Led by the old lord, who rarely traveled far, José, the technical director of the gun workshop, Vicks, the chief gunsmith, and several mechanics set off from the small city of Somsonas in two carriages, first walked for more than seven hours on a mountain road, and then transferred to a train, and finally arrived in Aocheng after a bumpy journey of twenty-two hours. During this not-so-long journey, Weiss looked through the history and geography books he had found in the castle and asked his cheap dad all sorts of questions, which made up for his ignorance of the world: 63% of the planet known as "Orlense" is land, the average temperature here is about ten degrees lower than that of the earth, most of the water resources are frozen in the north and south poles, and the only continent is dotted with many lakes, rivers, swamps, and forests. The largest country in the Eastern Hemisphere is the Free Commonwealth of Ulster, the largest country in the Western Hemisphere is the Norman Empire, and the Kingdom of Wessex, a constitutional monarchy, entrenched in the north on the Wessex Peninsula and the Northern Isles, as well as more than 60 large and small countries and several colonial territories.

The city of Somsonas, where the Clumber-Heyssen family is located, belongs to the federal state of Lorraine, which is located in the southwestern border of the Ulster Free Federation, bounded by the Monamolin Mountains, and bordering the small kingdom of Falaline, and on the other side of the Farian Kingdom is the Norman Empire with great expansion ambitions - 24 years ago, the eastward expansion of the Norman Empire crossed the Monamolin Mountains and not only invaded the federal state of Lorraine, but also entered the hinterland of the Ulster Free Federation. The vanguard once advanced to a place just over sixty kilometers away from the city, and the Kingdom of Wessex, feeling the cold, entered into a military alliance treaty with the Ulster Free Federation, and attacked the Norman Empire with all its strength, and even in the case of one enemy and two enemies, the Norman army remained undefeated for most of the time, and even won a decisive victory on one or two occasions. The tug-of-war, which lasted for more than 5 years, finally ended in the crushing victory of the Ulster-Wessex Alliance, the Norman Empire was forced to sign an armistice and peace treaty, the old emperor Hohenstaufen III vowed not to launch a war of aggression, and more than 20 colonies that originally belonged to the Norman Empire, such as the Kingdom of Falaine, gained independence through the armistice and peace treaty, and the territory and strength of the Norman Empire were greatly weakened, and once fell into economic downturn and social turmoil.

Reluctant peace was destined to be short-lived, and four years ago, after the death of Hohenstaufen III, the first thing the new Emperor Hohenstaufen IV did after ascending the throne was to announce the declaration of peace that Hohenstaufen III had sworn to do, and the Norman Empire rejoiced, and then reinvigorated its armaments, and once again embarked on the path of expansion and aggression......

The current level of science and technology on this planet is roughly the same as that of the earth in the 20s of the 20th century, the steam engine technology is highly mature, and the internal combustion engine technology is in the initial stage of development, but due to the existence of a strange substance - "star source stone", they are different from the science and technology tree of the earth's humans, especially in the military industrial system, the difference is very obvious.

The so-called "Star Source Stone" is a special mineral deposit on this planet, after refining, a single electric current will produce a strong lift, so it is used to make flying warships of various specifications. The strength of a country's military strength depends to a large extent on its own production of "star source stones". Among the three major powers, the Norman Empire has the highest star source production, which can build flying warships with a total load of 10-120,000 tons per year; The Ulster Free Confederation and the Kingdom of Wessex have 7-80,000 tons and 4-50,000 tons respectively, and the combined output of the rest of the countries is less than 20,000 tons.

This is the secret of flying battleships!

Driven by steam locomotives, passenger trains traveled through the hinterland of the Ulster Free Federation at speeds of just over 80 miles. It's the middle of winter, and the woods, fields, and even towns and villages are covered in snow. On a planet that shares many similarities to Earth, freezing point is the usual reference line used to measure temperatures, and most of the Ulster Commonwealth only has an average daylight temperature above freezing for five months of the year, the Norman Empire is about the same, and the Kingdom of Wessex in the north is usually "warm" for only two months. The most direct impact of this cold climate is that there are few plant species and low crop yields, resulting in people's diet based on meat and starchy foods......

At breakfast time, Weiss and his party went to the dining car in two groups to eat. Of course, the meals on the train are not as particular as at home, a large piece of bacon, a large portion of scrambled eggs, a large glass of fresh milk, and a small plate of vegetables and fruits, which is the highest grade set meal here.

"Look, that's the Grumman Building, the most majestic building ever built by the Confederacy!"

The voice of a middle-aged uncle at the next table caused most people to look out of the car window. In sight, a silver building towers proudly over the horizon. It looks like a spruce tree with no branches and leaves, but the trunk is thicker than any plant; It's like a towering monument, except that no monument can accommodate thousands of people working and living.

In his own time, Weiss had seen a lot of skyscrapers that were hundreds of meters away, but in this era of steam engines, in this icy and snowy world, he was still quite surprised to suddenly see such a building.

"How many floors does it have?" He asked in a self-contained tone.

"Does it really have 69 floors?" A milky voice answered his doubts.

The child's father replied in a loud voice, "Yes! It has 69 floors and took Grumman 14 years to build. It is the symbol of Aocheng, the pride of the Federation, and the symbol of the unlimited creativity of the free economy! ”

"Shall we go up and have a look, then?" The child asked.

A man with shiny hair and a slightly chubby figure next to him interjected: "Ha, it is below the 30th floor of shopping malls, restaurants, hotels, as long as you spend money you can enter casually, above the 30th floor is the office area of the Grumman Group, there are dozens of departments, thousands of employees working there, and the highest floor of the whole building is the famous 'Paradise Garden', it is said that the Grumman Group has collected hundreds of rare plants from all over the world, where you can see blooming flowers any day, but unfortunately, ordinary people have no chance to go up to see what it is." ”

Another young man wearing round-framed glasses said, "To be precise, the top floors of the 'Grumman Building' have always been the place where the Grumman Group entertains the upper class, and ordinary people can buy tickets to visit the Grumman Group exhibition hall on the 51st floor, and even on the 51st floor, the view from above is quite amazing!" But...... As long as the position is high enough, the vision of looking down is the same. Looking to the northeast, those colorful balls are the hot air balloons of the Olympic City Amusement Park, and you can ride for 20 crowns to rise higher than the top floor of the Grumman Building! ”

"I want to ride in a hot air balloon!" The child immediately shouted.

"Okay, it's only 20 crowns, as long as you're obedient, it's not a problem!" The father lowered his head and touched the back of the child's head with a kind expression.