Marbury was temporarily requisitioned and enclosed, and no idle people were allowed to approach.

On the day of the experiment, there was an accident.

The crucible heated by the steam blower at high temperature was broken, but the crystal showed no signs of melting, which proved from the side that the melting temperature required by the crystal was even higher than that of black iron, which could not be reached for the time being with the current technology of the black stone collar.

Sounds like bad news.

But actually, it's absolutely good news.

Crystal has an outrageously high melting temperature, so it has the potential to be used as a refractory material. Moreover, its Mohs hardness is not top-notch, and it can be crushed, so there is a great probability that a masonry mixed with crystal will make a high-temperature container - such as a blast furnace.

Of course, this is just the most basic idea.

And in the next few days, all of Qin Song's attention was on the crystal, because after being monitored by the anglerfish, the range of movement of the transparent tentacle monster had never been out of the cave, and the same cave patrol was carried out every day.

After the basic physical test is completed, it is the magic test.

And the results of the test surprised Qin Song, this crystal not only could not absorb magic power, but also had a strong repulsive effect, and the phenomenon of repulsion occurred.

For example, in the simplest experiment, the Dream Weaver Alloy, once close to the crystal, the two objects are like magnets opposite each other, spontaneously repelling each other, and the repulsion is surprisingly powerful.

In a sense, this crystal contains the power of extreme repulsion to magic.

This discovery made Qin Song very depressed for a while, he once thought that this should be a rare magic material, and the potential that could be tapped was huge. In the end, it can only be concluded that his magical nature and the magical nature of the other tentacle monster are mutually exclusive, just like their position.

This doomed him to make the most of the crystal, but just as he was about to give up the study of the crystal and use it only as a refractory material, a turning point came.

Veronica!

Her psychic sigil ability can be engraved on the crystal, and the engraved crystal changes its own attributes, becoming extremely attractable and blending with magic, and can conduct magic power, as well as store magic power, and its magic power endurance is almost the same as that of the Dream Weaver alloy.

Moreover, the crystal with the carved sigil is placed together with the Dream Weaver alloy again, like two magnets that attract opposite sexes, closely combined.

Repulsion and gravitational force.

Because of the transformation of its attributes, the transformation is generated.

Repulsion – gravitational force.

Knowing that mechanics is involved, there must be one word inseparable - do work!

Even the steam engine is the same, through the alternating action of steam, the thrust is generated, and the piston is moved to do work, thus producing an effect.

Then, this wonderful property may also be used for work.

The steam engine for boiling water, because it is inseparable from the boiler, is too difficult to miniaturize, and the power will be seriously insufficient. Qin Song understood the principle of the internal combustion engine, but its structure was too complicated, and there was no oil to use.

But the appearance of the crystal changed his mind.

The expanding gas can act, and the deflagrated gas flow can work—then the repulsion and gravitational force of the crystal must also work.

In the world of magic, it is necessary to use magical thinking to solve problems.

Qin Song seemed to have opened the door to a new world, and immediately invited Veronica's Alice, the two logistics backbones, to his office.

"Qin, your idea is really interesting. Attraction and repulsion, two diametrically opposed forces, can be transformed entirely through runes. If, I mean if, we have a wonderful device, maybe it really is, as you say, to make a whole new power plant. ”

The first to speak was Veronica, who was also attracted by Qin Song's wonderful thinking.

"That's right. Alice's eyes also glowed, as a participant in the whole process of steam engine design and manufacturing, she knew the transmission structure and working principle of the steam engine well, and in Qin Song briefly introduced the wonderful phenomenon of crystal, almost immediately had an idea, and happily took a quill pen to draw a sketch on papyrus. 、

It was a sketch indeed, with only three parts, a piston, and two crystals at the upper and lower ends.

"Qin, you see. Alice pointed to the crystal on it with a quill: "If we think of this as the cylinder of a steam engine, the upper crystal creates attraction and the lower crystal repulsives. Then the piston, under the mixture of the two forces, will move from the bottom to the top. And when the piston moves upward, if we can instantly change the polarity of the crystal, then it becomes repulsion from above, attraction from below, and the piston will move downward. We're constantly changing the polarity, well, just like changing the valve, then the piston will reciprocate like a real steam engine, and then do the work through the connecting rod!"

This is already an extremely perfect idea, the two crystals alternately do work, and even the flywheel required for reciprocating motion can be directly omitted.

"Is it possible? Veronica. Qin Song raised his head with a smile and looked at Veronica.

Veronica also had a smile on her face: "You can try, I have a not-so-mature idea." ”

"Any ideas?"

"Swap!"

"Swap?"

"Yes. Veronica took Alice's sketch and added the same set of piston devices next to it: "For example, when the first piston you call moves upward, the top is a gravitational crystal and the bottom is a repulsion crystal. Then again, the piston next to it does the opposite, with a repulsion crystal at the top and a gravitational crystal at the bottom, moving from top to bottom. Then, when both pistons reach their respective positions, we only need to design an ingenious switching structure to swap the crystals at the top and bottom of each other. Then the direction of the respective forces will also change, causing the two pistons to move in opposite directions again. ”

Qin Song smiled: "It does sound feasible. However, this is very demanding for the structure of the machine. Moreover, I wonder if the presence of gravity and repulsion at both ends has an effect on the motion of their respective pistons, and whether there is an interaction between the two crystals themselves.

"So it's not a very mature idea. Veronica nodded: "If the two crystals are in direct contact, the polarity will be figured out." ”

"If we ...... directly" Qin Song simply picked up the quill, added a crystal to the side of the cylinder, and then nodded: "If we design a conversion device, when the crystal at one end needs gravity, this transformation crystal with a rune will be connected to the crystal in some way to change its polarity." And when a crystal needs repulsion, this crystal disconnects and connects to another crystal, giving you gravitational polarity. Is it possible to achieve the same goal?"

"Maybe. Veronica pondered: "Crystals have a considerable structure, and when they come into direct contact, they can affect each other, just like the crystal clusters they form together, and they will also form a whole. ”

"Qin, I thought of it!" Alice said with great interest: "The up and down movement of the piston is the power. We can set up a clever turning device, or valve, to precisely control the direction of the crystal's connection. Well, the power plant you are talking about is very likely to come true. ”

"So, are you interested in doing an experiment?" Qin Song stood up with a smile: "Practice is the only criterion for testing the truth!"